Gaming Rig, Parts Chosen just need some advice

[bdrach]

I have a custom gaming rig I built at the beginning of 2009, which I love, that is becoming slightly outdated. I likely have enough processing power and RAM to last me a year or two of gaming at mid-high level settings. Originally I only intended to upgrade to a GPU that supports dx11, I looked most strongly at the GTX 570. During my search however I noticed the amazing price point of the I5-2500k. It substantially out performs the Phenom II X4 980 for only 40 dollars more. So I decided I would build a PC around the I5-2500k and get some thoughts about whether the upgrade would be worth the money. I have been wanting to take my first foray into CPU overclocking and the 2500k seems like a good match for a beginner overclocker. I’d like comments both on whether the upgrade is worth the money AND advice on the parts I chose.

This PC will be used for gaming (85% of the time) and occasionally streaming television shows.

Current Rig:

CPU: Intel E8400 @ 3.16Ghz

Mobo: Asus Striker II Extreme NSE

GPU: EVGA GTX 260

RAM: Corsair 4gb (2x2gb) CM3X1024-1600C7DHXIN

Boot Drive: WD SiliconEdge Blue 128gb SSD SSC-D0128SC-2100

Storage Drive: WD Caviar Black 640gb

PSU: Antec Truepower TP-750 750W PSU

Case: Antec 900

Monitor 1: 27 Inch Assus @ 1920x1080

Monitor 2: 23 inch Syncmaster @ 1920x1080


New Build:

CPU: Intel I5-2500k
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V Pro
Newegg.com - ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

GPU: EVGA Superclocked GTX 570 012-P3-1572-AR
Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (factory overclock seems like a win for me since it is VERY unlikely I will ever undertake overclocking my GPU)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb (2xgb) CMZ8GX3M2A-1600C9
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

I will only be changing these four parts. Everything else I will use from the previous build unless someone convinces me otherwise. I have an asus dvd/rw drive that I will use with the rig as well.

I am also looking for recommendations for an aftermarket cpu heatsink and fan (to ensure CPU longevity while overclocking) as well as a hard drive enclosure. I would like the enclosure to be USB 3.0 compatible and have a fan.

EDIT: I will be using a 1 TB caviar black to use with the enclosure.

[Khalil]

Want some sound advice? Keep everything you have now and get a GTX580 instead of the GTX470, that is what I would do, you will get better gaming performance than spending all that money on all that other hardware!

[bdrach]

Thanks for the reply. I had a feeling people would think my processor and ram were fine as is. There is a substantial price increase from the 570 to the 580, over 100 dollars. Is it really worth it?

[David M]

For a gaming machine, yes. Your bottleneck is your graphics card and not your CPU. An E8400, especially if you overclock it is still a very fast processor.

[Khalil]

I just upgraded a customer's machine last week, he came in wanting me to build him a new computer because he wanted windows 7 and DX11.
He had a GTX275 and an E8400 with 8GB of DDR2 800 memory, I convinced him to only change the video card.
I upgraded it to a GTX580
Mind you the GTX275 is still a gaming card to be reckoned with but the GTX580 made the older 275 seem like onboard video

The $100 extra for the bigger card is worth it all the way.

[bdrach]

I haven't tried to overclock the processor yet. I have thought about it but I have very little knowledge about overclocking and didn't think I could accomplish it without screwing it up. I only recently discovered these forums so I haven't spent much time looking, but I imagine there is a fair amount of information about overclocking the E8400. Maybe enough for me to feel comfortable actually doing it ;p

So your saying it is worth the extra money for a 580? If it matters, I play a fair amount of Witcher II, Dragon Age II and Shogun: Total War II.

EDIT: didn't see Khalil's post until after I posted this. Consider me convinced on the 580.

EDIT 2: Any suggestions on Brand for the 580. I really like EVGA, and everything I have ever purchased from Asus has been of very high quality. Are there particular models I should consider? Thanks for all the help.

[Khalil]

Asus, EVGA, MSI and Gigabyte in that order! I would say go for an Asus, they are the best. This is the one I carry in the GTX580 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=6s9l8qx56rte

[glc]

If your E8400 is running at 3.16 GHz, you are overclocking. That's a 3.0 GHz processor. The E8500 is 3.16 Ghz.

I like the -AR models from EVGA, they have a lifetime warranty if you register them.

[bdrach]

Definitely an E8500. I have no idea how I misread CPU-Z.

EDIT: Thanks for all the advice. Gonna make a decision between the EVGA and the ASUS. I figure I can't really go wrong there. Gonna do some more research on these forums and see if I can't drum up some info about overclocking an E8500, hopefully in layman's terms.

[glc]

You can't go wrong with either Asus or EVGA. The only difference in my eyes is the warranty - Asus is 3 years.

[birddog_61]

What is your gaming resolution? Are you going to be gaming on both monitors or just one?

[bdrach]

Only gaming on one monitor, the 27 inch asus. It runs at 1920x1080.

Second monitor is generally streaming something, television, pandora etc. while I am playing games.

[birddog_61]

If you don't want to spend the 500 on the 580 then a gtx 570 will max almost every game on the market at 1080.

[bdrach]

I like the extra cooling on the ASUS but 3 slots is a lot of real estate. I have read that the EVGA SC can easily be overclocked, using their precision utility, so that the GPU clock is between 860 and 880mhz with stock voltage. Anyone have experience doing so and can verify that this is (relatively) easy to do and safe for the card?

EDIT: It sounds like I could get the E8500 to 3.8ghz (9.5 multiplier with 400mhz FSB) with the stock cooler and still get decent temps. If I got the processor that high and got the 580 (and OC'd it once I felt I needed more performance) I wouldn't need another rig for another couple of years at least.