New Gaming System $2200

[kamyn]

HowDee all,

I'm new here and not nearly as tech savy as most of you seem to be, I've added hardware to upgrade my rig but never built one myself before. I stumbled upon this site while reaserching about building a gaming computer and read through Caldezar's thread about his $2500 machine. I spoke with Caldezar to make sure he didn't mind me "borrowing" a lot of his build as I have read, re-read and researched a lot about the hardware he posted and everyones comments and made some slight adjustments and was hoping for some feedback.

I'm a gamer, not hard core but constantly playing something, and plan on joining SWTOR as well when it comes out, but also mutlitask while playing almost everything. So while the machine will primarily be for gaming it will be used for general use as well; hense why Caldezar's hard work in his build appealed to me so much, as he was doing similar things.

Now $2200 is not a hard cap, but I don't really want to spend 3-4k on a computer, so this price range and parts that I picked all are good value from the reviews I've read and are fairly priced from NCIX, haven't done any PM as yet.

Silverstone Fortress FT02B - $250

XFX 850W Black Edition - PM - $140

Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 - PM - $180

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T - PM - $200

2x Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 2X2GB DDR3-1600 - PM - $200

2x Diamond Radeon HD 5850 725MHZ 1GB - PM - $640

2x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S - $200

Scythe Mugen 2 REV.B. - $45 + $7 for Bracket


Very simply what I changed was the 2 video cards to 5850's and the cooling fan. The reviews I read about the 5850's showed they were very good cards for the price and when OC they were compareable to the 5870's... not to mention saved me about $300. The cooling fan I choose had good reviews and was also cheaper, and since the case already comes with 3 fans and nose absorbtion, it will fend off the noisy video cards.

Any advice or feedback is welcome, I know you've already looked over Caldezar's, so this is just a couple minor tweaks to what he already did.

Thanx for your hard work Caldezar,

Kamyn

[crazyhorsejohnny]

If you really love that case get that one, but if not there are many very good cases in the $150-$175 range. You could save some cash there. Also I'd get the Hyper 212+ for your CPU cooler. Goes for $25.

[_dangtx_]

expensive case, might want to look at the 870a mobo as well giga of course.
also check deals on corsair,seasonic in that watts/modular range

[Zero82z]

If you don't have anything against Intel then I recommend going with these parts instead:
CPU: NCIX.com - Buy Intel Core i7 930 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.8GHZ 8MB L3 Cache 130W 45NM Retail Box - BX80601930 In Canada.
Motherboard: NCIX.com - Buy ASUS P6X58D-E X58 ATX LGA1366 3PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFire SLI USB3.0 SATA 6GB/S Motherboard - P6X58D-E In Canada.
RAM: NCIX.com - Buy Corsair XMS3 CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 Memory Kit - CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 In Canada. (pricematch with Corsair XMS3 CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 6GB DDR3 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 Core i7 Memory Kit - DirectCanada)

Also, I suggest two of these drives instead (NCIX doesn't sell them): Newegg.ca - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

[Caldezar]

I agree on the case. I've gone that route as it's basically one of the best air cooled cases available outside of the HAF-X; and I think the HAF cases are hideous. Add to that the Fortress being basically dust-free, and one of the more unique cases on the market; and I'm sold. But that's personal preference. You might also want to consider an H50 CPU cooler as they are incredibly effective and very quiet. (And you can PM them down to $55 or $60) I'd have put one in my build if I was using any other case.

As for the X58 build suggested by Zero, I seriously considered a similar setup when I was putting together my build. But the X6/890FX setup has been something I've wanted since the X6 was first released. And I have some serious issues with Intel as a company. But the cost vs performance of SLi 460's is very tempting on a budget.

[jcmaz]

Diamond warranty sucks, get a XFX version of the 5850.

[FlyZ]

I would personally go with a i7/SLI 460 build if you're on that budget. You'll get more bang for buck with the 460 SLI than with the 5850 Xfire. The difference can go towards an SSD if you so desire.

Unless you have the same feelings for Intel as Caldezar...

[kamyn]

HowDee all,

Sorry I haven't updated my progress, it's been really busy at work and I actually crashed at 8pm while trying to read... my wife laughed at me and shuffled me off to bed.

So I have actually been reading and reviewed EVERYTHING you guys have suggested and here are some of the adjustments I've made since.

1. Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case 300 ATX 3X5.25 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB & Audio I changed the case, as I agreed it was highly priced and decided on this recomended one as it had good reviews as well.
2. XFX Radeon HD 5850 Black Edition 765MHZ 1GB GDDR5 4.5GHZ 2XDVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E Video Card I changed video cards to another 5850, the orginal one's warranty was crap as jcmaz suggested and I did look at the 460 SLI's and they do seem to be a good deal, but this 5850 still well out performed all the 460's I reviewed.
3. I also agreed with Zero about the motherboard and chip as these were superior to the AMD and Gigabyte I had originally choosen and switched to the ones recomended,
CPU: NCIX.com - Buy Intel Core i7 930 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 2.8GHZ 8MB L3 Cache 130W 45NM Retail Box - BX80601930 In Canada.
Motherboard: NCIX.com - Buy ASUS P6X58D-E X58 ATX LGA1366 3PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFire SLI USB3.0 SATA 6GB/S Motherboard - P6X58D-E In Canada.

Those are the big changes, when I get home I can post the whole system, but lunch break only lasts so long. So any new thoughts to these adjustments?

[_dangtx_]

NCIX.com - Buy Silverstone Precision PS04B ATX Black Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS - PS04B In Canada.

for case. price match it. and take it easy, health is more important than computers lol.

[jcmaz]

You could get the Silverstone PS05 which has more fan slots for 120mm fans.

Newegg.ca - SILVERSTONE PS05-B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Tool-less Installation Design Computer Case