New Gaming Rig (Help Wanted)

[Steve21]

Hey guys,

 

Never really been one for picking best components so looking for a bit of help (*cough* Lot of help *cough*)

 

Pretty much decided the "general setup" I want:

 

i7 2600k CPU (0r 2500k if that much cheaper)

8gb (or 16) 1600Mhz RAM

SSD for OS, and HDD for stuff

 

Now the fun part

 

Not sure if I should go the barebone route, or components. Been looking at a few sites and this seems the closest build:

 

Novatech Barebone Bundle - Intel Core i7 2600K - Corsair Vengence 8GB DDR3 Memory - Asus P8P67 Pro Motherboard - Novatech Gaming Case & 600w Silent Gaming PSU (£599.99 + HDD/Opticals/Graphics)

 

Few questions,

a) Aren't all 2600ks 8MB cache? Says 6MB so not sure if it's typo, or there's 2 types

b) Is there anyway to tell if it's 2x 4GB sticks, aka upgradeable, or 4x 2GB aka need to throw some away to upgrade?

c) Any thoughts on compatible graphics/SSD/HDD? and any other components I'm missing? (Really not a custom build kinda person )

 

 

 

 

Or other option, doing a complete custom build anyone know a good combination of parts that will work? (Or another prebuilt/barebone company). It's not 100% NT route, if there's other good options Just yeah, I know i'm useless

 

Sorry for such a "wide" question, but yeah I suck at custom builds )

 

Thanks Steve

Edited May 8, 2011 by Steve21

[jamesfed]

Have a chat to the Novatech guys over their live chat service - they know their stuff and should be able to let you know about the RAM.

 

For your graphics I've got a AMD 6950 and it gets 7.9 on the Win 7 score and haven't seen it run at anything greater than 60-70% of its rated capacity while running Crysis 2.

 

Looking at the mobo specs it can do 6Gb/s SATA so if you can get something like a OCZ Vertex 3 series for your solid state drive so you can get the very best out of the bandwith on the drive/motherboard.

 

Also the one last question is - what kind of games do you want to run and at what detail level? All too often I have people asking me about gaming PCs only to find out they want to run games on Facebook and think they need a 6 core processor to do it well. (not that you are one of these people but it would be useful to know your requirements)

[dwhyte85]

Get dual 5970s and in your idle time you can do some bitcoin mining to recoup the cost.

 

It's better if you don't pay the electric bill though.

[glennda]

If you want to be 99% sure of custom build componets look at the PC designer on the Lambdatek site LambdaTek Computing

 

works pretty well - you can then find parts cheaper elsewhere!

[Steve21]

Aye, seems everytime I'm on their site live chat is disabled! Silly work times

 

It terms of games, play all sorts really, also getting into video editing a lot.

 

Will take a look at both cards and lamdatek site

 

Thanks!

[Arthur]

a) Aren't all 2600Ks 8MB cache?

They are.

 

b) Is there anyway to tell if it's 2x 4GB sticks, aka upgradeable, or 4x 2GB aka need to throw some away to upgrade?

It's 2x4GB. The spec says it's a "Dual Channel Memory Kit" (unless this is also a typo).

 

c) Any thoughts on compatible graphics/SSD/HDD? and any other components I'm missing?

See below.

 

Not sure if I should go the barebone route, or components. Been looking at a few sites and this seems the closest build.

Personally I would go the DIY route - it's hard to choose parts which won't work together these days . The individual components will almost always have longer warranties (for example, the PSU below has a 5 year warranty) and you won't end up with any crappy parts.

 

 

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K (£197.17)

 

 

Heatsink/Fan: Any of the following. They are all very good choices...

 

Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler inc. fans (£56.86)

Prolimatech Genesis (£49.99 / Review) + 2 x Scythe Slipstream 140mm fan(s) (£7.19 each)

Corsair H70 High-Performance CPU Cooler (£61.39)

 

 

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1,600MHz (PC3-12800) Memory Kit (£67.99)

This is exactly the same as the Corsair Vengeance RAM in the NovaTech PC (i.e. 1.5v 1,600MHz DDR3) except it doesn't come with ridiculous heatsinks which serve no purpose other than to get in the way of the processors' heatsink/fan. Removing or cutting the fins on the heatsink will void the warranty on the Corsair RAM.

 

 

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Pro Rev3 (£117.67)

If you can wait a few more days/weeks, I would get a Z68 motherboard instead. It's what the P67 should have been.

 

 

Power Supply: Seasonic SS-660KM X-Series 660W 92% Efficient Modular PSU (£109.98)

 

 

Graphics Card: As James said, what games are you going to play and what resolution is your monitor?

 

 

Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D Black Mid-Tower Case (£115.65) or Silverstone Fortress FT02B v1.4 (£167.26)

 

 

SSD: Intel 320 Series (160GB = £189.16) or OCZ Vertex 3 (120GB = £178.12 / 240GB = £355.24)

For reliability, go with Intel. For pure speed choose the OCZ SSD. If you can afford it, the 240GB Vertex 3 is significantly faster than the 120GB model. There's also a Max IOPS edition which is even faster still.

 

 

HDD: Hitachi DeskStar 7K3000 (2TB = £62.38), Samsung SpinPoint F4EG (2TB = £46.98) or Western Digital Caviar Black (2TB = £95.69).

 

 

Optical: Pioneer BDR-206DBK (£80.98) or Samsung SH-B123L (£41.32)

 

 

Mouse/Keyboard: Whatever you prefer. For the mouse, I would choose the Logitech G700 (£54.05).

Edited May 8, 2011 by Arthur
Spelling

[Steve21]

I have to ask arthur, Heatsink/Fans, Those really that good? Looks a bit wacky to say the least lol.

 

In terms of the P67 is there much reason to wait for it? Seems not much different from reviews I've read.

 

And graphics wise, Any suggestions? Like I mentioned play many games, and video editting, so would be nice to get a beast. (Not really fussy on SLI and stuff, seems a bit of a waste)

 

Many thanks,

Steve

[Arthur]

I have to ask arthur, Heatsink/Fans, Those really that good? Looks a bit wacky to say the least lol.

The NH-D14 and Genesis are the two of the best air coolers available today which means you should be able to overclock the i7-2600K to at least 4.5GHz while still keeping the processor really cool at the same time. The sheer size of the heatsinks enable you to use larger and slower spinning fans which generate less noise. Always a good thing IMO.

 

The H70 would be a good choice if you don't want 1kg of aluminium hanging off of your motherboard and would like even lower CPU temps.

 

There's a good overview of the Noctua and Corsair coolers in this YouTube video...

 

 

In terms of the P67 is there much reason to wait for it? Seems not much different from reviews I've read.

Z68 motherboards will have a couple of features which the P67 doesn't have: QuickSync with a discrete graphics card and SSD caching. The latter won't be of much use if you, but QuickSync could be a really handy thing to have since you mentioned you work with a lot of video.

 

And graphics wise, Any suggestions?

AMDs Radeon HD 6950 (~£170) or nVidia's GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC (~£160). Both will easily handle the latest games at resolutions up to 1920x1080 with all of the effects set to high. If you have (or are getting) a 27" or 30" LCD you will want a much faster graphics card though.

 

* All prices ex. VAT.

[ovek]

I would wait at least until the beginning of next month, AMD are due to launch their next gen CPU around June 4th(ish).

 

Might as well sit tight and see if its any good.

[3s-gtech]

Bulldozer should at least be interesting, I await the benchmarks to see if it hits the speeds to be competitive. If it does, prices may get cut on the more powerful CPUs very shortly. What resolution screen do you have? The top-end, pricey cards only really hit their stride at 1920x1080 and above now.

[apeo]

Sorry if this is on a tangent but anyone use overclockers? I heard good things about them but never used them before:

 

Systems & Bundles » Pro Gamer - Ultima - Overclockers UK

 

The Demolisher is looks kinda cool but is out my budget.

[Steve21]

Bulldozer should at least be interesting, I await the benchmarks to see if it hits the speeds to be competitive. If it does, prices may get cut on the more powerful CPUs very shortly. What resolution screen do you have? The top-end, pricey cards only really hit their stride at 1920x1080 and above now.

 

Currently 1920x1080, but looking to replace this sometime as it's not got DVI, only VGA (for some reason LG thought that was cool idea)

 

Thanks all,

Steve

[ovek]

Sorry if this is on a tangent but anyone use overclockers? I heard good things about them but never used them before:

 

Systems & Bundles » Pro Gamer - Ultima - Overclockers UK

 

The Demolisher is looks kinda cool but is out my budget.

 

I have... good service etc but it's not the cheapest place.

[jamesfed]

I would wait at least until the beginning of next month, AMD are due to launch their next gen CPU around June 4th(ish).

 

Might as well sit tight and see if its any good.

 

If they get the same kind of performance out of it as the AMD E-350 APU then they should be fantastic processors - my PC here is a Zotac AMD APU processor and it just flies along with everything and anything that I throw at it.

[Dins]

I use overclockers for almost everything. Their support is really good, they helped me when my old GTX280 was sqealing and replaced it with a GTX285 for free.

 

Sometimes more expensive but personally cant fault their service.

[Arthur]

I would wait at least until the beginning of next month, AMD are due to launch their next gen CPU around June 4th(ish). Might as well sit tight and see if its any good.

AMDs new processors should at least match Intel's latest in terms of performance, but I reckon they will be more power hungry...

 

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/20886

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2011/03/leaked-bulldozer-benchmarks-may-give-glimpse-of-amds-future.ars

[apeo]

Hmmm thanks for the input guys, i may just go with a prebuilt one from them if im too lazy build one.

[chazzy2501]

Sorry if this is on a tangent but anyone use overclockers? I heard good things about them but never used them before:

 

Systems & Bundles » Pro Gamer - Ultima - Overclockers UK

 

The Demolisher is looks kinda cool but is out my budget.

 

These guys are great, if you want an OC Rig! + 8GB Ram is plenty, 16GB would be wasted (unless you do hidef video editing)

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention, it's better to pick the video card first and build the system around it. (Don't bother with SLI it's just rubbish) If you have to skimp on the mainboard and cpu do it buy the better video card. Most PCs are CPU bound anyway but it's far better than being GPU bound.

Edited May 9, 2011 by chazzy2501

[apeo]

These guys are great, if you want an OC Rig! + 8GB Ram is plenty, 16GB would be wasted (unless you do hidef video editing)

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention, it's better to pick the video card first and build the system around it. (Don't bother with SLI it's just rubbish) If you have to skimp on the mainboard and cpu do it buy the better video card. Most PCs are CPU bound anyway but it's far better than being GPU bound.

 

Good advise, to be fair i generally go for the best i can for graphics card and whatever cash i have left over is spent on the rest.

 

I did wonder about SLI..

[ovek]

AMDs new processors should at least match Intel's latest in terms of performance, but I reckon they will be more power hungry...

 

Leaked slides reveal Bulldozer, Llano performance - The Tech Report

Leaked Bulldozer benchmarks may give glimpse of AMD's future

 

Yup let's hope Intel counters by dropping the price of the current Sandy Bridge CPU line and finally release the Extreme editions even tho they will be hideously expensive.

[Rydra]

I'm bored of all the hype around overclocking, massive heatsinks, cooling etc. These reviews are not used in a place I like to call "The real world".

 

Comparing a heat sink and fans that are literally so huge that only the largest of cases can contain them, and comparing it against something that can be bolted to a single 120mm fan outlet is idiotic.

 

Not to mention, that the liquid cooling unit pipes all heat to the radiator unit, which is always going to be on the outside of a case...

That mammoth of a heat sink block is millimeters from the graphics card and memory, which is going to suffer from heat radiating from such a massive block so close to it.

 

In an open air environment no contest that big air heat sink is excellent. Inside a case, except the largest of cases with the largest of motherboards, it's going to cook everything around it.

 

And to be absolutely honest, I see no point in going for those oversized and priced coolers.

You do NOT need 4.5GHz of quad core hyperthreaded CPU.

 

I have run 2 eve clients, IRC, TS, MSN, Multiple web browsers, word, excel running macro's and external data sources, outlook, and had music playing, and I STILL do not push the processor to it's limits. Hell I've even done that with a virtual server running Ubuntu, and it still purred along.

 

I find network, and hard drives are the most limiting factor.

 

Unless you are getting into high end video editing/CAD/photography, working with large databases or multiple virtual instances, you simply don't need it.

I run that lot on an I7 950 at stock speeds with a stock cooler. I might go for a new cooling solution eventually, but that's only if I could move to a silent or near silent option. I have a Thermaltake Armor case, so it's big enough to put any cooling solution I want into it.