my first gaming rig

Soullkilla

Soullkilla

Soullkilla

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Joined
22 May 2009
Posts
139
Location
Guernsey, Channel Islands
Hey guys, im currently about to make my first gaming rig up and would like your views on it, originally i went for a 775 rig, but now im going for a i7 rig due to life span etc, and possible upgrading in the future being easier in the future with a i7...heres both set ups i was thinking of...

---------------Original 775 Choice--------------------

Intel Core 2 quad q9650 3.0
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...atid=6&subcat=
ASUS STRIKER II EXTREME Motherboard
http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?mo...11&l3=653&l4=0
2x BFG GTX 285 OCX SLI
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-085-BG
4GB DDR3 Ram 1600

---------------2nd Choice i7--------------------------

Asus Rampage II Extreme Intel X58
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-319-AS
Intel Core i7 940 2.93Ghz (Nehalem)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-254-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1272
2x BFG GTX 285 OCX SLI
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-085-BG
6 gig Tri Ram 1600

-----------------------------------------------------

Both with as follows

Tagan 900watt PSU
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-TG1 TB HDD
Bluray player/vista home
In a Antec 1200

The main game i play at the moment is World of Warcraft but i want to venture into more games with this machine which i havent been able to in the past with my slower cheaper setups.

I will be playing on a new 24inch Viewsonic HD monitor in 1920 x 1080

I also will NOT be doing any OCing at the moment as im still very new to it and dont want to fry anything on this expensive set up and lose out on warranty's etc just yet :D

cheers guys
 
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For the extra £261 for the 940 (compared to the 920) you will only see a small performance increase. Also, you say you arn't overclocking - but you picked a board designed for heavy overclocking. You would be better to save some money and get a board like this with most of the same options.

Also, in terms of RAM - this stuff is a great performer and great price.

Also, you may want to consider getting a nice CPU cooler (this one is very good). Even if not overclocking it will run quieter and keep the chip cooler. Also, if you ever try overclocking in the future you will have a cooler that can handle it.
 
cant input much, but i'd avoid SLI, sure others will have a different opinion, but i've read it doesnt give that much of a performance boost.
if you really want crazy speed, go for a gtx295 and save some money.
 
the board was oringally recommended by a friend of mine which will be mainly building the pc for me.

yea i guess its a lot of cash for a small 0.4 increase. should i OC? is it easy? if i do very small OCing is there still a chance i can screw everything up??? if i did go for the 2.66 Do version and with that cooler u said about
 
i did originalyy go for a gtx 295 or 2 but iwhen my mate called his wholesaler for some reason the 295 was at the end of life/discontinued stage and the extended warranty reduced to 1year, so it kind of put me off, hence why i went for the BFG OCX version with 10year warranty
 
cant input much, but i'd avoid SLI, sure others will have a different opinion, but i've read it doesnt give that much of a performance boost.
if you really want crazy speed, go for a gtx295 and save some money.
Click to expand...

In times past, mutli GPU was pretty terrible. However, today ATI and Nvidia seem to have got it licked. In fact, the gtx295 (the card you recommend over SLI) is 2 gt200 chips linked by SLI using an onboard n200 chip). Here and here show very good scaling with the 285 in SLI.

The gtx 285 is the fastest single GPU available at the moment - putting 2 of them in SLi will make for a brilliant gaming machine, so long as you can afford it.

@ Soulkilla - On the i7 is very easy. All you need is a good CPU cooler and a bit of patience. If you want a nice overclock to 3.6Ghz -all you need to do is change a few settings and you will be away (no need to increase the volts to the CPU). Simply increase the BCLK to 180MHz, set the VCORE to 1.2V and change the memory multiplier down so the RAM runs at spec speed. Then just use a stress testing program (like OCCT) to put the CPU under full stress. As long as it can run fully stable and under 70 degrees under the load - you have a nice overclock:)
 
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cmndr_andi said:
The gtx 285 is the fastest single GPU available at the moment - putting 2 of them in SLi will make for a brilliant gaming machine, so long as you can afford it.
Click to expand...

yea can afford it, thats for sure. im deffo goin on these atm in SLI the only thing thats screwing me is the mobo and processor :( lol money aint a problem hence why i origally chose the 2.93 and that mobo...hmm what to do lol :P
 
so i pretty much just do that, and keep trying different setups till its stable, if its unstable i back down a bit, and no harm will be done to it?

also in the antec 1200 im guessing the cooling will be fine it it yea?
 
To be honest- if money isn't a problem then get this CPU cooler with this fan and read an i7 overclocking guide for half an hour - that will give you far better performance than even an i7 965.

The 920, 940 and 965 are all the same chips, but with different multipliers. The cpu frequency (ie 2.66Ghz, 2.93Ghz, 3.2GHz) is arrived at by multiplying the base clock (BKLC) with the multiplier (133.33MHz BCLK x 20 = 2.66Ghz i7 920). However, all X58 motherboard can produce at least a 190MHz base clock. So if you have an i7 920 but increase the baseclock to 160Mhz (very easy to do) then you have the performance level of a i7 965, simple eh? Higher clocked chips poroduce more heat - so you will be needing an aftermarket cooler - but the best air coolers only cost £50. So for the performance you can easily get with an i7 920 + a good air cooler - it makes the 940 seem silly.

Furthermore, intel just updated the i7 920 with a new stepping (D0). The 940 and 965 have not been updated with this yet. The D0 stepping allows for overclocking (up to 3.8Ghz) on the stock voltage levels (1.2volts)- so it will run better when overclocked compared to an i7 940.



Edit: just read your 01:26 post, exactly its VERY difficult to harm this chips now - if they get to dangerous temperatures thy will automatically shut off. Also, if the overclock fails the motherboard should reset all settings to default - so its rather foolproof. Just to emphasise - if you want to overclock get a new cooler like the ones i suggested. The ones Intel put with there chips are made to be very cheap and to be good enough to run the chips at stock settings and not much more.

The antec 1200 is a very good case and will keep the system very cool. Also, it is definitely big enough to accommodate the large heatsinks I linked to.
 
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sounds good, but 1 thing tho....lol

is there a good fan like the 1 u linked thats a bit better looking? lol with having my fan all out too see etc ;)
 
I guess the look of noctua fan is an aquired taste - but its is the best fan for a heatsink around in my opinion.

There are other fans such as this or this. However, you will be paying in terms of more noise or less cooling going for them.
 
ok then, well it is a HUGE saving with going for the 920 cpu with that cooler and fan that u originally said to go for. i think i will go for that then, with saving that few extra hundred quid or so is it worth using it somewhere else? also should i still keep that OC motherboard if i do do what u said and OC the processor with the already OC gfx cards?
 
If money is no issue I would get a nicer case fortress or tj07 with i7 D0, noctua cooler pull/push, be quiet psu, ssd in in raid 0 for os and games then 1tb for media, 2 gtx 280 and nice mouse keyboard and speakers
 
This Week Only Offer
Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail + Far Cry 2 Game

Overclockable D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) Version, Quad Core Technology, 2.66GHz clock speed, 8MB L3 Cache, Intel HyperThreading Technology, Triple Channel DDR3 Controller, 4.8GTs QuickPath, 3yr Warranty

does the 3yr warranty still apply with OC it?
 
Soullkilla said:
with saving that few extra hundred quid or so is it worth using it somewhere else? also should i still keep that OC motherboard if i do do what u said and OC the processor with the already OC gfx cards?
Click to expand...

Its totally up to you - but the Gigabyte UD5 is a proven overclocking motherboard. It will happily take an i7 920 past 4.0GHz. If you like the look and extra features of the ASUS rampage II board - then go for it, it is a very nice board.

I would also recommend against getting a new copy of Vista - Windows 7 is coming up later this year and looks very good. I hear it will be optimised for hyperthreading (so extra performance for i7 processors). You can download the Windows 7 Release candidate from here for free. Its a beta of Windows 7 but it is very polished - and perfect for a new uber system.

As for spending the money saved, get a nice keyboard and mouse. I have this mouse and I swear by it. Also, have you got that monitor yet? If not you can treat yourself and get a non-TN panel monitor such as this. Its a firm forum favourite due to its awesome image quality and great viewing angles. Furthermore, if you RAID 0 some fast HHDs (like these) you will get much faster day to day performance without the high cost/low storage of an SSD.
 
First let me say - CPU failures are very rare, even when overclocked properly.

Technically, overclocking does void the warranty - because you are not running the CPU at the specified speed. However, overclocking is all done using the motherboard BIOS on software - so there is no way to tell if a chip has been overclocked.

So - don't worry about it.
 
can the rampage also take the 920 to 4.0?

sounds good with the windows 7, ill take a look into that.

i do already have a monitor ordered, this 1>
http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktop-monitors/lcd/x-series/vx2433wm.htm

as for the mouse and keyboard, yea didnt think of that, and that mouse looks good, i used to have a 1000mx or something and loved it, this looks good so will prob go for it too, using a G15 keyboard atm so will see what keyboard i can come up with.
 
Aye, the ASUS Rampage 2 is definitely capable of 4.0Ghz.

As for the keyboard, I have a G15 too (original blue version) and its the only thing I haven't upgraded recently and don't plan on replacing for a while. Really great keyboard. Unless you find a keyboard that really takes your fancy, stick with the G15.
For me, one good keyboard upgrade would be a good clean :D
 
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