Build

[rockandrolldj]

First post on these here forums, so hi everyone.

I'm putting together a new build atm, predominantly for gaming, and I'd appreciate the opinions of the wise folk here. Here's the setup:






What do you guys think?

Thanks!
rockandrolldj

 

[rockandrolldj]

Thanks for the responses guys, really helpful.

Maybe I was being a little bit gratuitous with the 8gb of RAM, I'll take the advice I've been given and go with 4gb.

I'm out of the loop technology wise (having used a laptop for the past 2yrs), and want to ask a few more questions. What's the advantage of having a solid state drive; I assume it's faster, but are there any other upsides? Also, is it necessary to have a CPU cooler (as Reaper 392 suggested)? Is it mainly required for overclocking and the like?

I'm still not sure whether to go for the 6970 or the GTX570 - always been an ATi man in the past, but maybe someone can sway my loyalty?

Thanks again,
rockandrolldj

 

[rockandrolldj]

Well the main advantage of an SSD is the speed of it, in theory it should also be less likely to break as it has no moving parts but I think that there is a history of them breaking, I'm pretty sure they are a lot more reliable nowadays though. It is necessary to have a CPU cooler regardless of what you are doing however the CPU already comes with a cooler. Reaper specced the OEM version which doesn't include a cooler so it is a little cheaper and then he chose a cooler which would have a much better performance than the stock one which normally comes with the CPU.
From the way you have asked I think you are moving towards not overclocking your CPU. I think that once you have had the system for a bit and if you look into it and see how easy it is to overclock a 2500k, you may wish you had got the better cooler in order to clock the CPU a lot higher. If you definitely don't want to overclock then there is no point in getting the 2500k version, the 2400 is identical however is cheaper but doesn't allow overclocking.

I see. Well, I'm not opposed to overclocking, but having never done it before, I've always been slightly wary. Perhaps I'll give it a shot, I've always thought it would be a difficult business, but I was apparently wrong!

I might skimp on the solid state though. It's pretty pricey, and I'm not sure I'll really notice the benefits of it. Will it noticeably speed up my computer if I install the OS onto it?