Custom Gaming Rig

[AntKeyyy]

Hey guys, I'm just starting to get more involved with computers considering I want to major in computer science and was hoping if I could get some input.

I've been wanting to build my own desktop for awhile and have just went in and picked each of the parts I want. I know some of you are very good at this stuff and was just looking for feedback and if any problems would arise trying to build it.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=13374729

This is my list of parts and yeah...

[chris_cr33p]

i know it sucks but, if ur gonna spend a grand get the i7 processor it will be well well worth it in the end. its not essential dont get me wrong, i5 is great! Im just saying for max performance go with i7

[holyhostile]

dont buy the os (you can get a free one easy) that saves 100$ and go with the i7

[-ironman]

what he said about the os^

I would recommend this case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216

and

I would say just go with the I5-2500k

[AntKeyyy]

I guess the motherboard would support I7... and I already fell in love with that case. I probably shouldn't be spending 1k on my first custom built but oh well.

What is os and how I would I get one for free?

Also, do you think with i5 or i7, would I be able to stream sc2 on low settings with good fps? I've only had a 2000 gateway and 2 laptops with under 3 ghz processor so I don't know how powerful they are.

EDIT

I'm dumb... os = operating system... duhhhhh. Well how would I get it for free?

[forefront]

1. Keep all of your receipts. You can't know if all of your components will fit in the case until you get everything together. The first time I built a machine, my GPU was too long for my case.

2. Get a bigger hard drive. Your hard drive is going to fill up faster than you think. Also, if you want to get the best gaming experience, you might want to look at a 10,000RPM drive as opposed to 7200.

3. Get two 2GB RAM sticks over one 4GB one. If you don't have your RAM slots loaded equally, you'll get system latency and slow down your whole system. Your motherboard is Dual Channel. You need to load sticks in the 1 and 3 slot. If you can get two 4GB sticks then great!!

4. You don't need the i7. It won't give you that noticeable of a boost. If you have the money and want the future-proof solution though, the i7 will give you more time to play with.

[Eclipse]

1. Keep all of your receipts. You can't know if all of your components will fit in the case until you get everything together. The first time I built a machine, my GPU was too long for my case.

2. Get a bigger hard drive. Your hard drive is going to fill up faster than you think. Also, if you want to get the best gaming experience, you might want to look at a 10,000RPM drive as opposed to 7200.

3. Get two 2GB RAM sticks over one 4GB one. If you don't have your RAM slots loaded equally, you'll get system latency and slow down your whole system. Your motherboard is Dual Channel. You need to load sticks in the 1 and 3 slot. If you can get two 4GB sticks then great!!

4. You don't need the i7. It won't give you that noticeable of a boost. If you have the money and want the future-proof solution though, the i7 will give you more time to play with.

also Sandybridge is the newest line of the intel quad cores, so the price for that is going to be way higher, i paid about $300 for my i7-870, and my computer works like a charm.

[AntKeyyy]

I was planning to get 2 4gb ram sticks and yeah, I save all of my receipts. I'll take a look at some other hard drives also.

But yeah... anyone wanna answer how to get OS for free?

[heuer89]

This is the build I just got. My case arrives today and I'll be putting it together tonight.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=14199334

Some notes on my build:
I already have a 1TB drive for general storage, the SSD listed will be used exclusively for the OS install and game installs. I got the processor / heatsink as a combo so that saved me $20 (by the way the heatsink I have listed is HUGE and only got it because of the combo deal + my case is compatible with it). I was going to go the Intel/Nvidia but wanted to keep my costs down as well so Aran helped me pick comparable GFX and processor on the AMD/ATI side.

Notes on your build:
Case - currently out of stock, honestly Newegg could take 2 hours to get more or 2 months.
Motherboard - good board, enough space to put another GFX card in if bought later down the road. You might want to go with this board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506 as it has Optical audio out as well, and you won't need built in GFX since you're being a GFX card. It also has an additional 10% off promo code until 1/1/12 but that's only a few days away (Ninja Edit: Just noticed the board I linked has built in HDMI)
GFX card - I got this same card back in May for a build I did for my dad, at the exact same price. The card itself is okay but I'm not sure it will be able to handle games on "ultra" type settings. If you want to keep to Nvidia graphics I'd suggest going up to the 560Ti (~$199.99) as it will give you better performance that the 550Ti
Power supply - Basically personal preference here, 650W will be enough to run pretty much anything you want
CPU - If you're set on Intel, go with the i5-2500k, it's actually cheaper than the one you have and a bit better. Newegg just sent an email blast and the 2500k has $15 knocked off of it, but I'm not sure how long for
RAM - Cheap price, but you're probably not going to get great speeds out of it. If this is going to be a build you're going to use for 3+ years, I'd suggest an upgrade to 1600MHz RAM and go for a pack of 2x4GB. This will allow you to buy the same sticks of RAM later at a cheaper price if you want to up it to 16GB
HDD - Go with a 1TB drive rather than 500GB. You'll definitely have enough space with that.
DVD drive - Doesn't matter what you choose, all pretty much the same.
Sound card - You will most likely not need this. Most motherboards today (including the one you have added) come with built in support for 7.1 audio and with a $30 card, will be the same quality.

P.S. Aran is a great person to talk to if you have any questions about this stuff. He helped me cut costs down with mine and was able to convince me to cast away my Intel/Nvidia bias for AMD/ATI (Just that alone saved me over $100)

[AntKeyyy]

If the case doesn't come back in stock by the time I order it, I'll just buy it separately off another site b/c I really like it.
If I go with the motherboard you suggested, will I need to get a sound card?
I don't care at all about the graphic settings for my games, the game that would need a good graphics card on high would be Sc2 and I prefer the lowest settings for that.
I'm prob sticking with the I5.
I'm getting two of the RAM sticks listed and I think the motherboard I was going to get has 4 slots for em so I could get 2 more later.
I think I'll be fine with 500gb, I don't download music on to my computer or anything and the amount of games I currently play only takes up around 50gb (I think).
So I don't need a sound card? That'd be nice, I do enjoy listening to music but if the quality will be decent then I won't get it.

[heuer89]

If the case doesn't come back in stock by the time I order it, I'll just buy it separately off another site b/c I really like it.
If I go with the motherboard you suggested, will I need to get a sound card?


You should be good with this motherboard as well (see pic below) as it has the same audio ports so you shouldn't need a soundcard.
http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/13-128-506-Z02?$S640W$


I don't care at all about the graphic settings for my games, the game that would need a good graphics card on high would be Sc2 and I prefer the lowest settings for that.

In that case you should be good with the 550Ti. I was able to play SC2 on decent settings on my dad's PC when I was testing everything was working fine after I put it together.


I'm prob sticking with the I5.

I'd still suggest switching from the i5-2500 to the i5-2500k. The i5-2500k is fully unlocked for overclocking should you want to do that sometime in the future, the i5-2500 is in a limited unlock state.

Check out this image that can probably explain it better than I: http://cdn.overclock.net/1/19/19b35b81_vbattach189639.jpeg



I'm getting two of the RAM sticks listed and I think the motherboard I was going to get has 4 slots for em so I could get 2 more later.

Yup saw that, I just prefer to buy things in a package (e.g. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314 )


I think I'll be fine with 500gb, I don't download music on to my computer or anything and the amount of games I currently play only takes up around 50gb (I think).

In that case you should definitely be fine with just the 500GB.


So I don't need a sound card? That'd be nice, I do enjoy listening to music but if the quality will be decent then I won't get it.

Nope! Unless someone more familiar with audio in particular thinks that a $30 sound card will get you better audio than the motherboard, I'd say you can cross that off the list. Referencing the build I did for my dad again, we have a 5.1 surround sound system hooked up to it and it sounds great with just the built-in audio

EDIT NOTE: Newegg was acting funny for me but always make sure the mobo is compatible with the CPU. I believe I linked a correct one but always good to me certain. :)

[AntKeyyy]

This processor right?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

I guess I'll go with this motherboard Heuer suggested.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506