RealGM

So I know we've had gaming machine discussions before.

Here is what I put together and ordered on NewEgg today:

Processor: Intel I7 2600k (new sandy bridge)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 PRO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131682
Memory: GSkill 8 Gig (2x4) DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
Hard Drive 1: SSD 64 Gig Crucial Sata III
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357
Hard Drive 2: 1TB Western Digital Sata III 7200 RPM 64 Mg Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
Video: EVGA GTX 570
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593
Power Supply: Cooler Master 750w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171053
Case: Rosewill Challenger
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

Monitor: LG 27' Monitor with tuner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005142

Total: 1653

It's been years since I've built a computer. Always used company issued laptops and spent years overseas.

I'm concerned about the monitor? It's a tv/monitor. Is the 5ms refresh time going to kill my gaming experience? I can always mount it in the bathroom and buy another monitor

I went with the 570 gtx. I'll order another and run them in SLI once I get the build working.

Is this a pretty nice setup for gaming? Heh, I'm totally getting the DC Universe MMO when it comes out next week, but I'l be doing the first person shooter bit too.

Any suggestions on the build? I went with a SSD for the OS/Primary game or 2. Didn't know much about them. All the additional stuff I got was SATA III based since the mobo supports it and the 6gb is double the SATA II speeds. I could care less about cases so I went with the Tom's Hardware reccomendation. I got the Cooler Master PS because I heard they make some of the highest quality power supplies. Or at least they used to. Had a 5 rating.

Looks dope. 3 things....

1)I'm not sure an SSD is worth it. It may be to you, but I feel like my SSD was a waste of money. Not a lot of space; not that noticeably faster than the HDD at least to me.
2) I would get faster RAM. DDR2000, since you have such a beast build.
3) WTF are the suns going to do?

The case looks alright, you may want a larger one though if you plan to SLI the570. My 465 SLI's get toasty in my almost full size tower.

1) I was on the fence too. But hard drives are cheap these days. It's a 110 dollar experiment
2) I was told ram usage isn't much of an issue anymore at these speeds and no games use the full 8 gigs, etc, anyway. Maybe I'll call and upgrade it.
3) I have no idea. Dallas called about Carter recently. No one knows what's going to happen. Suns ae day to day right now.

I would switch the Motherboard and Case.

Motherboard: ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131666R

Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

CPU Fan: ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019

You have seen my setup right?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX_-DZMvH-Q[/youtube]

I didnt go into much detail as it would go over about 97% of this boards heads.

Can't switch the motherboard. The new sandy bridge procs release yesterday don't support the previous i7 boards. Gotta go 1155.

I'll check on the case you reccomended.

Also, the Sandy Bridge procs run cool and draw little power compared to the previous generation. People are overclocking the 2600k with the stock fan up to 4.5 and beyond to 5 ghz.

And yah, the vid is badass.

Kerrsed, I have the same case. How did you mount all those fans? It has a lot as is, but could always use more

And damn, thats a sick set-up.

why are you asking computer questions on a RealGM forum? try www.hardforum.com or something

but yeah, you setup looks fine. the SSD might be a little small but if you only play like 1 or 2 games at a
time, it should be fine. SSDs are worth it if you can afford it.

the i7-2600 might be a little much. the i5-2500 should be enough but hey, it's your money.

Traxxe wrote:1) I was on the fence too. But hard drives are cheap these days. It's a 110 dollar experiment
2) I was told ram usage isn't much of an issue anymore at these speeds and no games use the full 8 gigs, etc, anyway. Maybe I'll call and upgrade it.
3) I have no idea. Dallas called about Carter recently. No one knows what's going to happen. Suns ae day to day right now.

1) Yeah, I like the idea of booting up with an SSD. 110 bucks isnt bad for that though.
2) If you just game, then yeah I think you're okay. If you use heavy apps and sh*t then maybe more.
3) That'd be nice.
4) I envy that processor, it's a real nice build you have. The 570 is awesome.

ginobiliflops wrote:Kerrsed, I have the same case. How did you mount all those fans? It has a lot as is, but could always use more

They are Antec's Spot Cool and they work great!





They are cheap and you can have them pretty much anywhere that you need cooling.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWUOCEM9-GI[/youtube]

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS337&q=Antec%27s+Spot+Cool&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2859891629744112210&ei=wjoqTfKWL4yosQOdzLSoBw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEcQ8wIwBg#

Im no expert but I built a PC 3.5 years ago..
Quad 2.66 GHz
EP45-DS3P M/B
8 GB RAM (4x 2GB 1066 Kingston)
9800GX2 (2x 500MB RAM)
2x 500 GB HDD
750 Coolmaster Power supply

That setup is "standard" today... lol.


For strict gaming, why not AMD?
Today, games just need that extra boost on the clock speed... the new i-980X is $700-$1000 still... too expensive... whilst the AMD top of the range is like $500... and clock speed is much higher... I know clock speed is not EVERYTHING... but for games... they usually just require a Dual Core and Clock speed of around 3.0 GHz+.....

Here is my xmas gift to myself this year ($1400):


* 1 x OCZ Agility 2 3.5" 90GB SATA II Solid State Drive (SSD)
* 1 x Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 Quad-Core Processor
* 1 x SAMSUNG Spinpoint 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
* 1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 1 x Sunbeam 92mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler
* 1 x Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
* 1 x ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
* 1 x MSI N460GTX CYCLONE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
* 1 x CORSAIR 750W Power Supply
* 1 x CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit

I love it!

Watch this guys videos. I subscribed to him and have watched him make some AMAZING builds.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9zI1nyv9Dk[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXBbDr8Vnu8[/youtube]