Completely Brand New Gaming System

Okay so I am hoping to buy a new gaming pc within the next month or so, I was originally going to buy from a trusted shop but after seeing the price they gave me and comparing it with websites I refuse to buy from them.
I have a budget of about $1500-2000 Aus and I think i will buy everything from here -> http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/default.php
I have made many designs, so to say of a computer on different internet sites but I do not really know what parts go well together and what not.
As for what I want, I will primarily be using this computer for gaming, newer games (Bf3, Skyrim etc etc.) and I want to be able to play these well. (all those sexy features anti-aliasing etc )
I highly doubt I'll over clock the computer so I don't think water cooling is really necessary ( you tell me ) although I would like to dual graphics cards (I was thinking 2 GTX 560's)

Thanks very much

 

Hi Cdarwinftw. Welcome to CHF.
I am not into Gaming however I think the best is to find out what the hardware requirements are to play each game first,
then build your computer to suit the most demanding game.
I just bought a Aerocool 500 PGS B case which I intend to build a very fast computer.
Takes up to 10 fans stock,heaps of room etc etc.
A good cooling case is the first step.
Maybe someone will give you further advice who is into gaming.
http://www.google.com.au/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=aerocool+500+pgs+b&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1024&bih=579

 

Thanks for the response .
Im pretty much just trying to make a comp that will run say battlefield 3 for instance on full and yes a good cooling case will be needed I've been looking at
the Cooler Master HAF X 942 http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/kkn1-cooler-master-p-50751.html?sort=2a
or a NZXT Phantom series http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/kkn1-cooler-master-p-50751.html?sort=2a (although im not sure about the cooling)

 

I am gonna post my 'design' of all the parts as i feel im not really giving anyone much information to help me with
CPU: i7 960 (1366) or i7 2600 (1155) - which one is best for gaming ($300)

MOBO: (1366) ASUS p6x58D (1155) to be honest i have no clue what to get (1366 - $330)

RAM: Is getting 2000Mhz of 6gb ram of 12 gb of 1600Mhz better (not sure :| )

CASE: Something like a NZXT Phantom, im open for suggestion im not really sure yet (NZXT is $200 here)

PSU: I don't know how much is enough for the sake of this ill say Antec truepower 750W ($150)

HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB ($90)

DVD: Pioneer DVD/CD ($35)

GPU: 2x GTX 560's of some sort. (roughly 250 each)

OS: Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit

if you see anything that looks silly or could be better don't be shy !
cheers

 

Please understand that this is a 3 day holiday weekend in the States and that there are many time zone issues as well but this will be reviewed.

 

The best thing to do would be to go with Sandybridge hardware if you have that sort of budget, as a start this Motherboard would save you $100 and the only differences I can see between the one you have chosen and this is the lack of a second gigabit LAN and the 3rd PCI-E 2.0 slot.

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Asus P8Z68-V-PRO
- http://www.centrecom...79.html?sort=3a


As for the CPU you could probably stick with it, the next one down would be a sizeable drop in performance (i5 2500K - 15-20% drop in benchmarks, it lacks hyperthreading.) to save $70 so better to spend on what you planned.

Generally I would have thought 8GB RAM should be more than enough, though if you want to go a bit overboard then 12GB should be fine as there wouldn't be a big boost in performance, as for speeds I don't think the price difference between 1600MHz and 2000MHz is worth it, seems 12GB of RAM at 1600MHz is $120ish and 2000MHz about $190ish.

As for cases this is just another option which looks similar feature wise to the one your looking at - http://www.centrecom...76.html?sort=3a

The Graphics cards again should be good as is, the PSU looks to be the best option as it has the support for dual GPU's (2x6 pin & 2x8 pin). Plus a rough estimate on this power supply calculator looks to confirm that it provides enough power for the hardware - http://extreme.outer...culatorlite.jsp

I'll leave the OS, DVD and HDD with you as you will know how much data storage space you need and what OS you like/want.

But otherwise what you have picked out looks fine



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Thanks for the reply, you really went all out on it
That case looks quite nice aswell, now i have a hard decision argh :mellow:
Also forgive me for being but what is sandybridge hardware and forgive my double stupidness but what does (2x6 pin & 2x8 pin) mean

Thanks again for the reply much appreciated. Oh and replying to BeeCeeBee - i wish i got a 3 day weekend

cheers

 

Ok righto, when I referred to Sandybridge hardware that is the architecture name for the current processors Intel produces i.e. Core i3-2100, Core i5-2500, Core i7-2600 etc which use 1155 desktop socket, whereas the other processor you mentioned is under the Nehalem architecture (i7-960).

Notice the difference in the numbers, i7-960 - i7-2600, the number 2 meaning second generation (further improvements on the Nehalem architecture).

As for the 2x6 pin & 2x8 pin, these are PCI-E power cables, these links below have the details, but basically the GTX 560s you want require 2 6 pin power connectors each (so 4 power connectors), the 2x8 pins (which are 6+2 on that power supply) are the same as 6 pin connectors except they have an addtional 2 pin to support other Graphics cards those that require more wattage (image of cable in link below) otherwise they work just like a 6 pin on that PSU.

6 pin cable - http://www.playtool....html#pciexpress

6+2 pin cable - http://www.playtool....ciexpress6plus2

As for 3 day weekend, us in the UK had one last week, Monday was a Bank Holiday

 

Ah okay i'll think ill stay with the sandybridge then so that would be a i7-2600 or 2600k ( I don't really know difference i think the 2600 k is better for overclocking which i have little interest in, is that correct?)
Also another question (sorry for pestering you guys but this is a big buy for me ) Apart from the TI having two fans what is the difference between the GTX560 and GTX560TI?

P.S lucky ******* I want a holiday

Edited by KenB

 

Argh sorry for ANOTHER question, I think if i ask anymore i will get banned :unsure: haha .
What I want to know.. Is having two gtx560's http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/engtx560dc2di1gd5-asus-nvidia-gtx560-p-53141.html?sort=3a
or one gtx 570 http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/1578-evga-gtx570-classified-p-53828.html?sort=3a
better????
Now at the moment I'm using one monitor that is NOT 1920x1080. So Immediately it looks like im wasting money but I think I might buy another Monitor that is 1920x1080

Thanks alot once again
p.s If I bought another screen could I use that one for say having an internet site on it while on the other screen ive got a game up?

 

Yes the processors ending with K have unlocked multipliers, allowing them to be overclocked.

It seems there are differences in the amount of CUDA cores (between 336 and 384, depending on card) these are the processing cores of the GPU, Memory bus width (256bit or 320bit) and core speed (810MHz-900MHz from what I've seen), between the GTX560 and GTX560TI as well as the two fans.

We're here to get asked questions and give advice you can't get banned for that , I wouldn't sink £1000-1500 into a machine if I wasn't entirely sure of everything.

560 vs 570 prices aren't entirely worth it if you can get 2 GTX560's for about the price of a GTX570, since the main differences are 336 vs 480 CUDA cores, but because you would have two 560's thats 672 CUDA cores, Memory bus width 256bit vs 320bit though that is only worth an extra 20-25GB/s memory bandwidth between each single card, its the amount of bandwidth available to transfer data to the card and back to the CPU again allowing the graphics card to produce the images on your screen, but again the two cards would have more available bandwidth when in SLI.

So I would go for either two of these 560 with higher clock speeds - http://www.centrecom...70.html?sort=3d

Or the equivalent 560TI which has the same clocks as above but as I said will have more CUDA cores, but you would have to pay $500 compared to $460 above, but performance wise it is worth it if you can afford that - http://www.centrecom...28.html?sort=3d

Yep you would be able to use two screens as well, wouldn't be able to tell you exactly how myself off the top of my head (I'm on a laptop ) but it would be along the lines of plugging both screens in and using the Nvidia software (Be on Nvidia site when you download graphic card drivers) to display the desktop on both screens, shouldn't be too hard as I've used my laptop before with my TV via HDMI I think the software should be easy enough to understand as the ATI software I have is quite easy to use.

 

Thanks for the reply again, I have no wish to overclock so I'll just go with the 2600.. as for GPU thanks for the feedback, not many sites say if 2 or 1 better one is better clearly. (hell i cant even write that clearly..)
I think i will upgrade to the TI as its $40 and the performance bonus sounds quite nice ..


thanks

 

I looked on this link
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-560-amp-edition-gtx-560-directcu-ii-top,2944.html
it's comparing the GTX 560 and gtx560TI and it says near the bottom that the recommended Power Supply for the TI, the one I want to get is 500W.
Seeing as I want two, does that mean I need 1000W of power just for GPU!??!?!

 

Nah that figure is based on one card being added to a system where it would need a PSU with a rating of 500W minimum to power everything in the system plus that graphics card, by the estimations on that power calculator I linked above (Post #6) the system you are looking at building needs about 550-600W, each graphics card can use a maximum of 150W, processor is rated at a max power draw of 95W so the max of those is 395W (call it 400W).

The rest of the system wouldn't take a great deal, the estimate I got out was based on the processor, two graphics cards, 3 RAM sticks, one HDD, DVD drive, a wireless card and 3-4 fans and the system being at peak load.

So by that I would be 99.9% sure that the 750W PSU has enough power and some extra to run the system.

 

Ah okay thanks alot, got a bit worried there

 

ANOTHER question I was reading you're post before woody, about Ram, so I think I wanna get 12 gb of 1600 RAM but I don't know what brand or what model is good with my Motherboard or gpu or cpu etc etc
thanks

 

Any recognised brand should do, of the four on the site your going to buy parts from, I can't really comment on G.SKILL never had RAM from them but never heard anything bad, never heard of Strontium, generally I buy Corsair or Kingston RAM and haven't had a problem. Got some old Corsair or Kingston RAM (can't remember which as I haven't used or opened it up for a while) in a 7 year old desktop that still chuggs along, a bit slowly though

Having said that it seems G.SKILL RAM is cheaper on the site you are buying from, whereas Corsair is generally the cheapest in the UK.

This would do the job at $89 (Out of stock at minute) - http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/12800cl9t-12gbrl-gskill-ddr3-12gb-128001600-12800cl9t-12gbrl-p-53078.html?sort=3a

Otherwise Kingston & Corsair RAM costs about $120 on that site for 12GB, so not really worth it as 16GB of that G.SKILL RAM I linked above could be bought for around that $120 mark.

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhh seeing as i based my original budget around the $120 for 12gb I could upgrade to 16gb, you know cas it sounds cool

Also just thought i'd let you know I've changed places I'm buying from to here
http://scorptech.com.au/
It seems to have a better reputation with customer service and it has similar prices, just thought I'd let you know incase you wanna do some more detective work :smile: (Which I greatly appreciate)
Also, I've signed up on whirlpool forums just for even MOREEEE advice and thought i'd second check some things over here hehe
Apparently for SandyBridge I need dual channel Ram and having 12gb is triple channel :S - Whatever that means.
Also I've been recommended to get 1 gtx580 for roughly the same price as 2 gtx560ti's
I checked with this and the lower models of the 580 are about the same price but whats your opinion on it, which is more awesome for gamzors

Thanks alot once again

 

Basically they mean that you need either 2 or 4 sticks of RAM, so it would have to be 16GB, forgot that Sandybridge doesn't support triple channel memory, pretty sure previous Core i7's (Nehalem) etc did support triple channel.

Hard to say, the two GTX560's would still be better performance wise than one GTX580, only a bit, since the 580 does have a bigger memory bus/memory bandwidth.
It could also depend on whether the games you are going to play have good SLI support, if your forced to use one card then you obviously know what will be the more powerful card.
Personally I would go the SLI route and take a risk on the SLI support because even if there isn't SLI support, you have a card that is quite powerful on it's own, see if you can find some benchmarks on the cards and see what performance differences are and whether it would be worth going for a GTX580 vs one GTX560, on the chance that SLI support might not be available in the odd game.

 

okay cheers for that I'm getting this mainly for Bf3/Skyrim etc so i'l have to see if they have SLI