BestConfigs Poll - High-End Intel Gaming PC

Which High-End Intel Gaming PC do you like the best?

  • iRaiden's $2000 Intel Gaming Rig

    Votes: 42 26.3%
  • SADAMS04's Intel Gaming Build

    Votes: 61 38.1%
  • Wolfram's Eyefinity Build

    Votes: 57 35.6%

  • Total voters
    160

jpishgar

Splendid
Overlord Emeritus
It's time to vote on your favorite build for this category!

Please see below for a list of the choices available.

iRaiden's $2000 Intel Gaming Rig

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor $219.99

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 WS REVOLUTION LGA 1155 Intel P67 / NVIDIA NF200 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $259.99

RAM: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory $94.99

Graphics Card: 3x HIS H695FN2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $249.99 each ($749.97)

Boot Drive: Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $119.99

Storage Drive: Western Digital WD1002FAEX 1TB Caviar Black Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB, SATA 6Gbs $79.99

Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 650D Black Steel structure with black brushed aluminum faceplate ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $189.99

Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply $149.99

Cooling: CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler $69.98

DVD Burner: SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA With Lightscribe Support $64.99

Total Price: $1999.88


SADAMS04's Intel Gaming Build

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500k - $215

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD Z68 20GB SLC SSD - $240

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 1.5v CL7 - $85

Graphics Card: 2 x Galaxy GTX 580 - $420 / $840 ($460 - $40MIR)

Boot Drive: OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III SSD - $210 ($230 - $20MIR)

Storage Disk: SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 2TB - $80

Case: Rosewill FUTURE Gaming ATX Mid Tower Front USB 3.0 - $80

Case Fans: 2 x COOLER MASTER 120mm Blue 69CFM (max) @ 19dBA- $10 / $20

Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX950 - $140 ($155 - $15MIR)

Blu-Ray Burner: LG Black 12X - $94

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - $30

CPU Cooler Replacement Fans: 2 x KINGWIN 120mm 40CFM @ 19dBA - $7 / $14

Total Price: $2048

Wolfram's Eyefinity Build

CPU: i5 2500k $223.99
Heatsink: COOLER MASTER V6 GT RR-V6GT-22PK-R1 120mm DynaLoop CPU Cooler $52.99
Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 $209.99
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) CL8 1.5V $74.99
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" $89.99
SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive $199.99
CASE + PSU: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case + CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX $404.98
DVD/RW: LG DVD±RW SuperMulti Drive 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X $18.99
GPU 1: GIGABYTE GV-R697OC2-2GD Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 $354.99
GPU 2: GIGABYTE GV-R697OC2-2GD Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 $354.99

Total Price: $1982.90
 

legendkiller

Distinguished
Jun 19, 2011
1,812
0
19,960

Of course his build is better BUT his SSD isn't enough for these 10GB+ games when you play like 3-5 of them...
 
Wow my build made it to voting. Right on!

(Obviously) I think mine is the most well rounded and will still give amazing gaming performance so you should all vote option 3 :D

Although, I do wish I had gone back and revised now that most of the parts I picked are cheaper :sweat:
 

mjmjpfaff

Distinguished
I use a 120gb intel 320 ssd for my pc and I put my win7 hp 64bit + 4-5games on it. My OS loads in under 30 seconds, I am always first into every new map.

I would have put bf2 on it for the fact that it used to take forever to load that game, but with my new gpu/ram/os and an old hdd that holds like 80gbs lol, it loads super fast because its the only thing being used on the hdd at the time.

The benifits from having a SSD for a few programs and os is superb. I have never seen a faster loading os lol.

From the moment I hit restart, my computer takes 45 seconds in total, 15 seconds to get to when the os loads and then 30 seconds to load os (or less) In real time it feels like a flash when you just go by the sounds.

To not include atleast a 120gb ssd in the top performance gaming builds of this year is silly.
i am first on the map on bc2 with a spinpoint f3 1tb (if i click right when it shows up). it really is used when loading the games. loading the maps online is all your internet speed.....
 

Genny

Distinguished
Feb 19, 2011
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18,690
I like the all around look of your choices and all the pieces are quality products that go good together.

That is the build I am going to be copying when I decide to get my next case/mobo/cpu ^_^

+1 to you good sir!

I voted for his build too. Everyone else skimped on the case.
 

upgrade_1977

Distinguished
May 5, 2011
665
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18,990
I can't vote, It's showing me the poll results but it won't let me vote. I tried logging in through another browser, and it's still not working..... ?!?!

I want to vote for SADAMS04's Intel Gaming Build...

I can vote on the other systems, but this one isn't letting me.....
 

army_ant7

Distinguished
May 31, 2009
629
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18,980
I would go for the 2nd build, but the graphics might be overkill already (unless you got your hands on a copy of Samaritan). :)) An SSD may do you a world of good instead.
 

ojas

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Feb 25, 2011
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i actually find yours more balanced than the "top three". They all have something or the other missing. But three cards? :ouch:

iRaiden's 6950 seems to be a mixed bag, tri-crossfire scaling is "kind of bad" according to newegg reviews, and the card seems to be either noisy or hot. SSD's kind of small for a $2k rig...are three monitors+3 GPUs 2k territory? I dunno...three seems to be overkill. I'd prefer two 580s or something, like-

SADAMS04's build, but it has one major issue: The graphics cards are three-slot cards apparently and newegg reviews warn about potential problems for SLI on mobos that don't have enough spacing. The galaxy mobo he uses does seem to have two slots b/w the 16x slots, i wonder if it'll be enough, seeing that one person seemed to think that it needs almost four slots. Having said that, the GPU seems to run cool and quiet, so that's a plus. I wish the case was a bit more fancy too (could have cut down on the BD drive, DVD is far more common). Could have also used the Vertex 3, though agility 3 is good enough.

Wolfram's case seems to have done most things right, except that the GPU didn't have good reviews on newegg, and it's deactivated. Maybe the EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 570 would have been a better (and cheaper) choice, if i ignore the Eyefinity theme of the build. Could have used a Vertex 3/ Agility 3 in place of the Vertex 2.


Cheers, may the best one win.
 

mjmjpfaff

Distinguished


To be honest, the only major change I would have liked to make is the SSD upgrade to the Agility 3. Unfortunately, the price at the time that I made the build was much higher for it. It's also unfortunate that several other things have changed in regards to prices and such, as I made the build at the start of this Best Configs thing and more than a month passed before voting started.
 


The spacing on the Gigabyte motherboard should be just fine. The problem with the dual three-slot cards is that none of the other PCI slots are going to be usable as they "covered up" (not uncommon). As you noted, the 580 does not have a knack for building up heat and the case fans should dissipate any high heat.

I agree that the Vertex would have been a better choice, and with updated pricing this would be an easy swap keeping within budget. The Agility should still perform very well...

The case was another budget decision, however I stand by it. Four quiet 120mm fans, dual air filters, front USB 3.0, screw-less 3.5" and 5.25" drive mounting, 2.5" SSD mounting adapter, accommodates tall CPU coolers and big GPUs, etc. I guess someone could paint racing stripes on it for more bling outside the case...
 

mjmjpfaff

Distinguished

combo's werent against the rules....
 
Consider it my way of protest :) It's clear that any combo used in a contest that takes two months is likely to be expired.

My understanding is that they wanted to keep it free of rules as much as possible. Civil discussion and disagreement is healthy here, of course. I would like to see some rules though, because I think it helps the conversation rather than limits it.

For instance, no combos, no shellshocker deals, etc. Clearly defined usage for the particular category. Eyefinity? 3D?

Once you take care of those things then we can start having better discussions about USB 3.0 and SSDs, because the pricing is not so dependent on the time of the month or the daily deal.
 

mjmjpfaff

Distinguished

i couldnt agree with you more