Hi. I would appreciate some advice and thoughts on my new gaming build. I'm building this rig purely for gaming. More specifically, upcoming games like BF3, Skyrim, Diablo3 and SWtOR. I've got a budget it mind- about $2,000.00, but am willing to (+/-) about $150. I'll be ordering from MWave- I've heard good things about them (http://www.mwave.com.au). Please note that prices are in $AUS.
I've mainly been a Mac user for the past 5 years- have not been gaming at all but would like to get back into it, hence the new PC. That being said, I haven't been keeping track of all the new processors, chip sets, graphic cards, etc. I tried doing my own research and asked a few mates for advice and this is the build I came up with:
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Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer (SGC-1000-KWN1) – $99.99
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO – $235.10
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K – $339.00
Graphic Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 (1536MB 384-bit GDDR5) – $529.00
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB(2x4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit – $78.00
Power Supply: Corsair AX Series 850W ATX Power Supply (AX850) – $245.00
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB – $169.00
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Fan Cooler – $43.70
Blu-ray Drive: Samsung SH-B123A 12x Blu-ray/DVD Combo Drive – $93.50
Monitor: Samsung BX2450 24" Slim Full HD Widescreen LED Backlight Monitor – $199.00
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium – SP1 (64-Bit – DVD Single Pack OEM) – $109.00
Total Cost: $2,140.29
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1. Firstly, I'm worried about compatibility. Will all these components work together? I've matched what I could, ie. LGA1155 MB w/ the 2600K CPU and have downloaded the ASUS P8Z68-V Pro manual to see the list of compatible memory modules (Corsair Vengeance 8GB – CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 is listed on there)- but I suppose it would not hurt getting advice from professionals such as yourselves!
2. Will all these things fit inside the case? I've had a look at specifications for the case in online reviews. From my understanding, everything should fit. The CPU Cooler is the one I'm concerned about the most, but according a review I found, here were the maximum dimensions:
CPU cooler maximum height: 175mm
VGA card maximum length: 270mm (with HDD cage)
PSU maximum length: 190mm
3. Please note that I intend to Crossfire/SLI in the future. I understand that the motherboard I have chosen could be a bit of an overkill, especially at the moment with the parts I've chosen. The way I see it however, is that I can probably save about $80 and get a motherboard that would suffice, but I'm looking into future-proofing the system and I'm willing to spend extra on the motherboard because quite frankly, it never hurts to have a decent one as opposed to one that would just about get you by. I'm also willing to spend extra on the PSU. I remember my old PC having some serious power issues and I really don't want to deal with that any more. Will a gold-certified 850W suffice if I intend to Crossfire/SLI in the near future?
4. Speaking of graphic cards, I've read that a single GTX580 should just about be able to max out BF3. A mate of mine told me to spend an extra $70 and get the Superclocked version of this. Is this worth it?
5. As you can probably see, I have not included a SSD in this build. It's not that I can't afford it or sacrifice a few things to get one. It's simply because I am not very fussed about load times and such. I'm a patient guy (I think) and I've read that there's not much difference in terms of FPS between HDD and SSD's when it comes to gaming. Sure, load times would be quicker but I just feel as though SSD's are a bit too pricey at the moment and will probably come down in price and go up in reliability if I wait another year or so. Elaborating on the HDD, I did some digging on which drive to choose. I was tossing up between dual Samsung F3's (1GB) or the Cavier Black (2GB) and found that the Cavier Black was a better drive to have the Operating System installed on. I won't be switching to a SSD anytime soon, so I figured I'd go with the Cavier Black. My mate swears by the Samsung F3's though, but I don't know, I've never had any problems with WD when it comes to storage. Thoughts on this?
6. What do you think of the monitor? Don't think I can go wrong when it comes to Samsung and LED, and a 2ms response time should be good for gaming shouldn't it? If you guys can think of a better one to go for at a similar price range, please feel free to tell me.
I think that's pretty much it. I apologize for the long post but I do have a lot of questions! Would you guys make any changes to this build? Any thoughts/advice/help would be greatly appreciate it.
Thanks.
I've mainly been a Mac user for the past 5 years- have not been gaming at all but would like to get back into it, hence the new PC. That being said, I haven't been keeping track of all the new processors, chip sets, graphic cards, etc. I tried doing my own research and asked a few mates for advice and this is the build I came up with:
****************************
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer (SGC-1000-KWN1) – $99.99
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO – $235.10
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K – $339.00
Graphic Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 (1536MB 384-bit GDDR5) – $529.00
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB(2x4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit – $78.00
Power Supply: Corsair AX Series 850W ATX Power Supply (AX850) – $245.00
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB – $169.00
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Fan Cooler – $43.70
Blu-ray Drive: Samsung SH-B123A 12x Blu-ray/DVD Combo Drive – $93.50
Monitor: Samsung BX2450 24" Slim Full HD Widescreen LED Backlight Monitor – $199.00
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium – SP1 (64-Bit – DVD Single Pack OEM) – $109.00
Total Cost: $2,140.29
****************************
1. Firstly, I'm worried about compatibility. Will all these components work together? I've matched what I could, ie. LGA1155 MB w/ the 2600K CPU and have downloaded the ASUS P8Z68-V Pro manual to see the list of compatible memory modules (Corsair Vengeance 8GB – CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 is listed on there)- but I suppose it would not hurt getting advice from professionals such as yourselves!
2. Will all these things fit inside the case? I've had a look at specifications for the case in online reviews. From my understanding, everything should fit. The CPU Cooler is the one I'm concerned about the most, but according a review I found, here were the maximum dimensions:
CPU cooler maximum height: 175mm
VGA card maximum length: 270mm (with HDD cage)
PSU maximum length: 190mm
3. Please note that I intend to Crossfire/SLI in the future. I understand that the motherboard I have chosen could be a bit of an overkill, especially at the moment with the parts I've chosen. The way I see it however, is that I can probably save about $80 and get a motherboard that would suffice, but I'm looking into future-proofing the system and I'm willing to spend extra on the motherboard because quite frankly, it never hurts to have a decent one as opposed to one that would just about get you by. I'm also willing to spend extra on the PSU. I remember my old PC having some serious power issues and I really don't want to deal with that any more. Will a gold-certified 850W suffice if I intend to Crossfire/SLI in the near future?
4. Speaking of graphic cards, I've read that a single GTX580 should just about be able to max out BF3. A mate of mine told me to spend an extra $70 and get the Superclocked version of this. Is this worth it?
5. As you can probably see, I have not included a SSD in this build. It's not that I can't afford it or sacrifice a few things to get one. It's simply because I am not very fussed about load times and such. I'm a patient guy (I think) and I've read that there's not much difference in terms of FPS between HDD and SSD's when it comes to gaming. Sure, load times would be quicker but I just feel as though SSD's are a bit too pricey at the moment and will probably come down in price and go up in reliability if I wait another year or so. Elaborating on the HDD, I did some digging on which drive to choose. I was tossing up between dual Samsung F3's (1GB) or the Cavier Black (2GB) and found that the Cavier Black was a better drive to have the Operating System installed on. I won't be switching to a SSD anytime soon, so I figured I'd go with the Cavier Black. My mate swears by the Samsung F3's though, but I don't know, I've never had any problems with WD when it comes to storage. Thoughts on this?
6. What do you think of the monitor? Don't think I can go wrong when it comes to Samsung and LED, and a 2ms response time should be good for gaming shouldn't it? If you guys can think of a better one to go for at a similar price range, please feel free to tell me.
I think that's pretty much it. I apologize for the long post but I do have a lot of questions! Would you guys make any changes to this build? Any thoughts/advice/help would be greatly appreciate it.
Thanks.