Help!!! Building gaming computer!!!

[TravisSM]

I'm Trying to build a gaming computer for the first time, and i picked out some parts that i like and i wanted to know if they would work together. im not sure this is the right place to do it but i really need help with this. the items im planning to get i will list below and please give me your opinions.

PC Case: NZXT Zero 2 Craft Series Full Tower Case - Steel Chassis, Quad 120mm Fans, Dual 120mm Exhaust, Top Mounted USB, Audio, eSATA

PSU: XION Power Real 1000W ATX Power Supply

CD/DVD Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLS/B/AS 24X DVDRW Drive - SATA, Black, OEM

Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE

Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Processor BX80601920 - 2.66GHz, LGA 1366, 4.8GT/s QPI, 8MB L3 Cache, Quad-Core, HyperThreading, Bloomfield, Retail

RAM: Kingston PC10600 1333MHz 6GB DDR3 Triple Channel Desktop Memory Upgrade - (3x2048)

Motherboard: MSI X58 Pro-E Motherboard - LGA 1366, Intel X58, SATA, CrossFireX Ready, Triple Channel DDR3 support, RAID, Hyperthreading support, QPI

Harddrive: Seagate ST31000528AS Barracuda 7200.12 Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200 rpm, 32MB, SATA-3G, OEM x2

Video Card: Visiontek 900300 Radeon HD 5770 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI

also i have a question, if i use 2 7200RPM 32MB cache harddrives together will they outperform a single 10kRPM 16MB cache harddrive? Please all advice will be welcomed.

[Nikon]

ok, here is my input, and you will prolly see more of the same:

that psu is overkill and a half. i have never used (or heard of for that matter) XION psu, on that note i would recommend a CORSAIR CMPU 750TX psu, great brand and it is built for OCing, which you would have to do to use that ram to its fullest extent.

unless you have a full surround sound setup, you dont really need a seperate soundcard. even if you do have full surround, most mobos have a 5.1 channel onboard audio. and....

msi is a questionable brand for a mobo. the quality in general is mediocre at best, and more often than not (atleast in my dealings with them) you wind up RMAing a dead board. recommend ASUS.... continuing...

the x58 chipset and the 1366 sockeet is a huge can of worms. take my word for it, you will spend hours and hours trying to troubleshoot it and will prolly still have issues.

the 7200/32mb hd would probably out perform a 10k one in a raid setup, but standalone i dont think so. either way we recommend wester digital caviar black, especially for gaming.

your videocard falls into the 'mid quality with fast rma/good support' category as per the videocard brand rating thread in the video forum, personally i reccomend asus or diamond, anything in the blue on that thread aught to do you good.


so my biggest thing i want to emphasize is that 1366 socket. go with an i7-860, on an asus p7p55 board of somekind. it will save you HOURS of trouble with un noticable performance differences.

please dont take this huge post as a 'bash' of any kind, i really just want to save you a really big (perhaps several) headaches.

[glc]

It looks like you are using Tiger Direct as your vendor. If so, be careful - they sell a lot of distressed merchandise.

Gaming is all in the video card. Instead of spending your money on a high end chipset, processor, and triple channel ram, put your money into a video card. Also keep it simple and don't use RAID.

[Khalil]

I would forget the i7 altogether and go for an i5 or an i3, the key for a gaming rig is the video card not the CPU.

ASUS EAH5830

Intel Core i5-750

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX

ASUS P7P55D-E

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB

[TravisSM]

Thanks for the help guys, i was starting to get really worried that i couldnt build a computer but now i believe i can do it. here is the new list of items im getting now and also i changed my vendor to newegg.

Video Card: ASUS EAH5830 DIRECTCU/2DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

Processor: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Harddrive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9

CD/DVD Drive: ASUS DVD-E818A6T/BLK/B/G Black 18X SATA DVD-ROM Drive - Bulk

I dont know which one of these cases would be better do any of you know?

Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-US-BA-WOPSU Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

or

XCLIO A380BK Fully Black SECC 1.0mm thickness ATX Full Tower Computer Case

also something else i noticed, the graphics card is a PCIe 2.1 X16 but the motherboard is a PCIe 2.0 x16, will they still work together?

[orbrit]

good choice for the Video card. Yes it will work in that PCIe 2.0 slot.

Any reason you want a full tower case instead of a mid tower?

[TravisSM]

i just thought that a full tower would have better airflow and the extra room would be better for expansion in the future. but which case is better? can anyone post any suggestions for mid towers? im afraid that if i get a mid tower then everything wont fit.

[orbrit]

It'll fit in a mid tower just fine.
Antec Nine Hundred or Nine Hundred Two are awesome - the differences are on Firewire vs eSATA on the front panel and the Nine Hundred Two also has the fan speed controller switches on the outside I believe.

I've built a PC for a client with an HD 5870 which is huge and it fit in the Nine Hundred case.

[TravisSM]

which is better though a full tower or a mid tower?

[Khalil]

If you don't mind the size then a full tower is always the better choice. I prefer the Xclio cases over the Xion, the Xions are not well made and the plastic on them tends to arrive broken.

[glc]

I like the Coolermaster RC690 case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119137

[DrWambu]

I would NOT use tigerdirect. Newegg is by far the best, I have personally ordered over $20k USD worth of parts. The only problem I ever had was a few times with RAM sticks, but their RMA process was quick and painless to get new ones. Note this was with Geil RAM, ever since I started using just Corsair, had no problems ever.

[TravisSM]

thanks guys for all of your help. now i have a list and im gonna get to work.

[Kidd]

For the case, I like my Antec Three Hundred. It's spacious enough to work in easily (even with gorilla hands), and it's an easy way to save $20 (price+free shipping) to put towards your video card. The included 140mm & 120mm fans work great and the case gets great airflow. There are extra places to put more fans in, but I put air filters in to catch dust, and it still keeps everything nice and cool.

If you wanted something as flashy as your first two picks, this is probably not your case. Otherwise, light-up fans can be installed up front for a little more effect.

I've liked this case since I bought it for my first build, and I'll recommend it to anyone.

[TravisSM]

i noticed something else, the motherboard im planning to get has 2 PCIe x16 slots but it doesnt support crossfire or SLI but why would it have two slots?

ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

[glc]

The second slot can be used for a separate video card for multiple monitors - at x4 speed. It can also be used for any other PCI-E device such as a RAID controller that's bigger than x1. If you want SLI or Crossfire, get the Pro version of that board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131621

[TravisSM]

what are the benefits for having graphics cards to be SLI or CrossFireX instead of just a single card?

[glc]

Running a pair of video cards in SLI or Crossfire increases graphics performance in games that are compatible. However, for example, two $150 cards do not equal a single $300 card in performance. SLI and Crossfire are for the hard core gamers that will spend a lot of money to get the last bit of performance that they can.