New Machine for Star Wars: TOR

[chaos2000]

Ok, like the title says, I am beginning to put together a new machine for TOR, my current system is usually pretty tough and runs things fine but, let's just say I think it might be time to upgrade. And by upgrade build a new machine.

Right now I have the following:

940 Phenom II Black @ 3.2ghz
8 Gigs of Ram (800 mhz DDR2)
AMD2+ motherboard
Nvidia 480 GTX
Corsair 650w Power Supply
LG 30" Monitor @ 1920x1080 (HDMI)


It's eaten everything I've thrown at it on max settings yet I look at the new I7's and... well...

Anyways, what I am thinking of is getting an I7-2600K, using an H50 or H70 (Mostly due to the following), and getting a nice midtower. I don't want a fulltower case again, they are just to big and unwieldy. I'd even be interested in building an ITX machine if I could get a good Lian Li Q-35 before they sell out (And I thought it could handle the 480's excessive heat).

Sorry, list format:

I7-2600K (I do a lot of photo manip, art, CS5 stuff as well, is why I want the I7 over the I5)
16 Gigs of 1600mhz DDR3 1.25v Ram
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Corsair TX950 PSU (For when I eventually do SLI)
Crucial M4 256gb SSD
Samsung 1TB conventional HD
and using my old 480 GTX (After all, single monitor @1920x1080, it should still be strong enough)

What I -really- need advice/opinions on, is a Case. (Or if anyone has any experience with an I5-2400K and CS5/Manga Studio EX 4.0 and lets me know it's kosher..)

I am looking at New Egg and TigerDirect for sources, 2000$ limit (Which I know is more than enough). So hit me with midtower case suggestions. If any can handle decent air over the H50 or H70 I'd much prefer air as my only experiences with liquid have been... not good.

 

[Proximon]

You seem to be a bit conflicted here. You can't have it both ways.

If you are planning to SLI, then you either need real water cooling or real air cooling. You don't want the hassle and expense of real water, I'm guessing, so you need a case that will adequately cool two large cards in SLI. Any such case will cool the CPU also, so I see no reason for an H70.

As you say, you do not need another GTX 480 now. By the time you need one they will be too expensive or just unavailable, and a newer single card solution will be a better buy. That's the way it works.

So just get an mATX case with good airflow, and an mATX board.

Lian Li
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112316

ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z LGA 1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131759

And forget about a TX PSU. You are clearly a frequent upgrader and are working in a small space. You need a fully modular PSU.

Seasonic X650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088

 

[chaos2000]

Thanks for the advice. I do like that case you linked, a fair bit. That might be right up my alley. I tend to prefer gigabyte motherboards as they've had an awesome track record for me. You're right about the video card, I tend to upgrade every year or two in an attempt to extend the length of a system with good fps and settings.

Is Seasonic comparable to Corsair? I've been using corsair forever and could easily get a modular corsair instead.

 

[Proximon]

Seasonic builds all of the best Corsair PSUs. They also build all the good Antec PSUs. Seasonic is the best... It's main competitor these days is Super Flower, a brand you have never heard of.

The Seasonic X750 is pretty much the same PSU as the Corsair AX750... just different paint and labels. Corsair does not have a fully modular 650W, and the partly modular HX650 is an older design (I think).

The original TX650 from Corsair was made by CWT. They were not bad... TX750 was as well. Recently Corsair dumped CWT (Channel Well Tech) and are now using Seasonic for the "V2" editions of those PSUs.

My reason for saying 650W is that you need your build to be fairly efficient. If you use a 750W with that type of build you end up with a 20-30% load most of the time, which may not be a huge deal but wastes electricity. Power supplies usually run most efficiently in the 50-60% range.

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks for the advice. I do like that case you linked, a fair bit. That might be right up my alley. I tend to prefer gigabyte motherboards as they've had an awesome track record for me. You're right about the video card, I tend to upgrade every year or two in an attempt to extend the length of a system with good fps and settings.

Is Seasonic comparable to Corsair? I've been using corsair forever and could easily get a modular corsair instead.

Seasonic manufactures the psu's (upper level ones) for Corsair.

 

[chaos2000]

Interesting about the load thing, I didn't know running at 50-60% load was less electricity than 25-30% load on a slightly bigger psu. Good information there. I knew Seasonic made -some- of the Corsairs, but checking reviews on the one linked it was like a bunch of negatives so it made me question. Thanks again for the information.

 

[Proximon]

Most of the bad user reviews of the Seasonic X650 will say things like "the fan doesn't spin". That's a feature not a problem. The fan won't spin until it's needed and because the PSU is so efficient it looses little energy to heat.

My X650 fan does not spin ever. I have an overclocked i7 2600K and overclocked 5870, all water cooled. I pull about 400W from the wall while running Prime95 + Furmark. The PSU has to deliver about 360W then, and it's in my cool case where it never gets very warm.

Ignore newegg user reviews for motherboards and PSUs, and you will be happier. See the PSU guide linked in my sig, and only use quality reviews from the few websites that test PSUs correctly.

X650 review
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=169

 

[ScrewySqrl]

actually, the PC you have will do just fine with SW:TOR, you might consider a 955, but you don't really need to do anything.

 

[chaos2000]

Squirrel: Well, I am in the Beta, and I am still looking to upgrade. I'll just have to leave it at that to not violate NDA.

Proximon: As for the X650 I was talking about reviews where they claim it just died on them within a week. I do understand there are the occasional bad's for every manufacturer, just, have never had a Corsair just die on me.

Still, thanks for the help and opinions.

 

[chaos2000]

Best answer selected by chaos2000.