Building a new PC soon

jakebaker13

jakebaker13

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Joined
October 19, 2010
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The cornfields of Indiana, USA
I stopped by the computer repair shop in town today and found out they build custom PCs. I spoke with a very knowledgeable guy who had built one for himself for gaming just recently. He gave me their web address (www.tincg.com) and after playing around on it for awhile this is what I came up with. This is my first gaming PC (Have used consoles since the NES.) so I am pretty much relying on a company like this to build it for me since I have no idea how to put one together yet. If I did know how I would just order all the components from Amazon.com because they have the cheapest prices I have come across so far.
Oh and if there is anything I should change let me know. (wasn't quite sure about the PSU.)
Anyways here are the specs:

Processor: Quad-Core Intel® Core™ i7-950 3.06GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D Premium - ATX - Intel® X58 Chipset
Memory: 3 x Crucial 4GB PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3
Chassis: Antec NSK4482 - ATX Mid Tower - 380 Watt Power Supply
Power Supply: Corsair HX850 - Modular - 850W Power Supply
Hard Drive: 1TB SATA 7200RPM (Too much memory???)
5.25" Bay: Samsung 22x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer LightScribe (The other were all blu-ray drives. don't have much use for that.)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5 (2xDVI, 1xmini HDMI)
Monitor: 24" LCD - 1920x1080 - ASUS VE246H
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

So how's it look? Overkill? I have always wanted to play Crysis and Witcher. I really want them to look stellar on whatever setup I get, if at all possible.

EDIT: Is a gaming mouse/ keyboard preferable or are these devices merely gimmicks to fool ignorant people like myself?
 
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I would say that 12GB of RAM is utter overkill. You could easily bring that down to 8GB and suffer no ill effects.

I'm not sure how well the 470 performs, though. I can't remember if it's above or below the GTX460 (nVidia screwed up a bit IMHO).

As for gaming keyboard/mouse. As long as your keyboard and mouse are wired, it doesn't really matter. I'd suggest getting a backlit keyboard at the very least, but "gaming" anything isn't really necessary. Gaming mice aren't too bad, but you can often get non-gaming varieties that are just the same.

As an aside, what are you doing about sound?
 
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I've added comments on a couple of components.

jakebaker13 said:
Processor: Quad-Core Intel® Core™ i7-950 3.06GHz
1)
Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D Premium - ATX - Intel® X58 Chipset
2)
Memory: 3 x Crucial 4GB PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3
3)
Chassis: Antec NSK4482 - ATX Mid Tower - 380 Watt Power Supply
Power Supply: Corsair HX850 - Modular - 850W Power Supply
4)
Hard Drive: 1TB SATA 7200RPM (Too much memory???)
5)
5.25" Bay: Samsung 22x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer LightScribe (The other were all blu-ray drives. don't have much use for that.)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 1280MB GDDR5 (2xDVI, 1xmini HDMI)
6)
Monitor: 24" LCD - 1920x1080 - ASUS VE246H
7)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

So how's it look? Overkill? I have always wanted to play Crysis and Witcher. I really want them to look stellar on whatever setup I get, if at all possible.
Click to expand...

1)Very fast, very expensive. I would be hesitant to spend so much money on a CPU. But it certainly is fast.
2)Overkill. Asus is a good brand, but you don't need the most expensive edition of this mainboard. I bet you can save close to 100$ here with zero impact on speed.
3)Nice to have, but not necessary. 6 GB are enough. Plus memory is trivial to upgrade. Every idiot can plug a RAM module into a slot if it fits only in one direction. I'm not aware of game which uses more than 2 GB.
4)You only need one power supply, not two. ;) 850W is way too much. 450W is enough if it's a 80+ efficiency certified power supply.
5)More input needed. Which drive exactly?
6)Be careful here! This is the single most important decision. Research the graphics card carefully.
7)Asus is the no. 1 for mainboards, but only mediocre for TFTs. I would suggest you spend 50$ more and buy a TFT of your choice from one of the two premium brands Samsung and LG.

EDIT: Is a gaming mouse/ keyboard preferable or are these devices merely gimmicks to fool ignorant people like myself?
Click to expand...
Only the guys who don't have the right mouse and keyboard to reflect their personality are fools. ;)
You don't need additional keys and other fuzzy stuff. I suggest you don't order mouse & keyboard in this shop. Try out their whole collection of mice & keyboard & combos with both. If nothing strikes you as absolutely fantastic, drive to Best Buy and repeat the process. You are going to use them every day, so buy only stuff you like to use. It has to "feel" right. The differences are there, exactly for keyboards.
 
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@Gorath, about point #4; That'll be the case that comes with the smaller PSU, which I assume would be removed for the bigger one.
 
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Yes, it will be removed. But then it should also not be paid for. ;)
 
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I think if the OP's spending this amount of money on a new rig, that a nice case is in order :p

I like the Antec 300, personally.
 
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Wow you guys saved me $500 with a different setup! here are the changes I made:

Motherboard: Intel® DX58SO - ATX - Intel® X58 Chipse
Memory: 3 x Crucial 2GB PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3
Power Supply: Corsair HX650 - Modular - 650W
Hard Drive: 500GB SATA 7200RPM - 3.5" - Seagate Barracuda® 7200.12

I think I will opt for the smaller hard drive because I can't see myself using 1TB. I already have some speakers and a subwoofer connected to my laptop so I can use those until I can get 2.1.

Still trying to find some reviews on the video card though.
 
Joined
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The cornfields of Indiana, USA
500$ less for so little changes? Strange.

The price differences between 500 to 1500 GB hard disks should be so small that it doesn't make much sense to buy the smaller disk. It doesn't matter much though. You're going to need another external hard drive anyway. Mirror your important data on it. Nobody burns DVDs anymore. ;)

Sound: Gamers want 5.1. Reward yourself with a 5.1 set if you have enough space. Relatively cheap sets by Logitech or Creative are okay for gaming and movies. If you also want to listen to serious music you've got a problem though. ;)
 
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I'd go for a sata-600 600GB WD VelociRaptor myself. You WILL feel the difference.

Asrock Extreme3 motherboard to support it, for instance. Pretty cheap and with good reviews.

People underestimate the impact of a fast harddisk.
 
Arguably, one of the best set ups is an SSD for the OS and a conventional HDD for data/games.

Should work a dream, apparently.
 
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Yeah, the biggest slowdown in modern computers is the hard-drive ( This might not be true for gaming depending on what kind of game you play )

But anyway with all other things so fast, get a fast hard-drive! SSD card for OS could greatly speed up things like start-up times too.
 
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Well, SSD harddrives are fast - but they're also RIDICULOUSLY expensive for the benefit.

That's why I suggest the Velociraptor sata-600, because it's BIG and it's FAST.
 
BillSeurer said:
I'd go for a RAID 10 array of four smaller disks instead of one big one.

And you can never have enough memory on a windows system. Never.
Click to expand...

This report on Tom'Hardware compares 6 gb vs 12 gb and found no significant improvement.

The conclusion: "We can only recommend larger capacities of 8 GB to 12 GB for professional applications where its usefulness has already been documented and for servers. None of our tests required high-memory capacities and wasted RAM is a burden both financially and ecologically"
 
jakebaker13 said:
Dwagginz/ GothicGothicness: Does SSD stand for solid state drive?
Click to expand...
Yes. You can get a fairly small one for a fairly small outlay (It's about £90 for a 40GB drive, but the performance gains are huge). If you use it for just the OS, then as mentioned above, you get faster boot times, the OS should feel snappier and more responsive and you'd also get a frame rate increase in games.
 
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jakebaker13 said:
DArtagnan: What exactly is the advantage of having the faster drive? There are things I can imagine but I don't want to assume too much.
Click to expand...

Well, it really depends on what you intend to do with your computer. Basically, a faster drive means that everything is loaded faster, and data is also accessed faster.

Some games won't benefit much, because they load most data and store it in memory upon starting, and as such - you won't see much except on the initial load - and when it loads new levels or areas. Other games use "streaming" technology, which is technically much the same thing - except that data is loaded at a more constant rate. Something like the Gothic games use streaming to continuously load data as you walk around the world - which is why you will experience "stuttering" with a slow harddrive. Older games are designed with older hardware in mind, so you won't see much there either.

Beyond that, there are the OS files that need to be accessed and loaded during most any kind of use. Windows will boot faster, and you will experience less interruptions, waiting for apps to load - or data to be accessed.

If you don't have enough memory to store the application/game in active use (as well as the OS itself, obviously) - your harddrive will start acting as "virtual memory" which is naturally MUCH slower. However, once you go above ~6GB of memory - that will be negligible, if noticable at all. Something like Photoshop is notorious for eating up memory when working on detailed images - so that's when more memory is helpful. In practical terms, there's really no reason to go above 6GB, though I'd personally go with 8GB - simply because it's so damn cheap, and you never really know when apps will start demanding more. Also, that means you can comfortably disable the pagefile (virtual memory) and ensure your harddrive is used in the best possible way, in terms of performance.

So, it really depends on the kind of games you play - and how impatient you are.

Fallout 3, is another good example - because it also uses a kind of streaming, where areas (data) are stored in "cells" which will load in the background as you approach them. A fast harddrive will minimize the stuttering and make for a much more pleasant experience. However, the game has been designed with the Xbox 360 in mind, which means the low amount of memory forced developers to minimize textures sizes and suchlike - so if you don't use mods that enhance textures/models, it won't be a big deal. However, there are BEAUTIFUL texture packs available - and they really tax the memory/harddrive - so you'd benefit a lot there from a fast drive as well.

It's the kind of thing you really have to experience to appreciate. With a lot of fast memory, and a fast harddrive (and the CPU/motherboard to support it) - you will get an overall much more pleasant experience. But, it's been my experience that it depends A LOT on the person behind the screen. Some people aren't bothered by stuttering and don't really mind waiting for things to load.

It's a common misconception that you get more frames per second, though. You won't actually get a faster performance out of the game, EXCEPT when it needs to load. So, the reason you get a slower frame rate with a slower drive - is that the game "pauses" when loading data - resulting in a lower average FPS score. So, it's not strictly the same thing. Also, many games - as I said - will store most data in memory, so you won't gain anything like this at all in such games. A good rule of thumb is that the VAST majority of console ports will perform just fine with a slower drive, because they've been designed with 512-1024 MB of memory in mind - and they don't require a harddrive to stream the data, as they use the medium of the console (like the DVD drive of the Xbox 360). But that's without mods, and of course - there are crappy ports that will perform badly no matter what.

Personally, I'm pretty damn impatient and pedantic - so I notice things most people wouldn't - and that's why I crave a fast harddrive.

But, since the 600GB Velociraptor is SO fast and (compared to SSD drives) is so cheap pr. gigabyte - I think it's worth it for most people who've already decided to get themselves a powerful computer. Just make sure your motherboard supports SATA-600. You can get a good quality Asrock board like the Extreme3 - which has received excellent reviews for its price.

The primary issue with SSD drives, is that once they get above a certain size - like 128GB - they get prohibitively expensive. That's not a problem if you limit yourself to a few games, and if you aren't the kind of person who likes to install several games at once. But, keep in mind that games like Age of Conan take up ~30GB of space, and there are more games coming out with similar requirements. You can imagine that along with the OS/Applications - it doesn't take too many games to fill that out.

I'd argue that the Velociraptor will give you the same experience as the fastest SSD drives - unless you're REALLY pedantic, though I haven't done any actual comparisons. It's just based on what I've experienced with SSD drives, versus the tests I've seen of the Velociraptor.
 
Last edited:
jakebaker13 said:
I just did the math and a setup with a 40GB SDD/ 1TB 7200 HDD will be $135 cheaper than having the600 GB Velociraptor alone. Unless having the Velociraptor would make a huge difference, primarily in frame rate, I think I will have to go with the SDD/ 7200HDD setup.
Click to expand...

Well, to each his own - but personally I think 40GB is WAY too little, since you will use it as the OS/Game drive.

Anyway, I've done what I can to enlighten you on the differences - and I wish you well with whatever you decide ;)
 
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