Buying a new gaming computer, review appreciated

[darkdiablo]

Intel Core i7-860 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - 279.99

2 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - 211.98 (total of 8 gigabytes)

GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - 104.99

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V - 99.99

HIS H585F1GDG Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 - 339.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - 99.99

a 22 dollar good old DVD drive

a 23.6'' 1920 x 1080 resolution LCD monitor

Matches up well, picked it so that its roomy for heat escape.
This casing:

total up about 1.5k dollars. I been tired of using the same shitty laptop for years, really want some fun.

Once I get the parts, will assemble it, and try it out, hopefully this will workout pretty well =)

 

[MisterDonut]

8GB is unnecessary for gaming, and I would get the 640gb HDD (Denser platters). I'm pretty sure you can find a cheaper 5850 (~300). Otherwise it looks great . If you wanted to shave off some more bucks, you could go the bang-for-buck route and save about $180 by getting the AMD 620 Propus for now, and eventually the new AM3 hexacore processors coming out for ~$250. Are you planning on OC's?

 

[darkdiablo]

8GB is unnecessary for gaming, and I would get the 640gb HDD (Denser platters). I'm pretty sure you can find a cheaper 5850 (~300). Otherwise it looks great . If you wanted to shave off some more bucks, you could go the bang-for-buck route and save about $180 by getting the AMD 620 Propus for now, and eventually the new AM3 hexacore processors coming out for ~$250. Are you planning on OC's?

The reason I chose 8 gig RAM was cause if every part of my computer, is way overkill for the most modern games, why limit its power with less RAM. And yea, I saw some deals for the 5850 for cheaper, but I honestly would rather go with a more reputable seller, for the warranty and safety. And I dont think I will overclock it, as there is no need for that for now, since its already a pretty powerful PC once assembled. And I honestly think the overlocking might produce more heat (greater fan noise), more stability problems, and increase the chances for damage.

You do have a point on getting a denser platter 640 gig HDD instead of the 1 TB. I'll have to research some more on this, I might go for the 640 gig instead, since I'm pretty sure I wont even use 300 gig of the HDD for storage.

 

[darkdiablo]

8GB is unnecessary for gaming, and I would get the 640gb HDD (Denser platters). I'm pretty sure you can find a cheaper 5850 (~300). Otherwise it looks great . If you wanted to shave off some more bucks, you could go the bang-for-buck route and save about $180 by getting the AMD 620 Propus for now, and eventually the new AM3 hexacore processors coming out for ~$250. Are you planning on OC's?

Update: I changed my HDD to a Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5.

Since this was cheaper, I up'd my VGA to the ATI Radeon HD 5780.

So after doing some math, you're right the 640 GB HDD is slight faster, and slightly cheaper, so why the hell not. At the same time, I realize I probably won't ever need anymore than 300 gig of space. In addition I get a better VGA, meh, good enough.

 

[MisterDonut]

With no OC plans, the 860 TurboBoost will do you great justice. For what you're using your computer for, 4GB will definitely not limit your system (unless you purposely do). You can easily shave off $100 now, save that money, and if in the future, you see a need for 8GB, then get it. My friend has been telling about the 6xxx in September, so I would save as much money as you can, see how they perform (We're hoping 5970+!!), and then spend your money in a wiser way (or you can actually utilize the Eyefinity technology and buy more LCDs!!). Bottom line: much better ways to spend $100 than on RAM you don't need. I would even advise an SSD upgrade over extra RAM, and I never advise SSDs for gaming unless you have the money for it (in which case, I usually advise to save it). The rest of that rig should hold for quite a long time.

 

[Absolution75]

Update: I changed my HDD to a Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5.

Since this was cheaper, I up'd my VGA to the ATI Radeon HD 5780.

So after doing some math, you're right the 640 GB HDD is slight faster, and slightly cheaper, so why the hell not. At the same time, I realize I probably won't ever need anymore than 300 gig of space. In addition I get a better VGA, meh, good enough.

Actually I'm pretty sure that the 1TB WD Black Drive now uses 2x500GB platter drives while the 640GB drive still uses 2x320GB platters.

Either is good though. I'd do the same as you still.

 

[MisterDonut]

Actually I'm pretty sure that the 1TB WD Black Drive now uses 2x500GB platter drives while the 640GB drive still uses 2x320GB platters.

Either is good though. I'd do the same as you still.

Yeah they have a new 1TB version, but it's priced @ $120. And there is almost no gain in speed. IMO, not worth it.

 

[mfenn]

With no OC plans, the 860 TurboBoost will do you great justice. For what you're using your computer for, 4GB will definitely not limit your system (unless you purposely do). You can easily shave off $100 now, save that money, and if in the future, you see a need for 8GB, then get it. My friend has been telling about the 6xxx in September, so I would save as much money as you can, see how they perform (We're hoping 5970+!!), and then spend your money in a wiser way (or you can actually utilize the Eyefinity technology and buy more LCDs!!). Bottom line: much better ways to spend $100 than on RAM you don't need. I would even advise an SSD upgrade over extra RAM, and I never advise SSDs for gaming unless you have the money for it (in which case, I usually advise to save it). The rest of that rig should hold for quite a long time.

Eh, if he wants a computer now, don't worry about the future too much. Something faster is always just around the corner. I say go with the 5000 series now.

 

[darkdiablo]

Eh, if he wants a computer now, don't worry about the future too much. Something faster is always just around the corner. I say go with the 5000 series now.

Yea, exactly what I thought, stuff involving computer and hardware always increase in quality and speed within 6 month, by the time the faster components come out, there will even faster hardware announced or planned. Its a infinite wait time for the perfect part

 

[shingletingle]

Get a 24" 1920x1200 monitor instead of a 1920x1080 monitor.

 

[darkdiablo]

Get a 24" 1920x1200 monitor instead of a 1920x1080 monitor.

Thats a little out of my budget, I've been playing games on a 1280 x 800 monitor for the past 3 years, a 1920 x 1080 would be a huge change.

 

[MisterDonut]

Eh, if he wants a computer now, don't worry about the future too much. Something faster is always just around the corner. I say go with the 5000 series now.

Yeah something faster is always around the corner. I was just pointing out ways to spend $100 on something other than RAM that would be unused. No reason to wait for 6xxx, but it'll be $100 off when it does release if you don't buy an extra kit .

 

[mfenn]

Yeah something faster is always around the corner. I was just pointing out ways to spend $100 on something other than RAM that would be unused. No reason to wait for 6xxx, but it'll be $100 off when it does release if you don't buy an extra kit .

Also true. However, there are plenty of ways to use more that 4GB of RAM.

For example, Windows is very stupid when it comes to managing the page file. It is way too aggressive when paging out memory, thus leading to a slow feeling when switching between programs. 8GB lets you safely turn the pagefile off, and thus avoid the problem altogether. It's not an ideal solution, but until Windows adopts the Linux model (separate swap partition and only page out when absolutely necessary), then disabling the pagefile will improve the performance of the system.

Other ways include, virtual machines, big video or image editing, ridiculous multitasking, etc. Remember also that a 64-bit version of Windows 7 uses somewhere between 1.5GB and 2GB of memory with just normal processes running (this is because 64bit instructions are twice as long as 32bit instructions and nearly all of the core Windows components are 64bit executables).

OK, so that was really long winded, but you get my point. HOWEVER, 4GB is sufficient for gaming and general usage, but it is fairly easy for a power user to need more.

 

[MisterDonut]

Haha, yeah that's all too true. I don't know too many people who have actually disabled pagefile though. I didn't know about the significant performance increase, probably cause...well...they haven't done so!

Of course, for VM's, memory-consuming editing, and multi-tasking (which would seriously need to be ridiculous, haha) you'd definitely need an extra kit, but I'm basing this on the assumption that he's just using this rig for mainly gaming and nothing else he is using it for will require 8GB. OP, correct me if I'm wrong here please . This is all just advice. Your rig!