Planning on buying a new rig.

[hawkin90]

I found some good prices here: Gaming computers, custom gaming computers, gaming pc, custom gaming pc And they ship internationally.
You want to take a look and let me what you think of the systems?

 

[hawkin90]

Okey I found a new setup for 500$ less on digitalstormonline
But that leaves the shipping costs which will probably be 500$ or more at least, so I will stay with my system as it is for now. Let me know if you know of any international shipping computer sites.

 

[Fumz]

From this:
CPU Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.07 GHz
Memory 8 GB
Graphics Card Nvidia GTX 260 1.8 GB
Sound Card SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro

To this:
Corsair Obsidian 800D Big Tower Black
Corsair HX 1000W PSU
Intel Core™ i7 Quad Processor i7-960
ASUS Rampage III Extreme, X58
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz 12GB CL9
XFX Radeon HD 5970 2GB GDDR5
Lite-On DVD+RW burner IHAS124-19
Intel X25-M SSD 80GB 2,5", Retail
OEM SSD 2.5" to 3.5" Bracket SATA
Western Digital Caviar® GreenPower™ 1TB
Creative X-FI TITANIUM

$4000

The case, psu, ssd and video card I understand; the almost identical cpu, RAM, optical drives, second sound card I don't.

You're not going to notice a difference between your "old" cpu and the new one. You won't. Lynnfield's are really badass in terms of gaming, so why you don't want to keep yours is beyond me?

OK, so Dell makes ugly cases... I get that, and they lock the bios, which sucks... I get that too. Here's something to consider: buy a case, mobo, SSD and 5970, save yourself almost 3 grand, and still have a new "looking" machine that will give you just as good fps as if you really had spent 4 thousand.

 

[kodi]

Why don't you take your specs to a local small computer repair/supply shop and ask them to build it for you.
We have a lot of computer supply places in Australia that will build one for you to your spec and just charge a small fee on top of the price of the components to put it together for you.

 

[pparks1]

The case, psu, ssd and video card I understand; the almost identical cpu, RAM, optical drives, second sound card I don't.

Wow...so I didn't even look at his current specs. If the current specs are indeed honest...then i too don't see the reason to upgrade to another machine. Maybe a few parts like you said...but certainly not a whole machine.

 

[hawkin90]

I'm pretty sure I will notice a difference in gaming, the 260 isn't exactly the best card.
Well the RAM is not identical, as I'm only able to use 6GB, it's the double with 12, the optical drive is so cheap anyway. And the cpu can now be overclocked, as I have been wanting to do for a long time. Well sure, I can just take out my old sound card and put it into my new computer, no prob there. I just copied my temporary specs, I haven't bought anything yet uknow.

And hey, it's time for a change, I have the money so what the hell
There is one thing I always spend a lot of money on and that's computers.

 

[Fumz]

I'm pretty sure I will notice a difference in gaming, the 260 isn't exactly the best card.
Well the RAM is not identical, as I'm only able to use 6GB, it's the double with 12, the optical drive is so cheap anyway. And the cpu can now be overclocked, as I have been wanting to do for a long time. Well sure, I can just take out my old sound card and put it into my new computer, no prob there. I just copied my temporary specs, I haven't bought anything yet uknow.

And hey, it's time for a change, I have the money so what the hell
There is one thing I always spend a lot of money on and that's computers.

No. Let me be the first, third, fifth, tenth and two-hundred-and-forty-second to let you know that in terms of the cpu and RAM, your performance will be identical. You are not cpu bound by any means, so getting a newer cpu will do absolutely nothing for you. Nada... squat... jack-you-know-what.

A new video card however will do you serious justice. Slap a 5970 in there and it will fly. That's all you need. Seriously.

Going from 8GB's to 12 is pointless. In gaming you're never going to use more than 2GB's, which is why 4GB's of system RAM for a gaming rig is more than sufficient. Again, in terms of RAM, your gaming performance will not increase one iota from this needless purchase.

Your current cpu can overclock just fine. Once you put in a 5970 you'll see you don't need to, but Lynnfield's are mad overclockers. Your only problem is your current motherboard. Change that pos Dell board to a real one and things will get a lot better.

 

[hawkin90]

Yeah, I understand.
I will see what I do.
About the graphics, are one 5970 better than a crossfire 5870?

 

[pparks1]

No. Let me be the first, third, fifth, tenth and two-hundred-and-forty-second to let you know that in terms of the cpu and RAM, your performance will be identical. You are not cpu bound by any means, so getting a newer cpu will do absolutely nothing for you. Nada... squat... jack-you-know-what.

I agree 100% with this. The difference is going to be almost imperceivable.

Going from 8GB's to 12 is pointless. In gaming you're never going to use more than 2GB's, which is why 4GB's of system RAM for a gaming rig is more than sufficient. Again, in terms of RAM, your gaming performance will not increase one iota from this needless purchase.

I completely agree as well. For gaming, 4GB is enough. The only reason I have more than 4GB is for virtual machines...

About the graphics, are one 5970 better than a crossfire 5870?

I say unless you are running multiple monitors that going crossfire is just consuming more power and spending more money for something that's unnecessary. I don't think 2 video cards is really a necessity unless you have multiple displays that you have to push at extreme resolutions.

 

[Win7User512]

Hey. I'm planning to get a new rig soon. I'm not gonna build it myself.
I plan to use about 4500-5000$ on it.
It will be used mostly for gaming, but also multitasking between a lot of programs.

System So Far:

Corsair Obsidian 800D Big Tower Sort
Corsair HX 1000W PSU
Intel Core™ i7 Quad Processor i7-960
ASUS Rampage III Extreme, X58
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz 6GB CL9
XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5
XFX Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5
Lite-On DVD+RW burner IHAS124-19
WD VelociRaptor® 300GB SATA
Western Digital Caviar® GreenPower™ 1TB
Creative X-FI TITANIUM

Total = 4000$

The Computer should be a intel 3.2 ghz or more and for the graphics i was thinking of a crossfire Ati Radeon 5780 HD or maybe I will even go for a 5970 HD crossfire combo.
Ram should be a minimum of 6gb.
Also a good soundcard and a pretty big HDD.
Not gonna by a new screen though, happy with the one I have.
I'm not very good at motherboards so could need some good tips

Any suggestions where I should by my system?
I have only bought from dell before so I don't really know so much about where to buy.

Feel free to suggest system changes too ofc, but I think this is want I want ^^

All help appreciated

Why not go with the i7-980X?

Six cores

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition Gulftown 3.33GHz 6 x 256KB L2 Cache 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80613I7980X

And the Rampage III is quite popular.

 

[hawkin90]

Win7User512: Right now I don't have the budget for the 980x

Okey Well. I now have two different systems. Which one would u pick?

System 1:
Corsair Obsidian 800D Big Tower Sort
Corsair TX 850W PSU
Intel Core™ i7 Quad Processor i7-960
ASUS Rampage III Extreme, X58
Corsair H50 Hydro Series CPU Cooler
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600MHz 6GB CL9
XFX Radeon HD 5970 2GB GDDR5
MagicView iMono CS-440 USB 2.0
Lite-On DVD+RW burner IHAS124-19
Corsair SSD Force Series 2,5" 120GB
OEM SSD 2.5" to 3.5" Bracket SATA
WD VelociRaptor 150GB
WD Caviar® Black 1TB 3,5", SATA 6 Gb/s,

or

System 2:
CM Storm Sniper Black Edition
Chieftec Super Series 1200W PSU
Intel Core™ i7 Quad Processor i7-960
ASUS Rampage III Extreme, X58
CoolIT Systems ECO A.L.C. CPU Cooler
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600MHz 6GB CL9
MSI GeForce GTX 480 1536MB PhysX CUDA
MSI GeForce GTX 480 1536MB PhysX CUDA
MagicView iMono CS-440 USB 2.0
Lite-On DVD+RW burner IHAS124-19
Corsair SSD Force Series 2,5" 120GB
OEM SSD 2.5" to 3.5" Bracket SATA
WD VelociRaptor 150GB
WD Caviar® Black 1TB 3,5", SATA 6 Gb/s

 

[pparks1]

Why are you doing an SSD, as well as a 150GB velociraptor drive? I would go with system #1 as it's a single video card and forgo the Crossfire or SLI hassle.

 

[Win7User512]

Win7User512: Right now I don't have the budget for the 980x

I understand. I had to settle for the 930. I guess I got carried away with your rather large budget from the first post.

 

[hawkin90]

Win7User512: Yes well. The budget can be pushed But I want to stay below 4000$

pparks1: I usually have a lot of games and programs and it would be nice with another fast hdd if i run out of space. yet, this is probably not my final setup and i might remove it. It's just what I thought in the moment. Maybe it is stupid to include it, but it is more expensive to buy a bigger SSD

 

[Fumz]

You're just determined to waste money, aren't you? Half of me admires that; the other half knows you'll be sorry in a really short amount of time... like shortly after you load your first game.

 

[pparks1]

The thing is that once you get used to games and such loading from the SSD, you aren't going to want to use a mechanical drive period for them.

Not to mention, the raw throughput on a drive such as a Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB is almost inline with the Raptors....but it's 10x the storage and less cost. They do have slower access times...but compared to the SSD which has an almost non-existent access time....either a Caviar Black or a Velociraptor will seem slow.

 

[hawkin90]

Okey pparks1 you've got me. I don't know as much as you do about anything it seems
I will go for a caviar instead then.

Fumz: I don't have anything else to use it on. Might sound stupid, but it's actually true. I don't have the drivers license, so no money for any car or gas or anything. I usually get a lot of money saved up fast.
You're wrong.
And now on the next LAN I can brag to my mate with his 8800gtx
Last time i upgraded it wasn't with much either, but I enjoyed it for a year, yeah until now. I can't start thinking of a new computer, cause it always ends up with me buying one
I love spending money on things I love I don't care how it sounds ^^ It's life

 

[Fumz]

Yeah, I get that SSD's load fast. I'm not against them at all... just their cost. I'll get one when they get bigger and cheaper.

I don't know how many games the OP has, but my primary partition is already 160GB's. SSD's get insanely expensive at that size, and if you don't have to room to put games on it anyway because you had to get a smaller SSD, what's the point (in terms of pure game performance)?

My Samsung F3 1TB is pretty fast. Fast enough to get me into the map long before the countdown timer ends... and as long as I'm still one of the first to spawn in, just in terms of gaming, then there's no difference between me and an SSD... we both start playing at the same time.

Having said all that, I'd get one if I had money to blow.

You're wrong.
And now on the next LAN I can brag to my mate with his 8800gtx

Just make sure you don't get owned... cause that would be embarrassing.

 

[hawkin90]

Haha. Yeah I have to pwn him, and I'm gonna make fun of his laggy assassins creed, I mean very laggy

Exactly. I have some money to blow now, so why not afford myself a little luxury

I have never played on a SSD before ^^ I'm sure it's gonna be great

 

[pparks1]

Yeah, I get that SSD's load fast. I'm not against them at all... just their cost. I'll get one when they get bigger and cheaper.

Yeah, it's hard to justify the cost...that is for sure. However, considering that there is almost zero regret from anybody who has ever upgraded...it's a solid upgrade. In my opinion, it's the first upgrade that I ever did that really wow'd me with the performance difference. That lack of access time is very noticeable. And OS startup and shutdown performance is great. Not to mention, the machine is silent while the drive is being used...unlike other boxes where drives can get noisy.

I currently run my box with an 80GB Intel X25-M G2 drive for my OS, apps and games. I only have 1-2 games loaded at any given time and have about 50GB free on my OS drive. My storage drive is a 1TB WD Caviar Black and it's been very reliable and performs well.

With regards to laughing at your friends....to me it comes down to how much you have to spend to be the leader. I mean, you can build a computer for $10,000 that performs even better...but is it worth it. If your other friends would settle for 95% of the power for 15% of the cost....I honestly think they are the ones who would consider themselves better off.