10 replies to this topic

[Enron]

So here's the deal. I want to build a new gaming PC, with no real budget determined (although hopefully I wouldn't have to spend over $2750). This will be my first PC in a long time as I've been buying macs for a while and decided to switch back to Windows. I'm used to spending a little more up front hoping these things will last for many years, so I want something that'll accept some upgrades down the road. It needs to be quiet too, and made with parts that are available or will be available next month.

Case: I don't really care about lights or skulls on the case or anything like that, but it should look sleek and professional. Hopefully something that has some internal wire management so it doesn't look ugly inside. As far as size, hopefully not much bigger than a McPro case.

Motherboard: Should be reliable and use a socket type that will continue to be used years in the future. I also want an optical audio output to connect to my surround sound.

Processor: I want to be able to overclock. Has to be Intel. I also want a quiet (as possible) heatsink that will keep it cool under all conditions.

Memory: Fast enough memory to keep up with everything else, probably about 16 gigs.

Graphics: Something amazing, but also not noisy. Needs good drivers and support, and a good warranty.

Storage: 120+ GB SSD for the OS and a HDD for storage.

Power Supply: Should be able to power the PC reliably, need maximum efficiency and minimum heat & noise.

Don't worry about the keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, etc. That's all covered already. I would be buying the parts at Newegg or Micro Center, whichever one is cheaper.

[Gabe3]

for $2750 you can pretty much buy all the best stuff. i'd go with a intel or crucial for the ssd due to the reliability. and a corsair psu. for $2700 though you can waste a lot of money on buying the latest and greatest, getting second best saves a lot and is usually nearly as good. evga vid cards have a great warranty and step up program. 16gigs of ram is overkill, unless you need it. if you have money to blow why not. since you've been buying macs, I guess you do, lol.

also I'd probably put win7 on it. I have 8 on my tablet and its made for that. I don't see any reason to put it on my desktop.

[+PeterUK]

Enron, on 25 February 2013 - 02:25, said:

Motherboard: Should be reliable and use a socket type that will continue to be used years in the future. I also want an optical audio output to connect to my surround sound.

I would like nothing more then to put a 8 core CPU in my Motherboard....not going to happen, so don't expect that its just how things are.

Case is anything you like really I will just list this:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119259
RAM Cas 9 @ DDR3 1600 16GB kit
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231568
SSD SAMSUNG 840 Pro or Intel 335
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820147192
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820167151
HDD 2TB
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822148834
Motherboard you can even opt to get a mSATA SSD for cache for the HDD
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128544
CPU i7 if you want to make last in the future since upgrading it may mean a new motherboard
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116501
GTX 670 that shouldn’t be too noisy.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125438
PSU 600-650W for the one card or 800W+ if you get another.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139048
Cooling
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835181010

[Tyler R.]

I would highly recomend this cooler: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835181015

I just got it yesterday and it is silent! Very easy to install too.

[threetonesun]

For $2750 you could get an i7-3970x and the Nvidia Titan when it releases.

An i7 3770K and a GTX 680 is a much more reasonable choice.

[Kelxin]

For $2700 worth of computer, don't go 1155 socket. The 2011 socket has much higher performance from their chips with extra core's to boot.

Six core i7 3930
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116492

MSI Motherboard with Quad channel memory up to 128 GB of DDR 3 3000 Mhz. and the X79 chipset.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130681

[Enron]

Tyler R., on 25 February 2013 - 16:24, said:

I would highly recomend this cooler: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835181015

I just got it yesterday and it is silent! Very easy to install too.

I was looking at that one too. How often do you have to put water in there?

Kelxin, on 25 February 2013 - 16:34, said:

For $2700 worth of computer, don't go 1155 socket. The 2011 socket has much higher performance from their chips with extra core's to boot.

Six core i7 3930
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116492

MSI Motherboard with Quad channel memory up to 128 GB of DDR 3 3000 Mhz. and the X79 chipset.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813130681

I heard the 2011's weren't going to see much use in the future, despite it being newer. I don't know if there's any truth to that. Not sure what I would do with 128 gb of ram though!

threetonesun, on 25 February 2013 - 16:24, said:

For $2750 you could get an i7-3970x and the Nvidia Titan when it releases.

An i7 3770K and a GTX 680 is a much more reasonable choice.

That's probably what I want, a 3770K and a GTX 670 or 680. Is the 680 fast enough to play games on the max settings right now? How long do you think it'll last in the future with the new consoles coming out?

Gabe3, on 25 February 2013 - 04:49, said:

for $2750 you can pretty much buy all the best stuff. i'd go with a intel or crucial for the ssd due to the reliability. and a corsair psu. for $2700 though you can waste a lot of money on buying the latest and greatest, getting second best saves a lot and is usually nearly as good. evga vid cards have a great warranty and step up program. 16gigs of ram is overkill, unless you need it. if you have money to blow why not. since you've been buying macs, I guess you do, lol.

also I'd probably put win7 on it. I have 8 on my tablet and its made for that. I don't see any reason to put it on my desktop.

I've always bought extra memory since it's not too expensive. I do a lot of work with raw files in Photoshop, but I never bothered to find out how much ram it's using.

[Boz]

Here's my suggestion for you

i7 3930k (don't waste money on i7-3970x as 3930k is also unlocked and speed bump is marginal)
Awesome minimalistic case for your tast as you described it to would be Corsair 650D (it's clean, beautiful and cable management is TOPS)


I would suggest you get a motherboard I got ASUS X79 Sabertooth (instead of Rampage IV which is more than $100 more expensive)

For cooling get the new Corsair H100i water cooler and replace the stock fans immediately with Cooler Master SickleFlow.. They run at 1750rpm on H100i but are extremely silent and still keep the H100i cool.

Get the Corsair Vengence or Dominator ram.. 32gb of ram (you can go as high as 64 on Sabertooth)

GTX 680 is your awesome GPU.. you can drive up to 3 displays on it.. and it's fairly silent.. the fan will get a bit loud but only when you rock demanding games but than you probably won't hear it.

Power Supply I strongly recommend top end Corsair one (go for 1050W) just so you have flexibility or get the one I got (ROCK SOLID) Seasonic 1050W Gold
http://www.newegg.co...c%20PSU%201050W

SSD drives you want to go Samsung 840PRO series or OCZ Vertex 4. If you want lower cost ones you can go with Corsair GT series.. those are pretty good.


You will have similar machine as mine (you can see how I built it here: http://www.neowin.ne...year-new-build/ )

and a PLUS is that you will also be able to easily install OSX on it as well if you ever need to so it will be a Mac workstation that's faster than anything Apple has.

[threetonesun]

Enron, on 26 February 2013 - 00:05, said:

That's probably what I want, a 3770K and a GTX 670 or 680. Is the 680 fast enough to play games on the max settings right now? How long do you think it'll last in the future with the new consoles coming out?

Depends on what "max" is. If we're talking high at 2,560 x 1600, then yes, but just barely.

One thing to remember is that the new consoles will still be shooting for 1080p. Plus, they're still a year away, plus it will take developers time to get used to them, so I don't think we'll see them having a significant impact on PCs, well, ever.

[Enron]

Wow, that 650D case looks great, I like it

[Tyler R.]

Enron, on 26 February 2013 - 00:05, said:

I was looking at that one too. How often do you have to put water in there?

To my knowlege, it is maintanence free. Just clean the dust off it. If I am largely mistaken, please by all means correct me. I've literally had this for 3 days. My source is this link: http://www.hitechleg...orsair-h60-2013 and the guy at my local computer store that said it was true.