Thinking of a new Gaming rig

[Deleted]

Hi guys, I've had a look at the sticky threads and could not find any specfic topic to post this in.

I currently have a self built PC which is getting quite old now, I could technically self build another one but I really don't have the time and I want it to be the best it can be.

Basically what I'd like to know is how future proof is it and is it worth the price?

So i'll post the possible system here:

Country: UK
Pre-built by Scan.co.uk 3XS systems

MB: Gigabyte GA-Z77-UD5 Gen3, Intel Z77 Chipset (£127.77)

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K, Ivy Bridge, 3.5GHz, Quad Core + Hyperthreading, 8MB Cache (£215.17)

CPU Cooling: Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro2 BK017 Performance CPU Cooler (£51.17)

CPU Overclock: Extreme Overclock - 4.5Ghz - Tuned to absolute safe maximum - Performance prioritised over acoustics. (£0.00)

RAM: 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance Arctic White - 1600MHz (£77.60)

GPU 2GB EVGA GTX 680 SC, 1084MHz GPU, 1536 Cores, 6208MHz GDDR5 (£342.73)

GPU Cooling: 3XS Cyclone Watercooling & Overclocking (Single Card) (£324.99)

GPU Temp Monitering 3XS Watercooling Temp Monitoring Pack - Includes Aqua-Computer Aquaero 5 XT complete with watercooling temperature monitoring. (£175.00)

PSU: 850W Corsair Pro Gold AX850, Modular, 80 PLUS Gold, 90% Eff (£126.85)

Boot Drive: 240GB Corsair Force Series 3, Read 550MB/s, Write 520MB/s (£123.24)

Storage Drive: 1TB Seagate Barracuda, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64Mb Cache (£53.69)

Disk Drive: LG BH10LS38 Blu-ray Writer - Retail with Software (£56.29)

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit - OEM (£64.70)

Additional Software: A hidden partition is created & a complete system image is produced. Giving you the option to reset it back to factory defaults should you need to. The software also lets you create scheduled backups. (£19.98)

Total: £2,460.31

Additional info
My budget is between £2000 and £2500
I don't want to carry over anything from my current system as that allows me to use that as for work only etc
The case itself comes with 3x 120mm Silent fans, is the water cooling for the GPU needed?

[Deleted]

You can essentially cut down that build a fair bit with zero impact on performance.

• Drop the CPU down to a 3570k. Same performance, just no HT.
• Skip the Gigabyte board, unless they fixed their UEFI issues. ASUS have much better (arguably) options for high-end. Look at the Sabertooth for example.
• 8GB is well enough overkill for RAM. You will find yourself trying hard to fill even 6GB, unless you aim to run multiple instances of RAM-heavy games (WoW+addons), VMs, etc.
• Skip the watercooling unless you plan to set it up yourself. It's not worth the hassle for a novice. (Referring to the added GPU watercooling kit).
• PSU is overkill. Dual 680 can run just fine on 500W or so. If you want SLI, get a 600-700W or so with proper connectors, if not then settle for a 550W 80+ gold modular.
• I'd rather get a Samsung 830 myself.
• Why get a Barracuda with such a high budget? Get Western Digital: Caviar Black instead.
• Skip the "additional software" bit. Nothing you can't easily do yourself. (And honestly, install Windows yourself if you are buying it stand-alone.)

[Deleted]

Cheers mate i'll have a look into it

edit: Since its a pre-built system by Scan themselves atm I'm not sure if I can change anything that isn't listed in the parts options, I could ring them and see how much they are willing to change. If I can only use parts listed I can only use the Gigabyte Motherboard and the 850w Corsair PSU

Changes that I can make with this pre-bult system:

CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance Arctic White - 1600MHz
GPU: 2X 2GB EVGA GTX 680 SC, 1084MHz GPU, 1536 Cores, 6208MHz GDDR5
Remove watercooling (will this affect GPU performance?) Surely they added the watercooling for a good reason?
Storage drive: 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green, 64Mb Cache

New total: £2,166.85 (save £293.46)

[stalkerzzzz]

Why would you go with that cooler for the CPU instead of the Noctua NH-D14?

[Deleted]

Why would you go with that cooler for the CPU instead of the Noctua NH-D14?

Mainly because I have no idea what a Noctua NH-D14 is or why its better and also because this system is only listed with the current CPU cooler option.

If I knew exactly which parts I wanted I could ring them and see if they could put it all together (creating a completely different system) but I'm not really educated in best of the best PC specs.

[glo]

There's no use for 680 SLI. A single 680 can handle any game currently out (and in the next year+) at max settings with ease. With that in mind, there's no reason to really get a 680 at all since the 670 is within 3-5% of it.

IMO, save a shitload of money and drop the GPU down to a single GTX 670 or 7970.

[dogman]

I don't know if these scan people will put heavy overclocks on their systems though, seems like they only OC'ed this build to 4.5GHZ which would make really high end cooling like an NH-D14 or even open loop water cooling superfluous. Doesn't look like they're overclocking the GPU either which makes their addition of watercooling rather odd.

[Deleted]

I use scan a lot myself as i only live a few minutes drive down the road, but what you seem to be looking at there is massive overkill at a massive cost.
The graphics card alone, especially the gtx 600 series cool extremely well, my gtx 670 under a full load only ever reaches around 60c with air after a few hours of play. imo, theres no point in spending 325 quid just to have it run 20 degrees cooler, people are going to argue with me there, but that's my opinion. you can get a system from scan for around £1500 that would be more than plenty and still be 'future proof' Theres no doubt about it that the system youve created in your post will be future proof, but fuck me your paying for it. the extra £1000 you could save and still be future proof would be better spent elsewhere. (for example save about 250 quid for 12 months time when you might actually need another gpu due to price drops etc.)

[stalkerzzzz]

I don't know if these scan people will put heavy overclocks on their systems though, seems like they only OC'ed this build to 4.5GHZ which would make really high end cooling like an NH-D14 or even open loop water cooling superfluous. Doesn't look like they're overclocking the GPU either which makes their addition of watercooling rather odd.

It would still be a shame to not get a way better cooler when it would only cost a few pounds more. You have to take into consideration that a 4.5Ghz ivy bridge will run way hotter than a sandy bridge at 4.5Ghz.

[Evildeffy]

You can essentially cut down that build a fair bit with zero impact on performance.

• Drop the CPU down to a 3570k. Same performance, just no HT.
• Skip the Gigabyte board, unless they fixed their UEFI issues. ASUS have much better (arguably) options for high-end. Look at the Sabertooth for example.
• 8GB is well enough overkill for RAM. You will find yourself trying hard to fill even 6GB, unless you aim to run multiple instances of RAM-heavy games (WoW+addons), VMs, etc.
• Skip the watercooling unless you plan to set it up yourself. It's not worth the hassle for a novice. (Referring to the added GPU watercooling kit).
• PSU is overkill. Dual 680 can run just fine on 500W or so. If you want SLI, get a 600-700W or so with proper connectors, if not then settle for a 550W 80+ gold modular.
• I'd rather get a Samsung 830 myself.
• Why get a Barracuda with such a high budget? Get Western Digital: Caviar Black instead.
• Skip the "additional software" bit. Nothing you can't easily do yourself. (And honestly, install Windows yourself if you are buying it stand-alone.)

Well mostly i agree, the CPU can be dropped etc.
However the bigger question is if the user will be video, graphics or music editing aswell. I know he hasn't stated it But it makes sense to some of his choices.

The i7 would not be superfluous f.ex.
I agree on the ASUS UEFI being far better then Gigabyte's, but then i generally build with Asus boards regardless.
8GB of RAM, i fill that up rather quickly without the use of VMs though :P Just WoW.. not an issue, Cata and MoP however will drain it VEEEEERY quickly, MoP especially is a bitch regarding that.
Agreed on the watercooling on GPU.
PSU: I am prejudiced on this one and say stick with the PSU he mentioned, as i LOVE working with the Corsair Professional Gold AX series.
SSD: Agreed, but options like Corsair Performance Pro, OCZ Vertex 4 or Crucial M4 are also still out there, still it's hard to argue with the performance the Samsung delivers for that price?
HDD: Can i hump your leg? So many people think Seagate is flawless, it's painfull to see and you recommending the Caviar Black is a relief!
Additional Software: Meh, some users like having that ability, however it removes all control over the OS since it's been parked there by them, which is a bleh thing for me personally.

---------- Post added 2012-07-18 at 10:51 AM ----------

There's no use for 680 SLI. A single 680 can handle any game currently out (and in the next year+) at max settings with ease. With that in mind, there's no reason to really get a 680 at all since the 670 is within 3-5% of it.

IMO, save a shitload of money and drop the GPU down to a single GTX 670 or 7970.

Actually he wants future proofing, so if he wants power, let him have it, either SLI the GTX680 or Crossfire the 7970, with the new Catalyst 12.7 drivers they should be equal anyway.
Yes it can run @ 1920*1080 at max for a singular one, however he has not said at what resolution and how many monitors.
If he's got 2560 and up and likes to run the heaviest and newest of games, then he will need more then 1.

======================================================

@ OP.
What case will be used for this exactly? Depending upon needs you may want to switch CPU cooler to either the Noctua (if you like working with huge but awesome monstrosities) or a Corsair Hydro H100.

My personal preference is Corsair Hydro H100 with 4 Gentle Typhoon fans.

[tombstoner139]

Future proofing is spending top dollar on upgrades you don't currently need.

Make a list of the system requirements for the games/tasks you want to play/do that will be released/performed in the next 12 months. then build to that.

I would choose a board that has a LGA of 2011 for later upgrades.... this is what i consider future proofing.

a 60 gig boot drive is more then enough, put the money into two fat storage drives one for back ups only.

Remember your computer can only be as fast as the slowest component. Ultra powerful overclocked cpus are a waist its just gonna sit around doing nothing most of the time. invest in bus speed, low HD read right times, and a graphics card that can handle the display settinsg you need. then ram and cpu last.

I think you'd be better off spending half of your money and getting new systems more often. that way your hopping to a new spot on the tech curve every 2 years.
you don't need anymore hardware then the games your playing right now or in the foreseeable future. if however you want to feed your ego. all power to ya.

[Evildeffy]

Future proofing is spending top dollar on upgrades you don't currently need.

Make a list of the system requirements for the games/tasks you want to play/do that will be released/performed in the next 12 months. then build to that.

I would choose a board that has a LGA of 2011 for later upgrades.... this is what i consider future proofing.

a 60 gig boot drive is more then enough, put the money into two fat storage drives one for back ups only.

Remember your computer can only be as fast as the slowest component. Ultra powerful overclocked cpus are a waist its just gonna sit around doing nothing most of the time. invest in bus speed, low HD read right times, and a graphics card that can handle the display settinsg you need. then ram and cpu last.

I think you'd be better off spending half of your money and getting new systems more often. that way your hopping to a new spot on the tech curve every 2 years.
you don't need anymore hardware then the games your playing right now or in the foreseeable future. if however you want to feed your ego. all power to ya.

I'd like to see you predict games you want to play fluently up to 1 year away for system specs when even the developers can't know... and no we're not always talking ports from consoles...

Also either LGA2011 or LGA1155 are on their last legs, neither socket has a future.
Haswell which will be the successor to LGA1155, that socket however will be LGA1150.
Backwards compatability? Not happening.
AFAIK LGA2011 will be treated as the LGA1366 socket platform, only quicker to that end. Release -> Initial CPUs -> Let it float -> Die after 3,5 - 4 years tops. No new tech, chipset or anything, although if you have proof to the contrary i'd like to see it.

Also it is apparant you have never had games and programmes on your SSD before, stating 60GB is enough to simply boot isn't the quality of life improvement that SSDs are to increase overall speed, having "two fat storage drives one for back ups only" would be viable, had it have been a computer made for companies, this however is a consumer, it'd be a bigger waste of cash then our proposed spenditure.

Your next statement baffled me a bit... "investing in bus speed" .. err what? "Low HD read right times" ... yes SSDs are there for this occasion "And a graphics card that can handle the display settings" ... Yeah... again a GTX680, then CPU and RAM last... err no.
This entire statement makes me think you've not read further then the first line of the OP's post, in general GPUs are faster then CPUs and memory has generally little effect past the 1600MHz sweet spot on games, so no the CPU is actually (with the advent and rise of SSDs) basically the slowest thing in the rig, and most of the time ANY CPU will be sitting idle because of the tasks we choose to do, doesn't mean we should get a single core CPU if we want the best gaming CPU just because we sit in windows browsing and play music most of the time rather then gaming.

Your last statement is a matter of opinion, you would never have a brutal beast in your way of thought and would simply be stuck to "decent" when clearly this chosen build was not meant to be "decent" but "DEATH TO ANYONE WHO IS IN MY WAY".

[Deleted]

Cheers for all the advice guys, I've been checking out Scan's other gaming systems and trying to tailor them in regards to specs you've suggested.

Another one i've found is as follows:

MB: Asus P9X79, Intel X79 Chipset

CPU: Intel Core i7 3820, 3.6Ghz Quad Core + Hyperthreading, 10MB Cache (this is the lowest they do for this system so I'll have to ask them if they can down it an i5, as one of you guys said there is little difference in the two other than HT on the i7)

Cooler: Corsair H100 Hydro Series Extreme Performance CPU cooler

Extreme Overclock - 4.6Ghz - Tuned to absolute safe maximum - Performance prioritised over acoustics

RAM: 16GB Total (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600MHz

GPU: 1x 4GB EVGA GTX 690, 915MHz GPU, 3072 Cores, 6008MHz GDDR5

PSU: 650W Corsair HX Series, Modular

SSD: 240GB OCZ Vertex 3, Sandforce SSD, Read 550MB/s, Write 520MB/s

HDD: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green, 64MB Cache

---------- Post added 2012-07-18 at 02:02 PM ----------

@ OP.
What case will be used for this exactly? Depending upon needs you may want to switch CPU cooler to either the Noctua (if you like working with huge but awesome monstrosities) or a Corsair Hydro H100.

My personal preference is Corsair Hydro H100 with 4 Gentle Typhoon fans.

The case I want is the Corsair 600T White Graphite Series http://static.scan.co.uk/images/products/1445319-a.jpg

In fact i'll give you the link to the configure page and you can see the options the system has: http://3xs.scan.co.uk/ConfigureSystem.asp?SystemID=1393 (all options are default, url doesn't save my choices)

Edit: Realised I haven't given you guys my res/monitor intentions. Atm im running one monitor at 1920/1080 but will probably add another monitor

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

The i7 3820 is about the same in gaming performance as an i5 2500K.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Produ....343.63.64.335

It is lower in performance than the i7 3770K (which is almost exactly the same as a 3570K for games).

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Produ....343.63.64.335

The only i7 extreme processor worth getting is the 3930K, which would add another 300 bucks to your budget. Don't bother with LGA 2011 if you are not going to be doing CPU intensive rendering work, heavy duty calculations work or file conversion work on a very frequent basis (4+ hours every day).

Go back to the i5 3570K and either the AsRock Z77 Extreme4 or the Asus P8Z77-V LK motherboard and save some money. Just because you have a budget doesn't mean you have to spend it all. The 3820 is already behind the "mainstream" processors for gaming, it is by no means any more "future proof" than and other processor on the market. So save some money because you don't need to spend it.

[Evildeffy]

Cheers for all the advice guys, I've been checking out Scan's other gaming systems and trying to tailor them in regards to specs you've suggested.

Another one i've found is as follows:

MB: Asus P9X79, Intel X79 Chipset

Possible, if you are going for the X79 LGA2011 route though, i suggest grabbing the king if you're spending that anyway.. the Rampage IV Extreme, otherwise no point and better off staying with Z77 chipset.

CPU: Intel Core i7 3820, 3.6Ghz Quad Core + Hyperthreading, 10MB Cache (this is the lowest they do for this system so I'll have to ask them if they can down it an i5)

Doesn't exist in this socket, if you go that route, as said above, go i7 3930K, if not, revert back to i5-3570K or i7-3770K with Z77 mobo.

Cooler: Corsair H100 Hydro Series Extreme Performance CPU cooler

Now we're talking... still though what Case?

Extreme Overclock - 4.6Ghz - Tuned to absolute safe maximum - Performance prioritised over acoustics

Good, can be better but still good.

RAM: 16GB Total (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600MHz

Going good, no comments.

GPU: 1x 4GB EVGA GTX 690, 915MHz GPU, 3072 Cores, 6008MHz GDDR5

Going for the big guns eh? What resolution do you intend to play at with how many screens?

PSU: 650W Corsair HX Series, Modular

This is pushing it, by running a GTX690 and an i7 of LGA2011 socket i would suggest increasing this to a 750W (preferably Gold certified) PSU as the LGA2011 when OCed are far bigger power hogs then their LGA1155 cousins, and you don't want to be pushing your PSU into redline constantly.

SSD: 240GB OCZ Vertex 3, Sandforce SSD, Read 550MB/s, Write 520MB/s

As long as you firmware update it, you're good, but if i remember correctly a Samsung 830 256GB is cheaper then the Vertex 3 whilst being arguably faster (depending upon what you do), can you switch this out? Note: Not saying it's bad at all, it's a good drive, but for roughly the same performance i'd pick the Samsung 830.
But if you want balls-to-the-wall speed then go for the Corsair Performance Pro 256GB, the most expensive one but one of the most demonic SSDs i have ever laid my eyes on.

HDD: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green, 64MB Cache

Screw that! Go 1 or 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black with 64MB cache, thems fightin' talk!

---------- Post added 2012-07-18 at 01:16 PM ----------

Take my recommendations and enter them.

Drop all magnetic drives and buy the Caviar Black seperately.
Possibly the same for the SSD drives if you decide to go for a Samsung 830, leave it on Corsair Performance Pro if you want a beast.

Other then that, it looks good.

[Deleted]

New changes: Within another system package

(Each system package from Scan has different spec options some of which are unique for that package and others can be shared across packages, so I guess I just need to look around more!)



Corsair 600T Limited Edition White Mid Tower Gaming Case

Asus P8Z77-V, Intel Z77 Chipset

Intel Core i5 3570K, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache

850W or 1050W Corsair Pro Series HX, Modular

256GB Corsair Performance Pro, Marvell SSD, Read 515MB/s, Write 440MB/s

Remove HDD's from package and buy Caviar Black seperately

Remove Windows 7 HP OEM and buy retail seperate

I may be able to ask them when I go to the store if they can include an uninstalled W7 retail and a caviar black HDD in the package.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

If you are running a single GTX 690 with an i5 3570K, you don't need more than a 650W PSU. 750W for peace of mind, but definitely not more.

[Deleted]

If you are running a single GTX 690 with an i5 3570K, you don't need more than a 650W PSU. 750W for peace of mind, but definitely not more.

I like peace of mind, 750w isnt listed but i'll add that to the requests along with the caviar black and Win 7 retail when I talk to them

[Joxer]

[QUOTE=Nyxxi;17614415]New changes: Within another system package

(Each system package from Scan has different spec options some of which are unique for that package and others can be shared across packages, so I guess I just need to look around more!)

Corsair 600T Limited Edition White Mid Tower Gaming Case

No comments, got this one myself and i love it!

Asus P8Z77-V, Intel Z77 Chipset

I would suggest getting the one with LK behind the name, because (if i remember right) the other ones doesnt have support for SLI.

Intel Core i5 3570K, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache

No comments, some would say its better with 2500K.

850W or 1050W Corsair Pro Series HX, Modular

No way 1050W, thats pure overkill and waste of money, 850W is on the edge of being too much also.
You would be fine with 550-700W.

256GB Corsair Performance Pro, Marvell SSD, Read 515MB/s, Write 440MB/s

I would say the same as some others have said, go for the Samsung 830, according to multiple reviews, its the best SSD on the market now.
And i got the Samsung 830 myself and i have nothing to complain about, atleast not yet.

Remove HDD's from package and buy Caviar Black seperately

No comments.

Remove Windows 7 HP OEM and buy retail seperate

Dont, just dont!
OEM should be cheaper than Retail, but you still get the same product.
(OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer, you can Google it for more info)

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Something like the Corsair AX 750 would be at the top of my wishlist.

I would suggest getting the one with LK behind the name, because (if i remember right) the other ones doesnt have support for SLI.

The P8Z77-V is one of the top-end boards that Asus makes. It definitely supports cross-fire and SLI.