Building a new Gaming Rig

[Bweigelt]

So after about 7 years my old Desktop finally died. I have a laptop I use for browsing and such, but I need a new Desktop for Gaming. Mostly stuff like WoW, L4D and TF2 as well as SC2 and D2 when they are released. I really have idea when it comes to computer parts but I've been reading around and this what I've come up with so far:

CPU: Newegg.ca - Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

MB: Newegg.ca - ASUS P7P55D LE LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

HDD: Newegg.ca - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

RAM: Newegg.ca - OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1333LV4GK - Desktop Memory

GPU: Newegg.ca - ASUS EAH4890/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

PSU: Newegg.ca - Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply - Power Supplies

CD/DVD: Newegg.ca - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - CD / DVD Burners

CASE: Newegg.ca - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Obviously I'm a Canadian and as such need to use a site that ships to Canada. I found better prices at newegg than ncix but I've seen warn against newegg.ca in the past, is this still the case?

I'm hoping that the MOBO, HDD, RAM, and CPU are all fine as they come in a combo deal that saves me quite a bit of money but I realize that they might not be optimal. I'm also curious about the graphics card, is it worth it for me to get the 4890 I have posted there or is the 4870 a better deal considering the games I'm trying to run. I'm not missing any parts am I? The stock fans should be able to take care of that system right? Or am I going to need to buy an extra couple fans?

[Shaskoru]

Note: Need 10 posts to post urls, so they're broken at two points near the beginning.

I have no idea on the quality of newegg's canadian website, someone else will have to address that.

The combo deal looks great, but I (personally) wouldn't take it because of the hard drive. I'm going to list some alternatives assuming that you do not take the combo.

Here's the motherboard in the combo deal compared to one which is very similar:

htt p://w ww.newegg.ca/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2%2050001315%2040 000280%201070549182%204017&bop=And&ActiveSearchRes ult=True&CompareItemList=N82E16813131410%2CN82E168 13131404

The second motherboard is $20 more, but has 1 more sata port and onboard firewire (and a firewire output in the rear panel). If you don't want or need the sata port or firewire support, then I would just go with the first one.

The same ram and a very similar video card come in a -$15 combo deal:

htt p://w ww.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.264622

The video card itself is actually 16 dollars cheaper than the one in the first combo deal (This one is made by GIGABYTE instead of ASUS, if that matters).

Assuming you want to spend about the same for a hard drive as the one in the combo deal, I would grab two of these:

htt p://w ww.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

And I would raid 0 them:

htt p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID_0#RAID_0

However, if you don't know how to raid 0 (or if you feel uncomfortable with the idea), it may be safer to just stick to a single drive. Information on how to do it should be in the motherboard's manual. If you're planning on using vista or 7 then it shouldn't be too painful of a process. It's 10 dollars more to get the two drives rather than the single Seagate. Also, the two drives would have about 500~ less GBs of storage, if that matters enough to you.

The power supply, optical drive, and case don't look bad at all. The video card should be able to handle the games you listed, and the fans in the case should be enough (unless you do some serious overclocking). If you really think you need more fans or more room, you can pay $15 more for a case to get:

htt p://w ww.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160&Tpk=HAF%20932

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 (Mid Tower Case. The same one you linked.):

Dimensions: 22.2" x 10" x 19.7"

1 x 120mm rear fan
1 x 200mm Red LED front fan
1 x 200mm top fan

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 (Full Tower Case. The one that I linked.):

Dimensions: 22.7" x 9" x 21.5"

1 x 140mm rear fan
1 x 230mm front red LED fan
1 x 230mm top fan
1 x 230mm side fan

[Weeks]

I recently bought that hard drive for my old computer. I hope it serves me better than my last Barracuda, which died in less than a year, but I wouldn't have bought it had I remembered that was the brand.

I took a different combo with a Gigabyte UD3 motherboard and G. Skill sawtooth RAM, so all I can attest to is that the CPU is a great performer for the price. The big selling point is that it's very overclockable, so I wouldn't rule that out. I went with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF, but since I haven't overclocked yet all I can say for sure is that if you're getting it, opt for memory that doesn't have tall heatsinks on top of it. I'm going to have to mix up memory types if I decide to use my spare memory slots.

BTW, I know there's a lot of disagreement out there, but I am loving my Intel SSD with this thing. If you think 80 GB isn't enough for you, just stream your media from another machine. Sharing media over a wireless network was always iffy under XP for me, but Win7 seems to have finally rid me of that problem.

[Calina]

the seagate 1.5TB drives have known fireware issues so id avoid rolling the dice on them.

Go for Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB drive i have 6 of these 2 in each of my PC's i love them.I have had a pair in my media server running 24/7 for over a year now have never had an issue.

[fishstix]

If your monitor is only 1680x1050, then the 4870 should be good enough or if you want, look into the new dx11 capable ATI 5770. I realize that games won't be compatible with it for a while, but it's not much more expensive than the 4870 while having similar performance, using less power, and then eyefinity stuff.

and I would also go with using 2 smaller drives and raid 0

[Olo401]

the seagate 1.5TB drives have known fireware issues so id avoid rolling the dice on them.

Go for Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB drive i have 6 of these 2 in each of my PC's i love them.I have had a pair in my media server running 24/7 for over a year now have never had an issue.

I believe the large Seagate drives problem has been worked out.. Still I'd personally recommend picking up a pair of 500 or 750 gig drives and running them RAID 0.

[Aristio]

Bump. Building my first rig. Wondering if these parts are a good buy or are even compatible with each other. Did try to match components that looked like they matched. I'm still not 100% sure though, some help would be nice!

Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - CD / DVD Burners
Newegg.com - NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD154UI 1.5TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - EVGA Killer Xeno Pro 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Express 1x (PCI Express 2.0 Compliant) Killer Xeno Pro Network Adapter 1 x RJ45 , 1 x USB 2.0 - Network Interface Cards
Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series 70SB088600007 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards
Newegg.com - Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports Model ICR-BB - Card Readers
Newegg.com - Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9/4G - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition Bloomfield 3.33GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
Newegg.com - VANTEC TD8038H 80mm Case Fan - Case Fans
Newegg.com - LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Combo LG Blu-ray Reader & 16X LightScribe DVD±R DVD Burner - Blu-Ray Drives
Newegg.com - Corsair CMFSSD-256GBG2D 2.5" 256GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188046

Would you recommend anything else? Maybe a different motherboard or a different tower?

Edit: Added the motherboard I chose out.

[Calina]

Bump. Building my first rig. Wondering if these parts are a good buy or are even compatible with each other. Did try to match components that looked like they matched. I'm still not 100% sure though, some help would be nice!

Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - CD / DVD Burners
Newegg.com - NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD154UI 1.5TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - EVGA Killer Xeno Pro 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Express 1x (PCI Express 2.0 Compliant) Killer Xeno Pro Network Adapter 1 x RJ45 , 1 x USB 2.0 - Network Interface Cards
Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series 70SB088600007 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards
Newegg.com - Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports Model ICR-BB - Card Readers
Newegg.com - Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9/4G - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition Bloomfield 3.33GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
Newegg.com - VANTEC TD8038H 80mm Case Fan - Case Fans
Newegg.com - LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Combo LG Blu-ray Reader & 16X LightScribe DVD±R DVD Burner - Blu-Ray Drives
Newegg.com - Corsair CMFSSD-256GBG2D 2.5" 256GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

Would you recommend anything else? Maybe a different motherboard or a different tower?

guessing price isent an issue so first off that ram is a waste get this

Newegg.com - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C7D G - Desktop Memory

as for MB i dont see it there so guess you forgot the link but if you want the best try this has room for tri sli + a slot for a sound card and a slot for physx tho you will need a spcific case to use it a lian li p80 very expensive but if your going for a i7 extreme might as well go all out right

Newegg.com - EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED "Overclocker's Pick" 3-Way SLI + PhysX 1366 Intel X58 EATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Newegg.com - LIAN LI PC-P80 Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

or

Newegg.com - Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+) VH6000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

as for case fans and a cpu cooler go here Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come go for a TRUE black thats what i use on my i7 its amazing worth every penny

as for SSD's if your ganna buy 1 buy intel only there the best

as for GPU i have 3 of the 1 you picked there great but personaly id wait nvdia's dx11 cards if your gonna spend all that cash might as well get the best tho i am liking ATI's new 5k line but if you go ati you cant get physx its not that big a deal but its nice n some games

[Olo401]

Bump. Building my first rig. Wondering if these parts are a good buy or are even compatible with each other. Did try to match components that looked like they matched. I'm still not 100% sure though, some help would be nice!

Newegg.com - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - CD / DVD Burners
Newegg.com - NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 HD154UI 1.5TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - EVGA Killer Xeno Pro 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Express 1x (PCI Express 2.0 Compliant) Killer Xeno Pro Network Adapter 1 x RJ45 , 1 x USB 2.0 - Network Interface Cards
Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1257-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series 70SB088600007 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards
Newegg.com - Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports Model ICR-BB - Card Readers
Newegg.com - Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9/4G - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition Bloomfield 3.33GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks
Newegg.com - VANTEC TD8038H 80mm Case Fan - Case Fans
Newegg.com - LG Black 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Combo LG Blu-ray Reader & 16X LightScribe DVD±R DVD Burner - Blu-Ray Drives
Newegg.com - Corsair CMFSSD-256GBG2D 2.5" 256GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

Would you recommend anything else? Maybe a different motherboard or a different tower?

Don't see a motherboard or a power supply in the list.. It happens I forget stuff all the time when I'm putting a list together heh. Anyways on to what you do have:

- The i7-975 is a waste of money. For $650 less you can get an i7-920, the best cooler on the market and a pair of good fans for it, and overclock to 4gHz or more without breaking a sweat.

- Speaking of coolers, the one you picked out is fine for 775 or 1156 processors, but underperforms for 1366 because of its smaller size rifle and fan which is why I linked to the other one.

- For a 1366-based i7 you need to get memory in 3-stick matching sets instead of 2 sticks or it won't work. I'll recommend going with these for 1333 speed and these for 1600 tho the price difference is so minor you should just go for the higher speed.

- I don't think the case you picked out is set up to hold 80mm fans - just 120 and 140, and both the 140 spots are filled already. Switch that pick to a 120 and use it as a front intake fan.

- Hard drives..ugh! First thing is quality - Samsung doesn't have it for HDs; get a WD instead. Second is solid state.. I'm guessing you're gonna RAID 0 those two and use it as your OS drive, which is a good idea. Tho I'm thinking you won't need that much space, maybe dual 80 gigs will do it.

- Every motherboard on the market has gigabit ethernet built in, and in some cases you get dual jacks. An expansion network card is unnecessary.

- Sound is usually built into the motherboard as well, but if you're an audiophile the X-Fi cards do indeed make a HUGE difference. Good pick!

Here's an updated list to give you an idea what I would do. I included a couple odds & ends as well.

[Boyiee]

Sorry to Hijack:

Currently running a 4870X2 (2GB) card in my system running 2x 1920x1200 monitors, I want to get something about the same if not the same, and run dual gpu's - I was thinking of grabbing another, but I want something SMALLER lol. It's just too fucking big to get another one in there... Nvidia or ATI doesn't matter, just want the same power out of 2x cards as I'm getting now, if not a little more for a smaller size.

And obv. something quieter. Whats the better card on the market right now?

[mootsfox]

Jesus you assholes, just make a new thread.

Bweigelt, the HD5xxx series is out, and the HD4770 and above will best a HD4890, for less, so I'd highly recommend AGAINST buying a new HD4870 or HD4890, unless you can find one for $120-140.

Also two smaller (500 or 1TB) drives in RAID 0 will give you better performance, but will be a bit harder to setup, and cost a bit more per gigabyte.

[Olo401]

^ The 4770 actually fits between the 4850 and 4870 in performance.

[Bweigelt]

Jesus you assholes, just make a new thread.

Bweigelt, the HD5xxx series is out, and the HD4770 and above will best a HD4890, for less, so I'd highly recommend AGAINST buying a new HD4870 or HD4890, unless you can find one for $120-140.

Also two smaller (500 or 1TB) drives in RAID 0 will give you better performance, but will be a bit harder to setup, and cost a bit more per gigabyte.

Thanks, I think I'm going to have a friend who built my last computer put it together for me, so I'll probably go for the RAID 0 setup. As for the graphics card I assume you're referring to the HD5770? If that's the case that's good news. I was unsure on how they were performance wise and was just trying to be safe going with the HD4890.

[Boyiee]

Jesus you assholes, just make a new thread.

Bweigelt, the HD5xxx series is out, and the HD4770 and above will best a HD4890, for less, so I'd highly recommend AGAINST buying a new HD4870 or HD4890, unless you can find one for $120-140.

Also two smaller (500 or 1TB) drives in RAID 0 will give you better performance, but will be a bit harder to setup, and cost a bit more per gigabyte.

I don't really see the point considering it's somewhat relevant and could be answered here anyway since graphics cards are already being discussed.

[mootsfox]

^ The 4770 actually fits between the 4850 and 4870 in performance.

Thanks, I think I'm going to have a friend who built my last computer put it together for me, so I'll probably go for the RAID 0 setup. As for the graphics card I assume you're referring to the HD5770? If that's the case that's good news. I was unsure on how they were performance wise and was just trying to be safe going with the HD4890.

Yup that was a typo sorry, HD5770 not HD4770

The HD4770 is an cripped core (640SP vs 800) against the HD4850, but is clocked much higher, so it performs roughly the same, but the HD4850 will clock to those speeds, making it better.

I don't really see the point considering it's somewhat relevant and could be answered here anyway since graphics cards are already being discussed.

It just erks me when people do that. He's not done with his thread and two people have already asked their own questions. It's not like there's a shortage of threads to go around, you'll get more help if you make a new thread about it.

[fishstix]

And obv. something quieter. Whats the better card on the market right now?

Most highend cards are the full length these days, however the new ati 5750s are shorter in length and if you want quiet, look for the vapor-x edition. They're still double slots though

I think it's ok to tack on other questions if it's a more general topic, not something specific like one guy's system build. Also would agree on what Olo said for Aristio's build. There was a SSD thread not too long ago I think, talking about different qualities. Killing NIC definitely isnt worth it nor the Extreme Edition i7, I'd drop that and spend more on the graphics card or more monitors!

[Bweigelt]

So checking out some reviews online it seems like the HD5850 would be the best value, it only seems slightly behind the HD5870 and yet it's more than 100$ cheaper and only about $40 more than the HD4890 I was looking it. Is something like this going to work with my original setup (except replace the 1 HDD with 2 of these Newegg.ca - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive)

Newegg.ca - SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

or would I have to upgrade to say 6GB of RAM and maybe an i7 to get full value out of it?

[Weeks]

My understanding is that the released games you have listed in the OP are all processor-dependent and will run very well on an i5. I'm not sure that you're going to get a whole lot out of the 5850 upgrade, but it's still where I'd have gone had I not already bought my video card a week before they were unveiled. Eyefinity and the ultra-thin bezel LCDs are just too good an idea for publishers to ignore even if DX11 never becomes significant.