Gaming Rig for $1500-1700! Your advice appreciated!

[Underground Shogun]

PLEASE when you POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us...

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

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Shooting for around $1500-1700

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

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.
In the past I have been a fan of AMD, ASUS, and Seagate, but am open to other alternatives.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
None - This will be a brand new build from the ground up.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Yes

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I am not totally opposed to overclocking, but if it means the difference of my rig lasting longer (years) by not doing it, then probably not.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
As good as I can without performance issues.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Probably within the next 6 weeks.


Also, I need a new monitor badly, so that should be taken into consideration with my price range listed above.


/***Note: I am looking for cutting edge tech here, not bleeding edge. I don't build systems enough to know every nook and cranny on the best products out there any given week, though I consider myself very proficient with computers. I just don't have the time these days to spend reading review after review of something that will be obsolete in 6 months.***/

Thanks,

underground.shogun

 

[jkresh]

i7 or if you can wait maybe an i5, for gpu either a 4870x2 or gtx295, or if you are not going with that large a monitor maybe a 4890, but in 2 months or so the nextgen cards will be out so it might make sense to just buy a 4850 and wait till the first dx11 cards are out (around when windows 7 releases) rather hten spending a lot on a card now.

 

[brblx]

what size monitor are you thinking?

i7 920, 6GB, a 4890, and a decent 24" monitor should fit nicely within your budget. there are many similar builds out there, take a look at some other recent threads. if you need a full parts breakdown, i'm sure you'll get some takers.

where do you plan on shopping? got a local microcenter?

 

[Underground Shogun]

I'm looking at about a 24" monitor. I'm also thinking of running Win7 on it. What other parts would you guys suggest? Mobo, power, case, etc? I plan on shopping for most of this online unless I can find lower prices at the local Fry's Electronics.

 

[brblx]

for a monitor, i'd look at NEC's 24" H-IPS, which is around $400. for just gaming, though, you may be just as happy (maybe even better off) with a TN panel, which would save you 100-150 bucks.

using $1200 as a budget, i selected the following stuff-

antec CP-650, sonata case, 175
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.216861

i7 920, mobo, 505
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?ItemList=Combo.238325

xfx 4890, 200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150359

6gb ddr3, 115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231223

that's around a thousand, you've got enough left for your optical drive, a decent hard drive (caviar black 640 and 1tb are popular and quick), and a nice CPU cooler.

 

[bbarry]

not including os, monitor, case, mouse, keyboard or optical drive, here is the system I am planning on:

Core system:
280 Core i7-920
113 Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3-1600
113 Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3-1600
200 MSI X58 Pro-E
200 MSI Radeon HD 4890 OC 1GB
95 Corsair TX850 850W
230 Intel X25-M 80GB G2 (newegg says eta 8/28)

total base system cost:
$1231

possible upgrades:
95 Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
200 MSI Radeon HD 4890 OC 1GB (to run in SLI)
119 Logitech G35 headset

Prices were recently gathered on newegg and rounded to the nearest dollar. I didn't include a case because I got a steal on an Antec 902 (damaged/opened box at a local store). Also you probably don't need 12GB ram (I intend on having a 4GB ramdisk).

As for monitors at the 24 inch range there is only a couple that are looking good right now (I really really liked the hp 2408 but it seems they stopped selling it):
$535 - HP LP2475w (reviews are great; IPS panel; recommended in the LCD thread)
$200 - Acer G24 (good reviews [the only downside seems to be the orange edge]; recommended in the LCD thread over in the display forum as the 24in gaming display; TN panel)
$310 - Samsung T240 (not the T240HD [the hd is more expensive and isn't reviewed as good]; not in the LCD thread; TN panel)
??? - any of the NEC IPS panels (most are on the LCD thread; some of the reviews I have found don't like the lag time)

I wouldn't try to recommend a monitor for you though. For that there is "The LCD thread":
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=31&threadid=2049206

The only thing left for me to figure out is the CPU cooler (apparently a common problem is that on some mobos, some coolers eliminate the usability of the first ram space). I am still looking into something here (I plan on OCing the 920).

 

[Underground Shogun]

So far I am thinking about the following:

i7 920 + ASUS P6T LGA 1366 (anyone know if the P6T6 is worth the extra $)?

Case:
Either http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129021
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811129058

Power: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139006

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145236
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820226030
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231247
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820145222
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227388
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231225
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820148253

So yeah, I need some advice on the above...lets move on to...

Graphics:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150359
OR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161276
OR
2xhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150434

HD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136283
But I am open to other suggestions. I'm thinking of getting two of these and setting up a RAID since they are so inexpensive.

Optical:
2x <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http:// <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827249051">http://www.newegg.com/Prod...x?Item=N82E16827249051</a>">http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827249051</a>
OR
2xhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16827249054
Same drive, just diff b/w OEM and Retail.

I STILL have not decided on a monitor yet. I tried reading through some of the monitor guide, but frankly I'm confused. I'm still wanting a 24" LCD, but have no idea what is better to game with. Any suggestions?

Tell me what you think so far on this setup.

Thanks,
underground.shogun

 

[bbarry]

from your choices I would go:
44.99 PLEXTOR Black 24X DVD
44.99 PLEXTOR Black 24X DVD
79.99 Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB
199.99 XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB
119.99 CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
123.95 Antec Nine Hundred Two
119.99 CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V
249.99 ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX
279.99 i7 920

total:
1263.87

Don't bother getting a second HD (750GB is a lot; you probably will not fill it within the time that it takes for SSDs to become mainstream and cheap, remember you can always upgrade later).


still needing:
keyboard
mouse
monitor

For the monitor, I bought the G24 and it should be arriving today. If you don't mind the orange outer edge then I think it is worth it. I can post later today on my impression of it. In general TN panels are cheaper and more responsive, whereas IPS panels have more colors and wider viewing angles. People are more likely to notice motion blur and ghosting issues on IPS panels as well (though to make the list in the LCD thread these issues will be minimized as they heavily affect reviews [some monitors have been discontinued because of bad reviews on these issues]). From the thread the 24" monitors are:

HP LP2475w: H-IPS, 33ms input lag (may be noticeable) otherwise an excellent monitor ~$625
Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP: S-PVA, 33ms input lag (may be noticeable) read some minor complaints about it otherwise ~$517
Westinghouse L2410NM: S-MVA, 60ms input lag (will be noticeable) not recommended for gaming ~$460
BenQ G2400WD: TN, very low input lag (great for gaming) deactivated on newegg for some reason ~$360 (if you can find it)
Acer G24: TN, very low input lag (you will not notice it) deactivated on newegg as well ~$390 (if you can find it)

I think the Acer and BenQ are the same panel. I have no idea why they are both now deactivated. Ignoring price, for gaming I would probably rate them:
BenQ = Acer > HP > Dell
But if you spend a majority of your time doing things like watching movies or photoshopping on it then:
HP > Dell > BenQ = Acer

(I don't really know why the Westinghouse is in the list; I'd say the Samsung T240 [not HD version] is considerably better in all aspects)
I don't really know why the T240 is not in the list anyways. It doesn't have a VESA mount option, but everything I read seems to indicate that it is a good quality monitor.


Regardless this looks like it is shaping up to be a pretty good system. With a good cooler you should be able to OC the 920 considerably and it will hang out near the top of every performance chart. It should max out every game on the market right now and will probably work well until the dx11-recommended games start appearing (hopefully that is ~2.5 years away still). As far as the P6T vs P6T6 goes, I think the differences are basically that the T6 offers 3 PCIe x16 for 3 way SLI (the T offers x16,x16,x4 but I don't see the purpose of 3-card SLI in the first place) and that it offers a second eSATA in place of the firewire port. I don't think it is worth the extra $100. Remember that your GPU is the fastest-to-obsolescence component of your machine; it doesn't really make sense to me to spend 600$ on it when in 18 months from now you might be considering upgrading (whereas the rest of any high end system you buy today will still be a decent mainstream off the shelf system next year or so and will take 20 months to get to wal-mart).



note: I am colorblind (I come up positive on every test I have taken for both protanomaly and deuteranomaly [someday I will take the genetic tests for them]). For me the TN panel color deficiencies that may exist compared to an IPS panel simply are not there.

 

[Underground Shogun]

This is looking great!

As far as monitors, I am guessing a TN would make more sense compared to an IPS, so I'm going to see if I can find either the BenQ G2400WD or Acer G24 somewhere reputable since newegg, buy, and amazon don't carry them now - though I'm not too sure on the orange outline on the Acer; unfortunately it may be a deal breaker as that is my least favorite color - LOL!

What fan(s)/heatsink do you suggest for the i7?

Also, as cheap as that HD is, I was thinking of getting 2 and setting up a RAID 0 for quickness.

 

[bbarry]

The G24 just arrived:

I like it.

From 2 feet away there is a noticeable darkening between the bottom and top of the display because of the more limited viewing angles; after adjustments this the affect is basically gone. Zero stuck pixels. It is a lot brighter than my laptop monitor but not quite as much as my 43" samsung 720p TV. My PS3 feels nice hooked up to it. Text is crisp when it is attached to my laptop. When I am not facing it head on but have my head turned to look at it, it is giving me a mild vertigo feeling. I think that is due to the size of the thing though. I will not be maximizing anything with text on it because reading the really really long lines of text is a bit much (this paragraph when maximized is almost 2.5 lines). Dropping Firefox down to a 1024 px width is much more comfortable (Gmail is good anywhere from 1000 to 1600 or so; anywhere beyond that and there is too much text on one line). Overall I feel like it was well worth the $200 I spent on it.

 

[Underground Shogun]

Good to hear about your new monitor! Now you are making me reconsider the G24!

One quick question on my MB choice...I found this on newegg for $40 cheaper than the regular P6T:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16813131365R

Let me know what you think.