[Johnson184]

Hey all,
It's been about 7 years since I last opened up a computer case. Only reason I'm thinking about building another computer after all this time is because my laptop finally fried its motherboard... again... 2 weeks after extended warranty ran out. I've been using a public computer at college and gaming on my PS3, but... Blizzard is going to be releasing Starcraft 2, new WoW expansion, and Diablo 3 all within the next year or so! Thus... I'm planning a new computer build! (On another note... will newegg have some sort of Christmas sale? I'm thinking about holding off on this build for a while as I won't get to use the gaming pc for a couple more months due to school)


So... some normal and some weird requirements.
1. Must be able to run WoW, Starcraft2, and Diablo3 very well. My other favorite game is CounterStrike Source... but I doubt that's a problem lol. (I've heard a lot about Bad Company 2, but I get motion sickness from screen bobbing as they simulate running)

2. Must not run too hot. The last gaming computer I built raised the temperature of my room up a ton. The place I live at has a set temperature, and unforunately... the thermometer is not inside my room lol. I don't want to get covered in sweat by the time I'm done with a gaming session. I'm not crazy about OC'ing for those pc tests, so unless OC'ing gets massive fps results with those games, I may pass.

3. Must support dual screen... bluray movie on one screen while playing a game on another. Is it possible to play a game like WoW on high settings while watching a bluray movie on the other screen? (Farming/grinding/flying around in WoW is a bit tedious at times... and I love having background movies playing anyways) Is it possible to have the bluray movie sound come out normal with the gaming sound at a much reduced level? (I think the screens I've tentatively picked out have speakers built in... hoping I can manually turn down each screen's speakers)

4. Must be quiet. As I'll be listening/watching movies most of the time, I don't want a distracting fan to keep whirring away. Last build I had, I had to buy headphones since it was sooo distracting.

5. No unnecessary lights/leds inside/on the case. I'm definitely not a fan of those builds that light up a dark room.

With all that said, here is a rough idea of what I cobbled together from newegg. It's about $250 than I'm currently hoping to spend, but I'm assuming the prices on those parts will fall a bit by the time Christmas rolls around. (Or am I being naive?)

Anyways... here goes.

Intel Core i7-930 2.8ghz 1366 socket $290
(I was told Intel is thumping AMD right now, and that 1366 socket was the way to go)

Asus Rampage III Gene 1366 Intel x58 Sata 6gb/s USB 3.0 $240
(It supports Sata 6gb/s for the SSD, and I figure USB 3.0 may come in handy in the future. Anyone know how fast the bios loads for boot up times? Shame to get a fast SSD boot up with slow bios)

Radeon 5850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI 2.1x $290
(I've always used Nvidia, but I hear ATI is better in performance, power usage, and heat output!)

G.Skill 6GB (3x2GB) 240pin DDR3 1600 $150
(No clue on what brand/type of RAM to get. Did I pick out a cheap/crappy one?)

Crucial SSD 64GB SATA III $145
(I've always had just one hard drive, but I figure I should try out 2 this time. I'll probably put Windows 7 and WoW on the SSD)

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM 32mb $90
(I have a few external 1TB hard drives, but seems like an internal one would save the hassle of turning them on/off)

Samsung Black Bluray Drive 8xBD, 16xDVD, 48xCDROM $70
(I've amassed a nice library of bluray movies for my PS3... might as well get a bluray for my pc too)

Corsair HX series 750watt modular $150
(Is this overkill or underkill? Not even sure why, but I was told to make sure it's modular. I'm also worried about heat output/noise of fans)

Cooler Master case $140(No clue. I just randomly picked out a case that had good reviews)

Windows 7 Home premium $100
(After suffering through Vista, I hear this is what Vista should have been)

Microsoft Office Home/Student $125
(I will be doing schoolwork as well... lol)

Asus 25.5" LCD 2ms 1920x1200 $290
(My primary gaming screen. I'll be playing all my games on this screen and using it when I'm surfing the web, etc. I'm told 1920x1200 is the ideal resolution for gaming)

Asus 23" LCD 5ms 1080p 1920x1080 $190
(My movie screen. Movies shouldn't need a low ms rate, right? I hear 1920x1080 is the best resolution as you don't have problems with bars running on the top/bottom/sides)

Total is running around $2270, but again... I'm hoping that prices will drop a bit by Christmas. If not, I may have to cut a few things out that are unnecessary. (Scrap the 1TB drive and just use the external fantom drive I still have, get a cheaper case, etc.) Problem is... I haven't even included a $ for keyboard/mice. I suppose I can reuse my g7 mouse, but the batteries keep fading fast. I will need a new keyboard however...

[Nechen]

Well technically the games you listed need a Pentium IV at minimum paired with a GeForce 8800GTX or the equivelant.

As far as watching BluRay AND playing a game at the same time I have no idea.

In regards to the monitors I never recommend Asus monitors to anyone, they mostly use ChiMei Corp panels which are the worst of the worst (Poor contrast ratio, color reproduction, and response times)

And I also have no doubt that NewEgg will run an Xmas special in the near future.

[ajrettke]

I'd recommend getting a socket 1156 board for around 150, and an i7-860. Use the saved cash for a 5870 or GTX480.

I'd also change the SSD to a sandforce based 60-100GB drive (may be a tad more, but crucial's have had some problems with thier drives...that's based on articles at anandtech.com)

Lastly, get 2 monitors that are the same model. It just looks so much cleaner. And for movies/gaming, I don't think you can, my advice is plug in your PS3 to your other monitor and just change the source input when gaming...or buy a cheapo blu-ray player and do that.

[Johnson184]

Woah... Just found out about the Bing thing!!! So forget the previous build idea I had... and please check out this one for me.
I decided to use a LCD monitor I already have for purposes of movies, etc. in the background. I think I'll use my external hard drives to store the big stuff... and again... I won't be overclocking it anytime soon as I don't think I need to for the games I play and I don't want to void the warranties... and I don't want to turn my room into a sauna. So here goes...

Intel i7 960 $470
XFX 5870 $330
Asus Rampage III Gene $240
Crucial C300 128GB 6GBs $300
Corsair Dominator 6GB 1600 $165
Cooler Master Silent Pro M600 600 watt modular $85
Cooler Master HAF 922 Case $80
SilverStone 3.5" to 2.5" HD bay converter $10
Windows 7 $85
Microsoft Office $100
Samsung 23" LED XL2370-1 $245
Samsung Blu Ray Drive $70

Total... $2180
I'm debating on if I should save $180 by stepping down to a 930 instead of the 960. If I don't OC, is there that noticeable a difference?
Are there any really noticeable weak links that hold the setup back?

[Johnson184]

I'm also seriously considering going with a cheaper mobo, 1tb drive, and a 930 and pocket the $450. Should still be a beast, right?