A good lasting gaming and multipurpose rig?

[dlf]

You all figure this will be a good rig for playing most current games (and past games?)

• Budget - Within about $1600 (American)
  
• Resolution - At first 1680 x 1050 - Eventually HD (and a dual monitor setup)
  
• Games / Settings Desired: Everything from DOS era on. Most should probably be high settings (if not ultra)
  
• Country - USA
  
• Parts that can be reused: Not that I can think of (see current specs as to why)
  
• Buying Parts: Before the end of the year, hopefully before fall or end of summer
  
• Will NOT prebuilt (like my last)
  

The specs of the NEW build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.99 @ Microcenter)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.90 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($214.99 @ eCost)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive: OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ NCIX US)

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: Diamond Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($159.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS224-06 DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)

--------- Will buy these two later, or at lest the monitor-------------

Monitor: Samsung P2770FH 27.0" Monitor ($294.98 @ NCIX US)

Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($44.04 @ Amazon)

Total: $1907.82

(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-16 22:02 EDT-0400)

Current specs:

• CPU: CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2000 MHz (10 x 200) 3800+
  
• Motherboard: Motherboard Name Asus A8N-BR (Pyrite) (1 PCI, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN, IEEE-1394)
  
• Memory: System Memory 3008 MB (DDR2 SDRAM)
  
• Hard Drive: Disk Drive SAMSUNG SP2504C SCSI Disk Device (250 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II) [can I really use SATA speeds?]
  
• Video Card (GPU): Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE (128 MB)
  
• Case: HP Pavilion Slimline (7700n)
  
• Optical Drive: Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVDRRW GSA-H20L ATA Device (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/32x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
  
• Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 32 Bit
  

And what I wanted in a new system:

Hardware

• USB 2.0 speeds that are minimum of 30 MB a second
  
• USB 3.0 speeds that are at lest 300+ MB/s [I will get / use an SSD]
  
• Firewire (and or eSata port) --- because I have a external hardrive that has both along with USB
  
• At lest a solid terabyte (1.5 TB)
  
• Supports VGA & DVI (@ first) - eventually HD for the new monitor
  
• Multi card reader (although I mainly need SD and Memory Pro Stick Duo)
  
• Able to use a PS3 controller AND A XBOX 360 controller (yes I know 360 is native support . . .)
  
• I would like a quad core.
  

Software

• Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit) (Main OS) -- Mostly for languages
  
• May first run Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit - as I have both 32/64 bit discs now)
  
• Windows XP - May run through virtual machine
  
• Folding @home - (alth ough I use my PS3 for that when I'm not using it)
  

Gaming Software:

Will use steam:

• Elder Scrolls (Morrowind -> Skyrim)
  
• Portal 1 & 2
  
• Batman Arkham (Asylum/City)
  
• Sonic Generations
  
• Quake (all)
  
• Doom (all)
  
• Wolfenstein (all)
  
• Commander keen (all)
  
• Bioshock (1/2) (perhaps infinite)
  
• L.A. Noire
  
• Bejeweled (all)
  
• Peggle (all)
  
• Various COD's
  
• anything else that interests me
  

Will use CD/DVD's of the games I have:

• Warcraft 2 - Tides of Darkness & Beyond the Dark Portal
  
• Warcraft 3 - Reign of Chaos & Frozen Throne
  
• Diablo 1 - 3 (when it comes out)
  
• The Sims 1 - And all expansions
  
• The Sims 2 (probably)
  
• Simcity 4000 & Rushhour
  
• May use emulation (to run up to the PS2/Wii)
  

Other Thoughts

• Eventually a dual monitor setup (and one be HD resolution)
  
• I will wait for some parts (hard drives, GPU, etc) to drop in price.
  
• Will wait for IvyBridge. . . .
  
• I WANT UEFI, NOT regular old BIOS (that this slimline has
  
• May eventually like a dual GPU (crossfire?)
  

Monitor Thoughts:

• First and foremost: HD
  
• Supports: HDMI, DVI, Displayport (if the motherboard of the computer does)
  
• Within 1 - 2 MS response time
  
• Screen size - 25 to about 27 inches (this desk doesn't really have a lot of room)
  
• Also is widescreen.
  

 

[Lauralarry]

please drop the case that's such a generic case I hate the HAF series and the Phantom be creative pick a case that you like not that 2,000 people bought so I should buy it too, get the Switch 810/Tempest Elite/Thor 2/bitfenix raider/shinobi/outlaw other than that everything else is grand dude you're going to love your setup

another thing, 23.5 inch monitors should do it no need to go 27'

 

[xdaax]

ocz SSDs haven'T got the best reputation, better go with Crucial, Kingston, Intel, SAmsung,

Moreover you won'T get all these Games on 120GB

 

[The Orange One]

Are you thinKing of over-clocking your GPU? If So how about a GTX 670? It overclocks to about the same as a GTX 680

 

[dlf]

The SSD is for the OS - and that should be more than enough and if possible Intell Smart Response or cache. The 2 TB is for overreall storage. If I need a seperate drive for steam I can get one. No overclocking. I had thought of getting like two 7950's and crossfiring em but that seems like that'd barely give me any PSU headroom. I do want good speeds of the SSD (450+ MB/s) of both read/write seem good (to me).

 

[Excalabur50]

The only things I would change is the ssd as already suggested go a Kingston Hyper X and for the cpu cooler look at the Havik 140 by NZXT or NH-D14

 

[Big WigglyStyle]

I would defiantly change that case(solely based on the looks of it) you can get much nicer looking cases aside from that laurallarry suggested some really nice cases corsair also has some pretty nice cases aswell so look into those I have the 500r and can say it is a really nice case and cable management is really good considering I have a non modular psu and can't see any unnecessary cabling in it with plenty of cooling other than that it looks good. Just some really basic changes I wouldn't recommend that keyboard either since it is membrane but if you're going for membrane I would look elsewhere from what I know it isn't very good. Also instead of getting an internal DVD/CD drive get a USB one they may not be as fast but I bought a internal one and I've barely touched it once with windows install and two CD burns onto itunes I ended up taking it out and my case looks much cleaner from the front.

 

[dlf]

I had at one thought of the 500r (white) - but this has front ports (USB 2/3/Firewire/(e)sata) in a far easier place (I think) - unless there was some 5.25" adapter that had (more) 2/3.0 ports, a firewire and or (e)sata port.

 

[Pr3d4t0r]

keep the current rig for htpc/family pc and dont get ocz ssds they aer horrible also dont know why hate on HAF i have 922 myself great case had it for over 3 years

 

[DanielSK]

People, look at his budget don't suggest crazy thing like a nh-d14, I would get a gtx670, as I have seen in the reviews it looks like crazy not to get it if you look cost/benefits. With the price I would get a 500r or something like that. The SSD I have 2 agility3 and they work well, but many people complain about it, if you can get other instead, maybe mushkins for the same price...

 

[jamesriley94]

Looks solid enough. I agree the HAF is a bit generic, but if you like that then it doesnt exactly mater, and they are still good cases.

Couple of changes I'd suggest:

1) 3770k - not sure why no ones picked up on that, but you'd want an unlocked one with the possibility of overclocking in future, if it is meant to be a long term system.

2) Agreeing with another post, avoid OCZ SSDs. Look good on paper, but after a few months they just break so give them a miss. Go for a crucial m4 or something along those lines

3) Regarding the cooler - that will be fine. I have the 212+ and it does an outstanding job as a heatsink. The fas however are debatable. If you do go for that heatsink, I would recommend looking at some different fans. I always find coolermaster fans to whine and click and just can stand them. I've had this problem with every Coolermaster LED fan I've had - and thats 5 fans...

Still other than that, it's a good build

 

[dlf]

keep the current rig for htpc/family pc and dont get ocz ssds they are horrible also dont know why hate on HAF i have 922 myself great case had it for over 3 years

steaming things is VERY slow on this internet connection - 350 - 360 KB/s (~3 Mbps). It takes about 6 - 7+ hours to download Batman Arkham Asylum (and about half a day for City) whereas on a Meg or two connection (3-6 times faster) it takes a about 1 hour. When this system ran vista and I tried Media center that was laggy beyond belief. But for our damn ISP that's what we get despite us supposedly paying for probably half a meg or more.

 

[Jadarite]

Maybe a diffrent case



If I had the money I get this

 

[AverageNinja]

Get a 3770k, not a 3770. Even if you're not into overclocking it's still nice to have.