New gaming pc

[E.K]

I am in need of a new rig after mine just decided to give up on me
I was given some suggestions from the guys at my local tech store but I just wanna check some things before I order them. (rep for those who answer)

MOBO
GPU
RAM
CPU
COOLER
DVD





Thats what I have so far, it's probably not quite right, but thats why I posted here! All advice is appreciated

[Pantsalot]

What's your budget & your overclocking experience?
What things do you have that don't need purchasing such as mouse, speakers, hard disk drive, OS, case perhaps?

Just setting the scene for crazyeyesreaper to swoop in & give you the best build possible

[Devilmaypoop]

Don't get that RAM, as it only has 1 stick so it will be much slower. Get 2x2gb sticks that are at least 1600mhz. How's your budget?

[Pantsalot]

Crazyeyesreaper says it's better to get more memory than speed with RAM, not in those words so I might
be interpreting him wrong, but 8GB of 1333MHz with reasonable CAS ratings seems to be what is desired

[Devilmaypoop]

Crazyeyesreaper says it's better to get more memory than speed with RAM, not in those words so I might
be interpreting him wrong, but 8GB of 1333MHz with reasonable CAS ratings seems to be what is desired

Nah, not a single gb more than 4gb is needed for games. And since he's getting an SB cpu, no need to go for low latency ram, just get the high frequency ones. Intel CPUs favor higher speeds over latency, opposite for AMD atm.

[Pantsalot]

Any up-to-date DDR3 stick will be enough to play games, performance is another matter, unfortunately
I don't have much of an opinion yet as I've not been able to compare my RAM sticks to others (which
indeed they are just 4GB in total).

& once again I'll say I was once told off for trying to pick a 2133MHz RAM stick pair with CAS 9, guy
said I should get 1600MHz with CAS 7 instead. I've chosen RAM which is the latter but can be put to
the sooner so I can later test which is better.

[Devilmaypoop]

& once again I'll say I was once told off for trying to pick a 2133MHz RAM stick pair with CAS 9, guy
said I should get 1600MHz with CAS 7 instead. I've chosen RAM which is the latter but can be put to
the sooner so I can later test which is better.

This entirely depends on which CPU you have. I wouldn't get CL9 RAM though, no matter what frequency it was or what your CPU is.

[Pantsalot]

I have a 2600k CPU & he intends to get a 2500k so it probably is referable.

I assume CL9 means CAS Line 9 as in the 5 CAS ratings?
If so then you contradict what you've said before indeed.

[Devilmaypoop]

I have a 2600k CPU & he intends to get a 2500k so it probably is referable.

I assume CL9 means CAS Line 9 as in the 5 CAS ratings?
If so then you contradict what you've said before indeed.

CL9 means same as CAS9, and it's pretty slow.

In my first post I told him to get 1600mhz, and most 1600mhz sticks are either CL7 or CL8, so not really.

[Pantsalot]

Right let's end this prolonged debate here it's not like we have much proof of each method's effectiveness: How about this
for RAM?

[Hunter Makoy]

is the 2500k worth it over the 2500 if you're not going to overclock?

[Devilmaypoop]

is the 2500k worth it over the 2500 if you're not going to overclock?

Where does he say that? It's always good to force them to get 2500K instead, because eventually they might change their might and need more performance out of it(Or for the fun of it. Damn it's addicting ).

[E.K]

Im sort of at my budget with that build but I can spend about $300 more, which I need to get a motherboard for. I already have windows 7 64bit and a coolermaster case(I cant remember the exact model) and a 1TB hard drive and speakers. I dont have much overclocking experience but I was told in case I want to get into it to get the 2500k.

[Pantsalot]

I've been beaten in a debate before that P67 is normally the kind of motherboard you'd want rather than the
Z68, so how about this for a motherboard?

If you have a back fan space that is 120mm & you intend to overclock then I recommend you get a CPU
cooling kit like the H60+ series (some say the Antec Kuhler series is better) such as this (I use the H70).
Otherwise it would be good if someone could pick out an alternative CPU cooler, or maybe he could just
use the stock cooler that seems to come with all intel CPUs? In which case you'll need a thermal paste
such as this to make up for it, you won't need it if you get a H60 cooler as it's pre-applied.

You haven't mentioned an optical drive at any point, are you willing to go without one? If not then this
should do.
I very much assume you already have a mouse, keyboard & monitor.

RAM $65.99
CPU $224.99
GPU $249.99 (see in cart, could be more or less)
MB $174.99
Cooler $72.99

Total: $788.95 - an increase of $273.98 from your original $514.97, so unless you need a optical drive,
keyboard or mouse then you could perhaps upgrade one of the items above such as the H60 into a H70 or the
ASUS P8P67 pro into the evo motherboard. This does not include shipment & packaging or the probable increase
to the price of your GPU.

[Devilmaypoop]

I think you should rather get an AMD 6950 instead. The 2gb edition should cost around the same amount, while being 5%-15% faster, depending on the title.

[Pantsalot]

Aww.. I was hoping no-one would even mention AMD or ATI

In the meantime can you suggest a heatsink kit for his CPU that does not require a fan bay? As said I
haven't got much knowledg in that at all.

[E.K]

Ok, thats great and still in my budget! Yeah I have a monitor, mouse and keyboard.

So my build is this then, does this work allright?
MOBO
GPU
RAM
CPU
COOLER
DVD

[Pantsalot]

Indeed though make sure you have a 120mm rear fan slot or else you will have a lot of trouble with the
CPU cooler, just look to the back of your computer for a fan slot, get a measuring tape & measure across
it & if it's 12cm in total you're capable of doing so indeed.

If not then there are people who have in fact just left the CPU cooler exhaust fan thingy inside the case,
this works but is at a rather high risk of endangering the rest of your computer.

Also as Devilmaypoop suggested, you may consider a AMD 6950..

You may or.. you may not

[Crazyeyesreaper]

okay first things first when comparing ram quantity to speed on a Sandy bridge system higher mhz gives better performance compared to latency

basically put

Intel loves MHZ
AMD loves low latency.
The below gives an idea after 1333cl9 performance does really scale in any games so why pay for higher performance DDR3 if you can get more ram at the same speed with slightly lower timings. only time high speeds AND timings make a difference is multi gpu situations and even then all that matters is the total bandwidth. Intel chips already hit the 18-20gb/s as is compared to AMD at 10-13gb/s higher speeds on Intel scale with performance far better. so in all honesty on sandybridge id take 1866 cl9 over 1600 cl7 simply do the increased ram bandwidth. but its really a per case situation.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2792/10

for the price of DDR3 id grab 2x4gb 1600mhz cl9 kits at 1.5v simple due to the fact that most users dont want to tweak ram and 1600 cl9 is something all motherboards can default to correctly

where as most users might get 1600mhz cl7 but wont know that they will need to go into the bios and set the ram speeds and timings manually.

everything looks okay but id replace

the Corsair All in one water kit with something far cheaper dont get me wrong the units arent bad but theres far better coolers for the price.

the ram is low voltage but its also no reason to get that its overpriced

P8P67 PRO = awesome motherboard also has the best UEFI bios on the market
2500k = best bang for buck CPU

gpu = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-588-_-Product

about $30 more expensive then a 560 Ti but it offers more vram which has been proven to be needed in multiple games at this point if gaming at 1080p

Metro 2033 hits 1500mb
Shogun II uses around 1300-1400 but with modified settings can hit 1800 or so
Grand Theft Auto 4 needs 2gb to fully max the games settings
theres more but im to lazy to list them

so..

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-072-_-Product

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131703

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231445

GPU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-588-_-Product
or if you prefer Nvidia you can go for this 560ti 2gb
GPU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...560%20Ti%202gb

HDD:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...k=Samsung%20F3

Optical:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827118039

PSU:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139010

OS:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-986-_-Product

CPU Cooler:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835181011

CASE: pick whatever you want just make sure it will fit the GPU you pick as some cases the HDD bays can be a pain in the ass.

as for the CPU cooler its not the greatest but the price on it right now makes it one of the better deals on Newegg right now after MIR and corsair is good about rebates compared to other companies.

eitherway those would be my suggests take em or leave them im hungover and sick as a dog from my birthday party so im just gonna go back to doing nothing.

[Pantsalot]

Why can't you come sooner & get us to shut the hell up?

He already has a Windows 7 OS, hard drive so that doesn't need to be on the list though.
I didn't actually ask if he had a PSU silly me.. he does have a case though, could me a stock PSU.