Advice on Gaming rig for €1800 to €2000

Johnnyk1984

1. What is your budget? €1800 - €2000

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming

Games include : the latest and greatest :-)

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Yes

[Keyboard and mouse]

5. Do you need a monitor? Yes

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? N/A

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [No]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes but never did it on the last build]

8. How can you pay? [Credit Card/Laser/Bank Transfer/Etc...]

9. When are you purchasing? Next week

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [Dublin]


I have experience already in building a custom gaming rig but that was over 3 years ago so I am out of touch with the latest hardware but I have been doing an insane amount of reading the last few days ha It goes without saying that sheer performance is key given what I want the machine for. Thanking you in advance for your advice

Serephucus

Oddly, you deleted the monitor question. What size and resolution of monitor were you thinking of?

Johnnyk1984

Serephucus wrote: »

Oddly, you deleted the monitor question. What size and resolution of monitor were you thinking of?

Apologies I currently have a SyncMaster 206BW 1680x1050 20 inch @ 60hz so I would be looking something above that on the 24 inch range I know very little when it comes to monitors

Serephucus

I notice you didn't mention anything with regards to speakers or headphones, any interest in that sort of stuff? (The answer I'm looking for is "Yes". )

Quick and dirty build, to get the ball rolling:

Item|Price
ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX|€146.99
Corsair Hydro Series H100i|€103.62
2 x Scythe GentleTyphoon 120 mm Lüfter 1150 rpm|€24.42
EVGA GeForce GTX 670, 2048MB DDR5, PCI-Express|€340.89
8GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24|€46.86
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Arc Midi Tower|€76.87
Intel Core i7-3770K Box, LGA1155|€296.53
Dell UltraSharp U2412M (schwarz)|€259.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1315.16

Johnnyk1984

Serephucus wrote: »

I notice you didn't mention anything with regards to speakers or headphones, any interest in that sort of stuff? (The answer I'm looking for is "Yes". )

Quick and dirty build, to get the ball rolling:

Item|Price
ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX|€146.99
2 x Corsair Hydro Series H100i|€207.24
Scythe GentleTyphoon 120 mm Lüfter 1150 rpm|€12.21
EVGA GeForce GTX 670, 2048MB DDR5, PCI-Express|€340.89
8GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24|€46.86
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Arc Midi Tower|€76.87
Intel Core i7-3770K Box, LGA1155|€296.53
Dell UltraSharp U2412M (schwarz)|€259.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1406.57

Thanks for the reply I appreciate it in regards to the graphics card I was eyeing up this one in particular

http://www.hardwareversand.de/4096+MB/69500/ZOTAC+GeForce+GTX+680+4GB+%28AC3-Game+Pack%29.article

The question is thou is it worth the additional €160??? I would also consider doubling up on the RAM( Reason sheer greed ha ha I want to get the absolute most out of the budget I've set aside)

I'd be a headphones man by the way and would need a set....I'm not exactly covering myself in glory here at the moment am I ha

Generic Dreadhead

Johnnyk1984 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply I appreciate it in regards to the graphics card I was eyeing up this one in particular

http://www.hardwareversand.de/4096+MB/69500/ZOTAC+GeForce+GTX+680+4GB+%28AC3-Game+Pack%29.article

The question is thou is it worth the additional €160??? I would also consider doubling up on the RAM( Reason sheer greed ha ha I want to get the absolute most out of the budget I've set aside)

I'd be a headphones man by the way and would need a set....I'm not exactly covering myself in glory here at the moment am I ha

Just realised you and I have almost the EXACT same budget, requirements, and timelines, preferance in Graphics Cards etc what are the odds

The headphones is one area I can help with. Are you going to just use them for PC Gaming... or will you use them for Ps3, XBox, TV watching, Music listening (and or production)?

Gumbi

Performance-wise you're going to get virtually nothing from extra RAM. You can get more from your money in other areas if you really wan to spend it

Johnnyk1984

Cormac... wrote: »

Just realised you and I have almost the EXACT same budget, requirements, and timelines, preferance in Graphics Cards etc what are the odds

The headphones is one area I can help with. Are you going to just use them for PC Gaming... or will you use them for Ps3, XBox, TV watching, Music listening (and or production)?

So there is more than one person willing to spend €1800 ish to get his ass kicked online by some 15 year old kid ha I would just use the headphones exclusively for PC gaming nothing else really

Johnnyk1984

Gumbi wrote: »

Performance-wise you're going to get virtually nothing from extra RAM. You can get more from your money in other areas if you really wan to spend it

Well no one really wants to spend that kinda money these days but I said I better get in and do it before the IMF does it for me ha

I do see your point in terms of the RAM given that most boards go up to 32 or 64 allowing the option of an easy upgrade In that department at a later stage if needs be and the law of diminishing returns has to be factored in when doing any type of custom build.

..Brian..

Serephucus wrote: »

I notice you didn't mention anything with regards to speakers or headphones, any interest in that sort of stuff? (The answer I'm looking for is "Yes". )

Quick and dirty build, to get the ball rolling:

Item|Price
ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX|€146.99
2 x Corsair Hydro Series H100i|€207.24
Scythe GentleTyphoon 120 mm Lüfter 1150 rpm|€12.21
EVGA GeForce GTX 670, 2048MB DDR5, PCI-Express|€340.89
8GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24|€46.86
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Arc Midi Tower|€76.87
Intel Core i7-3770K Box, LGA1155|€296.53
Dell UltraSharp U2412M (schwarz)|€259.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1406.57

2 CPU coolers?! :rolleyes:

marco_polo

Johnnyk1984 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply I appreciate it in regards to the graphics card I was eyeing up this one in particular

http://www.hardwareversand.de/4096+MB/69500/ZOTAC+GeForce+GTX+680+4GB+%28AC3-Game+Pack%29.article

The question is thou is it worth the additional €160??? I would also consider doubling up on the RAM( Reason sheer greed ha ha I want to get the absolute most out of the budget I've set aside)

I'd be a headphones man by the way and would need a set....I'm not exactly covering myself in glory here at the moment am I ha

The GTX 670 is already borderline overkill for a 1920 X 1200 monitor, and more RAM would really be a waste.

I guess it depends on whether you consider the budget to a limit or a target , but the law of diminishing returns is going to kick in quite hard above 1200-1300 or so.

I think two CPU coolers is definitely overkill Serephucus

Serephucus

To both of you (conveniently): 8GB of RAM should be plenty. That said, it's dirt cheap, and who knows? maybe PS4 titles will require more.

RE Headphones, I'm a Sennheiser person, so that's what I'd recommend. Their PC360 headset is great, by all accounts. There's also Corsair's Vengeance 1500 (or 2000 if you want wireless) that's good too, though not quite in the same leage.

That 680 really isn't worth it at all over the 670. You're look at, at most, a 15% improvement. Probably closer to 5%. The GTX 780 is supposed to be launching around June or July, which should be quite a jump. Reportedly around 25% faster than the 680, based off the Titan. Might be worth picking up a 660 Ti or something to hold you over until then. If you time it right, and buy EVGA, you might even be able to Step-Up to one.

Edit: Awh crap, didn't notice that. Obviously it was supposed to be one H100i with two GTs...

Johnnyk1984

Serephucus wrote: »

Item|Price
ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX|€146.99
Corsair Hydro Series H100i|€103.62
2 x Scythe GentleTyphoon 120 mm Lüfter 1150 rpm|€24.42
EVGA GeForce GTX 670, 2048MB DDR5, PCI-Express|€340.89
8GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24|€46.86
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Arc Midi Tower|€76.87
Intel Core i7-3770K Box, LGA1155|€296.53
Dell UltraSharp U2412M (schwarz)|€259.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1315.16

What is the overall cocensus on the build as it is presently? Not withstanding the addittion of heaphones am i wrong in thinking were short a PSU??

Generic Dreadhead

Johnnyk1984 wrote: »

So there is more than one person willing to spend €1800 ish to get his ass kicked online by some 15 year old kid ha I would just use the headphones exclusively for PC gaming nothing else really

Do you need/want a mic to let those pesky 15 year olds know what you think of them?
Cause here's what I use and I love them.... I like cheesey looking ****, plus they can be used for multiple uses and applications
http://www.amazon.com/Afterglow-Universal-Wireless-Xbox-360-6304300630490063060006306200/dp/B009CL6LA6

As is prevalent from my keyboard and mouse choices
http://www.amazon.com/Razer-Spectre-StarCraft-Gaming-RZ01-00430100-R3M2/dp/B00BECKNFK/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1364225705&sr=1-1&keywords=Razer+Starcraft+2+Spectre

http://www.amazon.com/Razer-Marauder-StarCraft-Keyboard-RZ03-00440100-R3M2/dp/B00BECKMDI/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1364225736&sr=1-2&keywords=Razer+Starcraft+2+Marauder

Generic Dreadhead

Johnnyk1984 wrote: »

What is the overall cocensus on the build as it is presently? Not withstanding the addittion of heaphones am i wrong in thinking were short a PSU??

Looks good to me... that tower/case could do with some Blue lights though :pac::p

Serephucus

I chose it because it's a very good one for water cooling, if either of you are considering it.

Generic Dreadhead

Serephucus wrote: »

I chose it because it's a very good one for water cooling, if either of you are considering it.

How are you posting these components as lists btw... Just putting together a build from this website for you guys to review... I doubt you are being so nice as to put all the info in an excel table for us :rolleyes:

Serephucus

Add a bookmark, with the following as the URL:

javascript:var debug = false;function loadScript( url ){if ( document.getElementById("basket_parser") == null ){var script = document.createElement( "script" );script.setAttribute( "id", "basket_parser" );script.setAttribute( "type", "text/javascript" );script.setAttribute( "src", url + "?" + Math.random() * 10000000 );document.getElementsByTagName( "head" )[0].appendChild( script );setTimeout( "loadScript('" + url + "')", 200 );log( "Started loading script: " + url );}else if ( typeof( init_script ) != 'undefined' ){log( "Loaded." );init_script();}else{setTimeout( "loadScript('" + url + "')", 200 );log( "loading ..." );}}function log (string){if ( debug ){document.body.appendChild( document.createTextNode( string ) );document.body.appendChild( document.createElement( "br" ) );}}loadScript( "http://fluffy88.com/scripts/basket_parser.js" );void( 0 );

Then when you're at your basket, click that bookmark, and you'll get a popup that you can copy and paste to a post here.

marco_polo

My ideal €1300 ish version would look a little something like this, leaving plenty of cash left over to go nuts on nice keyboard, mouse, speakers, headphones etc. The XT would definately be a good card for gaming at the Dells resolution for at least the next couple of years.

Item|Price
Dell UltraSharp U2412M (schwarz)|€259.99
Corsair Carbide Series 400R, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€89.96
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 700W|€81.69
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€123.89
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€204.96
2 x 4GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800U CL9|€52.30
Noctua NH-D14, Sockel AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1366/1155/1156|€74.99
Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 XT Boost, 2GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort, full retail|€219.00
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 128GB SATA 6Gb/s|€117.10
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€82.17

Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1325.04

Generic Dreadhead

Serephucus wrote: »

Add a bookmark, with the following as the URL:

javascript:var debug = false;function loadScript( url ){if ( document.getElementById("basket_parser") == null ){var script = document.createElement( "script" );script.setAttribute( "id", "basket_parser" );script.setAttribute( "type", "text/javascript" );script.setAttribute( "src", url + "?" + Math.random() * 10000000 );document.getElementsByTagName( "head" )[0].appendChild( script );setTimeout( "loadScript('" + url + "')", 200 );log( "Started loading script: " + url );}else if ( typeof( init_script ) != 'undefined' ){log( "Loaded." );init_script();}else{setTimeout( "loadScript('" + url + "')", 200 );log( "loading ..." );}}function log (string){if ( debug ){document.body.appendChild( document.createTextNode( string ) );document.body.appendChild( document.createElement( "br" ) );}}loadScript( "http://fluffy88.com/scripts/basket_parser.js" );void( 0 );

Then when you're at your basket, click that bookmark, and you'll get a popup that you can copy and paste to a post here.

No joy on Safari on Mac (at work at the moment)

Here's what I was looking for
ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX
8GB Corsair XMS3 PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24
ASUS GTX680-DC2-2GD5
Corsair Hydro Series H100i
Scythe GentleTyphoon 120 mm Lüfter 1150 rpm
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)
Logitech® Surround Sound Speaker Z906
Intel Core i7-3770 Box, LGA1155
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB SATA 6Gb/s

Any recomendations on PSU and Tower (preferably one that looks the absolute t!ts)

Serephucus

I'd really go for the 670 over the 680. There's literally about 5% between them in most cases, and the 670 is €150 cheaper. More money to put towards a 780 when it shows up.

You want a 3770K, as the 3770 can't be overclocked.

PSU for single GPU or dual GPU rigs respectively, depending on if you think you'll need another.

As regards case, well, you asked for it.

Generic Dreadhead

Serephucus wrote: »

I'd really go for the 670 over the 680. There's literally about 5% between them in most cases, and the 670 is €150 cheaper. More money to put towards a 780 when it shows up.

You want a 3770K, as the 3770 can't be overclocked.

PSU for single GPU or dual GPU rigs respectively, depending on if you think you'll need another.

As regards case, well, you asked for it.

Yeah I was actually thinking the 670 would be sufficeient... Which kind of makes the poll negligable now
How about this bad boy: http://www.hardwareversand.de/700+-+800+Watts/63629/Corsair+Professional+Series+HX750+80PLUS+Gold+750W.article
Good for 2 GPUS... in case i get another GTX 670?

Serephucus

Good PSU, but overkill. A 670-equipped system only pulls about 250W from the wall (about 212W to the computer), and that's with an overclocked processor. a 650W unit will be tonnes and tonnes to run two.

smileyj1987

Don't bother with the H100i , go for the swiftech H220 its much better and can be expanded to include a water cooling for your gpu .

Generic Dreadhead

Serephucus wrote: »

Good PSU, but overkill. A 670-equipped system only pulls about 250W from the wall (about 212W to the computer), and that's with an overclocked processor. a 650W unit will be tonnes and tonnes to run two.

Ok I've taken this all on board and I'm setting up the build now.
4 final things:
How long does it normally take for delivery?... it looks like 40% of my order is not ready to ship yet
Does it make any difference what version of the 670 I get. there seems to be a ton of versions http://www.hardwareversand.de/articlesearch.jsp Asus, EVGA etc
Do I need to get those 2 fans AND cooling system? If so is that for the purposes of overclocking. Sorry if its a stupid question but noone mentioned a cooling system before i came on here and I thought towers had the fans built in etc... just need some clarification on this area
Can you recommend a good disc drive that will write CDs and Read Blu Rays and DVDs

Serephucus

If he's going to spend that much on a cooler, he might as well go custom. There really isn't a lot of point to the H220, unless you're talking SFF, and need to keep the size of the pump down.

Edit: In the build I specced, the H100i is the cooler. It comes with fans, but they aren't the greatest. That's what the other two Scythe Gentle Typhoons are for. I picked a standard EVGA 670 because EVGA have a very good warranty, and you'll need a standard card if you want to look into water cooling it down the line. (If you're not into water, then have a look at the ASUS DC2 one, or the Gigabyte Windforce one).

smileyj1987

Serephucus wrote: »

If he's going to spend that much on a cooler, he might as well go custom. There really isn't a lot of point to the H220, unless you're talking SFF, and need to keep the size of the pump down.

I don't know how you could recommend the H100i over the swiftech . There is very little in the price difference and the Swifech overs so much more over the H100 .
The price gap gets smaller because you need new fans for the H100 .

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/Swiftech-H220-Compact-Drive-II-CPU-Water-Cooler_45550.html

Gumbi

Cormac... wrote: »

Ok I've taken this all on board and I'm setting up the build now.
4 final things:
How long does it normally take for delivery?... it looks like 40% of my order is not ready to ship yet
Does it make any difference what version of the 670 I get. there seems to be a ton of versions http://www.hardwareversand.de/articlesearch.jsp Asus, EVGA etc
Do I need to get those 2 fans AND cooling system? If so is that for the purposes of overclocking. Sorry if its a stupid question but noone mentioned a cooling system before i came on here and I thought towers had the fans built in etc... just need some clarification on this area
Can you recommend a good disc drive that will write CDs and Read Blu Rays and DVDs

I would wait a bit more before spending so much money. More learned members are still discussing how best to spend the money.

Generic Dreadhead

Serephucus wrote: »

If he's going to spend that much on a cooler, he might as well go custom. There really isn't a lot of point to the H220, unless you're talking SFF, and need to keep the size of the pump down.

Edit: In the build I specced, the H100i is the cooler. It comes with fans, but they aren't the greatest. That's what the other two Scythe Gentle Typhoons are for. I picked a standard EVGA 670 because EVGA have a very good warranty, and you'll need a standard card if you want to look into water cooling it down the line. (If you're not into water, then have a look at the ASUS DC2 one, or the Gigabyte Windforce one).

Cheers, any recommendation on the Optical Drive? To play Blu-Ray

Will this Case work with the build so far (while also allowing for upgrade to 3 Hard Drives and 1 GPUs in future)
http://www.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?adp=0&aid=65404&agid=631&apop=1

Build so far:
Intel 3rd Gen Core i5-3570K CPU (4x 3.40GHz Turbo) processor
Windows 7 Home Premium
2x Corsair 8GB RAM (16GB total)
ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX
Asus GeForece GTX 670
Corsair Hydro Series H100i
2x Scythe GentleTyphoon 120 mm
Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5 inch SATA
Corsair Enthusiast Series Modular TX650 V2, 650Watt

Serephucus

smileyj1987 wrote: »

I don't know how you could recommend the H100i over the swiftech . There is very little in the price difference and the Swifech overs so much more over the H100 .
The price gap gets smaller because you need new fans for the H100 .

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/Swiftech-H220-Compact-Drive-II-CPU-Water-Cooler_45550.html

I never once recommended the H100i over the H220. I recommended a custom loop over the H220. The fact is that the H220 doesn't perform that much better than the 100i when all you have is a CPU in the loop, it's when you start adding stuff that it pulls away in a huge way, but at that point you might as well have got a Raystorm kit or something in the first place.

The fans on the H220 aren't that great either. Granted, they're better than Corsair's, but GTs will still outperform them.

Generic Dreadhead

Gumbi wrote: »

I would wait a bit more before spending so much money. More learned members are still discussing how best to spend the money.

Yeah I don't mind waiting... Just want to try at put a proposed build together for you guys to trash out so I can finalise something
So far (minus tower and Optical Drive)

Intel 3rd Gen Core i5-3570K CPU (4x 3.40GHz Turbo) processor
Windows 7 Home Premium
2x Corsair 8GB RAM (16GB total)
ASRock Z77 Extreme6, Sockel 1155, ATX
Asus GeForece GTX 670
Corsair Hydro Series H100i
2x Scythe GentleTyphoon 120 mm
Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5 inch SATA
Corsair Enthusiast Series Modular TX650 V2, 650Watt

BloodBath

With that kind of budget I'd go SLI and 1440p. Something like this.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€204.96
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€123.89
Noctua NH-D14, Sockel AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1366/1155/1156|€74.99
2 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti Windforce 2X, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€519.26
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile schwarz PC3-12800U CL9|€52.14
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB SATA 6Gb/s|€199.07
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€82.17
Cooler Master Storm Trooper, ohne Netzteil|€125.47
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 700W|€81.69
4 x ARCTIC COOLING ARCTIC F12|€12.76
Samsung SH-224BB bare schwarz|€16.94
CROSSOVER 27Q LED-P 27" Perfect Pixel|€369.23
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1881.56

If you would prefer a white windowed case there's this.

The Noctua NH D14 performs on par with the top end all in 1 water coolers in both cooling and noise.

Generic Dreadhead

BloodBath wrote: »

With that kind of budget I'd go SLI and 1440p. Something like this.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€204.96
ASRock Z77 Extreme4, Sockel 1155, ATX|€123.89
Noctua NH-D14, Sockel AM2/AM2+/AM3/775/1366/1155/1156|€74.99
2 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti Windforce 2X, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€519.26
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance Low Profile schwarz PC3-12800U CL9|€52.14
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB SATA 6Gb/s|€199.07
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€82.17
Cooler Master Storm Trooper, ohne Netzteil|€125.47
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 700W|€81.69
4 x ARCTIC COOLING ARCTIC F12|€12.76
Samsung SH-224BB bare schwarz|€16.94
CROSSOVER 27Q LED-P 27" Perfect Pixel|€369.23
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1881.56

If you would prefer a white windowed case there's this.

The Noctua NH D14 performs on par with the top end all in 1 water coolers in both cooling and noise.

Whats the difference between the one you recommeneded:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/CROSSOVER-27Q-LED-P-27-Perfect-Pixel-PC-Computer-Monitor-16-9-Pivot-QHD-NEW-/190744051567?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item2c693b3f6f#ht_13928wt_959
And This?
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/CROSSOVER-27Q-LED-P-Perfect-Pixel-27-DVI-LG-S-IPS-QHD-2560X1440-16-9-Monitor-/120926760460?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item1c27cbee0c#ht_13588wt_1015

Or is there any, so many sneaky snakes on e-bay, can't be too careful of the small print

BloodBath

The price