Is this a good system?

[urndel]

hey guys (and girls)

I am currently selecting parts for my brother's new pc and I was wondering if what I have now is good. My brother is 13 so he is going to want to play games. The resolution would be 1080p (reason is the screen I selected). I will overclock a little, changing the multiplier for the cpu and the clock of the video card, but I wont change voltages.
We live in Perth, Australia and the budget is about 1100$ (that's Australian dollars). The pc would also need a wireless internet card (some questions about this at the bottom).

So here is what I got:
CPU: Core I5 2500K
MOBO: Asrock Z68-Extreme 3 Gen 3
GRAPHICS: Asus GTX560 (read the question below)
RAM: Transcend 8GB kit (2x4GB)
CASE: Coolermaster RC-371-KKNL
PSU: Corsair TX650 (I think 650 watts should do)
HDD : Samsung 1TB (http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=2519)
OPTICAL DRIVE: LG blu-ray writer
SCREEN: BenQ GL2240.
SPEAKER: Logitech LS21 2.1
KEYBOARD & MOUSE: cheap with enough buttons
WIRELESS: TP-link TL-WN781N Wireless-N 150M PCIe

So here are some extra questions:
1) I could upgrade the graphics card to eiter a Asus GTX-560 Direct CUII Top or a Gainward GTX560 TI (not the phantom card). I think it might be worth it to got for the gtx560 Ti even though the system gets a bit more expensive but I'm not sure. Does the newer core give you much more possibilities or speed?

2) Will the PCIe lane taken up by the wireless internet card make the graphics card slower?

3) Will the wireless LAN card fit in the mobo together with the graphics card? The graphics card needs to be in the the first PCIe 16x slot, that counting from the right. Here is a picture of the mobo: http://www.asrock.com/mb/photo/Z68 Extreme3 Gen3(m).jpg

 

[VirtualLarry]

build threads go in "General Hardware", not "Computer Help". Ask a mod to move it, you will get more responses there.

 

[urndel]

build threads go in "General Hardware", not "Computer Help". Ask a mod to move it, you will get more responses there.

Oooh didn't know that thanks.

So yeah if a mod reads this please move the thread

 

[fastamdman]

Even though this hasn't moved I will help you out with it. First up switch to the 560ti, absolutely no question about that.

The rest of the system lets see here.


CPU: Good choice
MOBO: I would go with an Asus or Gigabyte board personally.
GRAPHICS: Go 560ti obviously
RAM: Switch to good ram, gskill ripjaw x's ddr3 1600mhz 2x4gb, there like 40bucks and under
CASE: It's all personal preference as long as it has fans
PSU: Good call on the tx650v2
HDD : decent drive
OPTICAL DRIVE: I hate blu ray writers. I think regular dvd burners are the norm and would work for 99% of the people out there. The ONLY time blu ray writers are needed is if someone already has a bunch of stupid blu ray movies. I don't own a single disc that is blu ray but I watch 1080p movies all the time.
SCREEN: I have never been a fan of ben q screens, I like asus monitors a lot more. Higher contrast ratios, less fading/ghosting, etc.

 

[mfenn]

hey guys (and girls)

I am currently selecting parts for my brother's new pc and I was wondering if what I have now is good. My brother is 13 so he is going to want to play games. The resolution would be 1080p (reason is the screen I selected). I will overclock a little, changing the multiplier for the cpu and the clock of the video card, but I wont change voltages.
We live in Perth, Australia and the budget is about 1100$ (that's Australian dollars). The pc would also need a wireless internet card (some questions about this at the bottom).

So here is what I got:
CPU: Core I5 2500K
MOBO: Asrock Z68-Extreme 3 Gen 3
GRAPHICS: Asus GTX560 (read the question below)
RAM: Transcend 8GB kit (2x4GB)
CASE: Coolermaster RC-371-KKNL
PSU: Corsair TX650 (I think 650 watts should do)
HDD : Samsung 1TB (http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=2519)
OPTICAL DRIVE: LG blu-ray writer
SCREEN: BenQ GL2240.
SPEAKER: Logitech LS21 2.1
KEYBOARD & MOUSE: cheap with enough buttons
WIRELESS: TP-link TL-WN781N Wireless-N 150M PCIe

So here are some extra questions:
1) I could upgrade the graphics card to eiter a Asus GTX-560 Direct CUII Top or a Gainward GTX560 TI (not the phantom card). I think it might be worth it to got for the gtx560 Ti even though the system gets a bit more expensive but I'm not sure. Does the newer core give you much more possibilities or speed?

2) Will the PCIe lane taken up by the wireless internet card make the graphics card slower?

3) Will the wireless LAN card fit in the mobo together with the graphics card? The graphics card needs to be in the the first PCIe 16x slot, that counting from the right. Here is a picture of the mobo: http://www.asrock.com/mb/photo/Z68 Extreme3 Gen3(m).jpg

I'd definitely get the GTX 560 Ti, it is significantly faster than the GTX 560. The rest of your parts look fine as long as the price isn't outrageous.

To answer your questions:
1. Yes, see above
2. No, see below
3. You can put it in either the top PCIe x1 slot, which will be directly above the GPU or the second x16 slot. As long as it physically clears the GPU in the top x1 slot, that would be ideal (it should). Even if you have to put it in the x16 slot, you won't see any performance difference even though the GPU's PCIe slot will technically go to x8 speeds.

 

[urndel]

RAM: Switch to good ram, gskill ripjaw x's ddr3 1600mhz 2x4gb, there like 40bucks and under

OPTICAL DRIVE: I hate blu ray writers. I think regular dvd burners are the norm and would work for 99% of the people out there. The ONLY time blu ray writers are needed is if someone already has a bunch of stupid blu ray movies. I don't own a single disc that is blu ray but I watch 1080p movies all the time.

SCREEN: I have never been a fan of ben q screens, I like asus monitors a lot more. Higher contrast ratios, less fading/ghosting, etc.

1) Would the G.Skill Sniper 8G Kit(4Gx2) DDR3 1600 be ok? They are cheaper ($50.00 vs $69.00) then the Ripjaw x's. Or I do i need to get the G.Skill Ripjaws-X 8G Kit(4Gx2) DDR3 1866 which is $69.00 but that's almost double the original price.

2) I think I'll swap out the optical drive for an LG blu-ray combo. It can read everything and write everything except Blu-ray. And it saves $27 which could be spend on better memory.

3) Well I choose the BenQ because I have one and like it very much and I know it doesn't care about the resolution you throw at it which is great for some games that don't support 16:9. Also the Asus is twice as expensive.
Would this be a better screen: http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8212

And last: I haven't given my brother a Christmas present yet so I was thinking about paying $40 to my dad to get the Gainward GTX560 Ti phantom card. Would that be money well spent (considering it gets up to +40°C here in Perth during summer) or should I put it into some other upgrade, maybe updating the mobo to the Asrock Extreme4 Gen3?

 

[mfenn]

1) Would the G.Skill Sniper 8G Kit(4Gx2) DDR3 1600 be ok? They are cheaper ($50.00 vs $69.00) then the Ripjaw x's. Or I do i need to get the G.Skill Ripjaws-X 8G Kit(4Gx2) DDR3 1866 which is $69.00 but that's almost double the original price.

No, do not pay extra for the fancy RAM. The extra 1% (maybe) of performance isn't worth it.

2) I think I'll swap out the optical drive for an LG blu-ray combo. It can read everything and write everything except Blu-ray. And it saves $27 which could be spend on better memory.

Fine choice, but faster memory isn't the place to put your money.

3) Well I choose the BenQ because I have one and like it very much and I know it doesn't care about the resolution you throw at it which is great for some games that don't support 16:9. Also the Asus is twice as expensive.
Would this be a better screen: http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8212

The two are very similar.

And last: I haven't given my brother a Christmas present yet so I was thinking about paying $40 to my dad to get the Gainward GTX560 Ti phantom card. Would that be money well spent (considering it gets up to +40°C here in Perth during summer) or should I put it into some other upgrade, maybe updating the mobo to the Asrock Extreme4 Gen3?

Yes, the most important place to spend money on a gaming rig is in the GPU. Getting a fancier mobo with features that you don't need won't help gaming performance.