Build advice

[freaksavior]

The idea is a hardcore gaming pc for under $1500.

Case is set in stone, so cannot change that.

I wanted to do a Single SSD for the OS and dual drives for raid 1 for everything else (just my idea in case something happens)

So what I came up with is this.



Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$169.99

2 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4EG HD155UI 1.5TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$119.98
($59.99 each)

XFX HD-695X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
$239.99


CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$69.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH
$64.99

Kingston DataTraveler 101 Gen 2 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (Cyan) Model DT101G2/4GBZ
$0.00


ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$169.99

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
$314.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
$99.99

Scythe SY1225SL12H 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan (89cfm/32dba)
$19.98
($9.99 each)

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler I5 775 AMD compatible
$34.99

XIGMATEK ACK-I5361 Intel Core i7/Core i5/1155 compatible Bracket Set
$9.99

LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo with SW SATA Model iHES112-29
$74.99

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive
$99.99

Total:: $1,505.00


If your post doesn't contribute, i'm flagging it as trolling. If I think you're being sarcastic/trolling/flaming/insulting/maniuplating, i'm reporting you.

[Thrackan]

I don't see anything wrong there, except that I have a strong aversion against OCZ... That, and $1505 > $1500, so you will need to get a package deal to get under your budget

[repman244]

For gaming, go for i5-2500k, AFAIK HT is useless when it comes to gaming.

[DrunkenMafia]

+1 for the 2500k, cheaper and will run any game just as fast. I would also consider some 7200rpm drives for your raid, I have a couple of 5900rpm drives in my HTPC and they are noticably slower. The SSD is good, I have never had any problems with ocz although I would try stretch it to the 3 series of drives as you will get almost double the performance with sata 3, you could also try corsair as I have heard good reports about them.

Do you need a bluray drive? You could also save $50 and get a std dvd burner.
I think your best performance boost will come from changing to 2500k and upgrading to sata 3 series SSD. You may even save enough to jump up to 6970 territory.

GL with the build

[Fourstaff]

You probably want to consider getting 1600Mhz ram, I heard that is the sweet spot for Sandy Bridge processors.

[repman244]

Originally Posted by Fourstaff

You probably want to consider getting 1600Mhz ram, I heard that is the sweet spot for Sandy Bridge processors.

For pure gaming there is no difference, of course if you can find 1600MHz RAM for the same price as 1333MHz then go 4 it

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/s...he-best-ddr3/6


And like DrunkenMafia said, you almost save enough money by going with a 2500k to get a 6970.

[the54thvoid]

On synthetic benchmarks HT makes a big difference but like many authors say, in games, it is less applicable. If you can go with a 2500k and save $95 ($314 for a 2600k versus $219 for a 2500k), I'd upgrade the gfx (new gfx budget = $335 which keeps it at 1505?)

You can get a Custom EVGA 1.2Gb GTX 570 with dual fan for $335
EVGA 012-P3-1577-KR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) HD Dou...

or a 2GB custom 6950 for $299
MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB ...

Either card is better than the one listed on your spec plus, with the 2500k overclocked you'd get way more legroom than with the 1GB model card you have down.

[entropy13]

You'd probably want the Vertex 3 too, or a SATA III SSD at least. You would just be wasting your board's SATA 6Gb/s if you stick with the Vertex 2.

And does it HAVE to be an Asus P8P67 PRO? Biostar's Z68 boards are good already, yet a bit cheaper.

Cooler Master Hyper 212+ is cheaper than that Xigmatek, and does not need any additional purchase of a bracket.


So you save a bit on the board and cooler, add a bit on the SSD, and go with DDR3-1600 RAM.

[JrRacinFan]

Drop the 2600K to a 2500K and my take on the board:

ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI S...

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6...

[LordJummy]

Get the 2500K instead, and upgrade to a 69502GB or 6970. I wouldn't call a 6950 1GB enough for a "hardcore gaming" machine.

[douglatins]

Also get a better cooler and a faster current gen SSD, like the force gt 120gb.

[TheMailMan78]

Not at least curious what AMD will bring next month before deciding? I mean seriously Bulldozer may be worth the wait. Who knows. Just wait man.

[yogurt_21]

case is eating too much of the budget imo.

go for a cheaper one and then pick up either an unlockable 2GB 6950 or a 6970 as lordjummy said.

no point in wimping out on the gpu on a hardcore gaming machine simply for a prettier case. Cases can easily be modded for much much less money.


also I'd recomend a 2x2GB memory kit at 1866 or higher long before a 1333 2x4GB kit. try to get 1600 at least lest youre memory will be a major point of lag. Actually the 2x4GB 1866 kits are just 80$ anyways.

also most people on SB have run into an issue with 4GB sticks and overclocking. Paulieg and a few others would be able to tell you more.

[happita]

Originally Posted by douglatins

Also get a better cooler and a faster current gen SSD, like the force gt 120gb.

With that cooler, he can easily get that i7 to 4.5 no problem at all. Unless he wants to spend an extra $30+ to get a few more hundred Mhz, that's up to him.

And I agree with douglatins on the SSD, whynot get a bigger/faster 1? Does the budget stop you from doing so? Or do you feel that you just don't need it?

[PopcornMachine]

Originally Posted by repman244

For gaming, go for i5-2500k, AFAIK HT is useless when it comes to gaming.

I wouldn't say useless, but certainly not enough to justify spending 50% more.

2500k is the best bang for the buck.

[freaksavior]

Thanks for the suggestions. Not going to lie, I expected to have to flag a few posts with useless information and trolling like mailman did.

The only thing that has to remain is that case. EVERYTHING else can be changed.

I can see your point for the hard drives, ssd, ram, and processor.

I could get a sata3 ssd, get 7200rpm drives, 1600/1866 ram, and an i5 along with a 6990 instead.

Either way, budget is $1500

[dank1983man420]

That case is only $149 shipped After a $10 rebate and $10 promo code right now at newegghttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811139005 (promo code ends today), so that should help give you a few extra dollars of wiggle room for the 1600 mhz ram or better gpu

[happita]

If you want, you can replace that MB with this Biostar I picked out for ya: BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb...

From what I've heard about this thing, it gives the best bang for your buck. Plus it shaves off an extra $40 so you can use that towards something else like a stronger video card

[douglatins]

Get the thermalright MACHO then man. Its a loooot better

[newtekie1]

A few suggestions:

1.) Get Win7 Pro. Home Premium is limitted to 16GB, and if you are buying it now and plan to stick with Win7 for a while, then you might as well get something that isn't artificially limitted with memory. Plus Microsoft plans to support Pro for 3 years longer than Home Premium and Ultimiate.

2.) I'd drop the ripjaw RAM, it is too pricey. You can go with some Kingston HyperX 1600MHz RAM for $49 shipped. And since you don't really overclock the RAM any on 1155 due to the essentially locked BCLK, you can get generic RAM and it is fine.

3.) Drop down to a 2500K instead. Hyperthreading isn't all that useful in games, or most other software actually. And doing this long with the RAM should help off set the cost of Windows 7 Pro, along with maybe allowing for a slightly upgraded video card.

[JrRacinFan]

Just wanted to give my input on a build as a whole:

XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 ...
Team Xtreem LV Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 S...
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6...
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu...
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III...
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cac...
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L... $20 off with EMCKBJB36
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11..._Kit_-HOT.html

$95 total mail-in rebates and could add the 6950 to the loop later

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by freaksavior

Thanks for the suggestions. Not going to lie, I expected to have to flag a few posts with useless information and trolling like mailman did.

The only thing that has to remain is that case. EVERYTHING else can be changed.

I can see your point for the hard drives, ssd, ram, and processor.

I could get a sata3 ssd, get 7200rpm drives, 1600/1866 ram, and an i5 along with a 6990 instead.

Either way, budget is $1500

Useless information huh? Because I told you to wait a few weeks? Well enjoy your potentially dated build.

[trickson]

As far as the posted setup I would not really change a thing looks great . But I would advise you to wait and see what AMD has to offer .

Also , with post's like this ,

Originally Posted by freaksavior

I seriously didn't intend to post here any more but hard forum pissed me off even more than what happened here.

Originally Posted by freaksavior

If your post doesn't contribute, I'm flagging it as trolling. If I think you're being sarcastic/trolling/flaming/insulting/manipulating, I'm reporting you.

I am not incline to give any more advice than this . I would also caution TPU users to NOT post here as well . You should get a batter attitude . Good luck .

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

A few suggestions:

1.) Get Win7 Pro. Home Premium is limitted to 16GB, and if you are buying it now and plan to stick with Win7 for a while, then you might as well get something that isn't artificially limitted with memory. Plus Microsoft plans to support Pro for 3 years longer than Home Premium and Ultimiate.

2.) I'd drop the ripjaw RAM, it is too pricey. You can go with some Kingston HyperX 1600MHz RAM for $49 shipped. And since you don't really overclock the RAM any on 1155 due to the essentially locked BCLK, you can get generic RAM and it is fine.

3.) Drop down to a 2500K instead. Hyperthreading isn't all that useful in games, or most other software actually. And doing this long with the RAM should help off set the cost of Windows 7 Pro, along with maybe allowing for a slightly upgraded video card.

This is true, I forgot about that regarding win 7 home premium.

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

Just wanted to give my input on a build as a whole:

XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 ...
Team Xtreem LV Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 S...
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6...
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu...
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III...
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cac...
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L... $20 off with EMCKBJB36
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11..._Kit_-HOT.html

$95 total mail-in rebates and could add the 6950 to the loop later

Can't do the case. Has to be the white one.
Everything else looks pretty good. I did pick the 6970 to see the price difference though. I do like the idea of the watercooling loop.

From the tid bit of info i have read, asus boards are not what they used to be.

Originally Posted by TheMailMan78

Useless information huh? Because I told you to wait a few weeks? Well enjoy your potentially dated build.

Didn't mean it like that sir. I apologize. if AMD's bulldozer comes out before the build happens, i'll happily reconsider.

[qubit]

Hey, nice to see you back, freaky.

"Troll post" or not, I have to agree with MM to wait for AMD's Bulldozer CPU to be released in about a month. You know how it is with these major launches, the whole market gets turned upside down and today's hot chip is tomorrow's has-been.

Wait, definitely wait. I want an i5-2500K system and I'm sitting tight.

Here's a really good breakdown of which Windows 7 edition has what feature - scroll down to the big comparison chart. Personally, I'm not happy with anything less than Ultimate, regardless if I'm gonna use every feature or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions

As this will be used for a personal build, why not get a TechNet sub and be done with it? You get 5 keys for every edition of all versions of Windows, plus lots of other MS products. It's worth thousands, yet only costs a few hundred, because of the "evaluation" restriction. For home use, this is no problem at all!

See what you get here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...s/default.aspx

Dude, it's a no-brainer.