Help building gaming rig

[TRWOV]

Changing motherboards shouldn't have any affect on the maximum stable overclock of your video card. If your video card is running a stable overclock it should be able to maintain the same memory and GPU clock on any board. Your GPU's OC is either stable or it isnt.

Yeah, that's exactly what I used to think but then I took an ar... experienced it first hand. On the H61 the GPU would crash at 850, on the Z77X I could get it to 900 but it would crash randomly so I left it at 890. At first I thought it was due to the newer drivers but then I installed the older drivers and it behaved the same so my only conclusion is that the board was providing more stable power to the PCIe slot.



Going back to the case, the Cooler Master CM690 II is a personal favorite.

 

[Fourstaff]

Stick with mid tower, unless you are stuffing serious hardware (3x graphics, all water cooled , you get the idea) inside its not worth the bulk. Get something smaller like corsair 550D, it can fit 3 graphics card too. Also, your initial choice of mobo, 990 extreme 4 is good too if you are looking to save on cost. Get better and. Bigger ssd like Samsung 840 (pro or not).

Mouse is largely personal, but I will generally suggest something from Logitech or Microsoft to start off with unless. Rat is good too, but you should understand the product before committing. Ignore the TT level 10.

Keyboard, get a mechanical one. Razer black widow (all kinds) is a good starting point, I would take a look at others like steel series 6gv2. There is a thread full of them :
http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide

 

[Dent1]

On the H61 the GPU would crash at 850, on the Z77X I could get it to 900 but it would crash randomly so I left it at 890. At first I thought it was due to the newer drivers but then I installed the older drivers and it behaved the same so my only conclusion is that the board was providing more stable power to the PCIe slot.

It's because the old board was generating more heat within the case which increased the temperature of the video card, thus impacting the already OC'd video card's stability.

If 900Mhz crashes the rig and 890Mhz is stable. It means the video card isn't truly stable. What happens if you buy a hotter CPU or a case fan fails? The overall case heat may goes up 5c - 10c and that 890Mhz will become unstable and crash too. You need to knock the GPU back about 30Mhz - 50Mhz about 860Mhz/840Mhz to make sure it remains stable under any sudden temperature change or hardware change.

 

[murraydemonicskull]

Keyboard, get a mechanical one. Razer black widow (all kinds) is a good starting point, I would take a look at others like steel series 6gv2. There is a thread full of them :http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide

I was just looking at steelseries apex gaming keyboard and it looks very cool, I never had a mechanical keyboard before, what´s the big difference, faster response?

 

[murraydemonicskull]

Quick update:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake CLP0564 101.6 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard with 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support and UEFI BIOS
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: SAMSUNG 840 SSD+ Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Videocard: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB
Powersupply CORSAIR AX650 GOLD
Optical drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Mouse: Cyborg Rat 9

I still have some doubts about the motherboard, case and keyboard (whether to get mechanical or not) and am unsure if I should get a different power supply in case I make any future modifications that may require more power.

Case: RAIDMAX - Raptor, Super Aeolus, Agusta OR Cooler Master Haf X

Keyboard: Steelseries Apex gaming\ 6GV2 OR Razer black widow tournament keyboard

Your comments have been very helpful guys, tkz.

 

[Fourstaff]

Motherboard is good, I will go cheaper. There is no point getting something this high end unless you are going to overclock the cpu heavily. Also, PSU is fine for a graphics card and an overclocked cpu, if you are thinking of getting of crossfiring then get a 850w psu instead. You certainly don't need the AX unless (again) if you are overclocking heavily, get something cheaper like the HX or CX series.

Mechanical keyboard lasts longer, that's all. For some people the keystroke action feels better, but I think there is not much difference (not enough for me to replace my current keyboard unless it breaks).

 

[uuuaaaaaa]

As for the keyboard i would recommend the steel series 6GV2. I have a steelseries 7G and that thing is built to last forever ;D
As for the mouse... The Cyborg Rat 9 is overpriced, heavy and the sensor is way too glitchy... If you can get way with a mouse that has a great sensor, a great shape and excellent build quality but has no software or macros i would suggest zowie AM or Zowie EC1/EC2 evo. If you really want a mouse that offers a little more like macros etc i would suggest something from steel series. As for razer mice, the only solid product that they have atm is the razer Deathadder 2013, but some people report that it can easily break.

 

[tastegw]

If u need wireless access, instead of getting a card, I would like to bring your attention to dual band USB adapters. I have been using them for a few years now on various applications. They have good range and speeds, easy to install, and if needed can be used on different machines as easy as plug and play USB style.

Not no reason to get one or a card if the mobo comes with a nice onboard wireless solution.



As for what the above poster stated about razor mice, the deathadder is a nice choice, I use the 3.5k model, been working great with no issues for at least 2 years now.

As far as the system you are building now, I didn't see a budget of yours in your postings.

If you have a high budget, I would suggest looking into the X79 platforms:
3930k 6core CPU plus a decent X79 board by ASUS/ASRock/MSI/Gigabyte or maybe the EVGA Dark if the reviews are good.

 

[murraydemonicskull]

My budget is around €1000. I was googling around and decided to get the Roccat mouse (I think it´s called luna im not sure), the steelseries apex gaming keyboard and I think the Raidmax cases are badass but I have no clue whatsoever about their build quality or if they are any practical with wires and so on.

I would also like to use my Xbox 360 wireless controller, do I need some wireless card?

This probably goes offtopic but do you guys know any nice cross platform 7.1 headset?

Tkz.