Hi, I am trying to spec out a new gaming rig and I am a little out of touch. I have 2000 CAD$ to spend. I don't need monitors. Does anyone have any time to give me some advice on a decent build that will allow me to play games for at least 2 years?
PHYTE, Get your ass back in here. Perfect timing, some good games coming out. You can get a damn good rig for that price. That's like $1950 USD. I'm sure someone could find you a good build.
That sounds like what I spent last year... and I didn't need monitors either. However, since that's changed a bit, I guess I would suggest the following instead: * Core i5 or i7 - probably i7 if they actually are substantially better since you could pretty much afford them in that range. Not sure whether the 800 series or 900 series is better - but if 900, I do recall that the 920 is the only choice that makes sense. If it isn't fast enough (sure as hell is for me), it overclocks well I hear. * 6 GB DDR3 (probably 1600) memory if your CPU supports triple-channel; 4 or 8 (recommend 8) otherwise. * ATI Radeon HD ... 5870 I think. That or a 5890. If you have enough cash left over, consider two 5870s (better than a single 5890 probably) or two 5890s, in Crossfire. * You'll probably need a decent PSU for the above. If you have a dual-GPU setup, I suspect it'd call for 800-1000W output. * SSDs are interesting, at this point, but I suspect they're still overpriced for what you get. Hard drive speed is seldom a deal-breaker anyway, unless you run out of memory, and I've yet to go over about 5.5 GB even when running Dragon Age, Firefox (with 40 tabs open) and a dozen other applications at the same time. If there's space in your budget it might make sense; but you'll probably need a big magnetic drive for holding stuff that doesn't need fast random read/write access. Oh, and yeah, the above will easily last two years I think. P.S. Just for comparison, what I got, and it cost me about $2000 CAD as well; Core i7 920 (still good), 12 GB DDR3-1066 (grossly excessive capacity in retrospect), GeForce GTX 285 (overpriced for what you get), a plain mechanical 1.5 TB Seagate Barracuda HDD, DVD writer (skipped on Blu-ray because of the expense and lack of anything compelling to use it with; if you want to rent HD movies and play them on your PC it'd be a different story), 600 or 650W Corsair PSU, and ... actually I can't remember the motherboard right now. Oh, and I have a Creative SB X-Fi Titanium, but most people really aren't going to care about the sound card. Unlike video, the difference between on-board and discrete audio isn't really that noticeable.
# CD: LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive (BLACK COLOR) # CAS: Thermaltake Element-T Mid-Tower Case [+28] (Original Color) # CASUPGRADE: None # CS_FAN: Maximum 120MM Case Cooling Fans for your selected case [+9] # CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366 # FAN: Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V Gaming CPU Cooling Fan (Double layer H.D.T. technology for maximum cooling) [+23] # FREEBIE_RM: None # FA_HDD: None # FLASHMEDIA: None # FLOPPY: None # HDD: Single Hard Drive (1TB (1TBx1) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD) # HDD2: None # IEEE_CARD: IEEE 1394 CARD AND DRIVER [+19] # KEYBOARD: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard # MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse # MOTHERBOARD: (3-Way SLI Support) EVGA X58 3X SLI LE Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ GbLAN [+67] # MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Triple Channel Memory [+69] (Corsair or Major Brand) # NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network # OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking # OS: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Ultimate [+209] (64-bit Edition) # POWERSUPPLY: 850 Watts Power Supplies [+130] (Thermaltake TR2 RX-850 PSU (850w modular 80+) [-12]) # RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS # SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT # SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO # TEMP: Thermal Temperature Color LCD Display [+15] (Black Color) # USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports # VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 5850 PCI-E 16X 1GB Video Card [DirectX 11 Support] [+276] (Major Brand Powered by ATI) This was done really quickly off of Cyberpower and came up to approximately $1700 US. Plenty of expandability with the EVGA motherboard. 6GB's of RAM as was suggested - you can go to 24 on this board I believe. A modular 850w Power Supply to keep your case free from wire clutter. And a nice TB drive to store everything on with plenty of leftover space in the case to add drives as you need. Threw in the 5850 as going to the 5870 was an extra $300 US. Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit and you're doing great for years.
you do not really need the 920 with the 1366 board unless you plan on getting the i9 chips coming out at the end of this year ... and 860 will do just fine and in the 1156 board you get ddr3 but dual chan memory (which you will NOT notice a difference for gaming compared to trip chan memory) So you can save a few bucks and get a cheaper mobo and cheaper ram and get a better video card and be just as good if not BETTER then a 920 build ... FYI the i7 860 does beat the 920 in many benchmarks ... so unless you plan on upgrading the proc in the future and just the proc then by all means get a 920 ... if your doing video editing and some extreme CPU have stuff (rendering etc) then get the 920 ... for gaming the 860 with 4 or 8 gig of ddr3 dual chan memory and a better graphics card will be a good option Its what I tell my customers and also what I did myself and I have only heard good reviews of it the 920 is an amazing proc if you do go that route thou ... just putting in another option to think about
here is a quick one Case: Thermaltake Element-T Mid-Tower Case (Original Color) Internal USB Extension Module: None Neon Light Upgrade: None Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans Noise Reduction Technology: None Power Supply Upgrade: Corsair Power Supplies [+65] (850 Watts CMPSU-850TX - Quad SLI Ready [+47]) CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-860 2.80 GHz 8M L2 Cache LGA1156 [+106] Venom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: No Overclocking Cooling Fan: Intel LGA1156 Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink Motherboard: [CrossFireX/SLI] EVGA P55 TR Intel P55V Chipset DDR3 Socket 1156 mATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB2.0, SATA-II RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, & 2 PCIe X1 Memory: 4GB (2GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand) Freebies: None Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 PCI-E 16X 1GB DDR5 Video Card [DirectX 11 Support] [+385] (Major Brand Powered by ATI) Video Card 2: None Video Card 3: None Dedicated PHYSX Card: None Free Game: None Multiple Video Card Settings: Non-SLI/Non-CrossFireX Mode Supports Multiple Monitors LCD Monitor: None 2nd Monitor: None Hard Drive: Single Hard Drive (1.5TB (1.5TBx1) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+27]) Data Hard Drive: None Hard Drive Cooling Fan: None USB Portable Drive: None Optical Drive: LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Dual Layer Drive (BLACK COLOR) Optical Drive 2: None Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO Speakers: None Network: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network Modem: None Mega Notebook/Netbook/Server Bundle: None Keyboard: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard Mouse: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse Gaming Gear: None Extra Thermal Display: None Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: None External Wireless Network Card: None Wireless 802.11 B/G/N Access Point: None Bluetooth: None Flash Media Reader/Writer: None Video Camera: None Headset: None Printer: None Printer Cable: None Power Protection: None IEEE1394 Card: None USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports Floppy: None Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Ultimate [+105] (64-bit Edition) Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner: None Office Suite: Free 60 Days Microsoft® Office® 2007 (Words, Excel, Access, Power Point, Outlook + More) - Microsoft Windows OS Required Ultra Care Option: None Service: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT Rush Service: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saving/show.aspx?id=2401845 you can throw in another 4 gig of ram and do what you want look at this price for an amazing PC $1624 USD
The only difference between Windows 7 ultimate and pro 64 bit is a language pack (for 40 or so extra bucks). In other words go with Windows 7 Profesisonal. - PS. you may want to look at an AMD Proc. They are cheaper with similar performance to the I7 cpus.
Ummmm... none of the AMD CPUs can really touch an i7 last I checked, and I don't think they've had any new releases. The Phenom IIs are great value for money and compare pretty well to Core 2 Quads - but the Nehalems are slightly out of their reach still. It might still be "good enough" though.
current top end AMD proc: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727 $189.00 current top end Intel Proc: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115212 $989.99 It's all personal preference. I just like the AMD/SLI (nvidia) combo much better than intel/ATI or intel/Nvidia kind of weird since AMD and ATI are the same company. I just like nvidia more. Graphics cards and memory (speed, type) still make a bigger difference than processor. Thats just my .02. I'll be building a new pc soon and i'll post the specs here.
Well video cards come down to brand loyalty usually. I won't buy any card that isn't EVGA, they are simply the best company that I've ever dealt with (as far as hardware is concerned) and really have no reason to look elsewhere. Although, I will admit, I am still trying to talk myself out of switching to ATI due to eyefinity being simply amazing.
Yeah, my most recent card was EVGA as well - they are getting pretty good reviews, and considering that it's hard to recommend anyone else for nVidia cards right now. When considering ATI vs nVidia, though, that battle keeps changing. There are a lot of loyalists out there, sure, but a lot of it's a question of who to believe; I've heard from people who say that ATI drivers are crap, and people that said that nVidia drivers are crap, and even one or two who alternate between bashing the drivers of one and then the other. Personally, I like to have both around since competition stops vendors sitting on their arses. And, facing facts, whichever you chose, it wasn't Intel. Considering the kind of edge they have had in the CPU market for the last few years, they have a mindblowing lack of ability to make a graphical equivalent that isn't simply shit.
To be honest I don't even care about drivers or anything like that anymore when it comes to picking a vendor. The simple fact that I've had to RMA two EVGA cards one due to artifacting the other due to me blowing it up trying to OC it they had no problem with me returning either. They were actually more pissed and apologetic about the card that artifacted and were excited to know how I manged to blow up the other one. Between their insanely good customer service, amazing online support, and the almighty "Step-Up" program I don't know why anyone would go with any card that isn't EVGA that wants Nvidia. Hell if you're into overclocking nothing beats their mobos, they just make great quality gear.
I support this post. As I usually would with anything Van says. I will admit though, I used ATI 'back in the day' when I first started learning how to build my own PCs and I had one of my 9800 cards (yes, the ATi one) fry out and they sent me an x800 instead as my replacement. Been using nVidia cards since (not because it fried out, just tried nVidia once and got hooked), specifically eVGA, even if they are a bit more pricey, but you get what you pay for! I really want to try out EVGAs new mobo's.
More pricey? From the stuff I was seeing on Newegg they seemed pretty reasonable... as in, one of the cheaper vendors that I'd actually heard of.
we sell EVGA cards and MOBO's like crazy fast at micro center ... i always recommend them or gigabyte for mobo's very good stuff and quality ... EVGA is some great stuff and amazing quality ... I stick to EVGA for graphics cards only and ill do EVGA and gigabyte for a mobo these days ... so i say go with the EVGA cards man and their mobo's are great quality
No no no, I meant comparatively to other vendors. I mean, I haven't shopped in a while (a few months.. so that's kinda recent) but EVGA similiar hardware would be maybe 10-15$ more than lets say.. PNY or.. XFX or something.. That's all I meant, I didn't mean OVERALL price, in that since, yes it is very reasonable. Sorry for the confusion! The mobo i'm using now is a Gigabyte and its been my favorite buy so far, has been running perfect since I first booted it up. Like I said earlier, I'm probably going to go for an eVGA board for my next build.. speaking of - I need to start doing some research..
EVGA has a bigger ticket price if you go for anything on their over-clocking line, but if you're into OCing, EVGA is the only way to go (classified series is f'ing insane). No one else has mentioned it though, EVGA has it's "Step-Up" program which is amazing for upgrading and eliminates that "something new is going to come out as soon as I buy this" feeling. Love em, can't say enough good things about this company. I have had great experience with Asus Mobo's as well though, you have to be very careful with the RAM you pick but it's a small price to pay. I got 5 years out of my current board as I bought it when it was top of the line for my single core 2.6 and now supports my x2 3.2. And yes, I second Sogetsu's remark. BOOOOO LAPTOPS!!!
The first rig I ever built I used an ASUS board and I loved it. Again, Gigabyte is good too, I'm going to drop some money and grab an eVGA board this time though. I didn't know about the 'Step Up' program, is that on their website? I might go ahead and purchase a new GTX I've been eyeing...