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Suggestions for new rig

mooch37

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Hey guys, I'm looking at buying a new rig pretty soon and I need some suggestions. I primarily use it for gaming and not much else beyond that. I'm one of those people that have to have the graphics set pretty high to be happy and I'm starting to have to put some things on medium/low so it's about that time again.

One of the games I'm upgrading for is Mafia II. I know my current build could play it, but I'd like to be able to use my 3D glasses in addition to maxing it out. Having said that, I'm looking for an Nvidia card. My budget for this rig is going to be roughly $3000.

Case
The case I had in mind was the HAF X. My brother has the Antec 1200 and it's an awesome case, but I'd like something a little different.
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plast...

CPU
With AMD's new X6's I don't know whether to go with those or an Intel i7 now. I know most games out there don't fully utilize the quad cores much less a hexa core processor, but I gotta plan for the future too. I don't want to have to upgrade my processor a year later.

Video Card
As mentioned earlier, I'll need a high end Nvidia card. I have the 120Hz monitor and the glasses, but I'm running XP right now and as soon as I upgrade and get Windows 7 then I can finally use them. :rockout: I know the GTX 480's get pretty hot and require quite a bit of power, but I feel like that's probably the rout I'm going to go because it's the latest one out right now. I thought about doing SLI, but for starting out, one should be fine. And I've always had good luck with EVGA so I was thinking something along the lines of a GTX 480 SC.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=015-P3-1482-AR&family=GeForce 400 Series Family

Motherboard
Again, always had good luck with EVGA so I was thinking about one of theirs, but I'm open to suggestions on this one.

Memory
I've been looking at Corsair's Dominator series and I know they're not cheap, but I'm willing to pay a little more for good RAM. My current system has some A-Data ram which worked great early on and then eventually both stick died on me so I'm not dealing with that again.

SSD
I've never had one before, but I've had a number of people tell me that they're pretty awesome. Load times on my current rig are decent and if it's 5 or 10 seconds faster, that's really not that big of a deal to me, but I'm more concerned with game loading screens. I was thinking something like this:
OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX100G 2.5" 100GB SATA II M...

PSU
I recently bought a 1000W Corsair PSU so I'm just going to switch that one out for the new rig.


I've considered doing liquid cooling, but I'll be honest, I'm just not that great when it comes to that stuff. I know this HAF X has the holes in the back for just that sort of thing, but I haven't fully made up my mind on whether I'm going try it or not. I do plan on overclocking somewhat, but not anything extreme. Once again, I'm always open for any suggestions that you guys make so please feel free to say whatever is on your mind. Any criticism is accepted.

Thanks for taking the time to read all the way to the bottom. :D
 

JrRacinFan

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Evga only does Intel stuff.

I would just go with a i7 1366 setup. Either August or September Intel is suppose to drop price of the i7 950 to that of the current 930.

Have you looked at something like the CM Storm? I run a HAF 932 and it is way overkill. The side fan did help cooling my 4870x2 and I'm sure it would help cool a couple of 470/480s. The extra size is not really needed unless your running a XL-ATX board, bunch of drives, etc. Save the money and maybe replace the coolers on the GPUs for better temps. I hear the Arctic Cooling setup does a really good job.

If BF:BC2 is anything representative of future DX11 games, take all the cores/threads you can get because its not going to be long. Playing online will cause more cpu cycles and threads to be used and sometimes can show results in improved frame rate.
 

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If you are only going to game, then I think an i5 750 will suit your needs quite well. Don't bother with liquid cooling, get a nice air cooler instead. Or get one of those AIO coolers like the CoolIT ALC and H50.
 
D

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I left the i7 920 and went back to i5 670 for my gamer. Everything about it is just snappier and smoother. No need for water with the i3/i5 series either...you can OC these with very little heat on air. I do not forsee me going back to a quad for any reason for gaming.

If you are looking to buy memory I would'nt go overboard for a gamer. I have Corsair, but would give SuperTalent a shot if I were in the market.
 
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mooch37

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Evga only does Intel stuff.

I would just go with a i7 1366 setup. Either August or September Intel is suppose to drop price of the i7 950 to that of the current 930.

Have you looked at something like the CM Storm? I run a HAF 932 and it is way overkill. The side fan did help cooling my 4870x2 and I'm sure it would help cool a couple of 470/480s. The extra size is not really needed unless your running a XL-ATX board, bunch of drives, etc. Save the money and maybe replace the coolers on the GPUs for better temps. I hear the Arctic Cooling setup does a really good job.

If BF:BC2 is anything representative of future DX11 games, take all the cores/threads you can get because its not going to be long. Playing online will cause more cpu cycles and threads to be used and sometimes can show results in improved frame rate.

Yeah, I looked at that one. You're talking about the Storm Scout right? It's a very nice case, but I've just been burned in the past for having a smaller case.
How would I go about putting new coolers on the GPU? I didn't even know you could do that. Do they just pop off?

If you are only going to game, then I think an i5 750 will suit your needs quite well. Don't bother with liquid cooling, get a nice air cooler instead. Or get one of those AIO coolers like the CoolIT ALC and H50.

Well, I'm just worried about getting a motherboard and then have a new cpu come out that I can't use so I'd like to stick to 1366. So what cpu would you recommend for that? Maybe an i7-930?
 

eroc

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If it was me, just sort of thinking out loud, I would get the AIO water cooling (best buy in our town has the h50 for 59$ LOL) just to have liquid bragging rights without the hassle. I also love Gskill Ram, they seem to enjoy working with intel chipsets. Good call on the upgraded GPU cooler, thats a fun and usually not too expensive project.

Looks like your on your way to a sweet rig.
 

JrRacinFan

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Well, I'm just worried about getting a motherboard and then have a new cpu come out that I can't use so I'd like to stick to 1366. So what cpu would you recommend for that? Maybe an i7-930?

Then go with AM3. Intel already has plans of killing off socket 1366/1156, whereas AMD has plans of releasing Bulldozer(32nm). Either way, there is no such thing as futureproofing so just purchase the most powerful thing you can in respect to your budget. Another reason why i mentioned the x6 Thuban chip above.
 
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For your budget I would suggest going i7/1366 setup. Evga's X58 boards are nice but Gigabyte's UD3 has Sata 3 which will really utilize those SSD's(yes you should have more than 1). It also supports faster memory, USB 3.0, and at a great price point. It's $210 at Newegg.com which is cheaper than the Evga versions.

As for ram I recommend GSKill. They are used widely amongst these forums and do very well. Here's a set of 3, 2GB sticks(6GB total) of DDR3 2000Mhz CAS6 for $280:
G.SKILL PI + Turbulence II 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin D...

Even at stock those are blazing fast!


CPU cooling I would suggest the Corsair H5O. It's an all inclusive watercooling setup that costs the same as high end air cooling, but easy install/setup.

Also for your budget I'd go with dual graphics cards. Two 470's will preform very well compared to a single 480. Hell go dual 480s man!!! :rockout: You'll be glad you did for your monitor/3D setup.
 

Izliecies

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I agree what others have said before me; go with an X58 setup. Yes, LGA1366 may soon be killed and you won't have much upgrade options left, but then again, it's not like you will need to upgrade an i7 setup. An i7 930 would be sufficient, remember that most games don't utilize more than two cores; three is the sweet spot for some.

Of course, there is the i7 980X if you want some future proofing. Then again, it costs 1/3 of your overall setup. Sometime soon there is gonna be the i7 970 released - a slower clocked and also cheaper hexacore.

For the case I really suggest you to buy the Cooler Master HAF X. It's a great case.

Also an SSD would be cool. I'd suggest Western Digital SiliconEdge Blue for OS - good price/performance, as well as capacity (128GB). And personally I would go for a Samsung Spinpoint F3 series hard disk drive for storage, but that's completely your choice. Maybe with a budget like this you can go better, for example, with an advanced SandForce SSD.

As for the motherboard - choose one that features SLI support so that you could add a second GeForce GTX 480 later.
 
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mdsx1950

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Get the 1090T (Get a Megahalem for CPU cooling), 6GB of DDR3 1600MHz ram (G.SKILL, Corsair, Mushkin or from a good brand) and the EVGA GTX480 Hydro Copper FTW, the SC is a good card too.
 
D

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Just playing devil's advocate here...

I have gamed upwards of 5GHz on many chips online and I can report you will find no measurable gains there. The same goes for memory and multiple high powered video cards. The H50 Corsair is just an entry level system and will gain you nothing over a good aircooler...as you stated before, you do not plan on going overboard with overclocking anyway.

If you still feel you have to have a quad, I would recommend buying a used 920 off this or another forum for less money...a new 930 will gain you nothing but emptier pockets.
 
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I would go X58 with that kind of budget. Get a decent x58 board, 60gb+ ssd for OS, 2tb hard drive for storage, 6gb ddr3 1600mhz+ and a i7 920 D0 and you are done. HAF X looks cool I would go for it too if i were you.
The reason i chose 920 over a 930 is that i heard they overclock better.

Oh get a high end air cooler or one of those all in one water cooling sets if you plan to overclock the cpu.
 
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Here is the 670 at default settings and slightly tweaked settings...
 

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mooch37

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Alright, so here's what I've got so far, minus the processor because I'm not buying it from Newegg. I'm sure many of you have seen Microcenter's deal on 930's. $200 for a 930 is pretty hard to beat. I know it's the same architecture and all, but it's cheaper than buying a 920 on Newegg. For the cooler, I didn't realize how simple the H50 was to install. Plus, there's no maintenance so I'm definitely down for that. It won't give me the results of a home-made liquid cooling setup, but it should suffice. I may not be buying EVERY part from Newegg. This is simply a layout of what I'm looking at.

Also, I think I'll go with the ASUS Rampage III Extreme as someone mentioned earlier it having some really nice features for overclocking and it has USB 3.0 and after reading numerous reviews, people seem to really like it. I wouldn't call this the final build just yet as I'm still looking back over everything to make sure this whole thing is going to give me as little trouble building as possible. What do you guys think about what I have so far?
 

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Well, I'm just worried about getting a motherboard and then have a new cpu come out that I can't use so I'd like to stick to 1366. So what cpu would you recommend for that? Maybe an i7-930?

Its not like you will get a lot more upgrade options with 1366, Sandy Bridge is going to send both to bargain bin. Experience have taught me that whenever people upgrade, they usually change their ram, mobo and proc at the same time, so I am not worried about upgrading. Plus, there is the i7 875K which is at least as powerful as an i7 920/930, and can keep up with the OC. But at the end of the day, if you are more comfy with the 1366, my suggestion is to get the cheapest processor out there, and in a few years time get the 980X or whatever there is to offer.
 
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Yeah, I looked at that one. You're talking about the Storm Scout right? It's a very nice case, but I've just been burned in the past for having a smaller case.
How would I go about putting new coolers on the GPU? I didn't even know you could do that. Do they just pop off?

Nope, Storm

The feet can turn in so they are under the case instead of off to the side making it look weird (in my view). It should be very roomy inside for a mid tower. Might want to talk to someone before jumping in but for the 70 bucks you save, you could get a lot quieter cooler than the reference one for a gtx 470/480.

As for the gpu cooler all you have to do is unscrew the heat sink assembly from the pcb and attach the different cooler. I was thinking I had seen a review of a Artic Cooling setup but can't seem to find it.
 
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