~$1.5k USD Gaming Build

Knufire · Jan 1, 2013

Exactly.

YUMI is a multiboot tool as well, so you can make other things bootable as well. I have a Windows installation, a few Linux distros, diagnostic programs for memory and hard disks, a partition manager, etc. You can make a very useful flash drive with YUMI.

/tangent.

azanimefan · Jan 2, 2013

Bustos said:
Just so I am clear, I go out and buy a USB stick. Download the respective OS ISO. Download YUMI. Then put the OS ISO onto the USB stick using YUMI, creating a bootable USB stick.

Once my desktop is built, plug the stick in at start up and it'll detect the stick and the ISO file to install the OS?

yep. i decided quite recently to skip an optical drive on my next build. I NEVER use one. my god, i still have one laying around like it's brand new from '98. thats how little i use the little buggers. With flashdrives now with bigger storage then dvd and cloud storage like dropbox, i don't envision a situation i'll ever use one again. I have a bluray/audio center i'm running my computer sound through, if i ever feel the need to watch a physical dvd again (i haven't in years thanks to netflix) i've got the bluray player already right there plugged into the tv.

frankly optical drives are pointless. (throw in the fact i've got a great usb external one collecting dust, if the moment ever comes i need one there is one laying around to plug in)

Culbrelai · Jan 2, 2013

Or you can just extract the ISO into the USB drive, and the computer will read the setup.exe

Knufire · Jan 2, 2013

Culbrelai said:
Or you can just extract the ISO into the USB drive, and the computer will read the setup.exe

That won't copy the boot sector though. You can do that, but there's also a bit of command line work you have to do to copy the boo sector. That's how I did it before I found YUMI.

ssjwizard · Jan 2, 2013

IDK Ive never had to do anything but set my USB drive as an NTFS - Active partition using diskpart and extract the ISO using winrar to get it working. If theres a tool that takes the knowing how to make a partition manually out of the equation though Id recommend it.

Black C5 Z06 · Jan 2, 2013

An SSD is absolutely necessary to anyone that's using their computer daily. I was on a RAID 0 7200rpm setup and I went to a not-so-fast SSD and even then, the speed difference was insane.

Bustos · Jan 7, 2013

A few thoughts...

I think I am a bit too old school. Want an optical drive and don't want the SSD. :facepalm:

On a more serious note, would building and maintaining a single GPU system be more economical?

Crossfire and SLI are clearly geared for those who game across 3 monitors. The more I think about "down the line" with this build the less I predict going the Crossfire or SLI route because I can only really justify using 2 monitors at max. 3 is just overkill and I am not made of money. However, would that make this more expensive to maintain in order to keep up with HD resolution for future games?

How my thinking is going at the moment and the questions I have...

Adding a 2nd matching, older card is cheaper than buying the latest version of the card. If I only game on a single monitor, is Crossfire or SLI worth doing as a cheaper way to "keep up"?

Would it be cheaper, in the long run, to upgrade the GPU from 7970 to 8970 or from 670 to 770 (or however it'd work) than going dual GPU with the older version? How long would going the Crossfire or SLI route last me? Until the 9xxx or 8xx generation? Shorter? Longer?

Are parts/case cheaper/smaller for a single GPU card computer to maintain?

azanimefan · Jan 7, 2013

Bustos said:
I think I am a bit too old school. Want an optical drive and don't want the SSD.

On a more serious note, would building and maintaining a single GPU system be more economical?

Crossfire and SLI are clearly geared for those who game across 3 monitors. The more I think about "down the line" with this build the less I predict going the Crossfire or SLI route because I can only really justify using 2 monitors at max. 3 is just overkill and I am not made of money. However, would that make this more expensive to maintain in order to keep up with HD resolution for future games?

How my thinking is going at the moment and the questions I have...

Adding a 2nd matching, older card is cheaper than buying the latest version of the card. If I only game on a single monitor, is Crossfire or SLI worth doing as a cheaper way to "keep up"?

Would it be cheaper, in the long run, to upgrade the GPU from 7970 to 8970 or from 670 to 770 (or however it'd work) than going dual GPU with the older version? How long would going the Crossfire or SLI route last me? Until the 9xxx or 8xx generation? Shorter? Longer?

Are parts/case cheaper/smaller for a single GPU card computer to maintain?

Single GPU systems are preferable to crossfire due to microstudder you get from crossfire/sli. Microstudder occurs when the two gpus fail to properly sync and push out the frames at uneven intervals... and is mostly (IMHO) a software problem that ATI or NVidea will one day solve.

so you'll get better GPU performance out of one great GPU vs two cheap ones xfired...

Currently, even low end GPUs for the most part are sufficient for gaming at 45-60fps on single HD monitors. GPUs are insanely powered these days, and you'll find that an lower high end card like a 660ti or a 7950 will be more GPU then you can use on one or even two possibly even three monitors.

Furthermore, you'll potentially futureproof yourself a few extra years when in 2 or 3 years you buy a second identical card to what you have to xfire/sli it. (they might even have microstudder figured out then).

so here is the suggestion, grab yourself a 660ti or HD 7950 and be a happy camper. Your desired use for the cards doesn't demand any more then this.

Knufire · Jan 7, 2013

It all depends on how often you want to upgrade and what your tolerances are.

For example, I tend to only upgrade every three years, and if at the end of that time period I'm on medium settings/30FPS, I'm okay with that. Single card makes sense for me.

If you upgrade every 1.5-2 years and it bothers you when you dip below 60FPS, dual cards might be a better option.

Single card definitely has less issues than multi card. Only upfront cost I can think of is a bigger PSU, which isn't much.

GTXJackBauer · Jan 8, 2013

Knufire said:
I've never heard that. Especially for PSUs, brand doesn't mean much. Rosewill for example, has some of the best units on the market out while others are meh to bad at best.

I will have to kindly disagree.

There are high end quality PSU brands out there, just have to know who they are. I'll just name a few in my top of the list.

#1 Seasonic

#2 Corsair (Made by Seasonic/Flextronics)

#3 Silverstone

#4 Enermax

There are a few more groups but those were off the top of my head. Don't get me wrong, the other companies are good or just ok.

"You get what you pay for."

azanimefan · Jan 8, 2013

GTXJackBauer said:
I will have to kindly disagree.

There are high end quality PSU brands out there, just have to know who they are. I'll just name a few in my top of the list.

#1 Seasonic

#2 Corsair (Made by Seasonic/Flextronics)

#3 Silverstone

#4 Enermax

There are a few more groups but those were off the top of my head. Don't get me wrong, the other companies are good or just ok.

"You get what you pay for."

yep. seasonic is easily the best PSU maker out there.

Knufire · Jan 8, 2013

Yes, there are brands that have all good PSUs. But saying "you should only buy XYZ brand PSU" is an overgeneralization. There's plenty of testing out there for specific models that tells whether it's a quality PSU or not, and you should reference that to prove its quality versus the brand name.

And quite often, no, you do not get what you pay for. You pay whatever the company can convince you their product is worth.

Bustos · Jan 8, 2013

Just so I am clear...

azanimefan You advocate getting the best GPU I can get now and then crossfire or sli in the future, thus keeping with my original intentions, to stay on top of future games.

Knufire You advocate one card system, as long as I don't mind eventual med graphic performance from future games over the years before I upgrade to the latest version of the GPU. The only benefit, vs my current intentions, is a lower Watt PSU. Otherwise you agree with azanimefan.

On a side note:

And quite often, no, you do not get what you pay for. You pay whatever the company can convince you their product is worth.

So true.

GTXJackBauer · Jan 8, 2013

My comments was based on companies that have integrety (real customer support) and have been on the consumer microscope for many years and have been dealt with by enthusiasts along with the expert testers and if you pay for a cheaper PSU you will get cheaper parts used in the making than compared to the premium lines hense the line "you get what you pay for". I went cheap one time just to power my PC many years ago off of ebay for $20 (No name brand from china) and thank god I was home when it went in smoke and it didn't bring the house down. (knocks on wood)

Knufire · Jan 8, 2013

I know, and I completely agree. But I don't think brand name should be associated with that, but rather scientific testing. Rosewill and OCZ have PSUs that are every bit as good as some Seasonic units, and cost less.

EVGA is widely known in the enthusiast community for having great products and superb customer service. Their latest line of PSUs were crap.

Research and scientific testing can find the gems, the high quality parts that come at affordable prices. They're not easy to find sometimes, but it's worth it.

wingman99 · Jan 8, 2013

Knufire said:
And quite often, no, you do not get what you pay for. You pay whatever the company can convince you their product is worth.

Knufire said:
Research and scientific testing can find the gems, the high quality parts that come at affordable prices. They're not easy to find sometimes, but it's worth it.

+2 How true. :thup:

azanimefan · Jan 8, 2013

Bustos said:
Just so I am clear...

azanimefan You advocate getting the best GPU I can get now and then crossfire or sli in the future, thus keeping with my original intentions, to stay on top of future games.

Knufire You advocate one card system, as long as I don't mind eventual med graphic performance from future games over the years before I upgrade to the latest version of the GPU. The only benefit, vs my current intentions, is a lower Watt PSU. Otherwise you agree with azanimefan.

On a side note:

So true.

yep. summed it up perfectly.

Knufire said:
I know, and I completely agree. But I don't think brand name should be associated with that, but rather scientific testing. Rosewill and OCZ have PSUs that are every bit as good as some Seasonic units, and cost less.

EVGA is widely known in the enthusiast community for having great products and superb customer service. Their latest line of PSUs were crap.

Research and scientific testing can find the gems, the high quality parts that come at affordable prices. They're not easy to find sometimes, but it's worth it.

+1

hit the nail on the head. For example, generally i regard most of Newegg's Roswell line wearily... however, the PSUs from that line generally are top shelf.

Culbrelai · Jan 9, 2013

XFX PSUs are also rebranded Seasonics.

To add.

Bustos · Jan 15, 2013

Okay, money is in the bank. :rock:

Making the final call by tomorrow night to take advantage of some deals/promos on Newegg.

Total with shipping/deals/promos is ~ $1550 USD. Promo codes expire by tomorrow night.

A few thoughts:

Is the Artic Cooler any better/worse than the EVO?

No SSD. Decided to put it off and use the money elsewhere. I'll add one later as an upgrade. This build is going to be fast to me regardless compared to what I am using now.

I tried to find a better GPU card and I couldn't. Almost spent a few extra bucks for 670 4GB but decided against it. Awesome call, Knufire. :thup:

Wanted a better monitor for gaming, plus it's going for a good deal at the moment. I originally had a 21.5 inch IPS monitor selected. I'll add a smaller, cheaper monitor later for secondary use while gaming.

Wanted a better HDD. WD Black offers 5 year warranty.

Changed keyboard because this came at a better price.

RAM came as a combo with the CPU.

Almost forgot to add the motherboard to the build. :sly:

New Build

wingman99 · Jan 15, 2013

Cant see your parts list, you need to post a public parts list at newegg and post the link.

~$1.5k USD Gaming Build

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