A long lasting gaming and multipurpose rig?

Dlf · 30 Mar 2012

The below is parts I've picked from the various half (to about a) dozen threads I've started.
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Part list permalink: System Build - PCPartPicker
Part price breakdown by merchant: System Build - Price Breakdown By Merchant - PCPartPicker
Benchmarks: System Build - Benchmarks - PCPartPicker

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master V6 GT 93.7 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Deluxe (REV 3.0) ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($254.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Mushkin Chronos 180GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($197.03 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($264.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($139.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($98.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus VE258Q 25.0" Monitor ($248.99 @ Mac Connection)
Monitor: Asus VE276Q 27.0" Monitor ($269.98 @ Mac Connection)
Total: $2024.90
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-03-30 15:44 EDT-0400)

NOTE: Some components may be changed or just stay the same . . . I will need a lot more $ for this than I have now . . . . also will wait till Ivy Bridge (?), also between those two monitors which would you choose? Also would there be a bottleneck?
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Current specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon 3800+ (dual core) @ 2 GHZ
RAM: DDR2 - 3 GB
Vram: 128 MB
HD 250 GB connected by ATA
Motherboard: Asus A8N-BR (Pyrite) [BIOS]
GPU: Nvidia gForce 6150 LE (I think)
Misc: This computer is a HP slimline (s7700n)
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And what I wanted in a new system:

Hardware

- USB 2.0 speeds that are minimum of 30 MB a second
- USB 3.0 speeds that are at lest 300+ MB/s [I will get / use an SSD]
- Firewire (and or eSata port) --- because I have a external hardrive that has both along with USB
- At lest a solid terabyte (1.5 TB)
- Has either a VGA or DVI port (current monitor I have has both)
- Also has support for HDMI (for the future monitor)
- Multicard reader (although I mainly need SD and Memory Pro Stick Duo)
- Able to use a PS3 controller AND A XBOX 360 controller (yes I know 360 is native support . . .)
- I would like a quad core.
- Multiple internal DVD drives - one blu-ray drive (watch movies, burn backups)
- Plenty of 3.5/5.25 drive bays . . .

Software

- Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit) (Main OS) -- Mostly for languages
- Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit (if needed)
- May first run Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit - as I have both 32/64 bit discs now)
- Windows XP (if 64 bit won't run some of the games I have) (if needed)
- Folding@home (although I use my PS3 for that when I'm not using it)
- Able to run most games from DOS era on, probably high settings

Gaming Software:

- Will use steam:
-- Elder Scrolls
-- Portal 1 & 2
-- Batman Arkham (Asylum/City)
-- Sonic Generations
-- Quake
-- Wolfenstein (3D) & 2009
-- Commander keen
-- Bioshock (1/2)
-- L.A. Noire
and others

- Will use CD/DVD's of the games I have:
-- Warcraft 2 - Tides of Darkness & Beyond the Dark Portal
-- Warcraft 3 - Reign of Chaos & Frozen Throne
-- Diablo 1 - 3 (when it comes out)
-- The Sims 1 - And all expansions
-- The Sims 2 (probably)
-- Simcity 4000 & Rushhour
- May use emulation (to run up to the PS2/Wii)

Other Thoughts

- Eventually a dual monitor setup (and one be HD resolution)
- Budget - Within about $1200 - $1500 dollars
- I will wait for some parts (hard drives, GPU, etc) to drop in price.
- I don't need the absolute latest but this system should still be update-able in years to come.
- Will eventually most likely want 16, 32 or more GB of RAM (if needed)
- I WANT UEFI, NOT regular old BIOS (that this slimline has)

I am grateful for input . . .

OmegaZab · 30 Mar 2012

that all sounds rather reasonable and be a great running machine over all... my only note would be the 8gb of ram would be more than adequate maybe 16 if you want some bragging rights and really wanna never run out but 32 imo is a little over kill but hey i cant say much cuz i have an urge to run the max of 32 in my laptop lol but 16 is running awesome for me.

anyways lol good choice on cpu and video card good bang for your buck. OS wise i dont see why 64 bit ultimate wont do everything you need and with the cpu/ ram choice you can always have a virtual machine of xp and would still run pretty well. and last suggestion or maybe we will just call it an observation.. would you plan on keeping your games on your main drive (a ssd?) or on secondary (normal hdd) because you could save a little by going down to lets say a 100 gb and install main applications (office photoshop or what ever you plan to use) and then just have games go to secondary.

but all in all looks pretty good i would be excited to get a rig with any of the said parts :)

Dlf · 30 Mar 2012

I've installed seperate partitions of Ultimate & Home Premium (both 64bit) on this hardrive and the RAM spikes up to about 95% RAM use

. The 16/32 GB is mostly as a 'net' so the rest of the system doesn't slow down, although running the OS on the SSD should speed things up.

Some games may be on the SSD, some may be on the HDD - those that have long loading times (I think L.A Noire does) will be on the SSD instead of the HDD.

bobkn · 30 Mar 2012

I don't understand your RAM listing. The motherboard has 4 DIMM slots.

If you use more than 16GB of RAM, Windows 7 must be X64, and Pro or Ultimate. (Home Premium X64 supports 16GB or less.)

Speaking of the motherboard, I'd suggest the Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen 3. That's assuming you don't need the features on the Deluxe, which is rather more expensive. The Gen 3 is supposed to support Ivy Bridge, and PCI-E 3 with an Ivy Bridge CPU. (Not with Sandy Bridge.) That's a bit of future-proofing. (And, the Radeon 7850 supports PCI-E 3. You reportedly won't receive any practical benefit over a PCI-E 2 system, but what the heck.)

Dlf · 30 Mar 2012

Whoops, on PCpartpicker I have many many saved builds the most recent is what that was from . . . . the motherboard i have selected supports ~32 GB of RAM. What I'd like out of a motherboard is at lest: UEFI support, display port (although HDMI is fine I guess) and support for ivy bridge and bluetooth support (PS3 controller & Xbox 360 (?))

pparks1 · 30 Mar 2012

Unless you are going to run a lot of virtual machines or have a particular piece of software that will really take advantage of all of that RAM, it's just going to be a waste of money. Most people cannot use more than 8GB of RAM, and just because you have more doesn't make your computer any faster. I would really consider cutting that RAM back to 8GB total, or at a max 16GB. I run multiple concurrent VM's and I run just fine on 8GB of RAM.

Dlf · 30 Mar 2012

If I run a virtual XP I may need upwards of 8 GB (or more), the system requirements for L.A Noire are supposed to upwards of ~8 GB - if I have background tasks going as well that'd probably take more RAM from LAN. Running and installing updates on 64 bit Home Premium and Ultimate my RAM use has gone upwards of 99% -- for 3 GB that's quite high.

bobkn · 30 Mar 2012

Dlf said:

Whoops, on PCpartpicker I have many many saved builds the most recent is what that was from . . . . the motherboard i have selected supports ~32 GB of RAM. What I'd like out of a motherboard is at lest: UEFI support, display port (although HDMI is fine I guess) and support for ivy bridge and bluetooth support (PS3 controller & Xbox 360 (?))

ASUS - Motherboards- ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3

No Display Port; HDMI, DVI (but no dual link, 1920 X 1200 max), & VGA. Otherwise, it has all of the features that you mention. The Asus UEFI implementation is supposed to be one of the best.

Depending on how soon you wish to buy, you may prefer to wait for an H77 or Z77 board. It appears that the new chipsets will provide native USB 3 support, as well as Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge support. Whether PCI-E 3 will be better than the Gen 3 Z68 boards, I don't know. Some of the Asus Z77 boards will also support the USB BIOS Flashback feature, which looks like it could avoid major headaches (if it works).

C32C3 · 30 Mar 2012

bobkn,

Thanks for the info on the upcoming new Asus mobo's.

If I understand you correctly they are the H77 and Z77 and will support both the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge cpu's.

I will definitely be keeping an eye open for them.

OmegaZab · 31 Mar 2012

for your ps3/xbox support are you planning on using Motion Joy? which actually will just emulate your ps3 controller as wireless xbox but works with any game (that has controller support stupid mw3) and have used with some older pc games as ps1 controller.

just out of curiosity since ive never used display port is there an advantage to it? ive always just kinda left it as a proprietary port thats mostly like hdmi... so if anything hdmi would just be easier and more common to use?