First Time Build - Second Consultation

cas159

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Jun 24, 2011
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Hello again forum, I was here last week sometime and was asking around for some advice on a build for a gaming comp. I took some advice and this is what I've come up with.


COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $99.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131706

HIS H687F1G2M Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity - $184.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161349

COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Bronze Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171036

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K - $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBXM - $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231443

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - OEM - $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151222


Subtotal: $914.91

Originally I had said about keeping my budget under $750, but I'm completely content with going up to $1000 now, found a few more funds. Just want a second opinion on this build and how many things it will run at max or close to max, as well as any improvements I could make to keep me under $1K, seeing as I have $85 to spare.

Note: I'm not looking for a monitor, and I have access to an OS through my school.

Thanks guys!
 
Solution
Excellent Choices, but there's always a room for improvement :

CPU: $220- i5-2500K (Same)

Cooler : $30-Xigmatak Gaia or Cooler Master Hyper 212 from Amazon ( If you plan on overclocking to around 4.4Ghz)

Motherboard : $130- Gigabyte GA-Z68A (Same price but supports SLI and Crossfire at 8X/8X)

Case : $100- Cooler Master HAF 922 (Same) or Xclio NightHawk for $70 (if budget constraints)

RAM: $75- GSkill RipjawX (2X 4GB)

HDD : $60- Seagate Barracuda 1TB or Samsung Spinpoint 1TB from Amazon(faster)

Power Supply : $65- Antec EarthWatts 650 (Insufficient if a second card is added)

Optical Drive : $65- Samsung Black BluRay (Same)

Graphic Card: $250- MSI Twin...
That cooler master isnt on my list for good PSUs, its a bit weak for its power range and costs the same as a good 750W unit, right now you can pick up a Corsair 750TX V2 for 99 after promo code with free shipping and a $15 rebate which makes it cheaper than the cooler master and better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021&cm_re=750tx-_-17-139-021-_-Product

Also you have 2 motherboards and CPU listed right now, i assume you are going for the 2500K and the appropriate board, you also have 2 sets of ram listed, just get the 2x4GB kit for now, it should be more than enough for a while.

Since you are getting the 2500K i would look into an aftermarket cooler, the Hyper 212+ isnt very expensive and does surprisingly well.
Newegg has it for wayyyy more than it normally runs so pick it up from amazon for the $30 it normally is
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002G1YPH0/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new
 

cas159

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Jun 24, 2011
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Yea, I was using the same text file to copy paste the links/info as my old build, and i forgot to delete some stuff, should be updated right now, and yeah, i was kinda wondering about a secondary cooler for the CPU
 

z_4

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Apr 21, 2011
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Excellent Choices, but there's always a room for improvement :

CPU: $220- i5-2500K (Same)

Cooler : $30-Xigmatak Gaia or Cooler Master Hyper 212 from Amazon ( If you plan on overclocking to around 4.4Ghz)

Motherboard : $130- Gigabyte GA-Z68A (Same price but supports SLI and Crossfire at 8X/8X)

Case : $100- Cooler Master HAF 922 (Same) or Xclio NightHawk for $70 (if budget constraints)

RAM: $75- GSkill RipjawX (2X 4GB)

HDD : $60- Seagate Barracuda 1TB or Samsung Spinpoint 1TB from Amazon(faster)

Power Supply : $65- Antec EarthWatts 650 (Insufficient if a second card is added)

Optical Drive : $65- Samsung Black BluRay (Same)

Graphic Card: $250- MSI Twin Frozr II 560Ti or HIS Radeon 6950 2GB ( Newegg and Amazon )
Both offer exceptional performance

Total : 1010 USD

If you want to save some money , or accommodate an SSD of 64GB here's a way :
1. Drop to $70 case (It's still good) or get Cooler Master HAF 912 ($60). Save $30.
2. Drop to ordinary DVD burner from LG($19). Save $45.
3. Drop the cooler . Save $30
4. Drop to Mushkin 4GB RAM worth $43 or Gskill Ram(go for this is if the $9 off promo is still there) . Save $30

That should save money enough to buy a OCZ Agility 3 64 GB or even upgrade the GPU to EVGA GTX 570($340) or Sapphire 6970($350)
 
Solution
The 6870 is relatively low power and can be crossfired on a 650W unit, its a bit close to the limit so a 750W is a better option but certainly doesnt need an 850W unit if you want to crossfire. The GTX 480 is about the only single GPU card that you should consider 850W necessary if you want to run two of them, most other two card setups can run easily on a 750W unit.
 

jmills204

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Jun 24, 2011
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Yea I was confusing the 6870, I thought that was one of their really high powered ones, those are the 6970s and such. I have an 850, but I have GTX470s.

That being said, I would definitely get minimum 750watt for the 6870s if you definitely want to SLI. If you have a quad core CPU, several HDDs and a lot of ram, fans...etc with 2 of those cards I think you'd be cutting it very close with 650watt.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Please answer this,
Why don't you just get the Tom's Hardware $1000 build, it will totally outperform the build that you made, it can play every game that exists at max with two 6850s in crossfire.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/build-a-pc,review-32215.html



I hope that I'm not ignored because you are making a mistake here, you can get way better performance with the above build, you can also get a difference case, although the case is pretty good in terms of looks and performance, IMO.
 

cas159

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Jun 24, 2011
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I mean.. there's not much difference between my build and that build after the tips I've gotten above, minus a $20 cheaper case, which i could care less about $20 for something like that, a 100W weaker PSU (don't really feel like buying a second one later on, if I need more Power) and a second graphics card for which idk if I'll even want to bridge for a while. I appreciate the link, and any help anyone offers, but I just don't see a horrendous difference.
 

cas159

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Jun 24, 2011
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I would like to ask though, If a motherboard says it's SLI compatible, or CFX compatible, I'm guessing it's just one or the other, yes? For it to be both, both have to be listed in the features?
 
If a motherboard lists itself as being SLI compatible 99% of the time its crossfire compatible as well, but not all boards that are crossfire compatible are SLI capable because the board vendor must pay a licensing fee to nVidia to have their board support SLI, CF is free to enable.
 

cas159

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Jun 24, 2011
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So, I've updated my list once again.



COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $99.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128500

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity - $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125353

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply - $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K - $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-4GBXM - $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231443

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

LG DVD±RW SuperMulti Drive 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH22NS50 Bulk - OEM - $18.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136216

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1 - $30
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002G1YPH0/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new


Subtotal: $1018.90

Any other potential suggestions/advice? I feel pretty solid about this build, I'm not totally set on the SSD drive, It would boost the system overall, but I'm not sure if that's the proper investment of that $125.
 

z_4

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cas159

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Jun 24, 2011
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Okay, lol, so one last time, this is pretty much what I'm set on here, I was looking around and found some combo deals and adjusted my list as so, I've also upgraded my Case to an HAF 932, as well as my CPU Cooler from the Hyper 212.

Here is what I think is my final list:

Case - $154.48:
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case with USB 3.0 and Black Interior
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

Mobo/Memory Combo - $174.98 (Save $40 with bundle):
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.674958

PSU/HDD Combo - $159.98 (Save $15 with bundle):
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply -
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.668399

CPU/GPU Combo - $444.98 ($30 Instant off GPU, Save $15 with bundle):
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1563-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.662489&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3946032&SID=skim2305X575088Xbbbe64edd9df1578fdcb8015b2716b11

Optical Drive - $18.99:
LG DVD±RW SuperMulti Drive 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH22NS50 Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136216

CPU Cooler - $52.99:
COOLER MASTER V6 GT RR-V6GT-22PK-R1 120mm DynaLoop CPU Cooler w/ Universal bracket & Dual Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103089


Subtotal: $1006.40

Comments/Concerns?