Gaming Setup

M

Martyn

Member
Hi guys,

I want a top class gaming rig and just want your thoughts on my proposed spec:



Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE


Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics


Motherboard
ASUS® MAXIMUS IV EXTREME (NEW REV 3.0): INTEL P67 ROG MOTHERBOARD


Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)


Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6950 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable


2nd Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6950 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable


Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)


2nd Hard Disk
450GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD4500HLHX, SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)


1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM


2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM


Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)


Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)
 
bg92

bg92

Expert
Could you tell us your budget? And if you need anything other than the pc itself included in the budget i.e. monitor, keyboard, os, etc. Also are you going to be overclocking? if yes getting a pre-overclocked system from pcs would be a good idea.
 
M

Martyn

Member
I have debated with the idea of getting the pre-overclocked system. However, the motherboard I've picked does come with a nifty desktop BIOS control panel that allows for easy overclocking.

Budgets around £1800 and I already have mouse and keyboard, and will look to buy an ASUS monitor from Amazon most likely.
 
M

Martyn

Member
and also, I would obviously need the MS office home premium and Gold Warranty included in that budget. Sorry for not mensioning that
 
M

Martyn

Member
Fear said:
Just to make sure your aware overclocking the machine yourself will void the warranty
Click to expand...

Was not aware of this, Thanks!

Will certainly look to buy a pre-overclocked system now.

Is there anything I could look to change to either improve gaming performance within my budget or to save money with the same performance?

I intend to use the caviar HDD as my C:\ drive and the Velociraptor HDD to load my games for the extra RPM.
 
bg92

bg92

Expert
This is an alternative, changed 2x 6950 to 1 gtx 580, single gpu is a better solution in my opinion, as there is no need to worry about if the apps and games support sli or not, and also theres less heat and noise. And in this spec you could always throw in another gtx580 in the future, you could possibly get away with a 850w power supply for this but that would be a minimum that you should go for. I've also included a vertex 3 ssd, its quicker than any mechanical drive, but then again its not necessary and it costs a lot.
Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® MAXIMUS IV EXTREME (NEW REV 3.0): INTEL P67 ROG MOTHERBOARD
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 3 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 500MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W PRO SERIES (HX1000) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£169)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)
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 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 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,831.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-sandy-bridge-pc/
 
M

Martyn

Member
In terms of gaming performance, is Radeon 6950HD not better than the gtx 580? A lot of online benchmarks seem to think so but then again I obviously haven't used either. This will be my first gaming rig so I don't want it becoming totally obscelete very early on.

Can you explain the advantages of the gtx 580 in a bit more detail?
 
Nemesis

Nemesis

Moderator
Moderator
or if you wish to stick with ATI then the 6970 2GB is a good card :)
with the future option of adding another in Crossfire

I would stick with a one GPU solution though

Also check my sig for a link to the thread which explains PCSs 'policy' on overclocking yourself
 
bg92

bg92

Expert
This will be cheaper and it will still be a great performer.
Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz @ max 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 PRO (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s, CrossFireX™ & SLI
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)
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
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 3 devices) (£87)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,679.00 including VAT and delivery.

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

Martyn

Member
I notice that you have changed the motherboard, what effect will this have on performance in comparison to the Maximus IV Extreme?

I do a lot of research into each component, I did not simply pick this MoBo because it was the most expensive, however, I've not seen many specs on these forums with it in.

What's the reason for this in the main?
 
Nemesis

Nemesis

Moderator
Moderator
no the maximus iv extreme is a really specialist piec of kit for extreme overclockers and users that need the niche features the board offers
 
bg92

bg92

Expert
Two amd 6950 will beat a single gtx 590, but a gtx580 will beat a single amd 6950. Gtx580 is the most powerfull single gpu solution, and you will not have to worry about programs/games not making a use of Sli or crossfire (2 graphics cards) and also there are sometimes driver problems with using 2 graphics cards. I would go for the most powerfull single gpu I can afford and consider adding another one in the future as one of the upgrade routes, however with the gtx580 you should be fine for a long time.
 
Fear

Fear

Prolific Poster
another spec to look over, i put a 1000W PSU on there for future proofing incase you want to add a second GTX580 at some point

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 922 MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
OverClocked Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-960 (3.20GHz @ max 3.8GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)
6GB KINGSTON HYPER-X TRI-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (3 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
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 1000W PRO SERIES (HX1000) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£169)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£99)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) 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
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 3 devices) (£87)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,643.00 including VAT and delivery.
 
M

Martyn

Member
What about the ASUS Sabretooth MoBo?

Is that more tuned for overclocked gaming (what I intend to use my system for)?

or for performance is the P8P67 DELUXE enough to get top FPS and run speeds?
 
Nemesis

Nemesis

Moderator
Moderator
The P8P67 Pro is ample for getting high fps and run speeds
it has all the necessary features including sli etc
 
M

Martyn

Member
Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE


Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.80GHz)


Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 PRO (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s, CrossFireX™ & SLI


Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)


Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item

Free Item
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!


Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD10EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE


2nd Hard Disk
450GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD4500HLHX, SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)


1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM


2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM


Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)


Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO C240 A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£99)


Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)


Here's an altered spec based on the comments you guys have given.

My only concern is the 850W PSU vs the 1000W PSU.

The 1000W PSU would push me a little over budget (£44 over), but like Fear said, it is future proofing for SLI.

Thoughts?
 
bg92

bg92

Expert
This is what I would go for this.
Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz @ max 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 PRO (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s, CrossFireX™ & SLI
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Need For Speed™ World Starter Pack with any Nvidia® GTS450 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 3 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 500MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W PRO SERIES (HX1000) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£169)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)
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
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 3 devices) (£87)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,795.00 including VAT and delivery.

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

Nemesis

Moderator
Moderator
Yeh thats sound bg92

A small sacrifice in CPU power for a big improvement in the heart of the system. The PSU
 
M

Martyn

Member
Would the Solid State HDD be used to load games yeah?

Not really considered Solid State before cos of expense but a little education may now be needed
 
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