Building a gaming rig

[Omar Prime]

Hey guys, Im thinking about building a new gaming pc and I'm a little overwhelmed by all the parts and combinations available. I want to build a powerful but gaming rig so I can play bf3 at max settings if possible. I'm also trying to keep cost low but keep quality.

Here's what I came up with so far:

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

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-3662-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

LEPA B650-SA 650W SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model 997008

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Im confused about the i5 and the i7 processors paired with these components. What would be more cost effective to get without losing performance? Is there a cheaper/better mobo? Is the graphics card good enough? Am I missing anything? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[Knufire]

Hey, welcome to OCF!

When trying to recommend a build to you, there's some information that's extremely helpful for us to know. If you could answer these few short questions, we'd be happy to help!

• What are you planning to do with this compuer? Please be as specfic as possible.

• What is your budget?
  
  1. Does this include a copy of Windows?
  2. Does this include peripheals (a keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, etc.)?
• Are you from the United States or a different country? Are you ordering from your own country or from across borders?
  
  1. Wherever you may be from, does the store that you are planning to order from have a website? It's okay if it isn't in English, we can manage.
  2. If you are from the United States, do you live nearby a Microcenter?

• Do you have any specific requests with the build?
  
  1. Do you plan on overclocking? If yes, do you have a specific goal in mind?
  2. Would you prefer the build to be particularly small?
  3. Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet?
  4. In general, do you prefer this to be a computer that you can spend money on now and let it rest, or a box built for continuous upgrading?
  5. Do you ever plan on utilizing NVIDIA's SLI or AMD's CrossfireX technologies? These features, with a compatible motherboard, allow a user to link multiple identical graphic cards together for added performance. In real world terms, this lets you buy a second identical graphics card down the line as a relatively cheap and easy way to gain a fairly large boost in performance. However, this requires buying a SLI/CFX compatible motherboard and PSU now, which may result in slightly higher initial cost.

Once again, thank you in advance for taking the time to answer these, and I hope you enjoy your stay at OCF!

 

[Omar Prime]

Thank you for the quick response Knufire!

I plan on doing heavy gaming. I love maxing out the settings so I'm fully immersed in the world. As for my budget, I plan on spending $1000-$1500 on the rig, with peripherals included. I already have most of my items, I just need a keyboard and a monitor and W7.

I currently live in the California Bay Area, and I dont think there are any microcenters close to my location. All of the items I researched are on newegg, as I plan on doing my purchase on that website.

Overclocking is not something I actually know how to do, but Im definitely willing to learn since I want to use the full potential of the computer. I had my eyes set on the Corsair 600 as the case and thought the corsair liquid cooler would go well with the sabertooth mobo. I would want the unit to be cool, as I have had problems with heat in the past.

I plan on making upgrades in the future, so SLI or Crossfire would be awesome. Again thank you for your quick response and being so welcoming.

Cheers!

 

[Mjolnir]

From a quick glance.

i5 3570k
Asrock Extreme 4
GTX 670
2x4GB G Skill Ripjaw 1600 C9
OCZ ZT 750W PSU
Your choice of case.

Etc. Should do you well. I'll let Knufire handle the bundles/combo deals. He's best at newegg deals. I could mock you up a list; but he'd make a better one anyway x.x


EDIT: As per your question for i5 vs i7. i5 for gaming. i7 for rendering/media apps. An i5 3570k is PLENTY fast for any game; especially when pushed past 4ghz. (easily done). Plus saving 100 bucks there allows you to spend more on other components like GPU (100 dollars extra on GPU is FAR more effective for frame rates/maxing settings than an i7)

Stuff it. I made a quick build anyway. I noticed your first list didn't have an SSD; so I took the liberty of adding one. =)

 

[EarthDog]

I would ditch the Lepa PSU. It may be good, but I havent heard of it. Stick with known good quality (see link in my sig) something like Corsair TX650v2 would be plenty even for SLI 660ti/670. If you are gaming at 1920x1200 or less, SLI or Crossfire I certainly wouldnt do as an upgrade. Not worth the hassle IMO. That out of the way...

H80 Liquid cooler or H100. H60 is sub par to most mid range air whereas H80/H100 are top tier (especially the H100).

You should be able to get an SSD in there as well...

3570k
asrock extreme4
2x4gb ddr3 1600Mhz
Corasir 650tx v2

 

[Mjolnir]

I would ditch the Lepa PSU. It may be good, but I havent heard of it. Stick with known good quality (see link in my sig) something like Corsair TX650v2 would be plenty even for SLI 660ti/670. If you are gaming at 1920x1200 or less, SLI or Crossfire I certainly wouldnt do as an upgrade. Not worth the hassle IMO. That out of the way...

H80 Liquid cooler or H100. H60 is sub par to most mid range air whereas H80/H100 are top tier (especially the H100).

You should be able to get an SSD in there as well...

3570k
asrock extreme4
2x4gb ddr3 1600Mhz
Corasir 650tx v2

I agree with everything cept the Lepa . Lepa G's far as I know are rebranded Enermaxs. At least I know for a fact the Lepa G 500W Gold is the Enermax 87+ rebranded. Fantastic PSU. And dead silent.

I only included the 750w ocz for SLI prospects later in the line. Dropping the PSU to a 550w unit could allow for a single GTX 680 right now.

 

[EarthDog]

If that is what they are, then its fine. I wasnt sure. 650W quality GPU would allow for SLI/Crossfire of 660ti or 7870 easily.

 

[Mjolnir]

If that is what they are, then its fine. I wasnt sure. 650W quality GPU would allow for SLI/Crossfire of 660ti or 7870 easily.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/LEPA-G850-MAS-Power-Supply-Review/1611

I stand corrected. Some models are Enermax. Some are CWT. That particular one is CWT.

 

[Opusbuild]

Hey guys, Im thinking about building a new gaming pc and I'm a little overwhelmed by all the parts and combinations available. I want to build a powerful but gaming rig so I can play bf3 at max settings if possible. I'm also trying to keep cost low but keep quality.

Here's what I came up with so far:

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

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-3662-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

LEPA B650-SA 650W SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model 997008

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CORSAIR CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Im confused about the i5 and the i7 processors paired with these components. What would be more cost effective to get without losing performance? Is there a cheaper/better mobo? Is the graphics card good enough? Am I missing anything? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

Hi Omar, welcome to the best PC based forum on the net IMHO

Don't worry about being overwhelmed, you have come to the right place! I have just built my first rig and found this forum to be the best resource for help and advice.

Firstly I would agree with the others, I HIGHLY recommend an SSD, I have a 120GB one which is enough to run Windows 7, Ubuntu (VM) and all my "current" programmes and games. The load times, etc are fantastic, you will wonder why you waited so long to buy one. Depending on which one you get and the other specs of the PC games/programmes can load within seconds!

With regards to i5/i7, the "general" consensus was that if you are looking for that sweet spot of price vs performance then the i5's could be the way to go. If you think your will make use of hyperthreading (i.e. video editing, file zipping, etc) then the i7 might be worth the extra cash for you. It sounds like for gaming at the moment, the i7 offers no extra performance over the i5.

For the motherboard, I spent a while trying to decide the right motherboard for me. It all came down to the three suppliers, Asrock, ASUS and gigabyte. I set a rough budget for the mobo. In the end I choose the one I felt would offer me the features I needed.

Can't say much for graphics cards at the moment, I am only a part time, basic gaming and all of my games at the moment run fine on my i7 3770k with HD4000 graphics. But, it will not run BF3 on max settings that's for sure.

Hope that helps, all the best with the build.

 

[Knufire]

There was a Microcenter in Santa Clara, but they closed about a month ago.

Newegg is a great site and many of us order from there. However, since they're a California business and have a warehouse there, you pay tax on their products. I would order from Amazon, even though their prices are slightly higher. Better yet, keep researching on Newegg as they have the best layout for computer components I've seen, then compare the cost of the build on Newegg vs Amazon.

Monitor, get a Q270 from Ebay. Without a doubt. It might push you a bit over budget but it's worth it.

 

[Omar Prime]

Wow, thank you all for the help! I think its safe to say I have a better idea on what I want now. I hope to learn a little overclocking advice from you guys when I purchase the computer! Glad to know Im part of the best pc forum on the web

Cheers

 

[verbatim]

Welcome omar

 

[Opusbuild]

Glad to hear it was useful. You might want to consider joining the overclockers folding team. Check out the folding section of the forum to find out more. That will certainly give that CPU a good run.


Hope all goes well with the build.