Building a New Gaming PC.

[PatrickyBR]

Okay, so it's been a while and I seem to have finally made my mind on which computer to buy, that's how it should look like:

 

CPU: i7 930

MoBo: Asus P6X58D-E

Memory: G.Skill ECO 3x2GB DDR3 1600 @cas 7

GPU: GTX 480

PSU: Corsair HX1000W (leaving juice for a future GTX 480 SLI)

STORAGE: Need help in this one....

Optical: LG Bluray Reader and FVD writer.

CPU cooling: Need help with this one too..

CASE: Cooler Master HAF 922, or HAF X if I get the chance! lol

 

Here we go!

People, please tell me what would be a good choice of SSD, to keep the OS and couple of active games... I think 60GB is more than enough for it.

As for the cooling... Should I go with a TOP air cooling system, or get those H50-like watercooling solutions, I don't want any complicated watercooler... and I want to push my 930 to at least 3.8GHz

I also need advice for casefans... should I replace the already existing ones at the HAF922 or HAFX with more silent and efficient fans such as Noctua ones?

 

Thanks for you guys responses!!!!

Edited July 29, 2010 by PatrickyBR

[RogerDeath]

If it is absolutley possible for you to wait, Sandy Bridge comes out early next year with yet another socket (or two) and the new Radeon series will be out in Q4. Otherwise, any i7 will do you justice as long as its on the 1366 socket. SSDs today are almost identical clones of each other with minor variations so there you should be set, as you should be with your PSU choice. The GPU choice is an interesting one because of the 6xx0 series arrival later this year, and how the GTX 460is probably the best volume product nVidia can do with GF100 and its derivatives. Once again, if it is a matter of being done right this second then the GTX 480 is a decent choice compared to other high-performance cards, but it does leave performance to be desired.

[PatrickyBR]

If it is absolutley possible for you to wait, Sandy Bridge comes out early next year with yet another socket (or two) and the new Radeon series will be out in Q4. Otherwise, any i7 will do you justice as long as its on the 1366 socket. SSDs today are almost identical clones of each other with minor variations so there you should be set, as you should be with your PSU choice. The GPU choice is an interesting one because of the 6xx0 series arrival later this year, and how the GTX 460is probably the best volume product nVidia can do with GF100 and its derivatives. Once again, if it is a matter of being done right this second then the GTX 480 is a decent choice compared to other high-performance cards, but it does leave performance to be desired.

 

Hi RogerDeath! Thanks for your response!

 

uhmm... I'm not really that into the next-releases are gonna be... what's Sandy Bridge? new Intel Core?

 

Thanks!

[AddictedGamer93]

If you get a mobo with SATA 3, id recommend getting a Crucial RealSSD C300, but if you get a motherboard that has SATA 2, get a Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe.

And yes, Sandy Bridge is Intel's next gen line of cpu's.

[hermes09]

It's the new series of processor from intel, it's processor will be 2000 series processor, also they employ new socket which is not backward-compatible with the current series of nehalem processor. if you don't want to wait the go ahead with the 875K. As for the Graphic, i wouldn't making too much ruckus about it, hey we choose we use use right?

For the PSU and SSD, i suggest go with either Corsair or any major brand of your choice. And yeah like RogerDeath said they perform nearly-identical. I guess you didn't mention any case because you already had one in mind i take that?

[RogerDeath]

It's the new series of processor from intel, it's processor will be 2000 series processor, also they employ new socket which is not backward-compatible with the current series of nehalem processor. if you don't want to wait the go ahead with the 875K. As for the Graphic, i wouldn't making too much ruckus about it, hey we choose we use use right?

For the PSU and SSD, i suggest go with either Corsair or any major brand of your choice. And yeah like RogerDeath said they perform nearly-identical. I guess you didn't mention any case because you already had one in mind i take that?

The problem with the 875K is that it uses the 1156 socket, which has a 16 pci-e lane limit. This would mean that when he goes to do SLI (as he has stated) his high-end cards will probably be throttled down to x8 speed instead of the x16 (for both) that the x58 can do with a 930.

[PatrickyBR]

If you get a mobo with SATA 3, id recommend getting a Crucial RealSSD C300, but if you get a motherboard that has SATA 2, get a Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe.

And yes, Sandy Bridge is Intel's next gen line of cpu's.

Horray! That's awesome info thanks!

 

It's the new series of processor from intel, it's processor will be 2000 series processor, also they employ new socket which is not backward-compatible with the current series of nehalem processor. if you don't want to wait the go ahead with the 875K. As for the Graphic, i wouldn't making too much ruckus about it, hey we choose we use use right?

For the PSU and SSD, i suggest go with either Corsair or any major brand of your choice. And yeah like RogerDeath said they perform nearly-identical. I guess you didn't mention any case because you already had one in mind i take that?

 

Yes, I'd be using a HAF 922 for that since the HAF X is ultra expensive and hard to find here in Brazil (seriously, prices goes up to US$ 700,00 for that here...)

 

So based on what you said I'm assuming that the fully modular Silverstone PSUs are good qualitty, right?

 

Thanks!

[CowKing]

The problem with the 875K is that it uses the 1156 socket, which has a 16 pci-e lane limit. This would mean that when he goes to do SLI (as he has stated) his high-end cards will probably be throttled down to x8 speed instead of the x16 (for both) that the x58 can do with a 930.

it's 2.0 so it shouldn't really matter

[wevsspot]

Patrick - Any particular reason you didn't include any of AMD's offerings? Especially for gaming specific. AMD 6 cores are out now too.

 

So I don't sound like a fanboy, I'm almost exclusively Intel right now and have been since socket 775, but a lot of AMD's current offerings are pretty sweet and have a nice price point too.

 

Anyways - after you chew on that for a while......

 

If I were building a BA gaming/multipurpose rig right now here is what I'd have;

 

Motherboard

ASUS P6X58D Premium

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614

 

or

 

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD5

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128422

 

 

Processor

Intel i7 930

 

Memory

G.SKILL Trident 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231254

 

SSD/SATA HDD

SSD

Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe MKNSSDCL120GB-DX 2.5" 120GB SATA II (for OS, games and frequently used apps)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226152

 

SATA

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb (for storage, backup and less frequently used apps)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

 

Video

GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 (x2 for SLi)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333

 

Power Supply

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

 

or

 

XFX Black Edition XPS-850W-BES 850W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001

 

Operating System

Window 7 Pro or Ultimate 64-Bit version

[wevsspot]

Patrick, check out my [WTS] thread for another thought on video cards.......

[PatrickyBR]

Thanks for all of your replys!

Have been very useful for me!

Wouldn't a lower CAS memory be better? This G.Skill trident runs at a CAS 9, and I heard that the lower, the better! And I'm pretty sure that there are lower CAS memory out there!

 

Thanks!

[wevsspot]

Wouldn't a lower CAS memory be better? This G.Skill trident runs at a CAS 9, and I heard that the lower, the better! And I'm pretty sure that there are lower CAS memory out there!

Thanks!

 

The vast majority of 3x2Gb kits of DDR3 2000 are rated at CL9. There are a few kits with lower CL but they are going to run you anywhere from $80 to $100 USD more than the CL9 kit.

 

With that in mind, the tridents will run up to about 1900Mhz at 8-8-8-24 or 8-9-8-24 timings easily. The kit I recommended (as well as the nearly equivalent ripjaws) give you a ton of flexibility when it comes to speed and timings. And the nice thing is that they scale both ways without issue (i.e. low frequency and very tight timings or high frequency and moderate timings).