New Gaming Rig Aims

[Audiofeeler]

Hiya

As you may noticed I am new on this forum (not sure but did have old forum account but it was only last used 5-6 years ago so it would be gone by now), my aim is £2000 roughly in this build.

I have build one PC before and it was back in March 2007 so it still kicking and what not.

Current spec is:

Asus P5B deluxe Mobo
2.4Ghz Duo Core
4Gb RAM DDR2 locked at 800Mhz (because the Mobo only had option of 800Mhz and 1066Mhz so had to use 800Mhz due to BSOD issues when using 1066Mhz)
GT9500 2Gb VRAM (had GT 8800 Ultra 756Mb - utter beast in size and power but sadly Crysis fried it on release at that time so had replacement then it fried again when my warrant ran out - stupid of me of not using NVIDIA renew option when replacement came back)
Creative SB X-Fi sound card
800w Silent running PSU
500GB HDD
Win 7 Ultimate 32 bit

Currently my spec can manage still with most of the games on low/med spec - sometimes on high if I remove shadow/bloom (Alway remove them if possible, just not to my like along with FPS cost which isnt worth it).

Currently I am starting work next week after over a year on the dole and 4 years in uni doing my degree.

I just want to ask your opinions and knowledge on what is best option for me over next few months upward to xmas time, awaiting new products that could be worth waiting for.

My aim in this build is - power and silent running, I intend to have SDD for OS partition and 2TB HDD, getting 64bit version of Win 7 ultimate (wonder if I can upgrade rather buying new OS is cheaper and possible?).

Main question here is not to overspend beyond that amount, but I can squeeze a few for VAT cost - Custom build with individual part or getting OC UK to build it (how much saving is there?).

I did few mistakes on my first build so I want to have properly clean and well built machine, considering I must have done my job well having my machine last 5-6 years at least!

Would appreciate all your comments with knowledge and opinion if possible, never did spend times looking into products developments in PC because I never had money to do so until now.

Regard

Audiofeeler!

 

[Audiofeeler]

Okay my first post above may be case of TLDR.

Budget - £2000
Objective of the build - Power and Silent running

Anyone can suggest good build for me? I want to get best CPU/GFX as possible - using single screen and GFX card, no SLI/Crossfire, Air cooling only.

 

[Sparx]

Do you need a new monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc at all? Or are you just after a new case and all internals? And £2k is a very big budget, you won't need to spend all of it.

EDIT - Regardless of the above, here is a spec for a case with all internals.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Palit GeForce GTX 670 Jetstream 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £309.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC256N/EU) £155.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £99.98
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH100) £85.98
1 x OCZ ZT 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £69.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £1,189.82 (includes shipping : FREE).

 

[Audiofeeler]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Palit GeForce GTX 670 Jetstream 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £309.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC256N/EU) £155.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £99.98
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH100) £85.98
1 x OCZ ZT 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £69.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £35.99
1 x LG GH24NS90 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
Total : £1,189.82 (includes shipping : FREE).

Maybe you are right considering the budget, that was one of factor I have consider since I spend nearly 3K on my first build 5-6 years ago, maybe I didnt need to push so much and just make more sensible budget with shorter range and can refresh new build in 3-4 years without much bigger cost.

Several issues I must point out - Liquid cooling CPU? I only built one computer in my life, Notebook version of SSD? surely you mean desktop version or there is no difference?

I could upgrade the RAM to provide more, I know there is limit of how much RAM used by Win 7 64 bit but still, nothing hurt having more, 16Gb wouldnt be too expensive? I would like to get more CPU as possible.

Sick of my CPU being the main bottleneck for my computer for few years now.

Saw the price on Xeon and GTX 690 - jesus wept at those price.

Is there anything coming out in few months that is worth waiting for?

 

[tamzzy]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC256N/EU) £155.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series AX750 High Performance 750W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply (CMPSU-750AXUK) £129.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard with FREE BOOGIE BUG XXL GAMING MOUSE MAT £129.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £99.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML16GX3M2A1600C10) £99.95
1 x Fractal Design Define R4 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl £89.99
1 x Asus Xonar D2X 7.1 PCI-E Sound Card £89.99
1 x LiteOn IHES112-115 Internal 12x SATA Blu-ray Bulk Combo - Black £61.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
Total : £1,434.32 (includes shipping : £11.25).



if just for gaming, the i5k is as good as the i7k. hyperthreading doesnt help in games
16gb ram as you wanted
r4 is a good, silent case. noise dampening included.
corsair ax psus are one of the most silent psu available (short of having a full fanless psu)
the notebook/desktop version of the sammy 830 just denotes what accessories comes in the box. the drive is the same.
added a sound card. just because. (underbudget ;p)
blu ray drive
nice and silent heatsink.

if you can download the 64bit cd of windows, you can reuse your current win7ultimate.
cd-keys are not bound by 32/64 bits.

 

[olivier renault]

IMO you're better off with a big air cooler than water (NH-D14, SilverArrow, Dark Rock Pro 2, K2 Mount Doom, True Spirit 140, Phantek). Or be prepared to swap the fans on the H100 (Corsair AP120). The 612S is a nice cheap alternative too.

The Phanteks, TS140 and Dark Rock Pro 2 are tall you need around 165-170mm clearance (so a case like the Bitfenix Shinobi XL, Storm Trooper, HAFX, which are not designed for quietness but are generally quiet). The NH-D14 is a great all round cooler.

For the sound card, given your alias, you probably know better than most of us.

The 550D / R4 are good choices when it comes to sound dampening.

The Windforce 3X is considered one of the quiestest and coolest card around.

I like the Z77X-U4P. If you think you'll use thunderbolt.

 

[olivier renault]

Maybe you are right considering the budget, that was one of factor I have consider since I spend nearly 3K on my first build 5-6 years ago, maybe I didnt need to push so much and just make more sensible budget with shorter range and can refresh new build in 3-4 years without much bigger cost.

Yeah you don't need to spend £2000 for a rig these days. Save your money, the GTX670 is currently one of the best GPU you can get. You can always put another one later, or get a better card.

Several issues I must point out - Liquid cooling CPU?

It's easy to fit. It's all-in-one, the stock fans can spin really high and are noisy. The pump can make noises too. Heance my comment about air cooling which is more than capable of cooling a 3770K / 3570K.

I only built one computer in my life, Notebook version of SSD? surely you mean desktop version or there is no difference?

No difference, except it's slimmer. You can put it in a ultrabook later, or easier to resell. In any case, no difference.

I could upgrade the RAM to provide more, I know there is limit of how much RAM used by Win 7 64 bit but still, nothing hurt having more, 16Gb wouldnt be too expensive? I would like to get more CPU as possible.

Sure. Then I'd recommend two 8GB sticks to leave room, although what are the chances you will need more? Then you'll need to upgrade to win 7 pro or wait for win 8 and hope they support over 16GB with their consumer version.

Sick of my CPU being the main bottleneck for my computer for few years now.

Saw the price on Xeon and GTX 690 - jesus wept at those price.

Yeah you don't need the crazy gear for gaming. Not a fan of the GTX690.

Is there anything coming out in few months that is worth waiting for?

The new NVIDIA 660ti, but that shouldn't matter to you. Maybe IB extreme CPUs for the 2011 sockets. Haswell should be next year / 18 months? Although you never know with Intel since AMD isn't there to push them on. The 3770K is a beast anyway. And no games are gonna come close to maxing out the 3570K / 3770K especially overclocked.

The consoles are going backward in terms of performance and do not want to challenge high spec PCs, so no demand from consoles on performance either.

The new Crysis game looks like the new benchmark in terms of high performance PC gaming. But we're talking one game / engine.

EDIT : finally, the shopping tools are in my sig.

 

[Sparx]

Maybe you are right considering the budget, that was one of factor I have consider since I spend nearly 3K on my first build 5-6 years ago, maybe I didnt need to push so much and just make more sensible budget with shorter range and can refresh new build in 3-4 years without much bigger cost.

Yes.

Several issues I must point out - Liquid cooling CPU? I only built one computer in my life, Notebook version of SSD? surely you mean desktop version or there is no difference?

It is not a problem at all. These liquid (water) coolers are what is called 'all-in-one units'. They are not 'build and put me together units'. Literally you set them up very similar to any air cooler these days.. Plus you wanted a silent rig, this would be a tad quieter than an air cooler.

I could upgrade the RAM to provide more, I know there is limit of how much RAM used by Win 7 64 bit but still, nothing hurt having more, 16Gb wouldnt be too expensive? I would like to get more CPU as possible.

The RAM limit is only on Home Premium and below I think? Once you're on Pro/Ultimate it is 32/64GB or something? But you can still go for 16GB RAM if you want, it is pretty cheap.

Sick of my CPU being the main bottleneck for my computer for few years now.

Your CPU will definitely not be a bottle neck with the I specified or the GPU. They compliment each other very well.

Saw the price on Xeon and GTX 690 - jesus wept at those price.

Yes, they are a complete waste of money.

Is there anything coming out in few months that is worth waiting for?

Not really. The next 'big' thing is Intel's Haswell due in Q2/3 of 2013.

 

[Audiofeeler]

For the sound card, given your alias, you probably know better than most of us.

Actually not true =), the reason I picked this alias because I am actually profound deaf in both ears since birth, and my friends just gave me the nickname for feeling the vibrations when it come to the music, I wear digital hearing aids regardless.

Just want good sound card that is able to power to floor speakers, still going to keep my old amp/speakers, still kicking ass to this day. The reason for silent build is that I am being told that they are fed up hearing the machines whirring late at night at times, but no more when I am starting new work tomorrow =)

 

[chipachap]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC256N/EU) £155.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series AX750 High Performance 750W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply (CMPSU-750AXUK) £129.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard with FREE BOOGIE BUG XXL GAMING MOUSE MAT £129.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) £99.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML16GX3M2A1600C10) £99.95
1 x Fractal Design Define R4 Midi Tower Case - Black Pearl £89.99
1 x Asus Xonar D2X 7.1 PCI-E Sound Card £89.99
1 x LiteOn IHES112-115 Internal 12x SATA Blu-ray Bulk Combo - Black £61.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
Total : £1,434.32 (includes shipping : £11.25).



if just for gaming, the i5k is as good as the i7k. hyperthreading doesnt help in games
16gb ram as you wanted
r4 is a good, silent case. noise dampening included.
corsair ax psus are one of the most silent psu available (short of having a full fanless psu)
the notebook/desktop version of the sammy 830 just denotes what accessories comes in the box. the drive is the same.
added a sound card. just because. (underbudget ;p)
blu ray drive
nice and silent heatsink.

if you can download the 64bit cd of windows, you can reuse your current win7ultimate.
cd-keys are not bound by 32/64 bits.

Not true so to speak. Frostbite 2 engine can utilise up to 16 cores and that engine is being used for several new games and future engines will follow the same path.

 

[tamzzy]

bf3 uses frostbite 2 no?

 

[Sparx]

Tamzzy that spreadsheet shows BF3 performing with 13.8fps less on an i7 IB than an i5 IB unless I am missing something?

 

[tamzzy]

it shows the 3570k beating the 3770k by 11fps (or 13.8%)

full article here: http://vr-zone.com/articles/unlocke...k-worth-getting-over-the-i5-3570k-/15793.html

 

[chipachap]

it shows the 3570k beating the 3770k by 11fps (or 13.8%)

full article here: http://vr-zone.com/articles/unlocke...k-worth-getting-over-the-i5-3570k-/15793.html

There's definitely something wrong with the result or the testing criteria. I noticed a considerable jump and a lot more smoothness/less lag spikes with a 2700k over a 2500k. When I look at task manager all 8 cores have up to 60% usage or more.

 

[olivier renault]

There's definitely something wrong with the result or the testing criteria. I noticed a considerable jump and a lot more smoothness/less lag spikes with a 2700k over a 2500k. When I look at task manager all 8 cores have up to 60% usage or more.

You sure? Because that would tell me the 4 cores would do a lot of load balancing with hyperthreading on. Maybe they patched it up to support hyperthreading better.

 

[chipachap]

You sure? Because that would tell me the 4 cores would do a lot of load balancing with hyperthreading on. Maybe they patched it up to support hyperthreading better.

They didn't implement Hyper-Threading properly in BF3 till Dec/Jan. It decreased performance until then. It definitely increases performance for me anyway. I can't speak for the reviewer but it seems backwards. In fact I would think if the FPS for that result in the review was reversed it would make perfect sense.

 

[Audiofeeler]

Hiya, I am back to go ahead this time, after looking up the builds above.

I guess you are right regarding about i5 vs i7, i5 is better choice because hyperthreading is quite rare from several sources online I have read.

How easy is to overclock? I never done it before and I know you have to directly access BIOS to do so, just worried about components going KAPUT! due to my noob-fu build skill is not great to try except completing one build 6 years ago.

For the Silent build - I just want to push the CPU and GPU performance wise (Not OCing the GPU, had enough issue in past with GTX 8800 Ultra I had fried twice before I move onto more friendly GPU to maintain reliable performance over longer period of uses of my rig.

Should I do 1TB+1TB RAID 0 setup with SSD+HHD setup? Going to use 1DVD Combo with 1 Blu-Ray/DVD combo, nothing wrong with having backup DVD drive in case Blu-Ray/DVD drive fail in future =)

My budget is 1K right now with 1.2K at extreme push aka the monitor.

Just want to play Witcher 2, Planetside 2 (Used to play Planetside 1 - still have fond memories of it) and future release of Rome 2: Total War.

Anyone want to post fresh builds for me to look at or updated build at least?

Any further advices for me?

Many Thanks!