Help me build a PC Gamer rig

[electromagnetic]

I have this already!

Crucial Tactical 4GB Kit (2GBx2) DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC
DDR3-1600 • 1.5V • 512Meg x 64 •

GIGABYTE GA-Z77-HD3 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) Motherboard

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 3470 3.20GHz Socket LGA1155 - Retail.

Akasa Cooling Fan - 120mm

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply

500GB WDC Blue Sata 3 hard drive

Windows 8 64bit

____________________________________________________________________
I need these, what do I get ?????
Also graphics card between £80 to £120


I need a PC case for this

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Try to find a 7870, I like those.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Try to find a 7870, I like those.

His budget is $180 USD at most for a GPU. I think the nVidia 650Ti Boost edition is the best option.
Case: Corsair 200R
I think you should have gotten 8GB of RAM... 4GB will be a bottleneck to modern games.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Return the RAM, say you chose wrong one. Get two 4GB sticks.

Also post your resolution and games you'll play.

 

[LukeDJ]

As well as what others said ^^^^^ I recommend:

-Getting an overclockable i5-3570K CPU if you are going to get a Z77 Motherboard, as you're wasting your money geting a Z77 if you're not overclocking. The 3570K should only cost a little bit more and it is well worth it.

-Getting a different PCU. I recommend One from Corsair, Seasonic or XFX, as these are the highest quality and most trustworthy. You PSU is the only thing between your PC and the wall, and you don't want something to go wrong.

-You might want to consider getting a WD black hardrive if its going to be your primary drive. Blue's are more often used for budget builds or as a secondary hard drive, getting a black will give you better load times in-game and also a more snappy OS.

 

[Jad Chaar]

As well as what others said ^^^^^ I recommend:

-Getting an overclockable i5-3570K CPU if you are going to get a Z77 Motherboard, as you're wasting your money geting a Z77 if you're not overclocking. The 3570K should only cost a little bit more and it is well worth it.

-Getting a different PCU. I recommend One from Corsair, Seasonic or XFX, as these are the highest quality and most trustworthy. You PSU is the only thing between your PC and the wall, and you don't want something to go wrong.

-You might want to consider getting a WD black hardrive if its going to be your primary drive. Blue's are more often used for budget builds or as a secondary hard drive, getting a black will give you better load times in-game and also a more snappy OS.

Yup! I agree 100%. The reason I didnt mention that stuff was because I thought he was on a strict budget.

 

[LukeDJ]

Yup! I agree 100%. The reason I didnt mention that stuff was because I thought he was on a strict budget.

I thought about that, and the CPU and Hardrive upgrade would only cost him $25, and getting a Corsair TX650 V2 is only $10 more. I would definitely make those upgrades even on a strict budget, even if it meant waiting a little longer for more cash.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Yeah a GTX650Ti boost would be a good choice (if he tries and can't find a 7870 within his budget)! Sometimes at least in the US you can find a 7870 at that price range.

Return the RAM, say you chose wrong one. Get two 4GB sticks.

Also post your resolution and games you'll play.

I'm just wondering, does it really matter all that much though? At these budget levels, it's not going to be able to max out a lot of games at any common resolution anyway so I wonder if the answer will make any difference.

 

[Tha General]

Not sure about the case, but a 7850 is a good choice, if not in your price range 2GB 550 TI?

 

[Jad Chaar]

hellokitty[hk] The 650Ti can play most games at highest settings at 1080P (some games like BF3 may have to be tweaked). Lowering AA takes away unnecessary eye candy and allows for big FPS increases.

Not sure about the case, but a 7850 is a good choice, if not in your price range 2GB 550 TI?

7850 is out of his price range of $180 USD. The 550Ti is old and slow.

 

[Tha General]

The 550 is not slow lol and its not that old . I use it and I game just fine at 1600x900. I haven't been on techspot in about 2 years I think, I come back and its the same non sense where everyone expects you to buy the best and newest stuff lol. very ignorant indeed. Obvious if the OP who I am good friends btw, can't buy the 7850, well a good choice will be the 550 card or maybe a 560. or even better the 650 boost edition which is cheap. 550 old and slow hahaahah, you're funny dude.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Yeah buddy, the 550Ti is fast (sarcasm): https://www.techspot.com/review/655-bioshock-infinite-performance/page3.html
It just beats the 7770 @ 1920x1200. Your argument is fallacious.

 

[electromagnetic]

hellokitty[hk] The 650Ti can play most games at highest settings at 1080P (some games like BF3 may have to be tweaked). Lowering AA takes away unnecessary eye candy and allows for big FPS increases.


7850 is out of his price range of $180 USD. The 550Ti is old and slow.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...vidiagtx650tikeplerseries/01g-p4-3650-kr.html

I opened up the PSU so I'll keep it for now

I can always upgrade the CPU, and I have artic silver 5. Keeping that too.

I need a CPU cooler nothing expensive but with a flat bottom.
no pipe crap.

I like to put my PC on the carpet. Case need room on the bottom.

I got the 2x4GB ram from Crucial. how do I return it ???

Yo Tha General look at CPU and GPU benchmarks.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

 

[Tha General]

Yeah buddy, the 550Ti is fast (sarcasm): https://www.techspot.com/review/655-bioshock-infinite-performance/page3.html
It just beats the 7770 @ 1920x1200. Your argument is fallacious.

I never played Bioshock the new one yet. But I have a q6600, 4gb ddr2 memory, win7 64bit and a pny gtx 550 1gb gddr5 memory card and I can run both bioshock 1 and 2 at 1600x900 max 50-60 frames, I also play deus ex the new one at 1600x900 max with fxaa enable, 8x super sample, 8x enhanced at dx11, and I get 55-60 frames all the time. I only play at 1600x900. You expect everyone to play at 1920 and have the best cards, sorry but there's nothing wrong with playing games at max and get 40-60 frames at 1600x900. I am pretty sure I can max out the new bioshock and still get between 40-60 frames at 1600x900. You don't need the best and newest stuff to game well.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I think you should upgrade the PSU still, but if you are really set, no worries. I was just thinking that a upgrade to a 750W may be better if you want to SLI/xfire in the future.

CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 Evo.

Case: You shouldnt put it on the carbet since that really increases the dust that gets in the case and hence gets into fans and heat sinks. This will eventually cause overheating.

GPU: Get the 650Ti Boost not the regular 650Ti, there is easily a 15-20% improvement from the 650Ti to the 650Ti boost.

RAM: 2x4GB is what you want! You wrote 2x2 before, so we suggested 2x4.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I never played Bioshock the new one yet. But I have a q6600, 4gb ddr2 memory, win7 64bit and a pny gtx 550 1gb gddr5 memory card and I can run both bioshock 1 and 2 at 1600x900 max 50-60 frames, I also play deus ex the new one at 1600x900 max with fxaa enable, 8x super sample, 8x enhanced at dx11, and I get 55-60 frames all the time. I only play at 1600x900. You expect everyone to play at 1920 and have the best cards, sorry but there's nothing wrong with playing games at max and get 40-60 frames at 1600x900. I am pretty sure I can max out the new bioshock and still get between 40-60 frames at 1600x900. You don't need the best and newest stuff to game well.

I understand you dont need the newest stuff! But for the budget gamer, newer is better. It future proofs longer. Also, 1600x900 is a different story. 1080P gaming is completely different turf.

 

[Tha General]

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...vidiagtx650tikeplerseries/01g-p4-3650-kr.html

I opened up the PSU so I'll keep it for now

I can always upgrade the CPU, and I have artic silver 5. Keeping that too.

I need a CPU cooler nothing expensive but with a flat bottom.
no pipe crap.

I like to put my PC on the carpet. Case need room on the bottom.

I got the 2x4GB ram from Crucial. how do I return it ???

Yo Tha General look at CPU and GPU benchmarks.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

Alright I want to see do I understand this, you have the following already?

Crucial Tactical 4GB Kit (2GBx2) DDR3 PC3-12800
DDR3-1600 • 1.5V • 512Meg x 64 •
GIGABYTE GA-Z77-HD3 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) Motherboard
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 3470 3.20GHz Socket LGA1155 - Retail.
Akasa Cooling Fan - 120mm
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply
500GB WDC Blue Sata 3 hard drive
Windows 8 64bit

?

Yea that 650 card will be awesome with that setup , very nice CPU too

 

[Tha General]

I understand you dont need the newest stuff! But for the budget gamer, newer is better. It future proofs longer. Also, 1600x900 is a different story. 1080P gaming is completely different turf.

I played some of my games at 1920x, its not that big of a deal lol. from 1600x900, when I was using windows xp I can game at 1920, but switching over to win7 seems the correct resoltuion is 1600x900 I can game at to get the perfect frame rate. I plan to upgrade from my q6600 to a i5 quad core and a 650 boost edition, its possible I will be able to game better at 1920, but I have no plans to do so because I record alot and recording at 1920 is trouble unless someone is using a super high end rig.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I played some of my games at 1920x, its not that big of a deal lol. from 1600x900, when I was using windows xp I can game at 1920, but switching over to win7 seems the correct resoltuion is 1600x900 I can game at to get the perfect frame rate. I plan to upgrade from my q6600 to a i5 quad core and a 650 boost edition, its possible I will be able to game better at 1920, but I have no plans to do so because I record alot and recording at 1920 is trouble unless someone is using a super high end rig.

Windows XP uses Directx 9. Windows 7 uses Directx 11. If you game at max settings on XP, you arent gaming on DX11 or DX10, you are gaming on DX9. Recording is no issue with a 2GB GPU + Quad core CPU + SSD.

 

[St1ckM4n]

[Regarding 2x2GB vs 2x4GB RAM]
I'm just wondering, does it really matter all that much though? At these budget levels, it's not going to be able to max out a lot of games at any common resolution anyway so I wonder if the answer will make any difference.

At this stage, it doesn't matter too much, no. However, here's my reasons:
1. 8GB RAM is essentially the default now for medium-end rigs. It's the sweet spot in terms of price. It'll last you.
2. Purchasing an extra 4GB kit later will cost more and take up all DIMM slots.
3. Greater chance of failure with 4 DIMMs vs 2 DIMMs, statistically.
4. 4GB is OK for now, but it's starting to push it. With x64 being the standard and x86-based consoles around the corner, I'm expecting RAM usage to increase.

 

[Jad Chaar]

At this stage, it doesn't matter too much, no. However, here's my reasons:
1. 8GB RAM is essentially the default now for medium-end rigs. It's the sweet spot in terms of price. It'll last you.
2. Purchasing an extra 4GB kit later will cost more and take up all DIMM slots.
3. Greater chance of failure with 4 DIMMs vs 2 DIMMs, statistically.
4. 4GB is OK for now, but it's starting to push it. With x64 being the standard and x86-based consoles around the corner, I'm expecting RAM usage to increase.

I agree. The next gen consoles will push the bar higher for computer game developers. The DIMM failure point is important to take into account. Plus, since Z77 platforms dont take advantage of quad channel memory, you are throwing away precious DIMM slots.

 

[Tha General]

Windows XP uses Directx 9. Windows 7 uses Directx 11. If you game at max settings on XP, you arent gaming on DX11 or DX10, you are gaming on DX9. Recording is no issue with a 2GB GPU + Quad core CPU + SSD.

I never said that. I said when I was using Xp I can play games at 1920x1080 at max, on windows 7 I can max out games and play at 1600x900 which seems to be the correct resolution. I never said XP was dx11 or dx10. You have fun gaming at 1920x im sticking with 1600x900.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Uh, actually, I quoted two things in my post but I was actually wondering how much the intended resolution matters!
Ahh nevermind it's not really important.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Uh, actually, I quoted two things in my post but I was actually wondering how much the intended resolution matters!
Ahh nevermind it's not really important.

Hmm, I'm not sure if you edited your post to include the other stuff... anyway..

I see your point. However, knowing the resolution can somewhat help. If card X is acceptable at 720p on a lot of games, but begins to struggle at 1080p, maybe spending a little bit more money on card X+1 is a good idea to have acceptable performance in the same majority of games.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I never said that. I said when I was using Xp I can play games at 1920x1080 at max, on windows 7 I can max out games and play at 1600x900 which seems to be the correct resolution. I never said XP was dx11 or dx10. You have fun gaming at 1920x im sticking with 1600x900.

Interesting.