Building a new gaming PC

I currently have a Core i7 920 system which is working well, but now I need a 2nd one in the house. I haven't been keeping track of the emerging technologies since I built my current comp 2 years ago, so I'd like some education on the parts that I should be looking towards.

This one is probably going to be built from scratch, so I'll need just about everything.

Motherboard
Processor - i5 or i7? Are there 6-cores from intel yet?
Memory - Dual channel or Triple channel?
Video card - SLI or no?
PSU - probably going to go with corsair as that's what I have in my current system and I like it a lot.
HDD - I think with this one, I'll go SSD for a primary drive just to squeeze out a bit more performance. recommendations? I can find my own storage drive.
Sound card
CPU cooler
Computer Case

I'm not looking to go top of the line, I'm more looking to get the best bang for my buck. I'd like to keep the budget between 1200 and 1400 since I'll have to set aside some to get the monitor/storage hd, etc. If spending a little more will get significant performance increases, I'd consider that as well.

Thanks in advance for your responses, and I look forward to reading them.

Well there are 6 cores from intel. 3930K is 600 bucks. 4 core 8 thread is 310 bucks and 4 core 4 thread 2MB less cache is 180 at microcenter.

Most people build a 'not going top of the line' gaming PC on a 2500K. I got the 2600K because I don't think the extra 2MB of cache hurt.

If you want the newest platform, get the 6 core as it uses 4 channel RAM.

Honestly, a 2500K is not a worthy upgrade. The only upgrade worth while from your cpu is a 3939K and QUAD channel RAM.
If you're ok with a second similar (but a bit better system) get the 2500K.

And yes. Spending a 'little' ($300 and a $150 premium on the mobo) is not a 'little' will get you SIGNIFICANT gains in performance.
Memory bandwidth almost doubling what we currently have available. Much more cache. Much faster. Much more RAM capacity. Much more speed, overclockability, more/better PCIE connectivity. A newer chipset. The ability to upgrade to the 'black' processor that is like 2 2600K's in tandem in performance (for $1000). Get the socket 2011 system.

^ I do not think the OP needs a significant upgrade from his current 920, he is looking to build a 2nd computer.

Best bang for your buck cpu at the moment is the 2500k.

Thanks for your responses. I think I will look at the sandy bridge processors 2500k and 2600k and make my decision from there. I am still in need of insight on the other parts.

RAM: For socket 1155 you will only be able to run dual channel. Right now is a good time to get ram since prices are so low.
Video Card: I recommend getting a single card solution at first. Depends what you will be playing/doing or plan on playing.
PSU: Corsair psus are great.
SSD: I recommend getting OCZ Vertex 3 or Intel 320. Best to get at least 60 gigs for your os and main apps/games.
Sound card is not really needed, most motherboards provide great sound already unless you are an audiophile.
Cooler I recommend this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242008

As for case I usually say its all personal preference. Antec and Cooler Master has some great cases. Make sure the cooler fits in the case though.

I'd go with this, will support dual 6970s and Ivy Bridge CPUs when they come out.

Marshmallow64 said:

RAM: For socket 1155 you will only be able to run dual channel. Right now is a good time to get ram since prices are so low.
Video Card: I recommend getting a single card solution at first. Depends what you will be playing/doing or plan on playing.
PSU: Corsair psus are great.
SSD: I recommend getting OCZ Vertex 3 or Intel 320. Best to get at least 60 gigs for your os and main apps/games.
Sound card is not really needed, most motherboards provide great sound already unless you are an audiophile.
Cooler I recommend this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242008

As for case I usually say its all personal preference. Antec and Cooler Master has some great cases. Make sure the cooler fits in the case though.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your suggestions. I think I will end up going with the core i7 and doing triple channel instead, so I will be researching that route. As for a video card, on my last build I bought a gtx 285 with the intent of upgrading in the future. That turned out to be a pretty big mistake as I guess they discontinued the 285's after that? I'm not against getting a single card at this point, but I'd like to weigh the options. For SLI, I've heard that there may be some graphical bugs? And how many monitors can I support with 2 cards in SLI? (definitely not going 3 cards)
As for a sound card, I am pretty partial to having a sound card. I do like my sound quality, so I think I will go with my go-to option of Creative.

As for memory, what brands would you recommend? Or are they pretty much the same? In my current system, I went with mushkin and it's pretty good, but they were definitely not cheap.

You mean going back to the older i7s? May I ask why? Memory bandwidth is something that you'll pretty much NEVER notice except for very specific benchmarks.

285s are now two generations old. Since then, you have the GTX4xx and GTX5xx series from NVIDIA and then Radeon 5000/6000 series from AMD.

AMD can support three in a single card, six in CFX I believe. NVIDIA supports two with single, don't know how many in SLI.

Sound cards are worthless unless 1. You get a high end one, and 2. You have high quality analog speakers to take advantage of the sound card. If they're digital, the SPDIF out from your motherboard is plenty quality.

RAM is RAM, pretty much get between the G.Skill Ripjaws and the Corsair Vengeance, whichever you can find cheaper and/or in a combo.

Knufire said:

You mean going back to the older i7s? May I ask why? Memory bandwidth is something that you'll pretty much NEVER notice except for very specific benchmarks.

285s are now two generations old. Since then, you have the GTX4xx and GTX5xx series from NVIDIA and then Radeon 5000/6000 series from AMD.

AMD can support three in a single card, six in CFX I believe. NVIDIA supports two with single, don't know how many in SLI.

Sound cards are worthless unless 1. You get a high end one, and 2. You have high quality analog speakers to take advantage of the sound card. If they're digital, the SPDIF out from your motherboard is plenty quality.

RAM is RAM, pretty much get between the G.Skill Ripjaws and the Corsair Vengeance, whichever you can find cheaper and/or in a combo.

Click to expand...

I meant the 2600k

What video cards do you guys suggest? I'm looking for one that will last me at least a couple of years and allow me to play games at close to max settings 2 years from now. Currently, my gtx 285 sufficiently handles my gaming needs, but I've definitely noticed the need for reducing a couple of graphical settings. I'd say around 300 bucks for a graphics card?

Can anyone speak to the bugs I mentioned above with SLI? Have those issues been resolved?

What bugs are you talking about?

The 2600K is still dual channel. LGA1366 is triple, LGA1155 is dual, LGA2011 is quad.

At $300 you'll have to go for the Radeon 6950 or the 448 core version of the 560Ti. I would imagine both should be similar in performance, the 448 560Ti JUST came out a few days ago so I'm not sure on it's performance. 6950 is hailed as probably the best bang/buck card out right now. If you buy the Sapphire Dirt3 version and get lucky, you might be able to unlock it to a 6970.

Knufire said:

What bugs are you talking about?

The 2600K is still dual channel. LGA1366 is triple, LGA1155 is dual, LGA2011 is quad.

At $300 you'll have to go for the Radeon 6950 or the 448 core version of the 560Ti. I would imagine both should be similar in performance, the 448 560Ti JUST came out a few days ago so I'm not sure on it's performance. 6950 is hailed as probably the best bang/buck card out right now. If you buy the Sapphire Dirt3 version and get lucky, you might be able to unlock it to a 6970.

Click to expand...

I believe it was mentioned with the release of a recent game. There were some issues when players would have a SLI config that they noticed some graphical issues. Sorry I can't elaborate on this as I don't exactly remember. What I do remember is that there was an issue, but I guess it's probably minor enough not to matter much.

Thank you for the correction about the memory. I guess I'll be going dual channel then since that'll be my only choice with a sandy bridge processor. Just to clarify, the sandy bridge is the newest one right now, right? I shouldn't go with something like a bloomfield so that I can do triple channel memory?

There's Sandy Bridge-E, which is more powerful and quad channel, but the CPUs are $600 and $1000 and the motherboards are insanely expensive. And it's not all that different, it's just more cores, which doesn't help much in gaming. 2500K/2600K are your best options.

SLI/CFX always have issues when a game first releases, which is typically quickly resolved in a driver patch.

Ok, so I've decided on the processor, 2600k.
Now I need a motherboard. There are various chipsets, which do you guys recommend?
As for memory, I will just get 8 gigs in a dual channel kit.

Video card - I guess the first question would be Radeon or Nvidia? I have always been biased towards Nvidia since I keep hearing about driver issues with Radeon cards. Unless someone convinces me otherwise, I think I'd prefer to stick with Nvidia.

Whatever way I go, though, let's just use Nvidia as an example right now. How much improved performance is the 570 vs the 560? Is it worth the added price?

PhatKirby said:

Ok, so I've decided on the processor, 2600k.
Now I need a motherboard. There are various chipsets, which do you guys recommend?
As for memory, I will just get 8 gigs in a dual channel kit.

Video card - I guess the first question would be Radeon or Nvidia? I have always been biased towards Nvidia since I keep hearing about driver issues with Radeon cards. Unless someone convinces me otherwise, I think I'd prefer to stick with Nvidia.

Whatever way I go, though, let's just use Nvidia as an example right now. How much improved performance is the 570 vs the 560? Is it worth the added price?

Click to expand...

For the chipset go Z68 for SSD caching and Virtu (a real plus for encoding) and preferably GEN3 for the PCIE3 support when IB is launched (future proof).

NVidia, AMD, all good.

Driver issues were way more apparent in the past, they've gotten a lot better recently.

manu2b said:

For the chipset go Z68 for SSD caching and Virtu (a real plus for encoding) and preferably GEN3 for the PCIE3 support when IB is launched (future proof).

NVidia, AMD, all good.

Click to expand...

What is Virtu? On Newegg, I'm only seeing it on Gigabyte motherboards. Is it called something else on other brands?

I'm considering getting this motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502
but would consider others if recommended. I'm not planning on going 3-way SLI, and a Gen3 motherboard is just too much to spend on a motherboard for me right now. I don't think I'd be upgrading to the Ivy bridge processors when they come out anyways since I'll be getting the 2600k. It should last me at least a couple of years which should allow me to leapfrog Ivy Bridge and go after whatever the next one is, correct?

Ok, thank you all for your responses so far, they have been very helpful.

Here is the list I currently have.

Video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130620
This is a bit expensive. Would going down to a 560 be a significant performance loss?

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011
I like corsair, I have a 850W corsair in my current computer, so this was a natural choice. I wonder if other brands are just as reputable and allow me to get a comparable PSU for cheaper? Also, I'm assuming that a 850W would be sufficient to run an SLI rig in the future. How far down in power can I go if I just decide NOT to go SLI on this machine?

RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144
I really picked these because they weren't the cheapest, and they weren't that expensive. I know Corsair is a reputable company.

CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Between a 4-core 8-thread and a 2-core 4-thread, I'd choose the 2600k. Maybe it's a personal bias, but I just like having that extra power in case I need it in the future. I keep thinking that they are going to make games that utilize it.

SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167050
It was suggested I get an Intel 320. I trust Intel more than OCZ since I believe Intel made a nice entrance with their X25 series SSD's didn't they?

CPU Cooler
As for a cooler, I haven't really done the research yet. Still looking for some options there.

Case
I haven't decided on a case yet either. My current rig is in an Antec Nine Hundred II. I love that case, but the front fans are starting to get noisy as they collect some dirt that is getting clipped by the blades. I should probably replace them (anyone know if this is easily done?). What other cases have good airflow would you guys recommend? I would probably rather not have twins in the house. haha. Now that I think about it, it may not be a bad idea either.

So that's where I am so far. Any further comments would be helpful.

There is a decent performance drop from a 570 gtx to a 560 ti. It all depends on how serious your gaming is. I kind of have a problem with the 570 because if you want really hardcore performance you need to just go 580 or sli. BF3 cranked pushes my 580, so a 570 would have just that much more hassle handling it. The 560 ti is in a good spot especially if you can get it close to $200 on a good deal. Makes much more economical sense if you want to SLI later to.

You don't list a mb. The Asus z68 Gen3 is probably your best option.

For case\cooler. The Corsair 500R along with the H100 is a good combo. I just built using it. Case is good, not perfect but for price its very good. If you stay with 2 120mm fans on the H100 it works great. With 4 in push\pull its a little more annoying and not quite as aesthetically pleasing but gets the job done really well.

The Coolmaster HAF series are great cases. Can get one of the newegg exclusive versions with a ton of led fans already installed with the niffty button that turns them on or off.

Daleon said:

There is a decent performance drop from a 570 gtx to a 560 ti. It all depends on how serious your gaming is. I kind of have a problem with the 570 because if you want really hardcore performance you need to just go 580 or sli. BF3 cranked pushes my 580, so a 570 would have just that much more hassle handling it. The 560 ti is in a good spot especially if you can get it close to $200 on a good deal. Makes much more economical sense if you want to SLI later to.

Click to expand...

Yeah unfortunately Nvidia doesn't give you as many options. The price difference between 560ti and 570 is a lot. And then you have all limited choices with regards to VRAM on many of of their cards.