Moderate to Extreme Gaming Rig

[rpdiddy11]

I'm finally getting around to building my first pc after putting it off for so long. Anyways, I already bought the following:

Rosewill R519-BK ATX Mid Case w/ 500W Power Supply

LITE-ON DVD Burner

I intended to use an AMD A10 5800K with the built in GPU to go for affordability but later I changed my mind and thought I should probably do better with the GPU. So I decided to go with an intel CPU and nVidia for the graphics card.

Here's what I got so far, and I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking something with regards to compatibility and/or practicality.

MB: ASUS P8Z77-M LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core

GPU: EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Memory: CORSAIR XMS 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3-1333

As for the hard drive, I'm wondering if I should just go with a 250GB Samsung 840 Series SSD right out of the gate, or with a regular HDD with more capacity. I don't think I need much more space than 250GB and I'd really like to get an SSD.
I plan on connecting this to my 40" TV and eventually I might just use is it as an HTPC too. I do most of my gaming on the xbox but there are a few games that I wish I could've played on PC (had I actually had a PC powerful enough to do so). I'd like to be able to play my games at max settings, otherwise what's the point. I'd appreciate whetever input you can offer.

[David M]

What is your budget? For max settings and playable frame rates in the more graphics intensive games you are going to want a $1500 plus computer.

Don't use the PSU's that come with the cases for a high end gaming rig. A low end 500 watt PSU will not work for this.

WD Blacks are more reliable hard drives.

[Jbc223456]

I second what David said with regards to the PSU. If you're going to spend that kind of cash to make a good gaming computer, you don't want to skimp out and use an unreliable power supply. The ones recommended around here are Corsair and Seasonic brands. If you're looking for a good one, jdeb has posted a very reliable, strong PSU for an unbeatable price in this thread.

If you really want an SSD, 128GB would do you fine for operating system and programs. If you want more storage, you can get a regular HDD. I would only recommend using the Intel 330 or 520 Series SSD for reliability purposes. Otherwise you can get a smaller SSD (64GB or so) and a larger HDD and utilize Intel SRT Caching using the SSD.

[glc]

Use Vengeance low profile, not XMS.

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by Jbc223456 I second what David said with regards to the PSU. If you're going to spend that kind of cash to make a good gaming computer, you don't want to skimp out and use an unreliable power supply. The ones recommended around here are Corsair and Seasonic brands. If you're looking for a good one, jdeb has posted a very reliable, strong PSU for an unbeatable price in this thread. If you really want an SSD, 128GB would do you fine for operating system and programs. If you want more storage, you can get a regular HDD. I would only recommend using the Intel 330 or 520 Series SSD for reliability purposes. Otherwise you can get a smaller SSD (64GB or so) and a larger HDD and utilize Intel SRT Caching using the SSD.

128gb would not come any where close to holding even my games much less the bloated instal of windows 7 that is 30gb now. Most games these days require around 20gb of space each, and that's only going to get bigger. I would never recommend less than 250gb for a gamer if they are going to store games on it. The best option would be the 128gb(or 250) for os and standard programs, 1tb wd black for games.

[David M]

There is not much read time at all when storing games on a WD Black. I think it would work out fine to load the OS and a few games on the SSD, the lesser used games could go on the spin drive. The type of storage does not affect a games frame rates, just read/write times.

[rpdiddy11]

I figured as much about the PSU. The one in that link sure looks like a winner but the promo is no longer valid so maybe I'll go with this one.

As for the hard drive, I'll definitely need more than 128GB. My laptop has that now and I teeter on or around 10GB of free space with no games installed. I was trying to see if I can just stick to one hard drive, either SSD or HDD. I might just get an HDD in the end to save money. And what's the difference between WD Black and WD Blue. From what I can tell, just the warranty. I found a 1TB WD Blue for the same price as a 500GB WD Black with no differences, aside from the capacities of course.

I'll switch to this for memory.

Due to the lack of comments regarding the cpu, gpu, and mb I assume that's all kosher?

[David M]

The Black's are made with higher grade parts in order to last longer, therefore the better warranty. You might want to do a Google search to find where someone has benchmarked their speeds.

Having two drives in one computer is no problem. Lots of people do it.

[glc]

The Corsair CX series is not very good. Stick with TX/HX/AX.

[rpdiddy11]

Quick RECAP:
I updated some parts as per you much-appreciated suggestions. I also updated the MB, GPU and CPU.

Case: Rosewill R519-BK Black ATX Mid Tower w/ 500W Power Supply (I'm stuck with the PSU since I had already bought the case)
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750M 750W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
MB: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel
CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.3GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 69W Quad-Core
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 SC Signature 2 3GB 192-bit GDDR5
Hard Drive: WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

I'm not sure about the GPU, I just noticed this one has more memory and costs less but has less CUDA cores (whatever that means, please clarify lol). Is it worth more memory at the loss of these cuda cores?
I changed the MB so there's more room for improvement, although I think this is pretty good as it is. And I heard the i5 3350P is the best bang for your buck as far as cpu's go so there's that.
For the storage, I'll just forget about the SSD and add that later if I feel like.

[David M]

Spend more on the graphics card if you have the bucks. Gaming computers are all about the speed of the card. That is their bottleneck. Price pretty much relates to speed although it is not a linear function. Speed increases at a decreasing rate with cost.

[rpdiddy11]

Very well, the costlier one it is.

EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5

only an extra $30

[David M]

That takes you from 3GB to 2GB of video memory. You want more video memory for the larger monitors like the 1920 x 1080's.

Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked+ 03G-P4-3663-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Another 20 bucks plus a faster core clock and boost clock. That's a nice card. Another step up to the 670's and you are getting into the $360 area.

[birddog_61]

I can tell you right now that the standard gtx 660 will max anything except original crysis you want to run on it at 1080p. I have played bf3,borderlands2,splintercell conviction, hitman absolution, the crysis 3 demo, plus many many more all on ultra 40fps+.