New PC Build

[darko]

I've built computers off and on for ~ 8 years now and I think it's about time I build a new one for myself. I've been totally out of the PC world for ~ 2 years beyond maintenance and random parts here and there for other people.

Here's what I'm looking at (suggestions welcome):

Mobo:  ASRock 970 EXTREME4 AM3+ (crossfire/sli, 6Gb/s SATA, etc)
Processor:  AMD FX-6200 (3.8ghz-OC to 4.1, 6-core)
*Graphics Card:  ?
RAM:  8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X Series (DDR3 1333 - not the fastest but I don't see it hindering anything)
PSU:  Coolmax ZU Series 700W Modular (Will have to be replaced if I go Crossfire some day)

The other stuff is just going to get jacked from my current PC. I have a couple of nice disk drives, an extra 1TB internal drive for storage, a 1TB external on my network, etc.

I also have a nice case that I'm going to reuse which is the Thermaltake Bach VX:



What do you PC guys think?

[madmax]

I'm more of an Nvidia guy myself. With the 680 coming out, the 400 and 500 series cards are relatively cheap for what you get

Also if you overclock you want a case with more airflow, maybe a heatsink too.

[matt]

All I know that is I'm jealous. No PC build for me until HalfLife 3 is announced and we could be years away from that ha.

[darko]

I'm more of an Nvidia guy myself. With the 680 coming out, the 400 and 500 series cards are relatively cheap for what you get

Also if you overclock you want a case with more airflow, maybe a heatsink too.

I've always been partial to nvidia myself to be honest. I was just going to try something new. I've been running two 7950GTs for years. They're great cards but they can't keep up with anything anymore.

As far as heat goes, I've never had a problem with my case. I have an aftermarket heatsink that I've been using in it and a few extra fans. I'm probably not going to OC anything on this new one as I doubt I'll need too for a while. I've overclocked the ram and processor in my current machine and they've been running way below anything detrimental for over 3 years.

This card is ~ $170. Any nvidia counterparts are more than welcome to suggestion!

[jobocan]

All I know that is I'm jealous. No PC build for me until HalfLife 3 is announced and we could be years away from that ha.

Yeah, by the time THAT comes out we won't have computers anymore, we'll play our games on self-powered humanoid robots that display holograms anywhere we want.


As for the build... you already mentioned all I really had to point out, I.E. having to get a better PSU if you wanna go Crossfire. I don't think faster RAM is a necessity really, and 16GB is pretty much overkill for now. At worst you can upgrade later on.

[darko]

All I know that is I'm jealous. No PC build for me until HalfLife 3 is announced and we could be years away from that ha.

Yeah, by the time THAT comes out we won't have computers anymore, we'll play our games on self-powered humanoid robots that display holograms anywhere we want.


As for the build... you already mentioned all I really had to point out, I.E. having to get a better PSU if you wanna go Crossfire. I don't think faster RAM is a necessity really, and 16GB is pretty much overkill for now. At worst you can upgrade later on.

Yeah, I know the ram is overkill but hell, it's only $100 for 16GB vs somewhere in the mid $60s for half that.

I'm kind of second guessing the SSD for Windows just because I've never set up a PC with such a small primairy drive. Has anyone done it? I'd like to set it up to have games and such actually install on the secondary drive. In theory I know how it's done, just curious if anyone has actually had a successful build using a SSD just for the operating system.

[matt]

I have a coworker who has Win 7 installed on an SSD in his new rig. He doesn't notice any diffreance in speed. I think it's just a matter of everything already being so fast that whatever you gain from it will be minimal.

[jobocan]

I have a coworker who has Win 7 installed on an SSD in his new rig. He doesn't notice any diffreance in speed. I think it's just a matter of everything already being so fast that whatever you gain from it will be minimal.

Yeah, I was looking at comparisons between standard HDDs and SSDs, and the differences seem very minimal... I mean... 0.1 ms of access time in SSDs compared to the 5-10 ms on HDDs might sound big on paper, but try actually counting a millisecond... it barely matters. There a few other things in regards to performance which really don't matter whatsoever IMO.

The only "real" advantages I've found is that data loss is pretty rare and SSDs are more, well, solid, due to a lack of moving parts... if you're expecting some sort of cataclysm and you want your data to be as safe as possible, an SSD seems to be the better way to go... but otherwise I'd say you'd be fine with a standard HDD.


.... Speaking of Windows 7... anyone seen Windows 8? I was blown away by how stupid it is, at least from what I've seen in videos... It's basically the Xbox dashboard, which I HATE.

[jcalder8]

.... Speaking of Windows 7... anyone seen Windows 8? I was blown away by how stupid it is, at least from what I've seen in videos... It's basically the Xbox dashboard, which I HATE.

What? You mean MS is upgrading Windows and it's getting worse? I don't believe it!

[madmax]

A super solid card, Has higher scores than the ati, more ram.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130652


This one is significantly cheaper, 1GB ram but is overclocked

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130629


And for slightly more than $170, you get this guy which is a higher level card, better clocks, better ram .etc

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130660




I would suggest an intel CPU as they are currently dominating the market (the product is a lot better) but the prices reflect that too, It's really expensive to get a hyperthreaded i5

[darko]

I've always been an AMD guy but I know where you're coming from with Intel. They make great chips but I'm going to stick to AMD for now.

I like that GTX 560. I'm actually looking at the Radeon HD 6870 now because of your suggestion It looks to be as good or slightly better unless I'm missing something.

[madmax]

Those 2 cards seem to be on par with each other. So whichever you want is good

[darko]

Ha...well I changed a few things. I dropped the ram down to 8GB since it really is overkill. I also dropped the SSD since it doesn't really seem like I'll be gaining speed from it.

So now the big question is graphics card. I HATE buying graphics cards because there are way too many options/opinions etc. I'm willing to bump my price point a bit. I'm really looking for something in the $150-250 range.

I'm not really worried about playing games like BF3 on Ultra or anything like that. Just want a nice card that will last a few years that can handle 1080p at 60fps.

I think the graphics card issue is why I gave up on PC gaming long ago

Any new suggestions based on that?

[madmax]

It's weird to say but you're still better off with the 6870... The next step in graphics is around $300+