BATTLEFIELD 3 is coming, pick my GPU / PSU

[MaximumTacos]

Thanks mucho guys, especially to mfenn! I have updated my OP to make more sense:

Mobo Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard
CPU cooling Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-GP Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler
Processor Intel Core i5-2500K
RAM 16GB Patriot Gamer, (sold the Vengeance on craigslist for what I paid for, shwing)
SDD Intel 320 series SSD
HDD 2TB Western Digital
PSU XFX Pro Core 550W
Optical Drive One of my old Samsungs
Soundcard Asus Xonar. I've been using non-onboard sound since 1997. Maybe I'll concede during the *next* generation of motherboards.
Monitor Samsung 24", 1920x1080 native, 60hz. Also have a Dell 20" 1680X1050 for optional extra monitor time.

Here is something stupid I posted originally, and I preserve it so others will not follow the same idiocy: "In other words, two new 1080 flat panel monitors, preferably not paying more than $220 for the pair. I see them going for $100-120 each as deals on tigerdirect, I'm confident that I can poach a deal by black friday."

NO. NO. CHEAP NO NAME $99 MONITORS ARE A SERIOUS GAMBLE. ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HABITUALLY BUY SCRATCH TICKETS AT THE GAS STATION.

What's a good GPU? What's coming out soon? Anything new that might be coming out and driving down prices for everything else?

I was going to wait until BF3 is released to get the card, maybe even score a "Battlefield 3" edition if it will exist, but now I want to play some Bad Company 2.

Currently looking at the GTX 560s.

 

[leglez]

I will be following this, was just getting ready to post a very similar thread. I built something very similar to this about 2 months ago. Built for BF3, and have been waiting as long as possible before release to purchase GPU, SSD, and new monitors.

 

[ieatdonuts]

It always pays to wait - price drops, possibly a new release.

That said I'm not too enthused about your decision to stay with such a low-end monitor. If I were to upgrade from that I guess you could do dual monitors but I would go with a nice 24" 120 hz screen as your primary instead. FPS games - BF3 for sure - would benefit from a 120 hz monitor.

 

[Soulviper]

It always pays to wait - price drops, possibly a new release.

That said I'm not too enthused about your decision to stay with such a low-end monitor. If I were to upgrade from that I guess you could do dual monitors but I would go with a nice 24" 120 hz screen as your primary instead. FPS games - BF3 for sure - would benefit from a 120 hz monitor.

yes, all the new games pending it looks to be a good year to be a pc gamer. Looking for a bigger screen then 24. i read of the acer one thats at 27. well its more for 3d.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

I bet that PSU will blow up soon. You really need to get something better. Buying a poor quality PSU will lead to system instability and fried parts. I would not put a GTX 560 Ti on it. Or even a i5 2500k for that matter. That brand is highly suspect. This is modular without the fail. It isn't overpriced. That is how much a good PSU cost's these days. It is not overwattaged. If anything it is underrated. The PSU you have now is overwattaged. I would be suprised if it put out 250watts on a good day.

 

[Rvenger]

I bet that PSU will blow up soon. You really need to get something better. Buying a poor quality PSU will lead to system instability and fried parts. I would not put a GTX 560 Ti on it. Or even a i5 2500k for that matter. That brand is highly suspect. This is modular without the fail. It isn't overpriced. That is how much a good PSU cost's these days. It is not overwattaged. If anything it is underrated. The PSU you have now is overwattaged. I would be suprised if it put out 250watts on a good day.

I agree that the Apevia PSU is junk. I mean complete junk like this http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Apevia-Turbolink-ATX-TL450W-BK-Power-Supply-Review/1212

But recommending an 850watt power supply and saying that there are no good powersupplies under that price is not a valid statement IMO.


OP - This would suit your needs just fine... Take your pick.

Non Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139028
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151096
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371047

Half Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...6&Tpk=bp550%2b

Full Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151093

 

[mvbighead]

I bet that PSU will blow up soon. You really need to get something better. Buying a poor quality PSU will lead to system instability and fried parts. I would not put a GTX 560 Ti on it. Or even a i5 2500k for that matter. That brand is highly suspect. This is modular without the fail. It isn't overpriced. That is how much a good PSU cost's these days. It is not overwattaged. If anything it is underrated. The PSU you have now is overwattaged. I would be suprised if it put out 250watts on a good day.

Isn't overpriced? $160 for a PSU isn't overpriced?

If the OP really needed to go that high, this would be a better option:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371049
($70 after MIR)

However, I would recommend something more along the lines of:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371031

or this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139028

The I5-2500k is not a juice sucker, and the rest of your build, IMO, does not require anything close to 800 watts.

EDIT: Seems someone already beat me to it.

 

[mfenn]

I agree that the Apevia PSU is junk. I mean complete junk like this http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Apevia-Turbolink-ATX-TL450W-BK-Power-Supply-Review/1212

But recommending an 850watt power supply and saying that there are no good powersupplies under that price is not a valid statement IMO.


OP - This would suit your needs just fine... Take your pick.

Non Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139028
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151096
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371047

Half Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...6&Tpk=bp550%2b

Full Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151093

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

OP, regarding your build, may I say "ouch"? I think you really should have posted here before buying all that stuff. A few things jump out at me:
- PSU, as mentioned above.
- IDE HDD, good luck plugging that into the Z68A-D3H :awe:
- RAM, $20 that could have been spent on the PSU or GPU
- Case, unless you really like huge cases, you could have gone with the 922

As for the GPU, I'd get the least expensive 6950 2GB, which is that Sapphire at the moment.

 

[MaximumTacos]

I love huge cases. My current system is in a Thermaltake Xaser iii.

IDE HDD is needed for another box anyway thanks to a stupid stupid motherboard that won't boot directly to SATA. I'd have gotten it anyway.

RAM was me being dumb.

PSU was me being dumb.

I'm also cobbling together a computer for someone who owes me money, and they're paying me cost of materials + the money they owe me as payment. I'll use the PSU for that. Either that or I'll try to return them both and get something better like this XFX Core Edition PRO550W

 

[mfenn]

IDE HDD is needed for another box anyway thanks to a stupid stupid motherboard that won't boot directly to SATA. I'd have gotten it anyway.

Fair enough, but that does leave me confused as to why you listed it with this build, when it won't plug in?

Either that or I'll try to return them both and get something better like this XFX Core Edition PRO550W

:thumbsup:

 

[MaximumTacos]

Fair enough, but that does leave me confused as to why you listed it with this build, when it won't plug in?

Because I did something stupid and thought I could use it as part of the build path.

Should I go SSD alone, or SSD + 64gb cache drive SSD, or SSD + 5400 rpm HDD, or SSD + cache SSD + 5400 rpm HDD?

 

[mfenn]

Should I go SSD alone, or SSD + 64gb cache drive SSD, or SSD + 5400 rpm HDD, or SSD + cache SSD + 5400 rpm HDD?

Unless you have very small storage requirements, you will need to get a mechanical HDD of some kind. My preferred setup if you have the budget 120GB SSD + 2TB HDD. The 120GB SSD is plenty of space to install big programs and games (unless you're one of those people who must have their entire game library installed at once) and the 2TB is for media storage.

Patriot Pyro 120GB $185 AR
Samsung F4 2TB $80

 

[MaximumTacos]

Unless you have very small storage requirements, you will need to get a mechanical HDD of some kind. My preferred setup if you have the budget 120GB SSD + 2TB HDD. The 120GB SSD is plenty of space to install big programs and games (unless you're one of those people who must have their entire game library installed at once) and the 2TB is for media storage.

Patriot Pyro 120GB $185 AR
Samsung F4 2TB $80

Be the first to review this product...

:<

 

[mfenn]

:<

Anandtech took a look at it recently and thought that it was pretty decent.

 

[MaximumTacos]

Patriot was a close second but I stuck with Intel.

I69-7022 ::Intel SSDSA2CW120G3K5 320 120GB Solid-State Drive

Also found better memory, still working on returning my $79.99 mistake.

P33-5310 :atriot PG34G1333EL Gamer 2 Desktop Memory Module - 4GB, PC3-10666

Gonna have to order to other addresses just to take advantage of the rebate for two more sticks.

Instant savings on this went away, but I still ordered it: P450-9216 ::XFX P1550SXXB9 Core Edition Power Supply - 550W, 80 Plus Bronze, 135mm Fan

And finally, for sound, I'm aware this isn't a lot better than onboard, that there may be placebo effect involved, but I currently have a basic SB 5.1 card (and an audigy in another rig) both asus motherboards with onboard 5.1 sound, and overall, I prefer a dedicated card.

A455-2621 ::Asus Xonar DX PCIe 7.1 Sound Card

 

[mfenn]

All that stuff looks fine except I still strongly disagree about the sound card. You can at least build the PC without it and see what you think before ordering one.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

i recently purchased a Asus Xonar DX and they seriously blew my mind away.. i highly recommend this soundcard to anyone
http://www.eio.com/p-30609-asus-xonar-dx-71-channels-pci-express-x1-interface-sound-card.aspx

PSU wise, i highly suggest something with more power for somethings that you want it to be powerful enough to run BF3. at least 800W...
http://www.eio.com/c-291-power-supplies.aspx?pagesize=12&sectionids=679&expand=130

and for GSU wise, GTX 580 for sure... lol maybe SLI it :wub:
but seems like a lot of the cards out nowadays are REFERENCE cards, so idk if many of them are going to make a significant difference in brand.

Dude, its GPU not GSU (wtf is a GSU?)
he already BOUGHT the PSU

 

[mfenn]

PSU wise, i highly suggest something with more power for somethings that you want it to be powerful enough to run BF3. at least 800W...
http://www.eio.com/c-291-power-supplies.aspx?pagesize=12&sectionids=679&expand=130

and for GSU wise, GTX 580 for sure... lol maybe SLI it :wub:
but seems like a lot of the cards out nowadays are REFERENCE cards, so idk if many of them are going to make a significant difference in brand.

Are you high? The game doesn't determine how much power you need. The other components in the system do. Also, GTX 580 SLI for 1680x1050? LOL.

 

[MaximumTacos]

So, we're currently sitting at a completed build, minus the video card. I'm quite happily browsing away with the onboard video on the motherboard until then- BUT I kinda want to throw in a GPU so I can play some Bad Company 2 up until release of BF3.

Maybe a GTX 560, and then later when their prices drop, add another in SLI? I'm not entirely sold on SLI as a be all, end all solution, though.

For quick reference, the current specs germane to card selection have been updated in the OP.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the shout out in the new and improved OP! :awe:

I would say to not bother planning to upgrade to SLI, it's not worth it. The only launch that we might see before BF3 comes out is the Radeon 7000 series. Depending on your budget, the GTX 560 Ti, 6950 2GB, and GTX 570 are all good choices.

 

[MaximumTacos]

This looks sexy and PNY is a very reliable brand:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...420&amp;CatId=3669
PNY 560ti, one fan, slight OC, after rebate around $200 before shipping

But, the twin frozr has a very good reputation:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...652&amp;CatId=3669
$239 before ship
(base model before any OC models)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133380
And at Newegg, the PNY model is there with an900mhz OC, free Arkham City coupon which I could sell off, which almost counterbalances the nearly $30 in shipping and tax... if the rebate works and I manage to sell Arkham City, I could get the card for $190-200.

Failure on either of those two reimbursements would suck, though.

I will probably go with the Twin Frozr.

 

[MaximumTacos]

Also here's a 6870 for $169 after $20 MIR.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...e=00-5699391-2

And another for $169 after $30 MIR, with a very (15mhz) light OC.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...008&amp;CatId=7005

 

[T_Yamamoto]

TWIN FROZR are the bomb.com

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

TWIN FROZR are the bomb.com

+++

Purchased the GTX460 twin frozr II and was extremely surprised by its cooling. It ran about ~35-40C idle and like 50-55C load with 30-35C ambient (terrible OEM ventilated case). I know it is only a GTX460 but still seemed very low temps for me.

 

[mfenn]

I don't think that I'd call PNY a reliable brand for GPUs. They are one of the most universally panned OEMs. None of the cards that you linked are very good deals at all. You should be paying closer to $150 AR for a 6870.