Is this a good gaming rig?

[KING ETHAN]

Hi ragezoners, I'm buying a new pc "Very" soon and I'd like some opinions and guidance on the setup I chose. The total came out to be $1,444 shipped. Price isn't my problem, I'm in the range up to $1,800.

I plan to use this pc for: mostly gaming, then i'd like to try some video editing/capturing, music, movies, multiclienting games << important

My question is, is this a good setup? regardless of the price. Is there any option I can go with that will be better thats also in the same price range (something thats worth changing/makes sense to do so)


Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-3770K Processor (4x 3.50GHz/8MB L3 Cache) - Intel Core i7-3770K

Processor Cooling
Corsair Hydro Series H60 Liquid CPU Cooling System - ARC Dual Silent High Performance Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow)

Memory
8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair Vengeance (I'll eventually upgrade up to 32gb or whatever is the max)

Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 - 2GB - Single Card

Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77-V LX

Power Supply
600 Watt - Standard

Primary Hard Drive
1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive

Optical Drive
[12X Blu-Ray] LG BLU-RAY Reader, DVD±R/±RW Burner Combo Drive - Black

Sound Card
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Network Card
Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) 64-bit

[MentaL]

[MAXTRAXv3]

processor cooling maybe unnecessary, and the blueray drive is just an extra, but other then thats its ok.

[Rishwin]

What exactly happened to this thread? There was almost a full page of relevant posts...

[Justice For All]

What exactly happened to this thread? There was almost a full page of relevant posts...

I believe Dan had to rollback the servers, http://forum.ragezone.com/f10/doh-dun-goofd-917280/ I'm not 110% sure but I do believe that is what caused it unless a super hard deleted all the posts :P

[Rishwin]

Ah touche I missed that thread.

[KING ETHAN]

ok, so I changed the processor to an i7-39xxk model (forgot exact name) and i got 16gb ddr3 memory (which is better? kingston hyperX or vengeance corsair) i also chose a thermaltake 1200w psu instead. and a gtx 670 video card... came out 1,946

[Rishwin]

CPU - overkill
PSU - overkill
RAM - look at voltages, HyperX is usually 1.65V Corsair should be 1.5V. You want lower. Some G.Skill runs at 1.25V.

And by overkill i mean you're paying for performance you will never get to even see let alone use.

[WarKeyGFX]

change the CPU to Core i5 3570k and Upgrade your GPU to GTX 670 and that will be fine. and go to G.SKill ram

[KING ETHAN]

by changing to i5-3570k, it will still be really good top performer within next few years to come?

[Rishwin]

by changing to i5-3570k, it will still be really good top performer within next few years to come?

Yes. It's still a quad-core, the i7's are more for heavy-load workstations rather than desktop PC's, the i5's overclock extremely well & will last you just as long but for almost 1/2 the price.

And for the PSU - Gone are the days you needed a 1000W+ PSU to "futureproof" yourself. Because the new tech in fact uses LESS power than the old ones do, it is 100% useless to get 1200W when you will only -EVER- use less than 750W. 5 years from now you'll probably only need 600W.

[KING ETHAN]

thanks much! saved me $120 :) i'll get a 750w corsair cx750.. is this fine? i really don't want to risk lacking power

once i'm done finalizing all the parts, i'll take pictures and post them up when my pc comes home! so far, its looking like this..

Case
Corsair Graphite 600T Gaming Case Special Edition White

Processor
Intel® Core™ i5-3570K Processor (4x 3.40GHz/6MB L3 Cache) - Intel Core i5-3570K

Processor Cooling
Corsair Hydro Series H60 Liquid CPU Cooling System - ARC Dual Silent High Performance Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow)

Memory
8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - G.Skill Ripjaws X

Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 - 2GB - EVGA FTW - Core: 1084MHz - Single Card

Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77-V LX

Power Supply
750 Watt - Corsair CX750

Primary Hard Drive
120 GB Corsair Neutron GTX SSD - Single Drive

Data Hard Drive
1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive

Optical Drive
24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black

Sound Card
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Network Card
Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) 64-bit

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty Service

Wireless Network Adapter
1 x ASUS USB-N53 802.11 a/b/g/n 300Mbps Dual-Band Wireless-N300 USB Adapter

Advanced Build Options
1 x iBUYPOWER Specialized Advanced Packaging System Protect your investment during transportation!

Advanced Build Options
1 x Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks

Advanced Build Options
1 x Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower Achieve exceptional airflow in your chassis

Advanced Build Options
1 x Basic Pro Wiring

Advanced Build Options
1 x Advanced - Power Package (Individually Sleeved 24-pin ATX, 8-pin CPU, and SATA Drive Power Cabling)

Advanced Build Options
1 x Advanced - Video Package (Individually Sleeved 8-pin and 6-pin PCI-E VGA Power Cabling)

total: $1,649

Is an SSD necessary for gaming? I've seen many recent builds with SSD's, from what i've read, it boots up your OS and pc programs super fast, is this what an SSD is used for?

[WarKeyGFX]

Yes SSD is necessary if you want to play and load the game faster. BTW how much is your total Budget maybe i can help you with another build so that you can compare

[Rishwin]

That's a pretty good looking build; WarKeyGFX keep in mind that cost is including the warranty, OS, building, and possibly shipping. It's a pre-built I'm assuming from iBUYPOWER. For the price it's not too bad.

And yes, an SSD is one of the best upgrades you can make. It makes everything load faster, respond faster and boot faster. You've got a good setup there.

[MentaL]

Any modern day rig without an SSD is just silly. If you have never used an SSD drive then you are missing out.

[Baha]

Any modern day rig without an SSD is just silly. If you have never used an SSD drive then you are missing out.

Won't be having one of those for a while

[Ron]

Downgrade the CPU, go for an i5 to put more money towards a better GPU, most likely a 670.

Edit-
My bad, this was already suggested and you followed it. Great minds think alike, this build should last you for quite some time.

[KING ETHAN]

thanks everyone, what am i supposed to put on the SSD? OS and programs that takes longer to boot?

my budget is $2k. If you want to build another to compare, you should build it on ibuypower.com and let me know specs, with the same case, OS, warranty, and the advanced wirings at the end, it should be around $1,600 as well.. just to compare

[MentaL]

thanks everyone, what am i supposed to put on the SSD? OS and programs that takes longer to boot?

If you're getting a small ssd (64) just the OS and super important small filesize stuff. If its a good size (256) throw basically everything on there. For 128 , just use os and a few important stuff, like your fav games here or there.

[KING ETHAN]

thanks for the quick reply MentaL, its a 120gb. I guess I'll put OS and my main games there.. now i have a clear idea of what an SSD is used for :)

[Monolith]

Just so you know before you buy being you don't seem to know this...not trying to discourage just educate.

SSD's are awesome upgrades for their speed but they do have flaws compared to their brethern. If your typical SATA hardrive crashes or breaks, the information on the drive can be recovered. IE: Family photos, financial documents, ect ect.

On a SSD drive, if it breaks, there is no recoving at all...any information on the drive is lost forever.

Keep this in mind when using your rig to store important things.

[Rishwin]

Just so you know before you buy being you don't seem to know this...not trying to discourage just educate.

SSD's are awesome upgrades for their speed but they do have flaws compared to their brethern. If your typical SATA hardrive crashes or breaks, the information on the drive can be recovered. IE: Family photos, financial documents, ect ect.

On a SSD drive, if it breaks, there is no recoving at all...any information on the drive is lost forever.

Keep this in mind when using your rig to store important things.

The average home user performs absolutely zero data recovery, when a drive is gone it's gone. The only true solution is to have regular backups which is no different to having an SSD. You should always be making backups of important data anyway.

Most HDD failures are also not recoverable just by running a recovery program, depending on the failure it is usually completely unrecoverable to the inexperienced.

Now SSD's may not have been out for very long but so far they're already proven to be more reliable than my mechanical drives. Plus they are faster, consume less power and have no moving parts. I see no downside.

[KING ETHAN]

thanks for the tip, but there won't be important files on my computer seeing as I only use it for gaming/leisure, no work/school

[Monolith]

As I stated..I wasn't trying to discourage...the speed increase is awesome...I was just playing devil's advocate and making sure he was totally educated :)

[KING ETHAN]

no worries Monolith, I'm not discouraged! I'm surprised I didn't know how important an SSD was. Pics will be up once I receive my PC, if you all want, I'll also let you know the quality of the stuff that came from ibuypower