Another gaming computer build, whatcha think?

C

champ989

Posts: 16   +0
So this is my attempt to build a gaming computer that I'd actually want to upgrade over the future. Future proofing? What do you think?

$320 - CPU: i7-3770K (the K merely because it seems to overclock the best, is it worth the extra $30?)
$290 - Video Card: GTX 660 Ti 2GB (Is the Ti really worth the extra $50, I do plan on getting 1 or 2 more in the future.. Depending on where I'm slacking for future games).
$200 - Motherboard: EVGA Z77 FTW 151-IB-E699-KR (Whatcha think? Plenty of PCI E 3.0 slots.. Seems very cheap for what if offers).
$85 - Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 Cas 8 (Could get piratically the same memory for $15 less with a higher CAS Rating.. I don't want 4GIG sticks, again going on about future proofing)
$165 - Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159123&name=Power-Supplies (Only that many watts so I'd have more then enough power for as many video cards as my heart desires :p)
$100 - Case: Idk, that'd roughly be the price of it though. There's a few contenders..

I don't need a harddrive, plan on just using the one I have and then getting SSD's in maybe 2 years when they become bigger/cheaper. I also am just going to use the same optical drive.
Again, Plan on getting a few more video cards in the future. Ti worth the extra bucks knowing this?
More ram may be a possibility as well... Not anytime soon though.
Overclocking would be a must in the future, that motherboard seems to be good with it, there are a few others I was considering around the same price.. The GA-Z77X-UD5H or the MSI Z77 MPOWER are also on the list.
I plan on upgrading this thing until the CPU is where the bottleneck lies... Once that things trash, that's when I'll get the new computer (hopefully after 6+ years lol)


Any changes? A-okay? I'm open to opinion. I didn't wanna spend more then $1,000, sorta a little off from my price so far.. (around $1,160) I'm more then willing to spend the extra bucks as long as its not overkill/wasteful yadayada. Thanks!
 
I'd spend less on the mobo and PSU. 1200W is overkill for x3 GTX660Ti's even. And $200 for a mobo is a bit steep. Use the money to get an SSD - getting a new build in 2012 without one is silly.

You won't live with your PC as long as you think. Better to save money now, and buy a whole new architecture in 4-5 years time, with better more efficient parts, etc .. This current build can be passed down to a relative, or put to use as a server or something.
 
So the 660TI's seem to be the better buy, thank you two.
As for the case I think I'm just going to go with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068 Lots of fans, reminds me of alienware.. maybe I'll throw a sticker on there :p
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5250582&CatId=2535 < Better power supply? It is quite a bit cheaper. I just didn't want to come up short with power.. But 1200 does seem very high the more I think about it.
The motherboard is a toughy, I do want at least 3 PCIe slots.. The only cheaper one I liked was the MSI Z77A-GD65.. but for $30 the other motherboards seem so much better. Especially the EVGA.
I'm up in the air on SSD, I do want one.. Just bang for the buck I cant justify it. It's piratically a dollar a gig.. And I can't see it make my fps in games go down, although loading them would be faster.. You can correct me if I'm wrong though, I'm not positive. Just for giggles http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ntel-_-20167127&AID=10440897&PID=3962334&SID= would be the one I'd get. Sad thing is I'd probably need another one in a year or two anyway.. I'd rather not have to delete games (even if I rarely play them)
 
Get a 3570K instead, you're saving quite a bit and Hyperthreading is not needed for gaming.

I'd also get a cheaper mobo and PSU. Down the line you're better off getting a more powerful next-gen single GPU than running 2 or 3 cards in SLI, so in that case you won't need the extra PCI-E slots or PSU wattage. SLI scaling is going to be really bad with 3x 660Ti's because of the lack of memory bandwidth.

With the money saved, go for a GTX 670 and a 128/256GB SSD. SSDs aren't for storing data or media on, just buy one which will fit your OS, programs and all your games and keep the rest of your files on a normal HDD. It might not increase your framerates but will vastly improve your general computing experience.

Also what resolution are you gaming at?
 
That i5 seems very tempting now, thanks for bringing that to my attention. As long as it overclocks as nicely and wont overheat fast, thank you for saving me $100!

As far as the GPU, I think it'd be cheaper to buy another 660TI in two years when the cards are only worth 100 bucks.. Instead of getting a whole new video card and spending another 300 bucks. You are right, one GPU is better then 2 weaker ones.. But in this longterm upgrading thing I still think it'd be cheaper doing it this way. It'd just cost me an extra 150-200 bucks in the better power supply and better motherboard.

At this moment I have 160GB or so of games, I just never uninstall the older ones.. And games are just getting bigger and bigger :p I'll max out the 256ssd in no time.. Although maybe I can get a smaller one and just use the games I play the most on it.. Still.. :p it's a thought, I just don't think its for me.

And seeing the money you did save me, why not roll that into a better video card :p Maybe the computer will last just a bit longer. This may be purely a guess, but I'll take any ones opinion.. Do you think the CPU will be outdated before I need 3 video cards? Idk if two would be more then enough for the next few years.. Especially if I get the nicer 670 maybe even the 4GB one. That would save me quite a bit on the motherboard.. not so much on the power supply though, I fear getting one that's too cheap.

1920x1080 is my resolution for most games I think, could be higher in the future.. This monitor is getting pretty old :p We'll see when it breaks.
 
GTX 660Ti SLI might be a good idea when prices drop (although it will be a couple of years before it comes down to $100) but I really wouldn't recommend going Tri-SLI especially when you have to invest so much in the mobo and PSU.

For the PSU you don't need anywhere near 1200W, a 660Ti SLI setup will use around 540W and a Tri-SLI setup around 650W, and that's with a heavily overclocked six-core 3960X. So a decent 850W unit will be fine for future upgrades.

You don't need 4GB of VRAM for 1920x1080 at the moment, but if you're thinking of getting a higher resolution monitor or going SLI then 4GB is probably a good idea. However 4GB 670/680's are quite expensive and not great value for your current resolution.

The CPU will last a good 3-4 years, especially if you're going to OC it.
 
I used http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html to find out how much power I needed if I got everything I wanted.. With 3GPU's it was just over 900watts. I was just being super safe with the 1200 watts I suppose :p I did settle on a 1000 watt one, worst thing is I just don't use it all.

And always keep in mind the future :p I most likely will get at least SLI, if two 2GB cards would have more then enough VRAM for future games then I'll stick with them.. If not, am I able to get one 2GB one and one 4GB one? I know the cards have to be the same.. I'm not sure if /exactly/ the same or just the same model. I may just stick with two GTX 670 instead of three 660 Ti

I know this is a lot of guess work :p hard to predict the future.
 
VRAM is not additive and works off the lowest amount, so 2x 2GB cards in SLI will still only have 2GB VRAM, a 2GB and a 4GB card in SLI will only have 2GB and 2x 4GB cards in SLI will have 4GB.

champ989 said:
I know this is a lot of guess work :p hard to predict the future.
Click to expand...
Which is why you shouldn't try to predict the future ;)
Most important thing to decide is really the CPU, mobo and PSU since those will be parts of your future builds. Right now I'd get a 660Ti or 670 depending on how much you're willing to spend, a 670 will play pretty much all modern games at 60fps+ at 1080p whereas you might have to turn down some settings with a 660Ti. When the time comes and you decide to upgrade the monitor or more demanding games come out you can decide whether to go SLI or get a more powerful GTX 7xx/HD 89xx etc. But 3 cards isn't a good idea because of the heat, power consumption and poor scaling on the third card.
 
I still say get an SSD. A 128GB one, they are far less than $1/GB. More like $0.60-80. Even a 60GB one will do - it's what I have, and I paid $240 for it ..

Also, don't put games on there. Not much point IMO. An SSD is for Windows, and any productivity apps that you need to quickly open.

For example, I am far less stressed when I can just BAM BAM: log in, open my 5 required programs, and get to work ASAP - vs waiting forever for login, and having a nice lag when every program is opening.
 
Sorry it took forever, 8 days without power sucked. :p But! I have somewhat edited my computer, if you guys think its decent I'll probably be buying it before Monday.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=18439451

After all the combo deals + discounts is $992 - $35 mail in rebates.

At this point the only thing I'm somewhat iffy on is the motherboard, the ASUS P8Z77-V LK // ASRock Z77 Extreme4 // ASRock Z77 Professional-M // are also in the line up.. The gigabite is just a tad bit more money.. In any case, lemmie know if you guys approve. or you think there should be some last minute changes. Or if there's a completely new motherboard around that price that you think I should get. :p

And that SSD thing =/ The only two programs I could think of putting on there would have been Officeorg (pretty much MS Office) as well as the operating system. I still dont think getting a 32/64GB SSD is really worth it. Don't hate me :( It still is something I can always get in a week if I really wanted it. My cruddy SATA II drive will suffice for now I think. :p
 
Champ989, your link doesn't work because you need to link to a public wishlist.
 
I would go for a different case and cheaper ram the latency difference is basically unnoticeable between cas 8 and 9 at ddr3 1600. Different case with better airflow and HK idea of getting the smaller psu although I would shoot for a 750 Watt PSU as a good base. and use the money you save to step up to the HD7970 video card.

Rosewill Thor V2 Full Tower Gaming Case $109 free shipping
 
You can definitely save $30 by moving down to 8GB of RAM (IMO plenty) and save about $40 by moving down to a cheaper, but still nice motherboard.
 
:p Saddly I ordered most of the parts.. The bank shut me off =( I was over my spending limit. The only few things I have left to order is the CPU Motherboard and Case. I did however buy a different 670 GTX, I found a website that offered it with boarderlands 2 still, and it was only 20 bucks more. With a better cooling unit too! lol ^_^

The main reason I'm getting such a large power supply was because I don't want to rule out the possibility of getting Two 670GTX's. Newegg said it'd just be around 800w with them both. I'd rather have to much then to little.

As well as the ram, my pitiful at tempt to future-proof it :p In five years it looks like computers will have roughly 20GB of ram. (don't ask how I got that number, I can't remember.. but mark my words it will be true! :p) And the ram was cheap! It was only 70 bucks for 2 8GB sticks.. Nice sale. Roughly 10 bucks cheaper then Cas 9/10 ram. But I do agree, the speed would hardly be noticeable.

As for the case, it does look very nice. I'm honestly wondering why I never saw it before.. lmao all the wasted hours on newegg trying to find pretty cases with usb 3.0 headers.

Probably a silly question.. The case says it "Support up to XL-AT x (13.5" x 10.3") / E-AT x (12" x 10.3") Motherboard" Does that mean I'd have to jimmy rig it to fix my tiny ATX motherboard? The motherboard I was going to get is 12x9.6 .. I hope close counts in a bit more then horseshoes and hand grenades.. lol bad joke.
 
champ989 said:
Probably a silly question.. The case says it "Support up to XL-AT x (13.5" x 10.3") / E-AT x (12" x 10.3") Motherboard" Does that mean I'd have to jimmy rig it to fix my tiny ATX motherboard? The motherboard I was going to get is 12x9.6 .. I hope close counts in a bit more then horseshoes and hand grenades.. lol bad joke.
Click to expand...
The case will also have mounting holes for ATX and micro ATX boards, the manual will tell you which holes to use.

As for which mobo to get I notice the price of the UD3H is about $20 cheaper than what you listed it at and I think at that price it's a good buy.
 
I added the shipping costs to the motherboards price, although the mail in rebate is new. Waiting pays off :p

And awesome! Thanks! I think that's all I need, I feel safe ordering the rest of the parts later this week :p Sure hope this goes flawlessly.. so far I've only had one computer build work right off the bat. High hopes this is number two. Always get the bad luck with with defective parts. :p But again, thank you all!
 
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