Building a new computer, could use some extra brains!

[monkerlotus]

Hi, this is my first time posting on OCF, i've visited a few time before reading threads and expanding my ever growing knowledge of computing. As the title says im building a new computer, i have a budget of about $1100 at this time and this is what a friend and i have come up with.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264 - that's the motherboard i plan on going with.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341041 - this is my power supply, OCZ 750w, i'm not afraid to get extenders if need be, reviews stated the cords can be a tad short.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 - going with an intel i5 2500k sandy bridge, it's got more than enough power for my gaming needs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445 - im going with G. Skill Ripjaws x series 8gb ddr3 1600 RAM, its a brand i trust and a good price for the ram.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533 - 1tb western digital sata drive, i'm getting this because.. i need an HDD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103089 - here the cpu cooler im going with. a Cool Master V6

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 - the tower i am getting is a cooler master HAF 932, solid case and a good brand.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 - DvD drive i plan on buying (in case someone actually cares)

and i'll be buying win7 home edition 64-bit OEM from Newegg as well.

i already have a graphic card from my older computer an nvidia geforce 9800gt 1gb card, it is good enough for my current needs and purposes, reason i am holding off on the purchase of a newer card is because a few friends tell me to wait for the 600 series card this mid/late winter.

SO, in general i need some backup! a few voices to look at what i've got lined up and tell me what i am doing wrong/right. this system will be strictly for gaming by the way, i don't plan on any photo/video editing.

Tell me what you think!

 

[Suppressor1137]

Holding off on the vid card will allow you to play most games at low-med-high. (I am said friend in question btw.) since your budget is on the low end(you have to buy OS too.) you only have 950 for a budget in reality. That being said, holding off till the 600 series will make the initial build price a tad cheaper, allowing you to get more quality parts on a budget. Your games list(285 now?) contains plenty of lower end games to hold you off till feb XD

BTW to the OCF!

 

[Knufire]

Hmm, everything looks mostly good to me. Just a little tweaking to save you some money, mostly combo deals and little bit cheaper components and such.

IMO, even though your budget is $1100, you're better off not spending all that money on a PC. I think this will suit your needs nicely, no need for a 750W PSU/full tower if you're staying with single cards. The cooler is plenty for SB, and you don't need expensive motherboards to OC on it.

If you've never had an SSD before, you're going to love it.

If you really want to spend more, the 2600K is more future-proofed. Other then that, I really don't see a need to spend more money elsewhere on this build.

As far as I know, AMD's next-gen cards keep getting delayed, if NVIDIA's also waiting on the 28nm TSMC process...it might be a while.

EDIT: Whoops, forgot the SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725

 

[BigTerminator]

Here are some suggestions I have to your build:

Case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225 Get the HAF-X, it's only a little more money but you'll probably never upgrade the case for another 5 years. It's better and for not much more. It looks a lot more appealing to.

Memory- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 This RAM cheaper and will do the same exact thing as the RAM you suggested except with looser timings. You game so this is good enough.

Everything else seems to be good.

Regarding the GPU. The 9800GT is crap to today's standards. If you only play counter strike and Call of Duty 4 then you are good. But that card is really old. A simple $100 card would smoke yours. Nvidia's GTX 600 series or "Kepler" has been delayed severely. It was scheduled to come out before the end of this year and now they are trying to push for March. That's a long time. AMD is going to be releasing their 7000 series before the end of the year. Seeing what happened with Fermi and their delays I wouldn't hold on all the way past 2012.

These GPU's will be getting 28nm on both sides and that will greatly increase the performance of today's cards but in my oppinion today's cards are good enough. A 6850 or 6870 will play most of the new games just fine. Or a GTX 560 or Ti version are just fine. Don't wait. 9800GT is crap, you need to upgrade pronto. You can't keep waiting for the next best thing. Life is now. Reward yourself. If you will wait, consider AMD's 7000 series cards. Those will definitely be exciting, don't only look forward to the 600's.

Good luck with the build.

 

[Suppressor1137]

To BigT's suggestion, the point is that he is on a budget, and holding off on the vid card will lower the stress of on the money by 200-300. This means: Better quality overall parts. He can hold off a SSD too...faster boot times vs better pc...I choose better pc.


As for the Kepler delay, I am sad to learn of this. But, I shall remain Nvidia for the drivers arent crap over at nvidia XD

 

[Cigarsmoker]

Listen to your friend.

 

[Knufire]

the point is that he is on a budget, and holding off on the vid card will lower the stress of on the money by 200-300. This means: Better quality overall parts. He can hold off a SSD too...faster boot times vs better pc...I choose better pc.

Yet with what I posted (minus the SSD), he has roughly $300 to spend on a video card, 6950 or 560Ti material, which is the best price/performance range IMO.

 

[Suppressor1137]

Knu, while some of your parts I agree with, others I dont. for one, the mobo.

The one hes looking at has the PCI-E 3.0 support should he want to upgrade to ivy bridge later on(future proof purchase) He has his choice of PC case, he chose that one himself. I agree with your PSU, but he wants headroom incase he sli's down the road(aka, bigger budget when the new gpu series are released). And to BigT and you knu, I agree with the ram. $10 saved XD.

Basically, While he currently has no need for ivy bridge(SB does just fine atm) He has the option to upgrade at any point with that mobo. its rare that "future proof" opportunities present themselves. This is one of those cases.

and $300 free? did you factor in the OS? If not, I'll have to take another look...

 

[ssjwizard]

Yes the build knu posted covers the OS at only 790, so ~310 remaining in budget, with SSD ~200 remaining. Having pcie 3.0 really isnt that important ivy bridge or not. Its supported but not required. PCIE 2.0/2.1 isnt fully maxed by current generation cards and its unlikely that either camp will be jumping on the 3.0 bandwagon in the next few years. That GB board is a solid performer and with Z68 you have the entire featureset of SB arch.

Alas it is up to you guys but I think for most people(including overclockers less the very extreme few) knu's build is the better buy.

edit. In regards to the case I have no suggestions pick whatever suits your tastes.

 

[Knufire]

The one hes looking at has the PCI-E 3.0 support should he want to upgrade to ivy bridge later on(future proof purchase)

So do almost all Gigabyte board, P67, H67, and Z68. All that's needed is a BIOS update.
http://www.gigabyte.us/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1048

and $300 free? did you factor in the OS? If not, I'll have to take another look...

There's a copy of Windows in there.

He has his choice of PC case, he chose that one himself.

If he likes the HAF series, which I do too, I think they look much better then the CM 690 II. I'm just a victim of buying a full tower when it's not really necessary. It might be slightly harder to build in, but having a bigger then necessary computer is a pain in the butt. He could always go with the HAF922 too.

I agree with your PSU, but he wants headroom incase he sli's down the road(aka, bigger budget when the new gpu series are released).

If he's still running a 9800GT, he doesn't seem like the type of person that upgrades often. At a certain point in time, it's better to go with a single newer card then SLI or Crossfire. And the 650TX handle two 560Ti's, for example, which is probably the card he would get if he gets one now. Single GPU wise, it can take pretty much any single-GPU card.

 

[Suppressor1137]

He is one to upgrade, the last three upgrades were pre-built flops. something in all three of them died on him. Blue screens out the A--. I told him to just build it yourself, saves you time, money, and you get what parts you want, not what is in the bundle.

As for Bios update...Would that mean my 1155 board is complacent for ivy bridge I thought there were pin issues...hence the x79 and such...

 

[ssjwizard]

x79 is sandy bridge-E the lga 2011 version of SB. Its the 1366 equiv.

Ivy is just a die upgrade for the SB platform thats comming next year to both 1155 and 2011

 

[Knufire]

Sandy Bridge E, comes in a locked quad for $380, a partially unlocked hexa in the $500s, and a full unlocked hexa for $100. 32nm process, 2011 pins, release date should be November, chipset is X79.

Ivy Bridge is still 1155 pins, 22nm process. Same chipset as what's available right now.

SSJ, Ivy doesn't apply to SB-E, at least I don't think.

 

[ssjwizard]

Not initially. But its barely about to launch. Im sure that either next fall or the following spring we will se ivy on 2011 unless intel changes platforms completely. I think I recall a roadmap showing that, but dont quote me on it.

edit, So I cant find it again. Everything I have found basically drops off at q2 with SB-E on high end and Ivy taking over the mainstream. I doubt that they would skip releasing it on 2011 though. But as Intel tends to change platforms quickly who really knows. They may come up with something totally different before they go that far with it.

 

[Suppressor1137]

Ivy has been confirmed to be 1155. No form of it will be 2011. Its basically the C2D to C2Q...higher end for same socket.

This post isn't about the new processors tho, I just was curious if my board supported the bios update like gigabyte.,..e-mailed msi about it, I'll let you know if i hear anything else.

 

[ssjwizard]

I would suspect so, MSI is pretty good about supporting there upper end models.