PC Build Advice/Review Thread

[BerenTebogo]

Mod Edit: There's an absurd amount of these threads recently, let's see if we can keep one thread going for questions/suggestions re: PC builds.

So, here's what I have going. http://img59.imageshack.us/f/pcbuild1.jpg/
http://img59.imageshack.us/i/pcbuild1.jpg/

LG DVD±RW SuperMulti Drive Black SATA Model GH22NS50B - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136216

NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811146067

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148337

EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...
Item #: N82E16814130549

Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W [email protected]°C, 80Plus Bronze Certified,Modular Cable Design,Active PFC"Compatible ...
Item #: N82E16817182188

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT
Item #: N82E16820231422

ASUS P6T WS PRO LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Core i7 / Xeon Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131357

Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601960

Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601960
Item #: N82E16819115224

Total $1302.93 with shipping

It's for FFXIV. Does it seem solid to you guys? Any tips / suggestions?

[chiyio]

I'd get this gfx card instead http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-610-_-Product

for the reasons stated here.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/330?vs=311

faster in most things, quiter, and uses less power.

also your ram is messed up, pretty sure you need a tripple channel kit for that.

that's all I see with a quick glance

oh, I'd get a better brand of power supply if I were you. you don't really need that large of one for that setup, so get a smaller one that's higher quality.

something more like this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139016

[BerenTebogo]

Fixed the ram issue with 12GB of triple channel. Will look into the other suggestions!

[Callisto]

Going to experiment with making a sticky out of this, because there's literally like 3 of these threads per week.

[BerenTebogo]

I love being experimented on by you, Callisto.

[Callisto]

You know it.

[Jintu]

@Sath

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...5072&Tpk=2500k
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131701
ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233144
psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-010-_-Product
gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-604-_-Product

with the savings leftover, ssd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-357-_-Product

[Callisto]

I'd agree on the cpu, but that's a lot of effing money for a board imo, would maybe go with something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128478

[BerenTebogo]

My budget was ~$1,200. Went over by a bit + monitor. :Q

[Jintu]

It's cheaper than the original he had! That one's fine I guess, I just prefer ASUS. Assuming you're talking about the specs I gave him, if not moot

[Callisto]

Yeah more meant the specs seemed a bit overboard. Also Sath lemme know how it works out, I put together a relatively similar build for XIV before deciding I didn't want to play it lol, but I wasn't really able to max settings without a lagging a bit when weather effects came in, not sure how much of that was my build and how much was the game being junk though.

[avelle]

Pretty sure it was the game being junk. I have a Core i7 920 with a 5870 and in town I got garbage framerates and the load on my gpu was like 50% or something stupid.

[Appie]

Simlar to Avelle I have a i7 950 (still stock clock) and 5870 and the game simply screams "Hello I'm a PS3 engine on your PC, I fucked you again, FFXI style!" And to add salt in the wounds: whenever I give the game a whirl again, I usually log off after 5 minutes because SE can't work with ATI and gives me stripey shadows and flickering trees, not to mention fucked up AO. I can blame ATI for it, but every other PC game I have, doesn't have such issues, so I blame SE.

[Olo401]

I'd agree on the cpu, but that's a lot of effing money for a board imo, would maybe go with something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128478

I was gonna mention this - the board he originally picked out was designed to also take Xeon CPUs which kinda explains the extra cost. Newegg's got a combo on the i7-960 and Asus' Sabretooth board that would save about $125.

[yesshh]

Considering there are many of these threads a week, what about working on a bit more of a budget, say $800 or less?

[Amastacia]

Mod Edit: There's an absurd amount of these threads recently, let's see if we can keep one thread going for questions/suggestions re: PC builds.

So, here's what I have going. http://img59.imageshack.us/f/pcbuild1.jpg/
http://img59.imageshack.us/i/pcbuild1.jpg/

LG DVD±RW SuperMulti Drive Black SATA Model GH22NS50B - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136216

Totally fine. If you end up with wiggle room, ponder a BR drive, they're getting pretty cheap.

NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811146067

Fine, if cheap. Steel is heavy, at least keep aluminum in the back of your head, especially if you ever plan on schlepping it around.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148337

Fine, I guess. Older ones (like the one I have) have firmware issues that can brick the drive. I believe that firmware has been fixed, but I do not know for sure if new-shipping drives are guaranteed good. I'd also ponder a WD Caviar Black around the same size, just for peace of mind.

EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...
Item #: N82E16814130549

Agree with Chiyo, get 500 series if you're going nVidia.

Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W [email protected]°C, 80Plus Bronze Certified,Modular Cable Design,Active PFC"Compatible ...
Item #: N82E16817182188

Seasonic X series or gtfo. Fully modular, 80+ gold, and some of the, if not the outright, best power supplies on the market.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151098
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151088

650W is overkill for one GPU, but some people like intentionally oversizing, so it's worth considering.

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT
Item #: N82E16820231422

Your best bets, with CPU update to Sandy Bridge, are either CAS7 DDR3-1333, or any (preferably CAS8 or lower) DDR3-1600. RAM speed makes a much smaller difference with Sandy Bridge than with older CPUs, due to the way its memory controller and CPU logic (e.g. branch predictor) work.

The other factor is that while any 1.65V DDR3 will work, 1.5V is a much better idea for Sandy Bridge (proven to be a bit more stable, keeps the memory controller happier).

After buying 8GB, I think it's a waste. I should've gone for 4GB of CAS8 or CAS7 DDR3-1600, I think.

ASUS P6T WS PRO LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Core i7 / Xeon Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131357

Replace with ASUS P8P67. Not Pro. Not Deluxe. Not LE. Just P8P67. Unless you plan to go SLI/CrossFire, no real need to spend more money. Only downside is the Realtek LAN chipset used on the cheaper ASUS boards isn't as good as the Intel chipset on their higher-end ones, but not the end of the world.

Gigabyte doesn't have a proper UEFI interface for their P67 boards yet, so that's one major reason to go ASUS. Not that you'll spend a ton of time in the BIOS, but it's MUCH nicer, and easier to use and navigate.

Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601960

As was said, replace with i5-2500K. Don't waste money on i7-2600K, no discernible difference in a gaming PC.

Total $1302.93 with shipping

It's for FFXIV. Does it seem solid to you guys? Any tips / suggestions?

I don't know that I'd build a PC just for FFXIV, it's not cost-efficient.

i5-2500K is a hell of a CPU and centerpiece for a system that won't be obsolete any time soon, and the supporting bits like mobo, RAM, etc. are not unreasonably priced.

FFXIV is outrageously murderous on GPUs though, and it pushes the whole system cost up considerably to get enough graphics horsepower. Not only the cost of a 2nd video card, but a motherboard for SLI/CrossFire, a larger power supply, a case that will fit and cool 2 video cards properly, etc.

[Cephius]

As was said, replace with i5-2500K. Don't waste money on i7-2600K, no discernible difference in a gaming PC.

There's no reason to get the K version unless you plan on overclocking (which you should since it's so easy, but some people prefer to never mess with that stuff) so it'll save you a few bucks just getting the plain i5-2500

Also +1 for the P8P67 and the GTX 470... I just built a system with them and they're performing great.

[Cephius]

Also I got a Cooler Master HAF 932 and it's great, highly recommend. Plenty of space, good amount of ports on the front, EXCELLENT cable management, tool-less HDD and 5.25" bay designs are pretty neat.

[Gryffes]

hai guyz.

building a new pc, really unsure what motherboard to get w/ the following ( asus has 9 models of P8P67.... )
Open to suggestions/additions as well.


http://upload.booncontrol.com/images/pcbuild.jpg

[Gryffes]

should mention I have baller monitor status/etc already, and I'm gonna sling some TB regular drives in for torrent usage as well.
Really just focusing on internal components.


And, would like a mobo that can handle crossfire as I might throw another 6970 into it at some point.