# Build advice



## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

The idea is a hardcore gaming pc for under $1500.

Case is set in stone, so cannot change that.

I wanted to do a Single SSD for the OS and dual drives for raid 1 for everything else (just my idea in case something happens)

So what I came up with is this.



Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$169.99

2 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4EG HD155UI 1.5TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$119.98
($59.99 each)

XFX HD-695X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
$239.99


CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$69.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH
$64.99

Kingston DataTraveler 101 Gen 2 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (Cyan) Model DT101G2/4GBZ
$0.00


ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$169.99

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
$314.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
$99.99

Scythe SY1225SL12H 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan (89cfm/32dba)
$19.98
($9.99 each)

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler I5 775 AMD compatible
$34.99

XIGMATEK ACK-I5361 Intel Core i7/Core i5/1155 compatible Bracket Set
$9.99

LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo with SW SATA Model iHES112-29
$74.99

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive
$99.99

Total:: $1,505.00


If your post doesn't contribute, i'm flagging it as trolling. If I think you're being sarcastic/trolling/flaming/insulting/maniuplating, i'm reporting you.


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## Thrackan (Aug 24, 2011)

I don't see anything wrong there, except that I have a strong aversion against OCZ... That, and $1505 > $1500, so you will need to get a package deal to get under your budget


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## repman244 (Aug 24, 2011)

For gaming, go for i5-2500k, AFAIK HT is useless when it comes to gaming.


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## DrunkenMafia (Aug 24, 2011)

+1 for the 2500k, cheaper and will run any game just as fast.  I would also consider some 7200rpm drives for your raid, I have a couple of 5900rpm drives in my HTPC and they are noticably slower.  The SSD is good, I have never had any problems with ocz although I would try stretch it to the 3 series of drives as you will get almost double the performance with sata 3, you could also try corsair as I have heard good reports about them.

Do you need a bluray drive?  You could also save $50 and get a std dvd burner.
I think your best performance boost will come from changing to 2500k and upgrading to sata 3 series SSD.  You may even save enough to jump up to 6970 territory.

GL with the build


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## Fourstaff (Aug 24, 2011)

You probably want to consider getting 1600Mhz ram, I heard that is the sweet spot for Sandy Bridge processors.


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## repman244 (Aug 24, 2011)

Fourstaff said:


> You probably want to consider getting 1600Mhz ram, I heard that is the sweet spot for Sandy Bridge processors.



For pure gaming there is no difference, of course if you can find 1600MHz RAM for the same price as 1333MHz then go 4 it 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4503/sandy-bridge-memory-scaling-choosing-the-best-ddr3/6


And like DrunkenMafia said, you almost save enough money by going with a 2500k to get a 6970.


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## the54thvoid (Aug 24, 2011)

On synthetic benchmarks HT makes a big difference but like many authors say, in games, it is less applicable.  If you can go with a 2500k and save $95 ($314 for a 2600k versus $219 for a 2500k), I'd upgrade the gfx (new gfx budget = $335 which keeps it at 1505?)

You can get a Custom EVGA 1.2Gb GTX 570 with dual fan for $335
EVGA 012-P3-1577-KR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) HD Dou...

or a 2GB custom 6950 for $299
MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB ...

Either card is better than the one listed on your spec plus, with the 2500k overclocked you'd get way more legroom than with the 1GB model card you have down.


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## entropy13 (Aug 24, 2011)

You'd probably want the Vertex 3 too, or a SATA III SSD at least. You would just be wasting your board's SATA 6Gb/s if you stick with the Vertex 2. 

And does it HAVE to be an Asus P8P67 PRO? Biostar's Z68 boards are good already, yet a bit cheaper.

Cooler Master Hyper 212+ is cheaper than that Xigmatek, and does not need any additional purchase of a bracket.


So you save a bit on the board and cooler, add a bit on the SSD, and go with DDR3-1600 RAM.


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 24, 2011)

Drop the 2600K to a 2500K and my take on the board:

ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI S...

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6...


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## LordJummy (Aug 24, 2011)

Get the 2500K instead, and upgrade to a 69502GB or 6970. I wouldn't call a 6950 1GB enough for a "hardcore gaming" machine.


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## douglatins (Aug 24, 2011)

Also get a better cooler and a faster current gen SSD, like the force gt 120gb.


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## TheMailMan78 (Aug 24, 2011)

Not at least curious what AMD will bring next month before deciding? I mean seriously Bulldozer may be worth the wait. Who knows. Just wait man.


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## yogurt_21 (Aug 24, 2011)

case is eating too much of the budget imo.

go for a cheaper one and then pick up either an unlockable 2GB 6950  or a 6970 as lordjummy said.

no point in wimping out on the gpu on a hardcore gaming machine simply for a prettier case. Cases can easily be modded for much much less money.


also I'd recomend a 2x2GB memory kit at 1866 or higher long before a 1333 2x4GB kit. try to get 1600 at least lest youre memory will be a major point of lag. Actually the 2x4GB 1866 kits are just 80$ anyways.

also most people on SB have run into an issue with 4GB sticks and overclocking. Paulieg and a few others would be able to tell you more.


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## happita (Aug 24, 2011)

douglatins said:


> Also get a better cooler and a faster current gen SSD, like the force gt 120gb.



With that cooler, he can easily get that i7 to 4.5 no problem at all. Unless he wants to spend an extra $30+ to get a few more hundred Mhz, that's up to him.

And I agree with douglatins on the SSD, whynot get a bigger/faster 1? Does the budget stop you from doing so? Or do you feel that you just don't need it?


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## PopcornMachine (Aug 24, 2011)

repman244 said:


> For gaming, go for i5-2500k, AFAIK HT is useless when it comes to gaming.



I wouldn't say useless, but certainly not enough to justify spending 50% more.

2500k is the best bang for the buck.


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestions. Not going to lie, I expected to have to flag a few posts with useless information and trolling like mailman did. 

The only thing that has to remain is that case. EVERYTHING else can be changed.

I can see your point for the hard drives, ssd, ram, and processor.

I could get a sata3 ssd, get 7200rpm drives, 1600/1866 ram, and an i5 along with a 6990 instead. 

Either way, budget is $1500


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## dank1983man420 (Aug 24, 2011)

That case is only $149 shipped After a $10 rebate and $10 promo code right now at newegghttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139005  (promo code ends today), so that should help give you a few extra dollars of wiggle room for the 1600 mhz ram or  better gpu


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## happita (Aug 24, 2011)

If you want, you can replace that MB with this Biostar I picked out for ya: BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb...

From what I've heard about this thing, it gives the best bang for your buck. Plus it shaves off an extra $40 so you can use that towards something else like a stronger video card


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## douglatins (Aug 24, 2011)

Get the thermalright MACHO then man. Its a loooot better


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## newtekie1 (Aug 24, 2011)

A few suggestions:

1.) Get Win7 Pro.  Home Premium is limitted to 16GB, and if you are buying it now and plan to stick with Win7 for a while, then you might as well get something that isn't artificially limitted with memory.  Plus Microsoft plans to support Pro for 3 years longer than Home Premium and Ultimiate.

2.) I'd drop the ripjaw RAM, it is too pricey.  You can go with some Kingston HyperX 1600MHz RAM for $49 shipped.  And since you don't really overclock the RAM any on 1155 due to the essentially locked BCLK, you can get generic RAM and it is fine.

3.)  Drop down to a 2500K instead.  Hyperthreading isn't all that useful in games, or most other software actually.  And doing this long with the RAM should help off set the cost of Windows 7 Pro, along with maybe allowing for a slightly upgraded video card.


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 24, 2011)

Just wanted to give my input on a build as a whole:

XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 ...
Team Xtreem LV Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 S...
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6...
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Tu...
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III...
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cac...
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L... * $20 off with EMCKBJB36*
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...240_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_-HOT.html

$95 total mail-in rebates and could add the 6950 to the loop later


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## TheMailMan78 (Aug 24, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. Not going to lie, I expected to have to flag a few posts with useless information and trolling like mailman did.
> 
> The only thing that has to remain is that case. EVERYTHING else can be changed.
> 
> ...



Useless information huh? Because I told you to wait a few weeks? Well enjoy your potentially dated build.


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## trickson (Aug 24, 2011)

As far as the posted setup I would not really change a thing looks great . But I would advise you to wait and see what AMD has to offer .

Also , with post's like this ,





freaksavior said:


> I seriously didn't intend to post here any more but hard forum pissed me off even more than what happened here.





freaksavior said:


> If your post doesn't contribute, I'm flagging it as trolling. If I think you're being sarcastic/trolling/flaming/insulting/manipulating, I'm reporting you.


  I am not incline to give any more advice than this . I would also caution TPU users to NOT post here as well . You should get a batter attitude . Good luck .


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

newtekie1 said:


> A few suggestions:
> 
> 1.) Get Win7 Pro.  Home Premium is limitted to 16GB, and if you are buying it now and plan to stick with Win7 for a while, then you might as well get something that isn't artificially limitted with memory.  Plus Microsoft plans to support Pro for 3 years longer than Home Premium and Ultimiate.
> 
> ...



This is true, I forgot about that regarding win 7 home premium.  



JrRacinFan said:


> Just wanted to give my input on a build as a whole:
> 
> XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 ...
> Team Xtreem LV Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 S...
> ...



Can't do the case. Has to be the white one. 
Everything else looks pretty good. I did pick the 6970 to see the price difference though. I do like the idea of the watercooling loop. 

From the tid bit of info i have read, asus boards are not what they used to be.  


TheMailMan78 said:


> Useless information huh? Because I told you to wait a few weeks? Well enjoy your potentially dated build.



Didn't mean it like that sir. I apologize. if AMD's bulldozer comes out before the build happens, i'll happily reconsider.


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## qubit (Aug 24, 2011)

Hey, nice to see you back, freaky. 

"Troll post" or not, I have to agree with MM to wait for AMD's Bulldozer CPU to be released in about a month. You know how it is with these major launches, the whole market gets turned upside down and today's hot chip is tomorrow's has-been.

Wait, definitely wait. I want an i5-2500K system and I'm sitting tight.

Here's a really good breakdown of which Windows 7 edition has what feature - scroll down to the big comparison chart. Personally, I'm not happy with anything less than Ultimate, regardless if I'm gonna use every feature or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions

As this will be used for a personal build, why not get a TechNet sub and be done with it? You get 5 keys for every edition of all versions of Windows, plus lots of other MS products. It's worth thousands, yet only costs a few hundred, because of the "evaluation" restriction. For home use, this is no problem at all!

See what you get here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/downloads/default.aspx

Dude, it's a no-brainer.


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 24, 2011)

First off sorry about the re-post

Yeah like I said, that's my personal choices with the build. Posted that to give you a couple ideas.

Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...

Here's a combo deal with the case & psu.

2 coupon codes on those that are valid TODAY only
EMCKBJB37
EMCKBJB36

EDIT:

They are only valid if not purchasing the combo but as seperate  But it comes out to be $10 cheaper when seperate


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## trickson (Aug 24, 2011)

About Windows 7 get the 64 bit edition as it is GREAT ! As for the setup the OP has listed I like it all really I do . I am not familiar with DDR3 RAM but Kingston Hyper X RAM ( the kind I have ) Is the best I have ever had . So I would venture to guess that if you can get some in DDR3 then do so .


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

qubit said:


> Hey, nice to see you back, freaky.
> 
> "Troll post" or not, I have to agree with MM to wait for AMD's Bulldozer CPU to be released in about a month. You know how it is with these major launches, the whole market gets turned upside down and today's hot chip is tomorrow's has-been.
> 
> ...



Yes and no, since I already have a license for every other machine, it's not much use to pay for that at this point. 

i5 is for sure, and again bulldozer if the build doesn't happen. i5 is plenty fast just like my current i7 but this is dedicated for gaming and i5 does pretty damn good at it. 



JrRacinFan said:


> First off sorry about the re-post
> 
> Yeah like I said, that's my personal choices with the build. Posted that to give you a couple ideas.
> 
> ...





trickson said:


> About Windows 7 get the 64 bit edition as it is GREAT ! As for the setup the OP has listed I like it all really I do . I am not familiar with DDR3 RAM but Kingston Hyper X RAM ( the kind I have ) Is the best I have ever had . So I would venture to guess that if you can get some in DDR3 then do so .



64 bit is a must, with anything over 3gb of ram and then the video card, it's stupid not to get it.  


I have crucial value ram, and it'll overclock to 2133 but I do know the kingston is good stuff. 


Right now with Jr's addons, i'm over the 1500. The SSD is what's killing me. 

$1,497.00  + the Price: $129.99   watercooling loop.


```
2 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
($59.99 each)


XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
$274.99

Team Xtreem LV Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model TXD34096M2000HC9KDC-L
$49.99

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$159.99

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
$219.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit
$139.99

LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo with SW SATA Model iHES112-29
$74.99

OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
$194.99

Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply 
$249.9

Total $1,497.00
```


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## johnspack (Aug 24, 2011)

2600k.  ht is not useless,  I've already found my flying sim + windows will actively use 6 threads,  which gave a performance boost in my sim.   even crysis 2 was showing activity on 5 threads.  but if you have the money,  i'd wait for sb-e and get a real cpu......


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## trickson (Aug 24, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> 64 bit is a must, with anything over 3gb of ram and then the video card, it's stupid not to get it.
> 
> 
> I have crucial value ram, and it'll overclock to 2133 but I do know the kingston is good stuff.
> ...



Yes SSD's are way over priced right now but man they are fantastic to have . 
All I know is that the kingston RAM I have has been better than any of the fancy name brand stuff I have ever had . Kingston RAM is a must have in my next build as well . I have been able to get my RAM to do things I could never get corsair , Crucial or Patriot RAM to do . If I were you maybe you could get the SSD drive later on maybe wait some and save up Just a thought . Could keep your price down some .


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## theeldest (Aug 24, 2011)

Personally, I like simple. Have you considered Intel's SSD caching with the Z68 chipset?

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI S...
SSD: Intel 311 Series Larsen Creek 20GB mSATA SATA II S...

60GB is going to get pretty cozy. My 120GB filled up faster than I'd imagined with only OS + Games & Apps.

Sure you end up with a smaller drive but it intelligently caches on the block level to maximize functional use. It's also an enterprise class SLC drive for better reliability / performance.


It's up to you, though. Peeps seem to be opposed to SRT on this forum.


And @johnspack: In the benchmarks I've seen, the 2500k and 2600k trade places for top performer in games. Some will see a benefit, some will see a hit. Save the $100 and spend more on GPU.


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## trickson (Aug 24, 2011)

OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III M...

I found this on the Egg if this helps you it has a rebate .


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## johnspack (Aug 24, 2011)

Yes,  I guess if you know what you are going to run beforehand,  and know you won't be running anything that could use more than 4 threads in the future,  the 2500k is a stellar performer.


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## newtekie1 (Aug 24, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> From the tid bit of info i have read, asus boards are not what they used to be.



Saddly this is true, but I would still say they are some of the best boards around.  Just not the absolute tanks they used to be.  Or maybe it is just that everyone else is getting better, it makes ASUS look worse than they used to be by comparison?  IDK.

Anyway, I actually agree with JrRacingFan's suggestion of an ASRock board.  Since ASUS bought them ASRock has steadily improved in quality, to the point that I consider them in every build I do.  The bang for the buck that you get with them is very good.


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## trickson (Aug 24, 2011)

newtekie1 said:


> Saddly this is true, but I would still say they are some of the best boards around.  Just not the absolute tanks they used to be.  Or maybe it is just that everyone else is getting better, it makes ASUS look worse than they used to be by comparison?  IDK.
> 
> Anyway, I actually agree with JrRacingFan's suggestion of an ASRock board.  Since ASUS bought them ASRock has steadily improved in quality, to the point that I consider them in every build I do.  The bang for the buck that you get with them is very good.



I would have to agree I have been hearing good things about Asrock as of late and maybe getting one myself soon . Almost time for a new build !


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## qubit (Aug 24, 2011)

newtekie1 said:


> Saddly this is true, but I would still say they are some of the best boards around.  Just not the absolute tanks they used to be.  Or maybe it is just that everyone else is getting better, it makes ASUS look worse than they used to be by comparison?  IDK.
> 
> Anyway, I actually agree with JrRacingFan's suggestion of an ASRock board.  Since ASUS bought them ASRock has steadily improved in quality, to the point that I consider them in every build I do.  The bang for the buck that you get with them is very good.



That's good to know about the ASRocks. I'll consider this as a budget buy for my non-computer literate friend who needs a new PC at the moment. 

Since I bought my Gigabyte board (see specs) I haven't looked back. Rock solid stability and awesome set of features and overclockability. I especially like the dual BIOS feature for peace of mind.  My next build is likely to be based around a Gigabyte mobo.


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

theeldest said:


> Personally, I like simple. Have you considered Intel's SSD caching with the Z68 chipset?
> 
> Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI S...
> SSD: Intel 311 Series Larsen Creek 20GB mSATA SATA II S...
> ...



That's 20gb. meh not enough. The z68, I have no problem with. 



trickson said:


> OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III M...
> 
> I found this on the Egg if this helps you it has a rebate .



That may be closer to what we go with. It doesn't need to be big, just enough for the OS and a game or two. Everything else can go on the mechanical drives.


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## theeldest (Aug 24, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> That's 20gb. meh not enough. The z68, I have no problem with.
> 
> 
> 
> That may be closer to what we go with. It doesn't need to be big, just enough for the OS and a game or two. Everything else can go on the mechanical drives.



20GB isn't really 20GB when it's block level caching. Have you read Anand's review on SRT?

His test ran about 6 games a couple times to see the performance increase as it got cached. Was pretty close to a stand alone SSD. His only complaint was stuff getting ejected when he loaded the *entire* adobe creative suite.

I'm not sure if that's a realistic test for you (it's certainly not for me).

If you think you do need more than the 20GB and you're looking at OZC the switch from Agility to Vertex would probably make a difference given the higher write performance.

OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III ML...


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 24, 2011)

I have tried many different motherboards with SB and have found all capable. Go with the cheapest you can find...Biostar seems to lead in that respect right now.


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## trickson (Aug 24, 2011)

rickss69 said:


> I have tried many different motherboards with SB and have found all capable. Go with the cheapest you can find...Biostar seems to lead in that respect right now.



I would go for an Asrock before a Biostar JMHO. Never had a good Biostar MB ever .


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

PopcornMachine said:


> I like the ignore feature on this forum quite a bit.



I really like the flag feature which I just used on your useless post. 



theeldest said:


> 20GB isn't really 20GB when it's block level caching. Have you read Anand's review on SRT?
> 
> His test ran about 6 games a couple times to see the performance increase as it got cached. Was pretty close to a stand alone SSD. His only complaint was stuff getting ejected when he loaded the *entire* adobe creative suite.
> 
> ...



From price point, OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III M... is more appearling. This puts me just at $1500. 



rickss69 said:


> I have tried many different motherboards with SB and have found all capable. Go with the cheapest you can find...Biostar seems to lead in that respect right now.



Good to know. Thanks. 

______________________________

Currently listed

2 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
($59.99 each)


XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
$274.99

Team Xtreem LV Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model TXD34096M2000HC9KDC-L
$49.99

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$159.99

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
$219.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit
$139.99

LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo with SW SATA Model iHES112-29
$74.99

OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) 
$94.99

Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply 
$249.9

Total $1,397.00 
+ watercooling 129.99 = 1526. Need to shave down about $30

I think I would still like 8gb just because but since we are so close to the $1500 limit i'm not sure.

I could skip a hard drive, but the recent trend i've had with drives id rather run a raid 1 just in case one died out.


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## trickson (Aug 24, 2011)

You could get a better cheaper LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA In... That saves you some .
Oh One more thing this is my 4,000th post !!!


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 24, 2011)

trickson said:


> I would go for an Asrock before a Biostar JMHO. Never had a good Biostar MB ever .


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

trickson said:


> You could get a better cheaper LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA In... That saves you some .



True. That's nearly $20. Need about 10 more shaved off.

Also, anybody else have suggestions/concerns on the mobo or psu? I'm liking everything else so far.


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## Derek12 (Aug 24, 2011)

I saw some ASRock Boards with bad capacitors, what I can't know if it were cause by bad board, bad PSU or bad cooling. I believe the last one!

However I have friends with ASRock ones and they are working strong for years  and very budget value ones


I also have told that Corsair builder series aren't recommended because of bad experienced with vented caps and failure rates I didn't experience for my own (I don't have that PSU) but maybe they are right (or no).


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## erocker (Aug 24, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. Not going to lie, I expected to have to flag a few posts with useless information and trolling like mailman did.



I suggests you keep your own thread on topic. This discussion is not relevant to it. If you have a problem with a post, report it. Stay on topic.


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

Edited cart with the 1gb 6950 again. At 1920x1080, there is no gain and $40 wasted. 

So replace the 2gb in my previous list with 1 gb and total is $1,342.10 + 129.99 + 1471


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## trickson (Aug 24, 2011)

I am not sure about this but you could get 2 of these HDD's and save Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 ...
But this depends on you HDD requirements . 1T x2 is a bit much for me . I have 2 500GB in RAID0 and find that is more than enough for me .


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## LordJummy (Aug 24, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> Edited cart with the 1gb 6950 again. At 1920x1080, there is no gain and $40 wasted.
> 
> So replace the 2gb in my previous list with 1 gb and total is $1,342.10 + 129.99 + 1471



Actually in some newer high end games the 2GB is very much needed at 1080p. I usually play in eyefinity, but some stuff just on one screen and I've seen vram go over 1GB easily with everything fully maxed.


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## Fourstaff (Aug 24, 2011)

trickson said:


> I am not sure about this but you could get 2 of these HDD's and save Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 ...
> But this depends on you HDD requirements . 1T x2 is a bit much for me . I have 2 500GB in RAID0 and find that is more than enough for me .



He has a larger collection 

Actually I am pretty interested with the 1gb/2gb decision, when the 8800 came out the 512mb became quite a bit faster than the 256mb version after only half a year because of new releases. Do you think the 1gb version will suffer the same problem? At least on 1080p that is.


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## erocker (Aug 24, 2011)

LordJummy said:


> Actually in some newer high end games the 2GB is very much needed at 1080p. I usually play in eyefinity, but some stuff just on one screen and I've seen vram go over 1GB easily with everything fully maxed.



I have yet to run into a problem. I'm sure there are a couple games out there and I'm also sure that there are some games out there with memory leaks.


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## Derek12 (Aug 24, 2011)

I would choose that or a similar one but the CX series

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V ...


$94 but at least is a reliable one and some people taught me that the PSU is the most important thing: if it blows it can blow all your computer and a cheap one is really more expensive.

And I have bad references for the CX builder series from Corsair.

my 2 cents 


EDIT I saw now that you changed it


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 24, 2011)

Then don't get the ssd and substitute it with 2 more f3's and run raid 5. It will give you a 1 drive fault tolerance with performance of raid 0.


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## LordJummy (Aug 24, 2011)

erocker said:


> I have yet to run into a problem. I'm sure there are a couple games out there and I'm also sure that there are some games out there with memory leaks.



Oh I'm sure some games do have memory leaks - but some are just straight up hogs.

It all depends on what games you play and your settings. You're running 1GB 6950's just to be sure, right Erocker?

I haven't had any problems as my cards are all 2GB, but I have watched usage go as high as 1.48GB. The most obvious culprit is GTA4 once totally maxed out, and it can shoot all the way up to 2GB+ with mods.

I agree that in most common games he won't have problems, but if he plays any super high end games he just might. Also, newer DX11 games are probably going to start going over 1GB easily with everything maxed out. I just think the price difference is worth the peace of mind.   In his case though, maybe he should skimp to fit budget. 


freaksavior: have you considered looking for any parts on craigslist, ebay, or other ways of getting new parts cheaper? Might help you go higher end without breaking your budgie. For example last night I found a Corsair HX1000 brand new for $100. A few weeks ago I also got two GTX 480's (one brand new, one mint) for $200 and $185 respectively. You can get some insane deals right now due to the world economies currently imploding. Build the machine now while we still have power infrastructure XD


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## erocker (Aug 24, 2011)

LordJummy said:


> Oh I'm sure some games do have memory leaks - but some are just straight up hogs.
> 
> It all depends on what games you play and your settings. You're running 1GB 6950's just to be sure, right Erocker?
> 
> ...




Yeah, two 1gb 6950's. DX11 doesn't make memory usage go up. Lots of high-rez textures and things like that do. GTA4 is a good example of a game that will eat as much vram as possible, though it's a poorly coded/ported game for sure. 2gb cards are not detrimental and if money needs to be saved, go for the 1gb's.


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## LordJummy (Aug 24, 2011)

erocker said:


> Yeah, two 1gb 6950's. DX11 doesn't make memory usage go up. Lots of high-rez textures and things like that do. GTA4 is a good example of a game that will eat as much vram as possible, though it's a poorly coded/ported game for sure. 2gb cards are not detrimental and if money needs to be saved, go for the 1gb's.



Bah, I know dx11 itself doesn't increase memory usage. I'm just saying the newer high end games (which will most likely be utilizing dx11) will use a lot of VRAM. That's all I meant  I should have been more clear.

Wait erocker, do you run eyefinity with those cards. What res?




freaksavior said:


> Ebay? Naw, not buying off flebay.




I understand not wanting to use ebay. I've had problems with some sellers a long time ago. Recently I've had good fortune though. I bought my second 6GB 3x2gb dominator kit off ebay brand new for $48.50. More than 50% retail price.

Everything on your list looks very nice though. Personally I wouldn't change anything except for the RAM & the case, but you are set in stone on that case. It is sweet regardless. Are you going with the XSPC RASA kit? IF so which one?


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

LordJummy said:


> Oh I'm sure some games do have memory leaks - but some are just straight up hogs.
> 
> It all depends on what games you play and your settings. You're running 1GB 6950's just to be sure, right Erocker?
> 
> ...



Ebay? Naw, not buying off flebay. 

I may end up looking around for used parts since you can usually save a good bit of $
The last list is pretty much set though unless someone makes a good suggestion.


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## erocker (Aug 24, 2011)

LordJummy said:


> Bah, I know dx11 itself doesn't increase memory usage. I'm just saying the newer high end games (which will most likely be utilizing dx11) will use a lot of VRAM. That's all I meant  I should have been more clear.
> 
> Wait erocker, do you run eyefinity with those cards. What res?



My system specs are up to date. 1920x1200. No, I don't use eyefinity and and don't think Freaksavior is either. If one was to use eyefinity then yes, 2gb cards are pretty much a must.


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## freaksavior (Aug 24, 2011)

erocker said:


> My system specs are up to date. 1920x1200. No, I don't use eyefinity and and don't think Freaksavior is either. If one was to use eyefinity then yes, 2gb cards are pretty much a must.



Nope, single monitor 1920x1080


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