Some advice needed for my gaming rig.

[ukgamer01]

Hi all i am about to order my new PC.
it will be 90% for gaming maybe little music and movies, but gaming is only thing realy its being built for.
The site i am buying it from is iBUILD™ Intel i7 Extreme Gaming Custom PC | Power Computing | Custom PCs, Gaming PCs, Laptops, Motherboards, Workstations i am needing some advice as what parts i should add to it. I know im going to be told to build it myself, but there is 2 problems with that.
1= i have never built one before tho im pretty sure i could. 2= but main problem is that i live in the UK and prices here with tax is like 40% higher then USA. i priced the items up and all i would save is 100£.
So if you could look at this site and check that i have picked the right parts please guys it would be greatly appreciated.
The specs i have picked so far are as follows. Also guys money isnt realy an option as i plan on this pc lasting me for a few years. tho would like to keep it around the £2k mark. and remember parts here are way above what you guys pay for them in America.

1. CoolerMaster HAF932 (i like the look of the case.)

2. ASUS P6X58D Premium ( i was told that it will support the new processor chips coming out in few years.)

3. Intel® Core™ i7 920 2.66GHz (the said they will overclock it to 3.8 for me should i take them up on this? )

4. CoolerMaster 1000W Silent Pro M1000 Modular (want it to be future proof)

5. Noctua NH-U12P i7 Fan & Heatsink & CPU Overcloc ( tho they said that they can put in the domino water cooler if i wish for extra 20£ )

6. Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz (or is 12gb better choice? maybe over kill tho)

7. OCZ Vertex Turbo Solid State Flash Drive 120gb ( for OS and games.)

8. 1TB 7200RPM SATA II

9. GTX 295 ( or wait couple of weeks for gtx480? i like the look of the hd5870 tho last ati card i had the drivers put me away in the head, also am getting a 120htz monitor for 3d, i dont think ati support that do they?)

10. Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit ( or pay extra for professional ? )

11. 2 Year Return to Base Warranty with Free Collect & Return which also covers parts.

Any advice will be great.

 

[Dom]

That would be an awesome gaming rig mate!
Now for the suggestions -
If they are going to overclock your i7, make sure you keep those temps low by paying £20 for the domino water cooling.
ATi drivers are getting better, and if you are going to keep this rig for a little while, the drivers will mature. So for the GPU go for 2x 5850. Stick with the GTX 295 if you aren''t going over 1920*1080 on screen resolution.
Have you got a monitor, keyboard and mouse to go with all of this?

 

[ukgamer01]

yes i have top end mouse keyboard and stuff and yes i am buying a 24" 1920*1080 120hz refresh rate monitor
was thinking maybe the nvidia 3d bundle with glasses as my kid would love that?

 

[Dom]

Oh yeah, was only looking at the new specs in the original post
Yeah, 3d is a pretty cool thing. Stick with your nVidia GPU card
(Me being an ATi fan myself )

 

[dave1812]

Do you know how many PS3's you could buy for the cost of that? You could get several PS3's, or XBOX360's;, or a laptop and a netbook; or a desktop, netbook and one PS3. A gaming rig will never be state of the art for a couple of years. A PS3 however, is "state of the art" for more than 3 years already and still counting.

 

[ukgamer01]

i have xbox and ps3 and to tell the truth mate there s**te.
and playing fps games on a ps3 is terrible.

 

[ukgamer01]

also is the OCZ Vertex Turbo Solid State Flash Drive 120gb easy to look after as i have never used a ssd.
and with the way i always mess up windows i will probably have to reformat once a year,lol
i was told its the same as a HDD only just turn the superfetch or somthing like that off and never use defrag?

 

[dave1812]

i have xbox and ps3 and to tell the truth mate there s**te.
and playing fps games on a ps3 is terrible.

REALLY???? funny--I play a TON on MW2 online and enjoy the heck out of it! I also did with Resistance2. I'm almost ready to do Prestige #3.

Not sure what your issue is, but I've done the PC gaming thing and am SO GLAD I gave it up.

 

[Dom]

I don't know why, but I hate people with XBOX's and PS3's, I just don't know why. They claim they are HD, but computer gaming nowadays is almost better than HD with the newer video cards out there.

 

[XGUNTHERC]

First off.. overclocking the i7 920 is very easy to get to 3.8 Ghz -4.2 Ghz.. save the money there and do the Overclock yourself

Loose the expensive SSD, and get a WD Black for ur 1TB. they are speedy.

My other suggestion would be to get a Enermax, or a Corsair PSU if they have them offered over the Cooler Master one.. Other than that it looks solid

 

[Wishmaster]

If it were me, Id go for something like a 60GB SSD for the OS and all your programs, PF, etc.

A good Spinning drive for music, Videos, Pictures, Games.
Or maybe even a couple 640Black edition WD's in Raid 0.

For the OS, no spinning drive (even Raid Spinning drives) can even come close to touching a SSD in terms of speed/responsiveness. Its just no contest.


As far as games go, the SSD wont make a huge difference quite honestly. It will help a little, but IMHO, your better off just using a spinning drive and gain more storage space. They may load a bit faster but once running, not much.


As far as Overclocking, you can have a general idea but remember,
every PC will OC different.

Even 2 different machines with every piece of hardware identical with yield different results.
Some better, some worse.

 

[dave1812]

I don't know why, but I hate people with XBOX's and PS3's, I just don't know why. They claim they are HD, but computer gaming nowadays is almost better than HD with the newer video cards out there.

LOL! "hate" is a pretty strong word. perhaps you need some counseling to get to the root of your problems. Have you ever spent a few days using a gaming console or do you just dismiss them out of hand because you think you won't like them?

 

[pparks1]

I don't know why, but I hate people with XBOX's and PS3's, I just don't know why. They claim they are HD, but computer gaming nowadays is almost better than HD with the newer video cards out there.

I have an Xbox360 (have had for 3 years+) and I do game on my PC as well. While I can agree that the gaming experience is superior on the PC, the gaming console is just so much easier. No having to worry about system requirements, no having to worry about new drivers for your video card, etc. No need to upgrade to a $500 video card and then find out that you also need a new power supply, etc.

And considering that you can get an Xbox360 for $199...puts it as a major advantage from a price perspective over a gaming PC. And with the exception of the 360 which has been plagued with hardware issues..you are able to pretty much get about 5 years of life out of a console before the next gen is really out there.

 

[ukgamer01]

I have also had a ps3 for 2years and playing FPS games with a retarded game pad just feels like it was made for kids.
especially with the semi auto targeting i hate it.
and Dave truth mate play Any FPS game on a high end pc and those stupid remarks of state of the art ps3,HAHA will change fast.
The only game i like for consoles is FIFA 10 .that is the only game what is better then the PC counterpart.
So unless you have anything helpful to make go to your console forums and talk that nonsense there.
Sory for shouting off guys but console kids annoy the hell out off you.

 

[ukgamer01]

Thanks for all the advice. I will change the 120gb ssd to a 60gb but will that allow for more then 2 games without slowing it down.
I was told that if i have it over 70% full it will start to lag?
Also is w7 professional have any bonuses over the home edition what is worthwhile?

 

[Wishmaster]

If you want all your games on the SSD, and price isnt a huge issue, then get a bigger SSD. But it will push your budget alot higher.

I honestly believe you'll be better off running the OS & Programs on a SSD and games on a spinning drive (and could even run 2 640WD's in RAID 0 for example if you want) for Games etc for the difference in price, with a LOT more storage.
You will still have excellent performance, & the system will be very responsive.

I guess what Im getting at here:
Games on the SSD (while it does help) wont be enough of a difference to justify Price VS Storage.
For the OS and programs, YES!!! Without a doubt worth the investment.

Believe it or not, even with games, Music, Videos & Pictures all sitting on spinning drives and everything else on the SSD, EVERYTHING is still faster and more responsive.


Just my cents In the end its your call what you'll be happy with.

 

[FrankP999]

I would go with 12 meg of RAM. I have a similar computer with 12 meg and it really flies.

Frank

 

[ukgamer01]

12gig you mean? i was thinking of it but was told i would see no difference in gaming.
i can upgrade the 6 to this (Corsair XMS3 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1600MH) for a extra 130£ seams alot of money if i see no benefits.

wish master what about 2x WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATAII 10,000RPM in raid0 for games. 320£ total.
But the only problem with that is i have no idea how to set raid up is it easy?

 

[WDAexodus]

You're good with home premium. Professional adds XP mode and server support which you don't need. I don't know what the new NVIDIA card will offer but as of right now the ATI 5800 cards offer DX11 which will come into play as more games come out this year. ATI has cleaned up the drivers so I think I would go that direction.

 

[ukgamer01]

WDAexodus thanks for reply. Ialso like the look of the ATI cards.
Though promised my kid that i would get him 3dglasses and 120htz monitor.
I dont think ATI support that does it? Also down the line will be doing a 3 way monitor setup and was told
ATIs eyefinaty isn't very good is there any truth to it?