Gaming PC help, 2500 max budget. Any help appreciated.

[Teaz]

Its looking reallllll nice. yes, stick with the raven as its cooling is real sweet. but 2 things i'd like to point out do you really need 2 optical drives? the 12x blu ray rom drive does everything the standard dvd drive can do. so you could save yourself unless you plan to make use or use multiple discs?

And secondly, pick the pci-e card or the wireless, reason is, the motherboard, there is a blanked unused pci-e slot above the 16x pci-e slot and the wireless card should go there, above the pci-e 16x; if you popped the pci version in, it will get placed in the pci slot which is inbetween the graphics cards setup an it will block abit of airflow from the gpu fans which will make the graphics card hotter.

Games should be pretty much completely maxed out with those 580s, id be shocked if it didnt max or near max games. the specs overall is a serious beast that id wouldnt mind having

 

[DaveyP16]

I went for the 2 cd drives as I regularly like copy discs on the fly.

Will I just add a usb card reader then to get all my photos from my cameras sd card?


Case
SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV03 - GAMING ENTHUSIAST TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
2nd Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
600GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD6000HLHX, SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£45)
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£162)
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£19)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® G510 GAMING KEYBOARD WITH GAMEPANEL™ LCD (£84)
Mouse
LOGITECH® G700 WIRELESS LASER GAMING MOUSE (£68)
Speakers
LOGITECH S120 2.0 BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,497.00 including VAT and delivery.


So something like this and its starting to look what I thihnk I will end up going for!


Thanks for all your help, now I just need to talk the mrs into us ordering it before christmas

 

[Frenchy]

one thing to note

An exception to the 6 core rule for gaming. Normally for pretty much every game I would say 4 cores is plenty and especially with the i7 as it hyperthreads anyway, you get essentially 8 cores worth. The main exception to this though is Flight Sim X, if you plan on playing this alot I would suggest more cores if you can afford it, 4 cores will run it ok, but I max out all 8 cores on mine when playing FSX, its very CPU intense, but not so much GPU intense. Infact my GTX 580's dont really break a sweat when playing it on 3 screens.

 

[DaveyP16]

Hi Frenchy, no I have never really bothered with flight simulator.

One other question though, I have read that the dellu2711 requires 2 inputs to get max res, would this be through hdmi or dvi? does the gtx 580 have dual hdmi? If not, would that mean less quality via dvi?


Thanks

 

[Frenchy]

Hi Frenchy, no I have never really bothered with flight simulator.

One other question though, I have read that the dellu2711 requires 2 inputs to get max res, would this be through hdmi or dvi? does the gtx 580 have dual hdmi? If not, would that mean less quality via dvi?


Thanks

Um dont think it will require 2 DVI's never heard that before, although I may be wrong. From what I can see on reviews, its just two seperate DVI ports which you can switch between. EDIT: Think i might have been wrong, it does support dual link, not sure how ti works though, never used it, mini dispaly port though supports it without two cables

As for the GTX 580's, it has 1 x HDMI and 2 x DVI, on the Palit 3GB card, other cards may have different variations, but I think that is the reference design. Although again, im not 100% positive on that.

 

[DanteWilhelm]

yeh unless you're going to be rendering photorealistic animation or game scenes

or printing A1

or rendering HD movies

or full scale weather modelling (i kid)

then you won't need 16gb of RAM

 

[DanteWilhelm]

tbh dave i would just buy what frenchy has

 

[DaveyP16]

The reasoning for the dell screen is that i love the 27" imac at 2560x1440 we have in the office, and wanted as close to that as i could for pc without spending ridiculous money

 

[Petchi b]

Such a monster spec Dave but whats with the £9 Logitech speakers....lol. A bit of a let down with such a great spec, if you can you should buy a digital surround sound system at some point. I.E Logitech z5500 or z-906

 

[Frenchy]

I love this thread.

tbh dave i would just buy what frenchy has

Yes, because I am awesome, and everyone likes to be awesome like me lol

The reasoning for the dell screen is that i love the 27" imac at 2560x1440 we have in the office, and wanted as close to that as i could for pc without spending ridiculous money

27" iMac is awesomeness, I have an i7 version at home love it. Although i wouldnt spend £700 on a screen to match ti, tbh i find other screens as good for cheaper.

Such a monster spec Dave but whats with the £9 Logitech speakers....lol. A bit of a let down with such a great spec, if you can you should buy a digital surround sound system at some point. I.E Logitech z5500 or z-906

Agreed, although suggesting the 906's i dont like lol. Z5500 FTW

 

[DaveyP16]

I chose the £9 speakers because i was going to keep my current speakers and use the £9 to sell with my current system.

Any other advice on monitors then? Anything highly recommended? I do really like the idea of a big 2560x1440 monitor though

 

[Petchi b]

@Frenchy - Yeah I'm on the lookout for the z5500, hoping to get a good deal. The only thing I want to upgrade with my spec.

 

[Teaz]

This may be a smaller monitor but you could look into it. I have the Asus PA246Q which i use for working on my photography and photoshop. very similar to the dell youre after but cheaper an a 24inch screen

 

[DaveyP16]

After doing a little research it does look like the dell u2711 does need dual dvi, how would this be affected by the system I intend to purchase?

Researching what monitor to buy is proving more of an headache than the actual system. Everything you find is praised in 1 article and shot down in another.

Surely there is a monitor of at least 27" out there great for gaming at 2560*1440 or 1600 for around 6-700 quid?

Thanks

 

[Len]

with that budget id be looking at something like this:

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 932 FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.80GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X T1 DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz, X.M.P (4 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ HD6990 - 1 DVI,4 mDP - DX® 11 (PRE-ORDER ITEM)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
240GB OCZ VERTEX 3 SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W PRO SERIES™ GOLD AX1200-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR(£208)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO II C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£99)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,416.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-1155-overclocked/


or I would link loads of SSD's in raid for lolz, actually I'd just wait for bulldozer to come out

 

[Fear]

Sorry Len that looks like a timebomb at the moment as that 2133MHz Ram is not very stable, the SSD/MB combination are having some issues and i don't see the point in the OC's for a gaming rig that is already an high end PC just leaves more chances of instability and there is also the lack of supply for the HD6990 and last on my scary list is water cooling just what if it decides to leak eeeeek.

 

[DaveyP16]

I'm starting to edge towards going for one of these monitors, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-011-HO&utm_source=froogle not too much bad words said about them, especially for price.

My next question is, if I decided to go for a 2nd monitor at a later date, would I be able to run two of these at max res on those graphics cards? In SLI? They look to have a 1x dvi input.

Thanks

 

[Teaz]

with the 3gb 580s, i dont see why it shouldnt. you just hook them both up to a 580.

 

[DaveyP16]

Guys I'm back with more questions,

I'm looking to order this rig possibly at the end of this week so want to make sure on a few things first.

Case
SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV03 - GAMING ENTHUSIAST TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
2nd Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
450GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD4500HLHX, SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£45)
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£162)
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium (£59)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
2 x 2 METRE DVI-D CABLE (£9)
Speakers
LOGITECH S120 2.0 BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,345.00 including VAT and delivery.


after a bit of tinkering I have gone for this. (maxing out budget with monitors)

Keyboard and mouse I have chosen: Price For All Three: £226.71

* This item: Razer RZ03-00380500-R3W1 Black Widow Ultimate Gaming Keyboard by Razer £105.91

* Razer RZ01-00120100-R3G1 Mamba Wireless 5600DBP Gaming Mouse by Razer £92.81

* Razer RZ02-00320100-R3M1 Vespula Gaming Mouse Mat - Dual Sided by Razer £27.99

this a good price?


Now for the questions

1. I'm going for 2 of these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-011-HO&utm_source=froogle , It says they have 1 x Dual Link DVI-D input. Does this mean i just need the cables supplied by PCS or should I be looking for 'high quality gold plated....' ones? Is it one cable per monitor from each graphics card both to get 2560*1440 res?

Is hdmi not better than dvi-d? should I be looking for hdmi monitor?

2. I have put the sound card in for simple music creation (plugging guitar and mic in) either directly to PC or via my toneport. Is this sound card needed/good enough? Will the onboard still have done?

I also had to sacrifice the wireless n pci-e card to free up the slot, is this worth doing?

3. Is the cooling still sufficient or will I need more with extra sound card/wireless n card in?

4. I notice the difference between the 3tb and 2tb green and black drives is £3. Does this mean green drive is reduced in performance? I will only be using this drive to store all movies photos and music etc.

5. Lastly, this system is mainly for gaming and if honest focused at BF3, is it worth delaying the build till closer to the release for drop in price? Or wont prices change much in that short a period?


Thanks again in advance for any help, I really want to get this right.

 

[Len]

Sorry Len that looks like a timebomb at the moment as that 2133MHz Ram is not very stable, the SSD/MB combination are having some issues and i don't see the point in the OC's for a gaming rig that is already an high end PC just leaves more chances of instability and there is also the lack of supply for the HD6990 and last on my scary list is water cooling just what if it decides to leak eeeeek.

yeh I sorta agree with you, good points except the water cooler leaking,

instability isn't a prob pcs will deal with it and theres a slight performance increase over the lower frequency ram, bragging rights no brainer
lack of supply in the ordering terms not good, but OC'ing is the way forward for gaming pcs brah

Keyboard and mouse I have chosen: Price For All Three: £226.71

* This item: Razer RZ03-00380500-R3W1 Black Widow Ultimate Gaming Keyboard by Razer £105.91

* Razer RZ01-00120100-R3G1 Mamba Wireless 5600DBP Gaming Mouse by Razer £92.81

* Razer RZ02-00320100-R3M1 Vespula Gaming Mouse Mat - Dual Sided by Razer £27.99

I brought a steeleries 6g keyboard it's meant to be better as it has gold in the key switches for lower latency, since then ive come to realise a keyboard is a keyboard and everything else is a gimic also I wouldn't go wireless, it's more expensive and more latency between moving your mouse in some cases also i'd get the mouse mat recommended for ur mouse, I'm currently using a razer deathadder 3.5g and a steelseries S&S

in regards to the price that's one expensive keyboard and mouse lol