Planning new Rig

[Tiran]

This is just a bit of background; skip ahead if you wish to just answer questions. I built my first PC way back…..7-8 years ago. AMD 2500+ on a DFi Lan party Ultra II with the nForce2 Chipset and 1GB of ram and GeForce 6200 256MB. I ran it at 2.4GHZ standard for 3-4 years until the mobo finally died on me. I loved that DFi board and it was one of the best and most smooth running systems I have ever used.

At that point I upgraded to a AMD Athlon X2 6200+ on an ASUS A8N-SLi Deluxe, 2GB RAM and Geforce 7950GX2. I don’t use it much because it needs a reformat bad but when I used it the 7950 card was incredible. The board however…the BIOS felt so locked down and I was just disappointed in a lot of the features it did not have. I was busy with school and other things in my life at that time and sort of fell out of the modding and gaming scene.

Well now I am back and with Diablo 3 and Deus Ex 3 coming I need a rig that can play these games at or near top speed and allow me to play most new release at high or at least medium settings for 2-3 years. Also stability is nice.

Keep in note, if possible I would like to if at all possible use a stealth power supply. I have been using the Same PSU in both systems, a Vantec Stealth 520w, and it has worked great and I preferred to not have a jet turbine running in the background. I a only not going to be reusing it because it will most likely not have enough power nor the proper connectors.

Onto the meat and potatoes;

• What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming, surfing and downloading of files




2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

Price range 2000-2500k




3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

Preferably from Canada.




4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

Brand preference is nVidia cards, Intel processors and corsair ram…really the only UNACCEPTABLE companies are ATi gfx chips, Kingston ram and WD drives




5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.


Current parts I plan to use are HDDs, floppy drive and peripherals




6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Nope, too busy with work and life. Just skimmed a few




7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I may do SOME OC, but I would say no more then 10-15%




8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Q1/Q2 2011




9. What resolution do you use?

1080p



what I plan to buy:



Case: Lian Li PC-7FNWX

PSU: OCZ StealthXStream 2 700W

CPU: Intel Core I7, at least a 970 to have the 12MB L3 cache

Mobo: Not sure yet. Maybe a DFi? Thinking something with X58 chipset, but I need help here

RAM: 12GB Not sure if I should got with 2 3x2GB triple channel kits of 1 3x4GB triple channel kit. Regardless, probably corsair, I have had good success with them

GFX card: Either a GeForce GTX470/GTX480 or GTX580

Opticle drives: 2 DVD ROM/Writers (whatever is onsale)

HDD: For now I will use my 120GB Maxtor (7 years still going string) my 500GB and 1TB Hitachi. Ideally I want to switch to 2 32/64GB SSDs in RAID 1.

3.5” 1.44MB drive: Reuse the one I have (as long as I have the connector on the mobo, not a requirement)

Sound card: I have a 2.1 system, fairly decent, should I get a PCI sound card or just use onboard?

Wifi card: While I would like to use a wire, I am not allowed ot rip up carpet or have “unsightly wires” in the apartment, so I need a wifi card. Should I go PCI or USB and if so, recommendations please.

Operating system: Windows 7, Pro or ultimate


WHAT I PLAN TO REUSE:


BenQ G2420 monitor
3.5" floppy drive
1x120GB Maxtor HDD (8 years old)
1x500GB Hitachi HDD (3 years old)
1x1TB Hitach drive (2 years old)
Logitech X230 speakers
Logitech G15 Gen1 Keyboard
Logitech G9 Laser Mouse




thanks in advance

[Kilauea]

For a 2k-2.5k build, using a such old HDD is a sin.... Unless you use them for data only. You want to build that is very powerful and bottleneck it with some stone age HDD. Ok, I am exagerating a bit, but with the cost of HDD being what it is, I see no point in not getting a new HDD and for such a system, I'd definitively get a SSD.

Drop the 3.5" floppy drive.

Since noise is an issue for you, got for a GTX580, performance is also better(I'd say obviously, but with the new naming scheme with ATI, it isn't as obvious). ATI cards are also worth considering, but you clearly said no.

For mobo, I'd say an Asus or a Gigabyte would be a good way to go.

[_dangtx_]

the series II psus are better than series I, actually decent overall, but for that budget dont go lower than an 850 corsair or seasonic :)

mobo,well it depends on personal preference, giga x58 ud3 and up. if needed.

[yrred]

I"m putting together my new system and have most of my parts and waiting on a few. If you go with a newer hard drive on an X58 motherboard, sata 3 will work better, I am ordering a western digital black 1 terabytes for my operating sytem and using my old ones as storage. I already have My HAFX case(which I recieved broken from NCIX and they blamed UPS),i7 950 with a Noctua dh14 cooler,Motherboard is the Asus Rampage III Formula personal decision over the P6t from Asus, and Corsair 6GB Dominator ram. Lots of people have different preferences and choices but these are mine. I will go with two 460 gtx in SLI from MSI and run it all with a Corsair 850 watt power supply. My old system goes to my wife to play Flowers and Bejewelled.

[Luay79]

Case is great.
PSU: Get the Crosair Professional Series AX850 or the lower 750, 1200 if you plan on SLI later.
CPU: expensive, but if you're paying that much just go for the 980x, or else save $700 and just get the 950 and overclock it. You won't feel the difference in gaming performance.
Mobo: Asus Rampage III Formula or the smaller, cheaper and worthy Sabertooth X58.
DDR3-1333 12GB RAM: OCZ Gold, Crosair Vengeance or Crucial
GPU: If you're building a new rig with 1080P in mind, GTX 580 is overkill, or invest in 1440 or 1600 resolution display (easily done by opting for an i7 950 instead of 980x). GTX 570 @ 1080P on the other hand will max out all your games for 2011.
SSD: OCZ RevoDrive X2 PCI-E will be out this month. or a cheaper 64GB OCZ or Crucial SSD installed on a drive bay.
HDD Secondary Storage: Samsung or Seagate Baracuda
Cooler: Noctua NH-C14
Sound Card: Creative Titanium if you want your PC to play music and have the speakers for it. Otherwise your mobo can handle game sounds fine.
WI-FI: Depends on your mother board's PCI-E lanes capacity