Final Thoughts: Gaming Rig Build

[Draiko333]

Hey guys,

I've been spending a lot of time looking over components and trying to get the best parts for the money for my new system, and I've received a great deal of help and advise from the community. I was just looking for some final thoughts on my build before I push the purchase button lol.

Before I get to my build I should note that I don't know anything about overclocking, and probably won't attempt to even learn until further down the road when my computer isn't performing as well as I'd like it to but don't want to spend any more money.

So here is my build (At the bottom I've listed my final concerns over choices):


NZXT Hades ATX Mid Tower Case = $74.99 (after MIR)

G.SKILL F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ PC3-10666 4GB = $65.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA2 = $37.99

ASUS Sabertooth I55 LGA1156 P55 = $166.44

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT = $93.79

ASUS VH236H 23 Widescreen LCD Monitor = $192.44

Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN = $104.99

ASUS Radeon HD 6870 913MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ x 2 = $485.98

ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM = $22.95

Intel Core i5 760 Quad Core Processor = $199.99

OCZ Alchemy Series Elixer USB2.0 Gaming Keyboard = $22.99

Gigabyte GM-M6800 5 Button Dual Lens Optical Mouse = $11.22

Logitech X-140 2.0 5W RMS Black Analog Speakers = $24.45

Scythe Shuriken 3 Heatpipe Low Profile CPU Heatsink = $29.99
__________________________________________________ ______
Total: $1629.20


I'm still trying to decide between some components, but as of now this is what I intend to order.

Case: NZXT Hades vs. Cooler Master HAF 912 (Plus a 200MM top fan and a 120MM side fan)

Hard Drive: Contemplating getting two Seagates for RAID 0 or a Western Digital 1TB (FAEX series)

Motherboard: Sabertooth i55 vs. P7P55D Deluxe vs. P7P55D-E Pro vs. MSI P55A-GD65 vs. Gigabyte P55A-UD4P

I chose the Sabertooth because of the 10-channel audio, the durable components and cyramic coating.
They all seem fairly equal to me. The rest came with auto-OC features which I would feel tempted to use despite being told not to lol (mostly because I don't have a clue about OC myself and this gets someone else to do it for me for free - I see it as a free performance boost but it seems unsafe). I don't foresee any need for USB 3.0 atm, but I could be wrong.

Heatsink: I picked up the extra heatsink just in case I decided to make an attempt at overclocking later. I've heard horror stories about removing stock heatsinks and having left over thermal compound causing issues. I figured if my computer came with a decent heatsink to start with I wouldn't have to worry about that. If I decided to go with the Cooler Master HAF 912 case I would replace the Scythe Shuriken 3 with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus.

So with that said: Any suggestions or general criticism?

Thank you all for helping me with this build!

[_dangtx_]

ud4p for the win.

912 from cooler master between those

cm 212+ fro the cooler. love the shurikens, but they are better used where the taller coolers dont fit.

i3 530/540 and clock it to madd levels :) if you need more juice later on a hyperthreaded quad will be cheaper.much cheaper.

[Draiko333]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

ud4p for the win.

912 from cooler master between those

cm 212+ fro the cooler. love the shurikens, but they are better used where the taller coolers dont fit.

i3 530/540 and clock it to madd levels :) if you need more juice later on a hyperthreaded quad will be cheaper.much cheaper.

What makes the UD4P better? I've had a few people recommend it but just curious as to what makes it stand out. Overclocks better or something?

I had the Shuriken because the 212+ doesn't fit the Hades case. :(

Hmmm i3 you say? That would perform better than the i5? Would I AVE to OC the i3 like crazy to really get value from it? Because like I was saying before... I'm a noobie when it comes to that haha. :P

[Shozzking]

Originally Posted by Draiko333

What makes the UD4P better? I've had a few people recommend it but just curious as to what makes it stand out. Overclocks better or something?

I had the Shuriken because the 212+ doesn't fit the Hades case. :(

Hmmm i3 you say? That would perform better than the i5? Would I AVE to OC the i3 like crazy to really get value from it? Because like I was saying before... I'm a noobie when it comes to that haha. :P

I believe that the only difference between the i5's and i3's is that the i5 has turbo boost, which wont make a difference if you're OCing.

[Draiko333]

Originally Posted by Shozzking

I believe that the only difference between the i5's and i3's is that the i5 has turbo boost, which wont make a difference if you're OCing.

Hmm well I'm not completely sure yet about the whole OC thing. I might hold off on that for a while. Maybe it'd be safer for me to get the i5 just in case ha. Still not comfortable with the idea.

Thanks for the tip!

[DrPepper]

I'd suggest you get just a plain Microsoft keyboard over the OCZ. People complain about the print on the keys fading away after some use, just an opinion though.

[Shozzking]

Originally Posted by DrPepper

I'd suggest you get just a plain Microsoft keyboard over the OCZ. People complain about the print on the keys fading away after some use, just an opinion though.

or a nice mechanical keyboard

Why wont you overclock? its free performance, the i3's OC like mad

[jcmaz]

Ditch the X140 for X240 speakers. Well, they are basically the same but the X240 has a subwoofer. Also, I would wait a tad bit longer for the 69XX series. I personally think there is no point spending $500 on a pair of graphics cards when there are new stuff around the corner.

EDIT: Get some DDR3-1600 RAM. The stuff you chose will limit overclocking.

[Shozzking]

Originally Posted by jcmaz

Ditch the X140 for X240 speakers. Well, they are basically the same but the X240 has a subwoofer. Also, I would wait a tad bit longer for the 69XX series. I personally think there is no point spending $500 on a pair of graphics cards when there are new stuff around the corner.

EDIT: Get some DDR3-1600 RAM. The stuff you chose will limit overclocking.

good point with the GPUs, I also wouldnt recommend going with a crossfire solution (from personal experience) until ATI starts making better drivers

[Draiko333]

Wasn't aware of the issues with the OCZ keyboard. What sort of mechanical keyboard would you suggest? I'll have to have a look and see what else there is... for sure don't want one of those Microsoft curve keyboards though.

And yeah I know overclocking is basically a free performance gain.. but I don't know anything about it and I'm afraid I'd fry my system. I probably will attempt later down the road when my computer is starting to lag behind in the performance I want in games... but until that time comes I think I rather play it safe and keep my warranty.

Most people originally suggested the i5 for me as it was just as good as the i7 for gaming until hyperthreading started to be used... and it was decent for OC if I wanted to try it later. Maybe I should go with the i3 instead though I dunno haha.

As for speakers.. sadly NCIX doesn't have the X240 speakers. Just 140 and 540. And I don't want to be spending all kinds of money on speakers atm ha. Although I suppose I could just buy speakers elsewhere... not a big deal where they come from.

How does the 69xx series measure up to Xfire 6870? Or are they still too new to know? I suppose I could always wait a bit longer... when are the to be released?

I'll have a look for similarly priced RAM that's clocked at 1600 so if I do OC later I won't be limiting myself.. thanks for that.

A lot of people told me the 6870s scale much better in Xfire than NVidia's 460 and 470 cards... and they're all roughly in the same price range so I just went with that. What's wrong with ATI's drivers which makes them so bad? Swear I learn something new every day at this lol.

Thanks guys! :)