New build help! (Video Card Decision Help!)

[Sn4tcH20]

Hey! My buddies making a PC. His specs at the moment:

CPU: Intel I5 2500K
Mobo: Asus P8P67 Pro

So, we've been arguing about which video card he should go with, so I figured I would bring this dilemma to the experts.

EVGA 550TI 2GB

or

Power Color 6850 1GB

Also, any other suggestions? His budget is around $1000.

 

[Wolfshadw]

What is your buddy building the system for?

-Wolf sends

 

[megamanx00]

The 6850 is significantly faster than the 550Ti. Even if you wanted to stay with nVidia the GTX 460 is a much better choice and most models are cheaper than that EVGA. 2GB wouldn't really help a card like that since you don't really need that much memory unless you're doing multiple monitors or perhaps a few cases with high detail at 2560x1600. Of course if either situation applies you really should be looking at more graphics muscle than a single 550Ti.

 

[Sn4tcH20]

Gaming and school. He's looking forward to Battlefield 3.

Now we've been talking about liquid cooling. I say it's an unnecesary expense, and all he needs is decent CPU fan, and he should be set to go with Overclocking. He swears up and down that Liquid Cooling is NECESARY to overclock. Any opinions on this, seeing as neither of us really know a whole lot about the topic of overclocking.

 

[megamanx00]

You don't need liquid cooling to overclock, but you can generally reach higher speeds with liquid cooling than air cooling. Even so it's not always worth the expense when that part of your budget can go towards better components.

 

[genghiskron]

honestly, it sounds like your friend would benefit immensely from posting his full build on this forum and taking advice from there. the best way to go about this is by filling out the form linked in my signature.

simply put, overclocking the i5-2500k will do little to nothing if you are running an hd6850. even the cost of a cpu fan ($30) would be better spent towards upgrading to an hd6870. there are also many suitable motherboards far cheaper than the p8p67 pro.

 

[Sn4tcH20]

Here's his current build (which I'm not crazy about...)

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next couple weeks.

Budget Range: $1000 pre-rebates (I know this build is more than that... but that's what he WANTS to spend.)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and School.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse, basically anything not listed here.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg mostly, but if anyone knows any great deals for certain parts, that's fine.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: No preference other than Intel CPU. Also, he would prefer Nvidia, but is more than willing to get an ATI if it's a much better deal.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes, but later. Buy one good card now, and get another one later.

Monitor Resolution: Not sure, but it's an older CRT, so I can't imagine anything too much higher than 1280 X 1024, but... let's say he eventually gets a monitor that can do 1080p.

Additional Comments: His quote "I want to be able to run Battlefield 3 on Max settings with a playable frame rate."

Current Build:

Case: AZZA Hurricane 2000: $146.99

HD: Seagate SV35 2TB: $94.99

Video Card: HIS IceQ Radeon HD6950 2GB: $299.99

Disk Drive: TEAC DVD-Rom: $32.99

Power Supply: Thermaltake TR-800P 800W: $129.99

RAM: G.SKILL Sniper 8GB DDR3 1600: $49.99

Mobo: Open Box: ASUS P8P67 PRO (Rev 3.0): $170.99

CPU: Intel i5-2500K 3.3GHz: $219.99

Also, he hasn't decided on a cooling solution yet, he says he wants liquid cooling, but I keep telling him it's unnecessary. I keep pointing him to THIS fan instead.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't go with an Open Box motherboard. The last thing you want it is to finally get all your components delivered only to find out you're missing SATA cables or worse, the I/O Shield.

-Wolf sends

 

[genghiskron]

well first off, does he realize his $1000 build totals $1145 at the moment? is that the new target?

 

[tk2910]

Here's his current build (which I'm not crazy about...)

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next couple weeks.

Budget Range: $1000 pre-rebates (I know this build is more than that... but that's what he WANTS to spend.)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and School.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse, basically anything not listed here.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg mostly, but if anyone knows any great deals for certain parts, that's fine.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: No preference other than Intel CPU. Also, he would prefer Nvidia, but is more than willing to get an ATI if it's a much better deal.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes, but later. Buy one good card now, and get another one later.

Monitor Resolution: Not sure, but it's an older CRT, so I can't imagine anything too much higher than 1280 X 1024, but... let's say he eventually gets a monitor that can do 1080p.

Additional Comments: His quote "I want to be able to run Battlefield 3 on Max settings with a playable frame rate."

Current Build:

Case: AZZA Hurricane 2000: $146.99

HD: Seagate SV35 2TB: $94.99

Video Card: HIS IceQ Radeon HD6950 2GB: $299.99

Disk Drive: TEAC DVD-Rom: $32.99

Power Supply: Thermaltake TR-800P 800W: $129.99

RAM: G.SKILL Sniper 8GB DDR3 1600: $49.99

Mobo: Open Box: ASUS P8P67 PRO (Rev 3.0): $170.99

CPU: Intel i5-2500K 3.3GHz: $219.99

Also, he hasn't decided on a cooling solution yet, he says he wants liquid cooling, but I keep telling him it's unnecessary. I keep pointing him to THIS fan instead.

If your serious about gaming .. you need at least another grand.......I'm am building my gamer and at the moment my budget is $3600.00...... 12 months ago even less by 2 or 3 months the quote was $4,500 for my hardware.......but I know this system will do me for at least 2 years...my case is a thermaltake liquid cooling system and has 6 fans placed in the case for maximum cooling

 

[Sn4tcH20]

well first off, does he realize his $1000 build totals $1145 at the moment? is that the new target?

Actually, he wants to get it to be $1000 or lower. Seriously, the guy is completely clueless, and keeps on getting opinions from lots of people who "know" computers, and keeps being told lots of different thing (One person actually scolded him for not wanting a mobo with integrated graphics...) Which is why I decided to bring this question here, so he could get some help from knowledgeable people.

That's also why I'm writing for him... since he doesn't actually have a PC at the moment, he fried his last one trying to install a "new" video card...

Personally, I feel he could save some cash going with a cheaper case (Though, what should I be looking for in a decent case?), no liquid cooling, and a different motherboard.

Side note, say he got the 6950, and then decided eventually to crossfire it. What sort of PSU wattage should he be looking for?

 

[expatCanuck]

If your serious about gaming .. you need at least another grand.......I'm am building my gamer and at the moment my budget is $3600.00...... 12 months ago even less by 2 or 3 months the quote was $4,500 for my hardware.......but I know this system will do me for at least 2 years...my case is a thermaltake liquid cooling system and has 6 fans placed in the case for maximum cooling

Certainly, one *can* spend several thousand dollars for a gaming PC.
But it's not necessary. A $1K build can provide plenty of entertainment,
especially given the performance of the i5-2500K.

To the OP -- currently ~$45 at Amazon for an Antec 300 case.
One can spend more money here, but I don't think you get a better gaming experience.
I use an Antec Sonata, & built my son's gaming PC using a Solo.
Plenty good enough.

One does not need 800 flippin' watts.
~$90-100 for a ~650w power supply (PC P&C / Seasonic) is, IMHO, plenty.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

(FYI, I run my Phenom X6 (a 125w CPU), 8GB RAM, two hard drives
and Delta44 sound card on a 430w Antec Earthwatts PSU.
Admittedly, I'm using the on-board graphics, but I do have the headroom to add one
(but not two) video cards. A 550w PSU would provide that headroom.
And the i5 is more efficient than my X6 Phenom.)

A GTX560 card for under $200.
[Yes, one can get faster if one *insists* on spending the $$.]

And, like Wolf, I would STRONGLY counsel against an Open Box motherboard.
An adequate board can be had for ~$150.

Personally, and I'd get a Samsung Spinpoint or a WD Caviar drive over the Seagate --
pick a price range (say, $75-100), sort by rating, pick three depending on storage needs,
compare the read & write speeds, and perform the due-diligence Tom's / Anand / XBitLabs /
SPCR reading. [Left as an exercise for your friend - presumably he should
read up on what he's spending his money for.]

I'd imagine that there are plenty of how-to-build videos on YouTube ... but if your friend's
all thumbs, paying someone local $50-$100 to build the thing may be worthwhile,
if there's a reputable bricks & mortar shop nearby.

 

[genghiskron]

here is my recommended build -$1020. its SLI ready, but i really dont think thats necessary. the 650w psu alternative at the bottom will be fine for a single gtx 570.
dvd: lg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136238
case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119240
hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
cpu cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
cpu + gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.733472
psu + ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.730588
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.730385

 

[008Rohit]

PSU : OCZ 850W Pro - $90 (newegg)
CPU Cooler : CM Hyper 212+ - $29
HDD : Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - $60
2TB ones are slower.
Graphics : EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1567-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 - $229.99
Motherboard : ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 Z68 - $124.99
Optical Drive : LG DVD R/W - $19

Other components are fine.
GTX 560Ti runs games better than the HD 6950 as seen in many benchmarks.

 

[expatCanuck]

PSU : OCZ 850W Pro - $90 (newegg)
CPU Cooler : CM Hyper 212+ - $29
HDD : Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - $60
2TB ones are slower.
Graphics : EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1567-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 - $229.99
Motherboard : ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 Z68 - $124.99
Optical Drive : LG DVD R/W - $19

Other components are fine.
GTX 560Ti runs games better than the HD 6950 as seen in many benchmarks.

+1 on the Cooler.
And everything else about this build, except the PSU.
Don't see that PSU for under $100, and, in my experience, 600-700w will be sufficient:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cases/display/system-wattage.html

 

[megamanx00]

If your serious about gaming .. you need at least another grand.......I'm am building my gamer and at the moment my budget is $3600.00...... 12 months ago even less by 2 or 3 months the quote was $4,500 for my hardware.......but I know this system will do me for at least 2 years...my case is a thermaltake liquid cooling system and has 6 fans placed in the case for maximum cooling

Umm... no. $1000 is more than enough to build a decent rig, and $2000 is to build a great rig. Anything more than that is just excessive, nice to have but not needed.