Hardcore Gamer LF new PC

[aesura]

Hi Guys,

Every 2 years I change my PC. I am currently running 6Gb RAM, i7, 2 TB HDD, GTX 250.

It has been 2 years now since I bought this PC, and it is time for me to change it!

As I don't really know much about components (just the basic tho) I usually ask my friends but this time things are different.

I have 3 000$ budget and I need a beast.. a real FERAL WILD BEAST! That can survive through 40 hrs of intense LAN using heavy FPS video engines.

I spend long hours playing games, I play competitively so I need smthing that looks good as well. This PC has 8 fans and extra cooling down systems.

So yea I am seeking advices from you. Please get crazy and tell me whats best out there... I will buy my PC in about 6 weeks ( need to study for my exams first).

Thanks a lot guys!

[glc]

What country are you located in, and who is your preferred online vendor? Whose $$$ is that budget in, and does it need to include monitor, peripherals, and operating system?

By the way, if you already have an i7, you don't need a new system. All you need is a better video card and maybe a top end reliable power supply and more ram.

[birddog_61]

Which I7 do you have? Is it overclocked? What resolution do you game at? Do you have a preference as far as nvidia vs ati video cards?

[aesura]

I'm from Australia. I'm good with monitors/mouse etc..

3000$ only for components/PC.
I never buy stuff online.

I prefer nvida, my laptop has ATI. I'm just used to get nvida.

It's i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80 Ghz

I play with 1900x1024

Thx

[aesura]

Here is what my friend proposed:

CPU: i7 extreme 990X
CPU cooler: Corsair Hydro H60 (or H70)
Motherboard: Gb X58A-UD7 or Asus Rampage III Extreme x58 Mobo DD3 2200
RAM: 12 (3x4Gb) Corsair Dominator GT DD3 or 3x4Gb Ripjaws DD3 1600
Hard Disk: 1) Corsair Force series 115G - 2) Seagate 2 TB, SATA3 or 1) 2 xOCZ vertex 2 120 Gb - 2) 3 TB 7200 RPM
DVD Burner
Video Card: GTX580 nvidia
PSU: Cooler Master CM SIlent Pro Gold 1200 W

Case: NZXT Phantom Black

[glc]

Again, if you already have an i7, all you need is a better video card. Put a GTX590 in your present system and upgrade your ram to 12gb.

[birddog_61]

At that resolution a gtx 570 will destroy any game on the market, upgrade your gpu and you should be able to max anything out no problem. I don't normally recommend this, but if you are wanting more speed then OC your cpu to the high 3's and you won't have to worry about the processor bottle necking any video card.

A 990x is completely retarded for gaming and actually doesn't game as well as the new I7-2600k that cost 1/3 as much. 12gigs of ram is way overkill you will never come close to maxing 8gigs gaming. I know your wanting an awesome super fast computer, but gaming at the resolutions you are does not require high end products and your current computer with a 570 or 580 is already overkill.

[aesura]

To Glc:

I'm changing my computer not upgrading it. I'm considering a new case and a new motherboard.

To birddog_61

thanx man for your reply.
OK - so I shld get the i7 - 2600K instead and stick with 8 Gb RAM then.
Could you please explain further why getting a i7 990X is retarded? and why I should stick with the 2600K? And why 8Gb rigs is then better than 12Gb?

What about the rest? Motherboad etc.. what do you think?

Thanks for that man much appreciated.

[aesura]

This is the Gamer Infinity 8800 Pro:

Case: * CoolerMaster Storm Sniper Mid-Tower Gaming Case [+58] (Original Color)


CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-2600K 3.40 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)

Motherboard: [CrossFireX] GigaByte GA-Z68A-D3-B3 Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ Intel Smart Response Technology & 7.1 Dolby Home

Memory: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/2000MHz Dual Channel Memory Module [+86] (Corsair or Major Brand)

Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 6990 4GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card [+529] (Major Brand Powered by AMD)


Power Supply Upgrade: * 1,000 Watts - Corsair HX1000W 80 Plus Power

Hard Drive: 240GB Corsair Force 240 Gaming MLC Solid State Disk [+406] (Single Hard Drive)

Data Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+119] (Single Hard Drive)



This correctly displays what you suggested birddog_61.. CPU i7 2600 K + 8Gb of RAM

[glc]

That is actually a low end Z68 board. I'd rather have a high end P67 with a NF200 bridge if you decide to run SLI or Crossfire.

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by aesura To Glc: I'm changing my computer not upgrading it. I'm considering a new case and a new motherboard. To birddog_61 thanx man for your reply. OK - so I shld get the i7 - 2600K instead and stick with 8 Gb RAM then. Could you please explain further why getting a i7 990X is retarded? and why I should stick with the 2600K? And why 8Gb rigs is then better than 12Gb? What about the rest? Motherboad etc.. what do you think? Thanks for that man much appreciated.

The reason I said the 990x is retarded for gaming is that most games can only take advantage of 2 cores, the few that can take advantage of more only utilize 3 and 4 cores. There is not currently any game on the market or coming out that I know of that can use 6 cores. If your not going to use them then there is no need to have them. Here is a head to head gaming test between the 2600k and the 990x.
Core i7-990X Extreme Edition vs. Core i7-2600K. Page 4 - X-bit labs
And here is a gaming bench of several processors.
AnandTech - The Sandy Bridge Review: Intel Core i7-2600K, i5-2500K and Core i3-2100 Tested

As for 8gb vs 12gb, if you are just going to be gaming you are never going to max out 8gb of ram, if your not even going to use all of 8gb then why would you want to put 12 in it and never touch more than 6?

As for motherboard stick with an Asus high end p67, if you think you might crossfire or sli then get one with a nf200 bridge. There really is no need to do crossfire or sli since your running 1900x1024 resolution, and any high end graphics card will easily max any game out at that resolution.

For graphics, if your wanting to go nvidia then a evga or asus gtx 570 will completely max any game at 1900x1024, if you want to have bragging rights then get a gtx 580, if you want to throw some money away and have bragging rights get a gtx 590.

I would suggest also getting a good aftermarket cooler like a noctua or corsair h70 that way you can set the auto overclock features in the asus bios to performance and let it overclock the processor for you.

[aesura]

@ birddog_01:

You are absolutely right with everything! You are by far the most competent person I have spoken with on forums. You really take time to explain things. Thanks a lot.

As I agree with you a lot and I also made further research I came up with a new build:

CPU: i7 2600K (Thx for those websites very very interesting)

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV B3 ( 2600K socks L1155 and this Asus I think is a good option- I hope this is what you meant by high end p67)

Memory: Corsair Dominator 12 GB ( I agree with what you said about 8 GB - but 8 GB corsair is exactly the same price as 12 GB corsair - difference of 10$ so yea)

Corsair H70 CPU cooler

Graphics Card: GTX580

PSU: Corsair 850AX

Hard drive: 115Gb SSD corsair + seagate barracuda 1 TB

Monitor: ASUS 27'

[glc]

You are very much on the right track, just a few comments.

You don't need that Maximus - I'd actually recommend the P8P67 WS Revolution. It has the NF200 bridge, so if you do SLI both slots will run at full x16.

It's only a dual channel board - buy ram in PAIRS. That means either 8 or 16 gb.

Western Digital Black is preferable to Seagate, and for best reliability get an Intel SSD.

If you are planning on SLI with two of those 580's, you need even more PSU. There are 3 Corsairs certified for that - the TX950, HX1000, and the AX1200.

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by aesura @ birddog_01: You are absolutely right with everything! You are by far the most competent person I have spoken with on forums. You really take time to explain things. Thanks a lot. As I agree with you a lot and I also made further research I came up with a new build: CPU: i7 2600K (Thx for those websites very very interesting) Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV B3 ( 2600K socks L1155 and this Asus I think is a good option- I hope this is what you meant by high end p67) Memory: Corsair Dominator 12 GB ( I agree with what you said about 8 GB - but 8 GB corsair is exactly the same price as 12 GB corsair - difference of 10$ so yea) Corsair H70 CPU cooler Graphics Card: GTX580 PSU: Corsair 850AX Hard drive: 115Gb SSD corsair + seagate barracuda 1 TB Monitor: ASUS 27'

You are welcome for the help, I enjoy helping people build computers and hopefully not make the same mistakes I have.

You have a great build, just a few suggestions.

CPU: Awsome

Motherboard: That is a great motherboard but it is really for the extreme OC crowd which is fine if that is your thing. The Revolution board that glc recommended is a great board and has all the features you would ever need, plus its over 100 bucks cheaper. The only advantage the maximus has over the revolution is the ROG port for computer assisted live overclocking, and it has more usb3 ports.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131714

Memory: I would go with this dual channel kit Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8 It is Cas Latency 8 and is set to run at 1.5v at 1600 MHZ. If you decide later you need more buy the same kit again and install it, you then have 16gb.

PSU: As long as you don't plan on slapping 2 580's in there at some point then its a fantastic choice.

SSD: If your going to be using a SSD as the boot drive, and or store all your games on it I would highly recommend going with an Intel. Intel SSD failure rate is less than half of the closest competitors, they are not the fastest drive on the market but they are easily the most reliable. Newegg.com - Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

HDD: I have seagate drives in my computer now, however they are several years old and came out before seagate started having some issues. The western digital caviar black is the drive of choice right now.
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

The cooler and graphics cards are both great choices in my opinion, I think you will have an amazing system on your hands and if you do start gaming at higher resolutions you wont have a problem doing it with that card. I would suggest an evga 580 or an asus, the evga cards with serial numbers ending in AR have lifetime warranty's and evga has no problems honoring it.

What website are you actually going to be ordering from?