Help with a gaming build for a friend's son

[UDT89]

I just want to lead this off by saying his son gave me a list of items he wanted and to mee it seemed like overkill. I do computer repairs and rarely build new systems for the expectations of repairing them for the life of the PC. The list he gave me was:

i7 2.66
Gigabyte GA-EX58
12gb kingston hyperx ddr3
ocz vertex 23 60gb (times 2 in a RAID setup)
Radeon 6970 gddr5


1. Computer will be used for gaming. A side use will be his parents browsing the web and uploading pictures. (and probably screwing it up)

2. They are looking to spend between $900-$1100 without a monitor.

3. Buying from USA

4. He wants Intel.

5. No current parts.

6. Read a few similar threads

7. Default system speeds.

8. I need to find out what monitor he currently is using. But suggestions for a resolution are welcome

9. The next two weeks. Unless I somehow find a preboxed system that will suffice.



Thanks Guys.

Matt

 

[fffblackmage]

If you're buying now, he definitely shouldn't be looking at the old LGA1366 platform. For one thing, Sandy Bridge on the LGA1055 socket is faster and cheaper.

Take a look here for a (better) $1k build by mfenn.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2192841

12/10/2011 update:

i5 2500K $220
ASRock Z68 Pro3 $100
G.Skill DDR3 1600 8GB $30
Powercolor 6950 2GB $245 AR
Samsung 830 128GB $200
Hitachi 7K1000.D 750GB $100
LG DVD Burner $19
XFX Core 650W $60 AR
HAF 912 $50 AR
Total: $1024 AR

Comments from other esteemed forum members:
- Lehtv says, "It might be a good idea to mention the Asrock Z68 Extreme3 as well, the dual-GPU support would go well with the XFX 650W."

 

[UDT89]

why is the SSD a laptop drive?

 

[fralexandr]

most SSDs are 2.5" and will fit in a notebook. They normally use mounting brackets to fit in the 3.5" "desktop" form factor.
this SSD comes in a smaller form factor (not as deep) to allow its use in ultraportables
it also comes with some connectors and drive spacers for mounting in normal sized notebooks
If your case doesn't have any 2.5" drive cages, the SSD doesn't seem to come with a 2.5 to 3.5" mounting system, so you'll probably need to conjure up something yourself (if you have one lying around use that). You could buy an adapter, use zip ties, some kind of adhesive, or whatever, it isn't too important since as stated, SSDs don't have moving parts.
note: the haf 912 does support 2.5" drives

 

[UDT89]

thanks. im reading some articles on SSDs now. havent really ran into them much.

 

[Zap]

A side use will be his parents browsing the web and uploading pictures. (and probably screwing it up)

LOL!

mfenn's list that fffblackmage posted is a great place to start. Here's some quick explanations, in case your friend's son asks why.

CPU absolutely should be a Core i5-2XXX series. It will pretty much in all ways be better for gaming than a Core i7-9XX series. It will cost less, with cheaper motherboards, use less electricity, create less heat and best of all perform better. It also has a better upgrade path, since the platform is a few years newer.

The platform uses dual channel RAM, so a dual channel 8GB DDR3 kit would be perfect.

A single 120/128GB SSD of the latest generation with a SATA 6Gbps interface will be better than two older SATA II SSDs in RAID.

The Radeon 6950 2GB is really close in performance to a 6970, while costing significantly less.

 

[UDT89]

since newegg is OOS in regards to the motherboard, would this suffice?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157279

 

[mfenn]

why is the SSD a laptop drive?

Pretty much all SSDs are 2.5" drives because they don't need to be any bigger. That allows the manufacturers to just make one version that covers everything. Performance is stellar, no matter the physical size. Also, the HAF 912 comes with a bracket to mount a 2.5" drive in one of the 3.5" bays.

 

[mfenn]

since newegg is OOS in regards to the motherboard, would this suffice?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157279

It is fine, but the Z68 Extreme3 is a little better value in the ~$115 space.

 

[UDT89]

Just a quick update. I built the above system. Using the mobo you recommended.

Two issues. Second hard drive wont show after win 7 but showed during install as a potential install drive.

Second when i allow the pc to sleep it shuts down with a blue screen

Ideas?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[T_Yamamoto]

have you formatted the hdd?

 

[UDT89]

No. I can't access it.

Sent from my DROIDX

 

[mfenn]

Just a quick update. I built the above system. Using the mobo you recommended.

Two issues. Second hard drive wont show after win 7 but showed during install as a potential install drive.

You just need to initialize and format it before it will show up as a drive letter. I'm on a Mac right now so I can't give you specific steps, but from memory it should be: Start -> Type "computer management" -> click Computer Management icon -> Disk management -> Right click on empty drive in the bottom pane and choose Initialize.

Second when i allow the pc to sleep it shuts down with a blue screen

Ideas?

Download WhoCrashed and let it analyze the dump.

 

[UDT89]

Duh I KNEW that. Thanks. All working now.

I will try the crash program next. I could just set to never sleep but I don't wanna start off with an issue.

Thanks

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Zap]

Is it overclocked? If so, set it back to stock speeds to see if it still crashes.

 

[mfenn]

Duh I KNEW that. Thanks. All working now.

I will try the crash program next. I could just set to never sleep but I don't wanna start off with an issue.

Thanks

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

No prob. If WhoCrashed doesn't give any useful information, the next steps are to set if back to stock speeds (as Zap said), and then remove each USB device and PCI card, testing each step of the way.