Window shopping build, will order once PS2 Beta is released

PeteHMB · 2012-04-28, 10:01 PM

1. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?
~$1,000 for just the rig. I have a mouse/keyboard/monitor that will work fine (Just bought an Asus 23" LED LCD for $170).

2. Where do you live?
Arizona/California, will likely be buying everything off of Newegg or Amazon.

3. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)?
Planetside 2 only, maybe one or two other games but that's it. Movies, music, web browsing, etc will all be done on my MacBook.

4. What parts will you need for the computer? Please list what parts specifically.
-CPU / heatsink
-Motherboard
-RAM
-Graphics card(s?) (HDMI-out would be nice to hook it up to my 46" TV. I have an LG LED LCD w/ 120 refresh. IIRC it DOES have DVI in as well, but I could be wrong I'm not home right now.)
-Hard drive (talk to me about SSD vs traditional?)
-Power Supply (prefer modular for case organization)
-Sound card (I have a set of Turtle Beach headphones, but would like to be able to hook this up to my 46" TV and Bose system to play Planetside if possible.)
-CD/DVD drive (Have a PS3, not interested in burning Blu-Rays but if future games will require a blu-ray drive then I'll consider it. If Planetside 2 is simply going to be on DVDs or download then I'm not really worried about a CD/DVD drive at all, as you can boot windows from a USB drive anyway.)
-Fans
-Case

5. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so please say what parts.
No

6. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?
46" LG LED LCD w/ 120hz refresh rate, 1080p
23" Asus LED LCD, model VH238H

7. Do you have a legit OS? If so what OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
Windows 7 Ultimate from a friend. 64 bit I believe. Have it on a thumb drive, haven't yet installed it on anything (trying to partition my MacBook, MacBook's boot camp doesn't like me. Repair disk permissions error. Any help would be great)

8. What are you looking for the motherboard to have feature wise? Like SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 Gb/s, and so on.
I'm about 6-8 years behind on PC tech. No idea what Crossfire/Sata 6.0 gb/s, or USB 3.0 do. I know what USB / SATA are, but not their latest iterations or whatever. Just want a solid mobo that isn't going to be obselete in 2 years.

9. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU?
Not unless it's easy, safe, and necessary.

10. What time kind of time frame are you planning on ordering these parts?
Before PS2 is released, preferably the same day I get a Beta invite.

Additional info:
I'm interested in Micro PCs for minimizing the footprint of this build, but I doubt I could get decent enough performance out of one. I do NOT want a massive server case or anything extremely bulky. A build as compact as possible is preferable, while still meeting my performance requirements. That is to say, I want the smallest case I can cram everything into but the case will likely be the last item to worry about buying. I want this build to run COLD and QUIET, so no 50 noisy fans. I've had good luck with CoolerMaster cases in the past, but don't really have any idea what's out there now. I couldn't care less about how the case looks as long as it meets my size and performance requirements. Also, I expect this thread will be constantly updated/revised as new products are released in the following months before the game is actually released. So upcoming products are fine to recommend / post about here as far as I'm concerned.

Goku · 2012-04-28, 10:32 PM

Well looks like this could be a week away or even 6 months. Lets get this case footprint issue settled first. You can look into mATX or mITX cases. mITX is wicked small, but you are really limited with what you can put into it. I would recommend sticking with mATX to hold on to expansion slots and such.

Here are some cases.

mATX:
LIAN LI PC-A04B
SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E
SilverStone Fortress Series FT03B
LIAN LI PC-V600FX

mITX:
LIAN LI PC-Q08A
LIAN LI PC-Q11B

Let me know what you think.

PeteHMB · 2012-04-29, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by Goku

Well looks like this could be a week away or even 6 months. Lets get this case footprint issue settled first. You can look into mATX or mITX cases. mITX is wicked small, but you are really limited with what you can put into it. I would recommend sticking with mATX to hold on to expansion slots and such.

Here are some cases.

mATX:
LIAN LI PC-A04B - Possibly - Price a little higher than the others, not sure if both fans will even be used or if I'll have to remove one to make room for hard drive(s) / video card
SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E - Yes - not sure on video card space though
LIAN LI PC-V600FX - Yes

mITX:

LIAN LI PC-Q11B - Yes, concerned with compactness though. Video card lengths?

Let me know what you think.

I like how the mATX cases for Lian Li both support 370mm video cards (that appears to be the largest size of high end cards...?). Not sure if the Silverstone case will support that, though the dimensions look about right. The mITX case looks nice, but again I'm not sure how much I'll be limiting myself with performance.

edit - poked around on newegg for a few minutes looking at their most popular "customer choice award" cards ranging from $150-$450 and it looks like about 270mm is the largest video card on there. I guess that shouldn't be an issue then.

Goku · 2012-04-29, 02:02 PM

You want the mATX form factor then? I'll whip you up a build so you have a idea of what to expect.

LIAN LI PC-A04B - $99.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $110
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW - $274.99
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99
ASUS Xonar DSX 7.1 Sound Card - $59.99
PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 500W Modular PSU - $79.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB DDR3 - $37.99
BIOSTAR H77MU3 LGA 1155 Intel H77 - $79.99
Intel Core i5-3450 - $199.99

Total = $961.91 before Tax/Shipping

Now this build doesn't let you overclock the CPU. For overclocking IB you are looking at an additional $50-$75 or going with a SB version you can do so for $25-$50. All depends if you think its worthwhile to spend the extra money on it.

Are you looking for an aftermarket cooler even if you decide to stick to no overclocking? If so you will want this.

PeteHMB · 2012-04-30, 12:34 AM

Originally Posted by Goku

You want the mATX form factor then? I'll whip you up a build so you have a idea of what to expect.

LIAN LI PC-A04B - $99.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $110
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW - $274.99
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99
ASUS Xonar DSX 7.1 Sound Card - $59.99
PC Power and Cooling Silencer MK III 500W Modular PSU - $79.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB DDR3 - $37.99
BIOSTAR H77MU3 LGA 1155 Intel H77 - $79.99
Intel Core i5-3450 - $199.99

Total = $961.91 before Tax/Shipping

Now this build doesn't let you overclock the CPU. For overclocking IB you are looking at an additional $50-$75 or going with a SB version you can do so for $25-$50. All depends if you think its worthwhile to spend the extra money on it.

Are you looking for an aftermarket cooler even if you decide to stick to no overclocking? If so you will want this.

Looks decent, but I'm wondering about the video card / power supply combo. Video card states it needs a minimum 550w power supply, and the one you listed is only a 500. Seems to me a 650w would be better, or at least a 600w.

Goku · 2012-04-30, 08:08 AM

The 500W is plenty if you are not overclocking actually. The vendors just recommend that to people often having shitty PSUs. That one I linked you is great. You can get this 600W version for $10 more. I just wasn't sure what the build was going to come to, so I only did the 500W. Adding a few components that cost an extra $10 that maybe not worthwhile will cause you to be held back on other components potentially.

What are your thoughts on overclocking? Take a look at this guide here to have an idea as to how to do it. Predator (just built his computer) doing a few options in his bios got his 2500K to 4.2GHz without any issues, he can go a lot higher too.

PeteHMB · 2012-05-02, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by Goku

The 500W is plenty if you are not overclocking actually. The vendors just recommend that to people often having shitty PSUs. That one I linked you is great. You can get this 600W version for $10 more. I just wasn't sure what the build was going to come to, so I only did the 500W. Adding a few components that cost an extra $10 that maybe not worthwhile will cause you to be held back on other components potentially.

What are your thoughts on overclocking? Take a look at this guide here to have an idea as to how to do it. Predator (just built his computer) doing a few options in his bios got his 2500K to 4.2GHz without any issues, he can go a lot higher too.

It's a possibility, but I'm wondering how much of the performance gains I'll actually notice in game. Additionally, what about the audio card? Have on-board audio cards improved enough in recent years where it's $60 better spent on a better video card / power supply?

Goku · 2012-05-02, 10:14 AM

For overclocking, generally the improvement depends on whether the game is CPU (SC2) or GPU (Metro 2033) bound. 2500K is cheap on newegg at the moment. If you do not feel the 3570k is worth the premium get that instead. Overclocking can also allow a processor to last a lot longer. Take for example the Q6600 that was released over 5 years ago. Stock clocks were 2.4GHz on that quad core. At those settings it was great for its time, however the past few years it started to show its age. Back then and now people overclocked to 3.6GHz, thats a 50% boost in free performance. These people went to a far better gaming experience at a flick of a switch basically. Thats why I think overclocking is great, free performance especially for down the road.

Audio cards well that all comes down to what you think. I have been using a sound card for almost 5 years now. I notice the difference between onboard and a dedicated sound card all the time. You could always put off the sound card and wait for a sale. I see deals a couple times a month anyway.

PeteHMB · 2012-05-04, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by Goku

For overclocking, generally the improvement depends on whether the game is CPU (SC2) or GPU (Metro 2033) bound. 2500K is cheap on newegg at the moment. If you do not feel the 3570k is worth the premium get that instead. Overclocking can also allow a processor to last a lot longer. Take for example the Q6600 that was released over 5 years ago. Stock clocks were 2.4GHz on that quad core. At those settings it was great for its time, however the past few years it started to show its age. Back then and now people overclocked to 3.6GHz, thats a 50% boost in free performance. These people went to a far better gaming experience at a flick of a switch basically. Thats why I think overclocking is great, free performance especially for down the road.

Audio cards well that all comes down to what you think. I have been using a sound card for almost 5 years now. I notice the difference between onboard and a dedicated sound card all the time. You could always put off the sound card and wait for a sale. I see deals a couple times a month anyway.

Gotcha. What I'm looking at though is more like measured performance ala Tomshardware.com style tests. Throw a load on the system and see how it does. OC'ing for 150% CPU power makes sense...but if my performance gain is from 100 FPS to 102 FPS was it really worth it? That's kind of my inner skepticism talking, not bashing or anything I'm just honestly curious. The numbers look great, and I'm liking the build...just tweaking it now. Can you tell me more about Nvidia vs AMD for video cards? Am I limited to Nvidia cards with an Intel build?

Goku · 2012-05-04, 10:35 AM

Nearly every review out there has a overclocking portion covered if its a K part Intel CPU. I suggest looking those up and see how the games you currently play react. Overclocking performance gains depend entirely on the game. Its not linear scaling. The 2500K is cheap on Newegg right now. Costs the same as a non K IB part at the moment. Far better buy.

Well don't order anything off that build just yet. What exactly are you tweaking? Please post it here to avoid getting something unnecessary. There is new deals out there so I would probably change a few parts in that right now. Just let me know when you actually want to order this.

You can put either Nvidia or AMD cards with Intel. What you want entirely depends on how much money you can spend. If you are still curious check out some reviews to see how the current gen performs.

PeteHMB · 2012-05-04, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by Goku

Nearly every review out there has a overclocking portion covered if its a K part Intel CPU. I suggest looking those up and see how the games you currently play react. Overclocking performance gains depend entirely on the game. Its not linear scaling. The 2500K is cheap on Newegg right now. Costs the same as a non K IB part at the moment. Far better buy.

Well don't order anything off that build just yet. What exactly are you tweaking? Please post it here to avoid getting something unnecessary. There is new deals out there so I would probably change a few parts in that right now. Just let me know when you actually want to order this.

You can put either Nvidia or AMD cards with Intel. What you want entirely depends on how much money you can spend. If you are still curious check out some reviews to see how the current gen performs.

Heh well at the moment I don't play ANY PC games. I have a 5 year old MacBook Pro that's lasted me far better than the Alienware it replaced, and pretty much just stick with my PS3. Last time I played any PC games was Planetside 1 followed by World of Warcraft...back in 2003-2005.

I'm a little behind the times on hardware. I did compare the CPUs and I think if anything, I'll drop the sound card and spend the extra $60 on this:

Intel i5 3570k Ivy Bridge 3.4ghz - $249

I'm also looking at this mobo instead of the one you listed, I figure all total I'm really only spending $10 more by dropping the sound card and swapping the CPU and mobo to this:

MSI H77MA-G43 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS + THX audio - $99

Goku · 2012-05-05, 10:15 AM

Sounds like a good idea. You need a Z77 mobo to overclock BTW.

Just FYI the midrange 660 Ti and 670 will be coming out in the middle of this month. I recommend getting one of those two to run this game. Just depends on pricing.

Updated buid w/ 3570K:

LIAN LI PC-A04B - $99.99 (Feel free to put in another case you like)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $109.99
Galaxy 57NKH3HS4GXK GeForce GTX 570 - $284.99 (Place holder for GTX 660/670)
SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $19.99
SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W - $69.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $38.99
Intel Core i5-3570K & GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H Combo - $349.98

Total = $973.92

If you want to overclock right away get the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO.

PeteHMB · 2012-05-07, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by Goku

Sounds like a good idea. You need a Z77 mobo to overclock BTW.

Just FYI the midrange 660 Ti and 670 will be coming out in the middle of this month. I recommend getting one of those two to run this game. Just depends on pricing.

Updated buid w/ 3570K:

LIAN LI PC-A04B - $99.99 (Feel free to put in another case you like)
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $109.99
Galaxy 57NKH3HS4GXK GeForce GTX 570 - $284.99 (Place holder for GTX 660/670)
SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $19.99
SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W - $69.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $38.99
Intel Core i5-3570K & GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H Combo - $349.98

Total = $973.92

If you want to overclock right away get the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO.

New mobo/cpu combo looks good. Case-wise...still undecided. It's a toss-up between the one you posted, and this one.

Goku · 2012-05-07, 09:19 AM

I have the TJ-08-E and I love it personally. I think its a toss up. Flip a coin?

PeteHMB · 2012-05-07, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by Goku

I have the TJ-08-E and I love it personally. I think its a toss up. Flip a coin?

What do you think of these power supplies?

Comparison

edit - current build:

SilverStone Temjin Series TJ08B-E - $97.99
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $109.99
EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti - $289.99
LITE-ON Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive - $18.99
[POWER SUPPLY BLOCK]
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB DDR3 - $37.99
GIGABYTE GA-Z77M-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 - $114.99
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz - $249.99

Total = $920.93 before Tax/Shipping