Building a Gaming Rig - The Final Build

[dillinger88]

Looks pretty good. Though I'd go with a video card with a bit more VRAM. 1GB is a little too low for modern games and future games (depending on your resolution, obviously. 1GB will do 1080p max really.).

I say this because, if you're intending on SLI-ing in the future anyway you may as well go for a better card now instead. SLI-ing another 560 will not give you another 1GB VRAM, the memory is shared between the two.

That my two pence.

Otherwise looks lovely.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

I might suggest you go with Gigabyte or Asus instead of MSI though. I built my PC last year in May, and at first I had the MSI P55gd65 but it died pretty quickly. When I returned it, the tech said they've had a lot of them dying and I've heard of it happening to ppl at Tom's Hardware as well. I ended up with an Asus P7P55D Pro and it's significantly better. So I'd recommend something like the Asus P8Z68 Pro perhaps.

Them being that board model in specific or MSI boards in general?

 

[Wolfram23]

I might suggest you go with Gigabyte or Asus instead of MSI though. I built my PC last year in May, and at first I had the MSI P55gd65 but it died pretty quickly. When I returned it, the tech said they've had a lot of them dying and I've heard of it happening to ppl at Tom's Hardware as well. I ended up with an Asus P7P55D Pro and it's significantly better. So I'd recommend something like the Asus P8Z68 Pro perhaps.

Them being that board model in specific or MSI boards in general?

At the time (around June/July last year) it was all the MSI Intel boards, according to the tech (socket 1156 and 1366). I just don't trust MSI mobos anymore.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

At the time (around June/July last year) it was all the MSI Intel boards, according to the tech (socket 1156 and 1366). I just don't trust MSI mobos anymore.

Oh well, my neighbours X48 and my X58 MSI boards have worked flawlessly.

 

[MercurySteam]

I might suggest you go with Gigabyte or Asus instead of MSI though. I built my PC last year in May, and at first I had the MSI P55gd65 but it died pretty quickly. When I returned it, the tech said they've had a lot of them dying and I've heard of it happening to ppl at Tom's Hardware as well. I ended up with an Asus P7P55D Pro and it's significantly better. So I'd recommend something like the Asus P8Z68 Pro perhaps.

I've had a long hard look at the 'ASUS P8Z68-V Pro Motherboard B3' before and I was quite impressed. Maybe after some more research I may choose that one instead.

EDIT: They're both great boards and when it comes down to it I could pick either of them and get great performance. But I may as well stick to my guns and see how the MSI board pans out.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Stick with that CPU if you're doing video editing and whatnot.

The RAM is fine, that is what I bought and it runs great.

I'd say beef up the video card a bit, solely for the fact that it's only 1GB and SLI won't double that, it simply shares.

I've been told to stay away from MSI. I bought a GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3, and it's pretty awesome.

 

[MercurySteam]

Looks pretty good. Though I'd go with a video card with a bit more VRAM. 1GB is a little too low for modern games and future games (depending on your resolution, obviously. 1GB will do 1080p max really.).

I say this because, if you're intending on SLI-ing in the future anyway you may as well go for a better card now instead. SLI-ing another 560 will not give you another 1GB VRAM, the memory is shared between the two.

Otherwise looks lovely.

I'd say beef up the video card a bit, solely for the fact that it's only 1GB and SLI won't double that, it simply shares.

After many hours of research, I have decided that if I want 4 years from the CPU, mobo and a SLI setup then I'd be better off going with a EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD [http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17320]. This final build will cost $1600AU including postage, so I think I'd better leave it at that.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[Skorpyo]

It looks to be a great system, but may I ask two questions?

1) Why did you get the i7 processor that costs far more (the 2600k), rather than getting the i7-2600 with the fixed multiplier? Are you going to overclock?

2) Why did you spend an extra $100-$150 extra on the top-of-the-line GTX 570, instead of going a bit lower and spending far less?

What OS are you using? Because I think you need a 64-bit edition of Windows to use 8 gigs of RAM (correct me if I'm wrong).

No, you're correct. 32-bit systems have trouble handling more than 3.something Gb.

 

[JRCB]

What OS are you using? Because I think you need a 64-bit edition of Windows to use 8 gigs of RAM (correct me if I'm wrong). And a Hard Drive upgrade may not be a bad idea, because with everything going digital, you'll need it. I recommend a terrabyte of space, personally. That, and the fact when I built my new rig, the old hard drive wouldn't boot at all, I think it was due to driver conflicts with the new motherboard.

Other than that, it seems like a very solid rig.

 

[MercurySteam]

It looks to be a great system, but may I ask two questions?

1) Why did you get the i7 processor that costs far more (the 2600k), rather than getting the i7-2600 with the fixed multiplier? Are you going to overclock?

2) Why did you spend an extra $100-$150 extra on the top-of-the-line GTX 570, instead of going a bit lower and spending far less?

1. If I'm getting the Core i7 I may as well get the 'K' version for an extra $35. And yes, overclocking is looking quite possible considering how well Sandybridge performs when it comes to overclocking (some guy got his up to 4.5GHz stable). And don't worry, I will be buying an aftermarket cooler.

2. The EVGA GTX570 is probably the most basic GTX570 on the market, and when I dual SLI it with another one I hope to get up to four years out of the system. I can't predict the future so I may as well put my money on something that will go the distance for a long, long time.

What OS are you using? Because I think you need a 64-bit edition of Windows to use 8 gigs of RAM (correct me if I'm wrong). And a Hard Drive upgrade may not be a bad idea, because with everything going digital, you'll need it. I recommend a terrabyte of space, personally. That, and the fact when I built my new rig, the old hard drive wouldn't boot at all, I think it was due to driver conflicts with the new motherboard.

Don't worry I've got the OS all sorted out (Win7 64-bit) and I will add a Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB drive on a bit later. Introducing a new mobo will usually require a fresh OS install so I'm not surprised that you had to.

 

[MercurySteam]

It does not matter what the specs are, as long as you have a bitchin case!

Just sayin

If you took a look at my case then you'd know. It's almost 70cm tall and has seven fans plus two more optional. I've had my eye on the Dark Fleet series ever since it came out and the reviewers have been vastly impressed so I think it's a worthy purchase.

 

[MercurySteam]

One last thing: I have decided to put an Antec CP-850 850W [http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=10906] in my rig instead of the TP-750 cause I basically get 100W more for $10 and the CP series only fits about four cases and my DF-85 just happens to be one of them. That's basically it.