$1500 Gaming Machine - Advice!?

[Gray]

Hello all,
I'm working on a build with a budget of roughly $1500 which includes shipping and handling to Hawaii. I have no personal preference on brand.

LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236117

SAPPHIRE 21197-00-40G Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102961

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196

ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

Intel Core i5-2550K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115230

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Hawaii Shipping Grand Total: $1,539.05

What do you folks recommend in regards to the GPU? Should I buy (2) cheaper GPU's and run them in SLI/Crossfire, or should I stick to the HD 7990?

Also, I was looking into buying an SSD for SRT caching.

Thanks!

 

[byteninja2]

Awesome! GPU, some games don't take full advantage of crossfire. Plus, I would get a Nvidia 680 for that price, the 680 is literally the fastest gpu in the world. There are couple coming out on neweegg in a couple weeks, here is one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130768

The evga is 10$ more expensive than a few others, comes down to personal preference,but evga is a awesome brand.

 

[spirit]

Wow! Great build you've got specced for yourself there!

What do you folks recommend in regards to the GPU? Should I buy (2) cheaper GPU's and run them in SLI/Crossfire, or should I stick to the HD 7990?

I always recommend going for one big card over two smaller ones. However, I'm going to recommend the GeForce GTX 680 over the Radeon 7970 because it is faster and cheaper. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121626 sadly Newegg are out of stock at the moment but they should be getting more soon.

Also, I was looking into buying an SSD for SRT caching.

I'd just buy an SSD and install Windows on it. You can have a separate hard drive to install your games onto because there isn't much difference between gaming on an SSD vs gaming on an HDD, but for booting Windows and loading programs etc, an SSD is in a different world. The Crucial M4 is always my recommendation. The 128GB one is big enough for Windows and some programs, you may able to get a 256GB one depending on your budget. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1&isNodeId=1&Description=crucial+m4&x=17&y=17

Good choice on the CPU, board and RAM. I have the P8Z68-V PRO GEN3 running a 2500K very nicely. However, the 2500K is cheaper than a 2550K and overclocks just as well, so I'd say get that. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Other than that, it's all good stuff!

 

[Gray]

Thanks for the responses, folks. In regards to the video card, you are very right. I may very well pick up a 680. I was thinking about snagging one from another store. But I'm not sure yet! I'll watch Newegg this week and see if any come up. If they do, I'll grab it. I'm not ordering the parts for another week or so, so that gives me some leeway on the video card.

In regards to the SSD, maybe I'll do that! I've never tried it before. Is it worth the investment, do you think?

 

[spirit]

In regards to the video card, you are very right. I may very well pick up a 680. I was thinking about snagging one from another store. But I'm not sure yet! I'll watch Newegg this week and see if any come up. If they do, I'll grab it. I'm not ordering the parts for another week or so, so that gives me some leeway on the video card.

Definitely get the 680! It's the fastest at the moment and it's only going to get faster as the drivers improve.

In regards to the SSD, maybe I'll do that! I've never tried it before. Is it worth the investment, do you think?

Ummm... generally what you do on an SSD *is* install Windows and your programs onto it? lol in all seriousness yes definitely get an SSD. The one major bottleneck of a PC is usually a slow hard drive, an SSD solves this. If you're going to upgrade anything in your PC to make it faster, then put in an SSD. You're going to be able to boot Windows up in like 10-20 seconds on the M4 and things are going to be so much faster for you. Make sure you set it up right though. Benny Boy wrote a guide about setting up and maintaining SSDs, follow his steps and you'll be good to go http://www.computerforum.com/192436-setup-manage-ssd.html

 

[Gray]

Thanks,

I think I've decided I'm going to get the 680 - it seems like a better investment unless AMD drops their prices significantly.

In regards to the SSD - it sounds like a decent amount of work from that guide! It seems like you'll be committing to consistent maintenance on the SSD as the months go on. Do you use it? If so, do you feel like it makes things run a lot quicker? How much more complicated is the installation process of building a rig with this SSD hookup?

 

[spirit]

In regards to the SSD - it sounds like a decent amount of work from that guide!

You don't need to do all of what is mentioned. The main things are:

1 - Make sure the SSD is plugged into a SATA 6GB/s port on your motherboard. I have my M4 plugged into SATA-0 in the grey ports on the P8Z68-V PRO GEN3 board - those two grey ports and the two blue ones underneath are SATA 6GB/s ports.

2 - Make sure AHCI is enabled in the BIOS (found under the SATA configuration options) before you install Windows

3 - Make sure when you install Windows, ONLY the SSD drive is attached

4 - Once you're in Windows, update your SATA and AHCI drivers to get the best performance

5 - You can turn off Hibernation if you don't need it to save space

6 - Avoid reinstalling Windows too often. I'm really bad for this, I reinstall a lot because I get problems. I've had my M4 for 6 months though and reinstalled Windows like 4 or 5 times in that period and I've not noticed any slow down, but apparently constantly reinstalling Windows wears down the SSD and makes the drive slower.

It seems like you'll be committing to consistent maintenance on the SSD as the months go on.

Nah, just do the above and you'll be fine. Once you've all that leave it and it run fine. No need to spend forever wrapping your SSD in cotton wool, it will run fine.

Do you use it? If so, do you feel like it makes things run a lot quicker?

I did some of the things Benny mentioned in his guide, most of it is all about saving space. Most of it doesn't make Windows run any quicker on the SSD. You pretty much install Windows, update your AHCI drivers and you're done - that's as fast as it's going to get.

How much more complicated is the installation process of building a rig with this SSD hookup?

Not much more, it's pretty much as follows:

1 - Install the SSD drive into the PC (you'll need a 2.5" to 3.5" bay adapter - the SSD may/may not come with one, but a high-end case should come with one. If not, you can buy them online really cheaply)

2 - Go into the BIOS, look for the SATA configuration options, make sure the SATA type is set to AHCI, then press F10 to save and exit.

To enable SATA AHCI on the P8Z68-V PRO GEN3:

Press DEL on your keyboard whilst the PC is POSTING to get into the BIOS
Once in the BIOS, click on "Exit/Advanced Mode" in the top right hand corner
Click on "Advanced Mode"
Click on the tab called "Advanced"
Click on "SATA Configuration"
Click on "SATA Mode" and set to "AHCI Mode"
Press F10 to save changes and restart

3 - Unplug any other hard drives you have so that only the SSD is attached and detected.

4 - Install Windows as you normally would.

5 - Once Windows is installed, update your SATA and AHCI drivers.

6 - Once you have done that, reattach any hard drives you may have, you're good to go.

That's pretty much all you need to do. You can do the stuff Benny mentioned in the guide too, but it's not obligatory you do that.

 

[M1kkelZR]

yeah looks good, just as said somewhere above, get the 680 for that price

 

[claptonman]

There is no maintenance on an SSD, really. After you install it using the guide, you're good.

Just two things: Be sure to turn the computer off at night or a couple nights per week. (Gonna want to do this with/without an SSD)

And you gotta be careful what you put on it. When installing things, be sure, if you don't want it on the SSD, to install it to your HDD. Gotta reroute the program to the HDD. And be sure to reroute your downloads to a downloads folder in the HDD. (Through your web browser settings.)

And yes, its worth. Not going to a regular HDD ever again.

The SRT cache would mostly be if you run out of available memory, which you won't be.

 

[Gray]

Thanks all, for the responses.

You've convinced me - I'll do the SSD!I'll check back before I actually purchase the parts if I have any more questions, and when I'm done I'll post a picture and response letting you know how it all went.

I'll definitely be getting an SSD and a 680. Just a waiting game now for those 680's to come in!

 

[spirit]

One more thing I forgot to say - don't ever defrag your SSD! It will wear it out!

Good luck on building your system, hopefully it all goes well for you! Are you going for a 2500K or a 2550K?

 

[Gray]

Roger that. I plan on going for the 2500, actually!

 

[spirit]

You should get the 2500K, not the 'plain' 2500, it's only a couple of bucks more and overclocks like crazy. I've got mine at 4.3GHz stable, so definitely get the K!

 

[Gray]

Oh of course of course! I think that was a typo.

I'm having a lot of trouble finding a nice GTX 680! I've seen one Tiger Direct, and it's manufactured by "Galaxy." I was really hoping to get one by EVGA. But I'm growing impatient! This damn video card is the sole reason I haven't purchased yet!

 

[spirit]

Galaxy cards are OK, they're not the greatest brand but they are by no means the worst (Palit and Zotac are my least favourite brands). Send me a link to the Galaxy 680 and I'll have a look, but I'd say you'd be fine with the Galaxy card.

Here's an EVGA GTX 680 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-...1R3A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333803397&sr=8-1 it's a bit pricey though, $600, it is however still cheaper than most of the 7970s on amazon.

 

[Gray]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2279333

There's the card I'm looking at. It seems decent. Wherever I buy my card, I'll most likely make my entire purchase given the price of the card. How's that look?

 

[spirit]

That card looks fine to me. I'd buy it now and if you're not happy with it you can sell it for close to the RRP and then buy the EVGA card if you want, but I think you'll be fine with it.

 

[Gray]

That card looks fine to me. I'd buy it now and if you're not happy with it you can sell it for close to the RRP and then buy the EVGA card if you want, but I think you'll be fine with it.

Thanks Vista. Actually, I ended up taking your Amazon recommendation and ordered the entire setup from Amazon. They're the only place with friendly shipping to Hawaii and I got some great deals, even though I bought that EVGA card.

Thanks!