Too much for gaming?

[dzem22]

I am trying to build a computer for some light-ish gaming, school work, movies, netflix, and some movie maker projects. The games would be Sims 3, Diablo 3, and Skyrim. I'm not really sure what I am doing and am hoping ya'll can give me some advice. This is what I have so far:

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Pre SP1 64-bit
G.SKILL 4gb Micro SDHC Flash Card w/ SD Adapter
Samsung 22x DVD burner SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE
Acer G215HVAbd Blac 21.5'' Full HD Widescreen LCD Moniter(do these have to be widescreen? I prefer full screen.)
Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black Computer Case
Corsair 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory
ASUS PCE-N15 Express 300/300Mbps Transfer/Receive Rate Wireless Adapter
Seagate Carracuda 500GB 3.5" Sata 6.0GB/s Internal Hard Drive- Bare Drive
XFX Radeon HD 6870 HD-687A-ZHFC Video Card
MSI H67MS-E43 (B3) Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-2500 3.3GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus Rs700-PCAAE3-US 700W ATX 12V v2.3 Active PFC Power Supply

I'm ordering from NewEgg and the total stands at 969.89. I would prefer it to go down, but I do want a computer that is going to last me a while. This all makes almost no sense to me so thanks in advance for any help!

P.S Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this forum! First time here.

 

[rolli59]

Every thing is fine except the PSU which is crap! That system would run fine on a 500watt PSU. Here is a 650watt http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

 

[deejayburnout]

seems good to me.

do you have a LCD TV with PC input

if so loose the monitor and plug straight into your TV.

simples

 

[digdog]

the psu is fine.
drop the card reader, save money on the case but get a 2500k and p67 board. forget the wireless, it's bad for gaming (and everything else, really).

 

[Max1s]

You could actually step down to an i3 2100, and then step up graphics to a 7950. Games are more graphically demanding than cpu demanding.

I dont think an i3 will bottleneck a 7950....

Also you will find all monitors are widescreen, as now 4:3 monitors are "exotic" and more expensive.

 

[rolli59]

Here is a review for the 600watt version of the CM extreme power no reason to belief the 700 is any better http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-600-W-Power-Supply-Review/1034/9

 

[DarthTengil]

4 GB RAM is far to low, you should use at least 12GB! I have Windows 7 and 24GB RAM, after have using my new PC for 4 months Windows and everyday programs & applications uses 17% of all that RAM just for surfing!!! Have not installed and played any games yet but then I can imagen that number would go up to at least 30-40%. Know the Micro-ATX boards using very limited RAM space and sockets but try to maximize that first - after 6 months you WILL be pleased with that investment!

My standard filosofie is that the whole computer should be well balanced right through every single component. DONT spend xxxx money to get the latest graphic card and at the same time buy a crapy PSU or get the fastest CPU but just buy 4 GB RAM. Think like this: make the entire PC as good as the component you spend LEAST money on. When I bought my new computer and build it myself I choosed components that was Hi-End for 1-2 years ago. Its still that good and high-end but to the half price, it has just being inside the boxes for a while, but still un-used and NEW. By doing this way I have managed to fill my case with only High-End components and no part is lesser or better then the other - its well balanced right through from the PSU and motherboard and case to keyboard, mouse and speakers!

DONT buy a Micro-ATX motherboard if you have a case that have space for a ATX motherboard, you only will be disaponted in the end when you realize that it maybe is limited to a maximum of say 4GB RAM when you in fact need way more, or finds out that your MB dont have enough SATA 2&3 and USB 2&3 internal sockets/ports. If your planning to use SLI/CrossFire you MUST have at least a ATX board with room for two double-port GPUs with enought space between the GPUs so it comes air into the one mounted above GPU nr 2!!!

DONT stirr you blind on getting an expensive and new GPU, buy insted two cheaper and WELL COOLED GPUs (like MSI N460GTX 1GB HAWK) that uses both watercooling AND fans to keep the noise down and the stabillity (=gaming performance) good, and use SLI/CrossFire, with a motherboard that support 2x16x PCI-e. Make sure you dont get a MB that automaticly downclock both PCI-e sockets to 2x8x when both sockets is used, there is MANY boards that sadly works this way so be sure before you get it!

If you are going to use SLI/CrossFire you also need a good 80+ certificated PSU that have enought power cables to the GPUs and enough W to supply your system with power. A 650W 80+ Corsair PSU is a very good investment, even if it is expensive. Search the forums and google "80+ PSU" so you can read about this and learn. Just for knowledge I use two MSI N460GTX 1GB HAWK in SLI and they demand 2 (two) 6-pin power cables each. For that and many other reasons I also use a Corsair HX850W 80+ silver PSU, OK it costs a lot of money but its worth it beacuse it in the end saves me money on my electric bill! Have tried to overclock the PC until its glowing but that PSU dont even get hot, the airstream is more like a gentle summer windpush!!!

I judge a PC by its PSU - NOT its GPU!

Another tip to get good over-all-performance is to get two small (60-80GB) SSDs and run them in RAID 0 mode and use them as System Disc (C and lay Windows and games on that, after this you can buy a big 2TB HDD to store all your media files on for a cheep sum.

Remember - a good PC is well balanced, a bad PC have the
beast CPU and GPU but all other components are crap!
Harmony is the key to succes 🙂

 

[DarthTengil]

Keep that HAF case, its really good! I have its big brother HAF 932 Advanced and its plenty of room to work in and its so smart to be able to draw and hide every cable behind the back plate! Just make sure to build and create some sort of dust-filters on your own and place them on the outside both on top, the side, the bottom and front (the plastic removeble thing at the lower part of the front). Make wooden frames thats at least 1,5 cm wide and use layers of fly-net or any other things like lady socks to stop the dust to get into your computer. Otherwise it will rain in dust from the top and blow in dust from the fans.

 

[Max1s]

Well I dont think 24GB of RAM is a "balanced" approach. Nothing he will do will even use 12GB. 24 is just overkill.

 

[DarthTengil]

Maybe not for you. I see it this way: 5 years from now I will NOT be able to get ANY RAM at all that suits my PC if I then need it. My PC is thought to last for at least 10 years, by then everything needs twice as more RAM then today. I can always buy new GPUs later as long they use PCI-e, but I cant replace either my CPU, Moderboard or RAM. The rest of my PC will last for at least 10 years because the components is of very high quallity. Yes, 24GB is overkill and is nothing everyone needs, but since they was so cheep at the time I bought them (timing and waiting out the market for years) I had the money to spend on them. So as I said: its balanced both in hardware and time 🙂 If you think other things its up to you. I just try to give this new guy some advice and to dont make all the misstake I have done before when getting new components (for example getting a cheeper AMD that in the end sucks insted of investing in a Intel CPU that last a long time and always is stable).

 

[amuffin]

:lol:

Here is a review for the 600watt version of the CM extreme power no reason to belief the 700 is any better http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eXtreme-Power-Plus-600-W-Power-Supply-Review/1034/9

They all suck...

 

[dzem22]

Best answer selected by dzem22.

 

[dzem22]

Thanks for all the advice! Really appreciate it!

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

5 years from now I will NOT be able to get ANY RAM at all that suits my PC if I then need it.

That's not even close to true. Hell, you can still get non-DDR RAM right now, if you need it. Maybe not from Newegg, Amazon etc., but you CAN find it. The point is, having ALL of that RAM right now, just to be future proof, is illogical. DDR3 RAM will still be available NEW for many years to come.

The ONLY reason to have more than 8GB, currently, is if you're doing a lot of media editing or run a lot of VM's at the same time. And in THAT case, you'd want an i7 (maybe even LGA2011), anyway. Even that probably won't be future proof beyond 5 years for that purpose, though, and certainly not 10.