Advise for constructing the Perfect Gaming PC

WarbossPepe

I've managed to work up a budget between €1200 - €1500 and i was wondering what parts would be best for constructing (from scratch) a gaming PC that will last.

Icyseanfitz

this is what im going building in a couple of weeks on a similar budget to you, if you where to buy off of Hardwareversand.de it would be cheaper also this will run any game maxed at 1900x1080, also the hd 5970 is a good choice if you intend to do a multi-screen setup later down the road
build1.jpg
also buying a lg dvd RW drive for 20 euro as well as a usb wifi dongle for 30

Overheal

ask yourself if you want to do crossfire, sli, whether you want amd or an intel processor, then buy the nicest motherboard you think you would reasonably afford. You never want to have to replace these things; replacing a mobo usually means replacing everything else right down to the OS. From there your Case, Processor and Power Supply in descending order with regard to things you dont really want to have to replace for the sake of hassle. As such, take the most care in researching those parts (though take care in researching the whole build back to front)

WarbossPepe

i heard that there really isnt too big of a difference between amd and intel processors so i was thinking of getting one of the i7's.

But im not sure what graphics card to get (which i hear is a big bulk of the price), what motherboard would be the best for an intel processor and whether or not to invest in an SSD for the OS and then have a SATA Hard Drive for all the games, etc.

The there comes the problem of water cooling of just installing an obscene amount of fans on the tower...

decisions decisions

koHd

You will have to be economical with that €1500. Getting the best motherboard and CPU alone will eat a good €600 sized chunk out of the budget. And sure for gaming, an i5 3GHz+ would be as good as an i7. As far as I know most games can't even use the i7's to their full potential.

WarbossPepe

well the idea behind purchasing all the end market items is so i dont have to upgrade for a good 5 or 6 years.

i was also wondering what the main differences are between the following two processors, apart from being AMD vs Intel and €270 vs €900, i cant find any major differences!

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=32898&agid=1189
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=34041&agid=1242

so...

anybody got any ideas on the ideal items for the ideal computer?

Solitaire

The ideal Intel CPU is an i7-860 that you've OCd to 4GHz :pac: Don't even bother thinking about the i7-980X - its €900 lunacy booth material.

Icyseanfitz

if you only have €1500 i wouldnt go with intel i would go with AMD as it saves you money through cheaper a CPU, Motherboard and sometimes RAM so that you can buy a better GPU like the build i have posted up above

Solitaire

GPUs depreciate in both price and effectiveness much faster than CPUs - good, strong CPUs can take years to lose effectiveness. As annoyingly pricey as their mobos are I'd still recommend an OCd, air-cooled i5 quad given that we're talking in the context of a €1500 high-end gaming build

Overheal

WarbossPepe wrote: »

well the idea behind purchasing all the end market items is so i dont have to upgrade for a good 5 or 6 years.

i was also wondering what the main differences are between the following two processors, apart from being AMD vs Intel and €270 vs €900, i cant find any major differences!

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=32898&agid=1189
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=34041&agid=1242

so...

anybody got any ideas on the ideal items for the ideal computer?

intel is just being silly. AMD released some of the specs for their new Octacore Processors (codename Bulldozer) which are going to innovate beyond Hyperthreading. But, those are at least a year out.

Icyseanfitz

Solitaire wrote: »

GPUs depreciate in both price and effectiveness much faster than CPUs - good, strong CPUs can take years to lose effectiveness. As annoyingly pricey as their mobos are I'd still recommend an OCd, air-cooled i5 quad given that we're talking in the context of a €1500 high-end gaming build

in all fairness if his main reason for this computer is gaming he really doesnt need to go intel he might as well save some money on the CPU and spend it on the GPU, but the i5's really are not priced too badly compared to the i7's, but if it was my money i would go with a high end AMD build (x4 or x6) as you will have more money to spend on the most important aspect of any gaming build the gpu

Icyseanfitz

Overheal wrote: »

intel is just being silly. AMD released some of the specs for their new Octacore Processors (codename Bulldozer) which are going to innovate beyond Hyperthreading. But, those are at least a year out.

yup and they will be bringing in a new socket as well AM3+ which will be backwards compatible with am3 socket cpu's which is handy if you cant buy a mobo and cpu at the same time

tazzzZ

rofl i built a i7 pc back in january 09 for roughly 1500. only change i have made is to upgrade from 285gtx to a 5870. its still a beast today.

i7 920 @ 3.4 (pre D0 stepping)
6gb ram
p6t deluxe
5870
xfi titanium
1 tb hd (2x500gb in raid 0)

it can be done in budget!

lmimmfn

cost me £390 to upgrade in May 2009 to i7( mobo, ram, cpu and cpu cooler ), since then ive added a 5850 last October for £80 including my old Nvidia 260( 5850 was second hand but never used ) and i picked up an 8800GT to run my 3rd screen and Nvidia Physx
Current spec:
i7 920@3.8Ghz( 4Ghz in the winter, just too toasty now lol ) with Noctua D12
Gigabyte X58 UD5 mobo
3Gig Dominator Ram( lol, i know, low but was 120euro for 3Gig at the time )
5TB of harddrive space( accumulated over the years, and added a 1GB F3 a few weeks ago )
Xfi XtremeGamer( 4 years old now )
2x19" displays and a 22"( 1 of the 19" was my main screen back in 2005, used it as an office one, then picked up a second 19" last year for 80euro, 22" is 4 years old now )
Thermaltake 850W PSU( nearly 2 years old )
G15 keyboard( bought second hand in jan for 45euro ), G5 mouse( bought in 2005 for 70euro )
Logitech momo steering wheel( 50euro with pedals second hand )
Gigabyte Aurora Case( 5 years old now and this is the 3rd PC used with it )
Crappy DVD( again 4-5 years old )

And a load of other stuff( bought an eyefinity adapter for a fortune and have TrackIR5 on the way ).
Point being you can buy cheap/second hand for stuff and if you spend extra on screen, case and PSU it can last you at least 5 years and if you upgrade every 3 years you'll get good money for your components so the upgrade wont cost much )

Overheal

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

yup and they will be bringing in a new socket as well AM3+ which will be backwards compatible with am3 socket cpu's which is handy if you cant buy a mobo and cpu at the same time

A socket which is not finalized not in the market and has no price. If you're going to build a PC now I wouldnt hold your breath.

Icyseanfitz

Overheal wrote: »

A socket which is not finalized not in the market and has no price. If you're going to build a PC now I wouldnt hold your breath.

im not im going ahead and buying a phenom II x4 965 and an ASUS crosshair Formula IV AM3 mobo i figure if things get more processor intensive in a year or two i have two choices buy an x6 or buy a new am3+ mobo and stick the x4 into it until i can afford a bulldozer cpu (this is why im going with AMD as they dont just get rid of everything (socket new ram etc.) and i have some bit of a future build with them)

Overheal

Woof. that is a nice board. Might have considered it myself but it completely slipped out of my notice when i was buying. I also liked the look of mine better :pac:

Icyseanfitz

well its the most expensive board i could find for the am3 socket (within reason ,i think its currently one of the best boards around) as well as that its red and black color scheme go very well with my case, im just hoping the bios in the mobo wont be too complicated as this will be my first build :rolleyes:

WarbossPepe

Ok well i've decided to go with AMD and i've decided to go so far with the following items...

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?agid=1242&aid=34041&lid=2 AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Box, Sockel AM3

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=29482&agid=1193
4GB-Kit Corsair DDR3 PC1600 C7 Dominator GT für Phenom II x2

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=34245&agid=1232&apop=6
SUS Crosshair IV Formula, AM3, ATX

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=31388&agid=1004
Sapphire TOXIC HD5850 1G GDDR5 PCI-E DUAL DVI-I / HDMI / DP

http://www.silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=644&osCsid=95303a03227b46b4ca606a6c1bfb9f61
Lian Li PC-B10 Aluminum Silent Med Tower Case

so far this includes graphics card, RAM, processor, motherboard and Computer Case

and is coming to a total of ~1300


any opinions on the items so far and what sort of drives to get?

Icyseanfitz

for 1300 id skip the x6 and get an x4 CPU and get a better GPU such as a 5870 or 5970, my build on the first page is a really high end gaming rig and really only costs 2-300 euro more, if i where you id save on the cpu and get a better gpu

CullyA

hey WarbossPepe,

im currently looking at this build,(prebuilt)

V30CM14DE Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, alle Sockel ready for dispatch from 2010-09-04
22,51 €
1
HV20G309DE 4GB-KIT G-Skill DDR3 PC2000, CL 9 ready for dispatch
144,24 €
1
HV0224862601DE Special item: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4, Intel P55, ATX, DDR3, PCI-Express Single piece
141,62 €
1
HVZPCDE Rechner - Zusammenbau ready for dispatch
20,00 €
1
HV207GT2DE LG GT20N Slim DVD-Brenner Slim schwarz ready for dispatch
32,06 €
1
HV1026SMDE Sapphire VAPOR-X HD5870 1G GDDR5 PCI-E DUAL DVI-I / HDMI / DP ready for dispatch
389,49 €
1
HV1310F3DE Samsung SpinPoint F3 1000GB, SATA II (HD103SJ) ready for dispatch
57,63 €
1
HVSE7HH6DE OEM Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit inkl. Vorinstallation ready for dispatch
74,90 €
1
HV203FAYDE Cooler Master HAF 932 schwarz, ohne Netzteil ready for dispatch
119,23 €
1
HV20I576DE Intel Core i5-760 Box 8192Kb, LGA1156 ready for dispatch
180,66 €
1
HV0242245701DE Special item: Corsair 750HX, 750 Watt Single piece
125,74 €
1€1308

id go with i5760 for €180 over amdx6 for €269

Overheal

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

for 1300 id skip the x6 and get an x4 CPU and get a better GPU such as a 5870 or 5970, my build on the first page is a really high end gaming rig and really only costs 2-300 euro more, if i where you id save on the cpu and get a better gpu

On the other hand the GPU is much simpler to resell and upgrade later. Slightly more awkward to 2nd hand sell a processor. Remember this is also a crossfire board that will probably see 2 or even 3 5850s... sometimes going with 1 expensive card makes it difficult to enter crossfire. In contrast a 5770 is easy to afford a pair of, for instance.

WarbossPepe

i really appreciate the input Icyseanfitz, but i really would rather a high end CPU as its much easier to upgrade a GPU on a later date.

and i think im settled on going with an AMD Phenom II X6 so... at the moment the main dilemma is which GPU, drives and cooling system to settle with. also the PSU, i never realised it but the PSU is quite an important part with so many variations.

and yes... i am new to the PC building

WarbossPepe

wow thanks for that man! thats a great insight into a full build, but if you dont mind me asking, whats the Corsair 750HX, 750 Watt for? is that the PSU?

and i think im settled on an AMD X6 so..... any other recommendations??

Jonny7

Anandtech.com

They have a good CPU benchmark tool

Might change your mind on which CPU you want to get

Monotype

WarbossPepe wrote: »

whats the Corsair 750HX, 750 Watt for? is that the PSU?

Yes you'll need a good PSU. That's a good price for that if you'll be going wthe HWV. It also give enough room for overclocking and upgrades.

Jonny7 wrote: »

Anandtech.com

They have a good CPU benchmark tool

Might change your mind on which CPU you want to get

-But also keep in mind that the games are not cutting edge, so aren't well optimised for multiple cores.

Icyseanfitz

well right now games barely use quad cores so id just buy an x4 (they seem to be getting better results in games anyway) and then see what happens with these new AMD CPU's coming out next year that might maybe use an AM3 socket and if not you can always buy an x6 next year

Jonny7

Funny how we are suggesting processors over a year old for an up-to-date machine

Icyseanfitz

well nearly every processor out now is a year old except for the x6 so its either them or wait for bulldozer

Overheal

The newest thing on the street is the i7 Hexacore but its 4 times more expensive than the X6. It'll be affordable in about a year, likely. Thats how the CPU market operates.

Theres State-of-the-Art, and theres Up-to-Date. DDR3 is already 3 years old, yet it's still up to date with no DDR4 yet in the pipeline.