Component suggestion needed for "higher" end rig

[MysteriousRJC]

The load time & dumbed down graphic on my 6 yr old pc is pushing me to upgrade. I'd like a "higher" end rig... not extreme bleeding edge high end but high end... I like to buy higher end so I can squeeze 5 years out before having to upgrade again.

I'm going to keep my current case as its solid. Keeping my trackball and monitor. My 2TB sata 3 2nd harddrive I'd like to keep as the main storage drive if it makes sense. Maybe my dvd burner unless theres a cheap blueray burner or need for new.

So I need suggestions for RAM, videocard, cooling fan, SSD for first primary hd, power supply, keyboard, motherboard.

I prefer Intel but for a significant price diff I'd switch. For videocard I want high end, no brand pref... good amount of RAM, midrange amount.......

Primary use... every day but definitely solid to high end gaming capable....I'm not a heavy PC gamer anymore but when I play something I want it to look nice & run smoothly ... not extreme perfect, but really good... u know?

Price range... no idea... lets say around $1500? I don't know prices anymore.


So please let the suggestion fly, thank you.

 

[tracerbullet]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

 

[aarontpx]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

Yes plz.

 

[Steltek]

A good place to start would be mfenn's newest mid range build here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2192841

Based upon the limited information you have provided (you really need to fill out the sticky info as requested by the prior posters), it should be sufficiently high end for your needs. In fact, you could probably drop the video card back to a HD7850 or HD7870 for some significant savings, while still leaving you a system capable of quite decent gaming performance.

 

[Sleepingforest]

You'll basically never be able to keep a gaming rig for 5 years and have it perform at the same level for all 5 years. It may start out at Ultra with MSAA, and then drop down to just Ultra, and then High, and so on down each year. Graphical processing power just improves too quickly for a card to remain "very good" for more than a year or two.

Instead, save some of that money and get a better card every two years or so (maybe a $300 card every other year). Graphics cards are some of the easiest parts to replace: just uninstall the drivers, power off, take out the old card, put in the new one, and grab the new drivers. Done.

 

[MysteriousRJC]

You'll basically never be able to keep a gaming rig for 5 years and have it perform at the same level for all 5 years. It may start out at Ultra with MSAA, and then drop down to just Ultra, and then High, and so on down each year. Graphical processing power just improves too quickly for a card to remain "very good" for more than a year or two.

Instead, save some of that money and get a better card every two years or so (maybe a $300 card every other year). Graphics cards are some of the easiest parts to replace: just uninstall the drivers, power off, take out the old card, put in the new one, and grab the new drivers. Done.

When I said 5 years I just meant the whole shebang wouldn't be out-dated after 2yrs... I'd still run OK mid range video...I agree the videocard won't run high end after a couple years & I agree about upgrading it.



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Current specs:
Antec P180 + optional 120mm cooling fan
Antec Trio 650w PSU
Conroe Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.66 GHz)
Scythe Ninja Plus heatsink
ATI x1950 Crossfire 512mb
ASUS P5W DH Deluxe
Corsair Twin2X2048-6400C4 (4-4-4-12)
Seagate 7200.10 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s
Western Digital 2TB SATA3
Pioneer DVR-111D Dual Layer DVD±R/RW Drive
LG 16X Black DVD-ROM (48X CD-ROM) IDE
Samsung 20 something inch flat screen monitor.... 1920x1080
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi ExtremeMusic
Cambridge Soundworks 4 points speakers + Subwoofer
Window XP PRO SP3



1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming (shooters, World Of Tanks, RPG, driving, RealFlight)


2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

I'll buy what's best to buy in the situation... I tend to buy higher end to get longer life... say $1500 as a start point


3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

Canada/USA.... I'm in Canada but 45 min from the US border to allow smuggling


4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Intel... but if there's a better buy I'm not brand loyal to the death... other components no care


5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Keeping case, optical drives if possible, trackball, monitor, the Western Digital 2TB SATA3.... soundcard???...

RAM, CPU, videocard, mobo, keyboard, soundcard maybe are the upgrade candidates... + a SSD


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
default specs


8. What resolution will you be using?
Samsung 20 something inch flat screen monitor.... 1920x1080....


9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.


build with the next month or so


10. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

XP Pro SP3 currently.... need to buy Win7 64bit Pro

 

[Sleepingforest]

If you're building sometime this week: 'd say start with mfenn's $1000 build, but throw in a bigger SSD and a slightly better case. Also, take advantage of Newegg's inventory-clearing combo deals to get an excellent Z77 board and an i5-3570K for very cheap. That'll give you Ultra at 1080p for a year or two, at least.

Otherwise, I'd say come back and resurrect this thread closer to when you build (the week of) to get better deals.

 

[MysteriousRJC]

Does anyone maintain a constant thread for a high-end build like to compare to the midrange builds?

 

[DSF]

Does anyone maintain a constant thread for a high-end build like to compare to the midrange builds?

Not here generally. There are some places out there that update one every so often.

There's really no reason to go overboard for gaming on a 1920x1080 monitor though. Considering how many parts you're reusing you could probably spend half your money now and half in two years and just have a sick rig for four years in a row. In my opinion it's a much better plan than spending all your money now and going true high-end.

Buying higher-end really doesn't give you an appreciably longer life in most circumstances. Buying high-end is about increasing performance up front.

 

[Bricked]

If you're not planning to ever overclock this rig then an i5-3570 with an Asus/Gigabyte H77 or even a B75 board will be plenty and it will last you a good while. However, that Newegg combo deal that Sleepingforest linked is a good price and you certainly won't lose any performance with that setup. You will also have the option of overclocking in the future if you ever desire to do so. 8GB of Corsair or G.Skill 1600Mhz RAM will be plenty. For the SSD I'd suggest a Samsung or Crucial M4 (not the V4) and an EVGA GTX 680 for the GPU. 2GB of VRAM for the GPU will be plenty for resolutions up to 1920x1080.

You didn't mention whether or not you'll be re-using your PSU.

The keyboard will be personal preference, but if you're going to get a new one then get a good one. A sound card won't be needed but if you want something better than onboard then you don't want a cheap card, you'll want something like a Xonar DX or Sound Blaster Z at the minimum.

 

[Termie]

Does anyone maintain a constant thread for a high-end build like to compare to the midrange builds?

What going over $1200 or so gets you is the following:

(1) a CPU with hyperthreading and/or 6 cores, which will matter more as time goes on - if you're building a system that you'd like to to use for more than a couple of years, the extra $100 is probably worth it.
(2) a motherboard with more features (but not necessarily any performance improvements)
(3) a much nicer case
(4) faster/more storage
(5) a more efficient/quieter power supply, and potentially a higher-capacity one (although you likely don't need it)
(6) dual graphics cards

By the way, trying to stick with your old IDE optical drives is way more trouble than it's worth when SATA DVD burners can be had for $15.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Get a low end every 2 years rather than high end every five years.

 

[mfenn]

When I said 5 years I just meant the whole shebang wouldn't be out-dated after 2yrs... I'd still run OK mid range video...I agree the videocard won't run high end after a couple years & I agree about upgrading it.

Your current system should be all of the proof you need that buying a high-end machine and holding onto it for 5-6 years is a bad idea. Your x1900 CFX is pitifully slow and has next to no video memory. I'm surprised you can even run most new games, much less play at 1080p. If you had bought a single x1900 back in '06 and upgraded to a single 5870 in 2010, you'd be much happier camper today.

So let's not go and repeat the mistakes of the past, ok?

My advice is to get a really good single-GPU machine for $1000-1200 (depending on how many luxuries like a big SSD you want) and save the other $300-500 for a GPU upgrade in 3 years.

 

[MysteriousRJC]

@mfenn... I can't run new stuff on it at decent graphics, only low end but my laptop which is newer bridged the gAp for the little I got to the last year or so....


With that said I had written the follow down last night as a first cut... I'd like opinions & answers to bold questions... The videocard may be the one thing I go big on upfront.


$240 - Intel Core i5 3570K Unlocked Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB Retail

http://forums.ncix.com/forums/?mode..._id=70541&msgcount=5&overclockid=0#msg2600998

"Unlocked" is just for OC'ing? Should I just get the one not unlocked that's cheaper by $30?



$130 - ASUS P8Z77-V Lk ATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA3 SLI DVI HDMI DP USB3.0 Motherboard

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=71114&vpn=P8Z77-V LK&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1360


$143 - G.SKILL Sniper F3-1866C10D-16GSR 16GB 2X8GB DDR3-1866 CL10 240PIN 1.5V Dual Channel Memory Kit

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=78196&vpn=F3-1866C10D-16GSR&manufacture=G.Skill


$260 - Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5in SATA3 MDX Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD w/ Full Kit

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77214&vpn=MZ-7TD250KW&manufacture=Samsung Memory & Storage

There is one that does not say "full kit"... for $40 cheaper... what is the kit?

$230 - Corsair AX860I 860W ATX 12V V2.31 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply Active PFC 120mm Fan

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77638&vpn=CP-9020037-NA&manufacture=Corsair

Just grabbed the first 850w power supply to match a 7970... cheaper option?

$145 - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64BIT DVD SP1 OEM (Friend may be able to freebie me this)

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45275&vpn=FQC-04649&manufacture=Microsoft&promoid=1371


$450 - AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 GHz Edition

Is there an AMD branded out there? or is XFX and Gigabyte all the same? What non-AMD brand is most reliable.


$20 - ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=49597&vpn=DRW-24B1ST Bulk&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1371


***$1473-1618


There was the question of the soundcard... I was going to keep my current speakers... should/could I reuse the current soundcard? How good/bad is onboard sound?



Looking fore feedback.......

 

[mfenn]

That's way too expensive for what it is. Take a look at my $1000 midrange build for the core system. If you want more RAM and a bigger SSD, sub in this AMD DDR3 1600 16GB kit and this Samsung 840 250GB for about $120 more.

 

[aarontpx]

The cpu and motherboard you listed can be had for $284.98 after mir on newegg.

Also the corsair ax-860i is based on this seasonic power supply which is much cheaper. Though not digitally regulated if you care about that. However, if you do not plan to crossfire or sli 2 or more video cards you will not need more than 600watts period. A quality 550 watt power supply will be fine.

 

[aarontpx]

$260 - Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5in SATA3 MDX Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD w/ Full Kit http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=77...0%26%20Storage There is one that does not say "full kit"... for $40 cheaper... what is the kit?

Probably bracket adapters for 3.5 inch bays etc. Possibly even w/o the case (only the bare pcb).

 

[MysteriousRJC]

The cpu and motherboard you listed can be had for $284.98 after mir on newegg.

Also the corsair ax-860i is based on this seasonic power supply which is much cheaper. Though not digitally regulated if you care about that. However, if you do not plan to crossfire or sli 2 or more video cards you will not need more than 600watts period. A quality 550 watt power supply will be fine.

I was looking at the 7970 ghz card which said on its specs 850w... am I incorrect regarding that?

 

[MysteriousRJC]

That's way too expensive for what it is. Take a look at my $1000 midrange build for the core system. If you want more RAM and a bigger SSD, sub in this AMD DDR3 1600 16GB kit and this Samsung 840 250GB for about $120 more.

Thank you for those links

 

[Sleepingforest]

I was looking at the 7970 ghz card which said on its specs 850w... am I incorrect regarding that?

They overstate what the card needs because many people buy cheap, crappy power supplies that claim a high wattage but cannot output half of it. As long as you stick to good brands like Seasonic, Antec, XFX, and Corsair, you'll be fine with a 500W PSU.

 

[MysteriousRJC]

They overstate what the card needs because many people buy cheap, crappy power supplies that claim a high wattage but cannot output half of it. As long as you stick to good brands like Seasonic, Antec, XFX, and Corsair, you'll be fine with a 500W PSU.

So I could just reuse my Antec Trio 650w PSU? No worries or issues?

 

[Termie]

So I could just reuse my Antec Trio 650w PSU? No worries or issues?

Yes. Just one caveat - a few HD7970 models require two 8-pin connectors. I can't tell which one you've chosen, but your PSU only has a 6+2-pin and a 6-pin connector. That will work for most HD7970 models.

 

[MysteriousRJC]

Thanks