Gaming PC help, 2500 max budget. Any help appreciated.

[DaveyP16]

Hi all,

I will be upgrading my PC in the next few months, probably back end of November to beginning of the new year depending on finances.

I want to build a gaming PC that will max out ultra settings on games such has BF3, Fifa 12, etc. I don't have too much knowledge in this area so would be very grateful of any advice or recommended builds on what to include.

I will also be buying a dell u2711 (this is separate from budget) so would like to run the above mentioned games at 2560*1440 res if possible.

I wouldn't know where to start with overclocking (and to be honest dont know what it does.), and I have also heard SLI mentioned a lot again not really knowing what it means. But I would like the machine to be built and able to last me a minimum of 3-4 years without me having to get anything upgraded. If possible I would like the budget to include a decent gaming mouse and keyboard, and also a headset and speakers if at all possible.

Should I be looking for a 6 core intel i7? Or sticking with one of the sandy bridge processors? (if someone could explain the difference that would be helpful too).
Is 2x 1.5gb 580gtx the same as 1x 3gb 580gtx? is a 3gb card needed?

I know I have asked a lot but its a lot of money t be spending to end up adding things I dont need.



On a side note, I will be selling my current PC to make space (and raise a little funds) for the new one. If anyone could give me a rough guide on an asking price this would also help a lot.

My current system.

System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9770 @ 3.20GHz, 3200 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD ASUS P5N72-T PREMIUM ACPI
4GB Ram
2x NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 250 1GB graphics cards.
1 160GB hard drive
2x 500GB Harddrives.
X-Fi soundcard.




Again I know I have asked quite a lot there, but any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Dave

 

[DaveyP16]

any help on this guys? have i put too much in the post?

Thanks

 

[PC.Robb]

What I found to have a nose round yourself 1st, The site offers budget limits, you make a system and then post it here see what people think, Sorry got not helping much :c

 

[DaveyP16]

Case
COOLERMASTER CM STORM SNIPER - NEXT GEN GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
2nd Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
600GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD6000HLHX, SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£162)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO II A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£59)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£146)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® G110 GAMING KEYBOARD WITH BACKLIGHTING (£58)
Mouse
LOGITECH® G700 WIRELESS LASER GAMING MOUSE (£68)
Speakers
LOGITECH Z320 2.0 SPEAKERS - 10W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£44)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: 2,485.00 including VAT and delivery.



What about something like that? what would you guys recommend to change/alter on that setup, would that max out BF3 etc on 2560 * 1440 res?

 

[Teaz]

first of all welcome to the forum

1. for gaming you wouldnt really need overclocking and overclocking is basically draining the cpu's lifespan alot quicker for extra power but that isnt really needed for gaming as stock clock of good cpus should have no problems handling games fine.

2. SLI means 2 or more Nvidia graphics card setup. Multi graphics card setup Crossfire(AMD) or SLI(Nvidia) is normally used to boost gaming performances but usually 1 single power house gpu is plenty to handle games fine at max or basically nearly touching max and is more recommended than two lessor as it doesnt take as much power draw and doesnt take up space in a case or spill more heat.

3. a good balanced Sandy bridge setup is good to last you 3-4 years plus. So the latest sandy bridge build is recommended.

4. Nope, a quad 4 core sandy bridge cpu is plenty. 6 core is not really needed for gaming as that is more for intense task or use like high video/photo editing or such. alot of games dont usually use all 4 cores so a quad core is fine. a quad core cpu is recommend in todays pc use. 6 core isnt need, especially not for gaming.

5. no, two 1.5gb 580s does not make a 3gb 580. it will still be 1.5gb. the only thing that gets boosted is the performance of the graphics card, not the GB. 1.5GB is plenty cover pretty much any single screen size or two. The 3GB is pretty much there to handle multiple monitors like 2 or more but the graphics card performance is the same.

The current spec you posted is good but some changes could be done for some things you wouldnt have use for but could hold on to depending.

not sure if it would max out bf3 or not but it should with two 580s, go for the 3GB model if you want to by trying it or playing it at those res.

 

[Fear]

Are you just gaming on this or are you going to be editing as 16GB Ram is overkill unless doing some really high end editing ?

 

[Teaz]

I believe it will just be a gaming pc as the title says?

But this is what i would recommend and consider diving for your gaming and use, a powerhouse work devil to certainly consider:

Case
SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV03 - GAMING ENTHUSIAST TOWER CASE May not be the best looking case but its cooling is true beauty and i recommend it to get some good cooling for the graphics card and heat in the case.

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX™

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready If you're playing on a single monitor then the 1.5gb model will be perfectly fine. so go for that if you are.

Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!

2nd Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 510 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 450MB/sR | 210MB/sW) Popped in an ssd for fast speedy performance and loadings. this drive is for all your main programs and such along with your OS.

2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm) This drive for all of your storage and media or work, documants etc etc

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£45) Not sure if you really need the blu ray writer or not but if you need it then go for it. the writer does exactly everything as this one doe but the blu ray writer just has the extra feature or writing/creating blu ray disc which isnt a cheap process, you can have your 2nd tb drive as your media use.

Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£162)

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£19)

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79) Not sure if you really need ultimate or not but its the same as the home premium edition, the ultimate just have a few extra features which wouldnt really be of any use to you in gaming but if you have use for it the stick to it. you can compare it here.

DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)

Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® G510 GAMING KEYBOARD WITH GAMEPANEL™ LCD (£84)

Mouse
LOGITECH® G700 WIRELESS LASER GAMING MOUSE (£68)

Speakers
LOGITECH Z320 2.0 SPEAKERS - 10W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£44)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Total: 2430

Configure it here

 

[DaveyP16]

Brilliant, thanks for the replies.

Teaz - Very helpful information there, cleared a lot of things up for me thanks a lot. That bit you posted at the end, is that recommending 2 x 3gb 580gtx's? Would the 1050w power supply be ok with this?

I went for the 10,000rpm hard drive as i read somewhere that SSD not really worth the money and dont last as long, you agree with this?

Also, have you any experience with the gaming mouse/keyboard i selected? Is this a little overkill, are they really that good?

Fear- - Again thanks for the reply, I chose this memory has I read somewhere that higher ram should be chosen over speed of ram for gaming? The system will be used for 99% Games/Movies/Music/Photoshop.


I've read that the onboard sound should be fine for what I need, this true or are the more expensive sound cards worth the money?

Last thing any advice on a price I should be looking to sell my current system for listed in the first post?


Thanks again, much appreciated

 

[Fear]

I believe it will just be a gaming pc as the title says?

But this is what i would recommend and consider diving for your gaming and use, a powerhouse work devil to certainly consider

Erm me must be tired

That spec is pretty much what i would have gone with Teaz but i don't see the point in the SSD as with the limited read/write that stands a good chance of wearing out before 3-4 years plus you can't really get many games on them i would stick with a HDD caviar black or the velociraptor and leave the wireless card out and invest in a set of homeplugs if you are not in a close enough position to plug straight into the modem.

 

[Teaz]

Yes the 1050w corsair psu will be plenty to cover both 3GB model or 1.5GB model in SLI.

Yes ssds are somewhat not worth the money but for some people, they are worth it depending on how they would use it. its just faster performance and access to things. you dont have to go for the ssd, you can go for the velociraptor drive as an alternative which is still pretty fast and you dont have to baby sit it as an ssd to keep it in good shape. My recommendation is to go for an ssd caching drive if you dont wish for a pure ssd usage. an ssd caching drive is treated/used to boost the hdd to get near ssd like performances while still having the large capacity of the hdd and without having to worry about anything like baby sitting it. and ssd drive in combination to a velociraptor drive is a real good combination.

i've had experiance with both, for the keyboard its good but go for the 110 as the 510 may have some extra features you may not really need, just compare them on here along with the mouse. compare the 510 to the 110 and the mouse, compare the g700 to the g9x or lower and see what suits you.

8gb is plenty to manage your use, and gaming is fine with 8gb as 4gb dont really get used up by gaming so 8gb is plenty.

if you have an ear for sound then go for a sound card but if not then the onboard sound is fine as onboard sound is really good in todays motherboard compared to back then.

as for the old pc, not sure on a price, perhaps between 100-200? depending.

 

[Teaz]

Erm me must be tired

That spec is pretty much what i would have gone with Teaz but i don't see the point in the SSD as with the limited read/write that stands a good chance of wearing out before 3-4 years plus you can't really get many games on them i would stick with a HDD caviar black or the velociraptor and leave the wireless card out and invest in a set of homeplugs if you are not in a close enough position to plug straight into the modem.

not to worry on the ssd as im sure there are quite alot of life left in the ssd if maintained pretty well. then i would go for the ssd caching option in conjuction with the velo drive, a pretty beastly alternative option without a care or worrying, dont you think?

You know wireless rules over homeplugs plus its the pci-e version which should get popped on top of the first gpu so it shouldnt cause any blocking of the fans on the 580s which should leave a good gap of airflow from the case fans.

 

[DaveyP16]

Great stuff, give me a lot to think about and more research to go and compare keyboards etc.

Really helpful!

 

[Teaz]

Here is the ssd caching build instead of the full ssd usage:

Case
SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV03 - GAMING ENTHUSIAST TOWER CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX™

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!

2nd Graphics Card
1.5GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
600GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD6000HLHX, SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£45)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£162)

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£19)

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)

Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® G510 GAMING KEYBOARD WITH GAMEPANEL™ LCD (£84)

Mouse
LOGITECH® G700 WIRELESS LASER GAMING MOUSE (£68)

Speakers
LOGITECH Z320 2.0 SPEAKERS - 10W RMS with 360 Degree Sound (£44)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Total: 2410

popped the graphics card to the 1.5GB model as it should be fine to cover the single monitor mentioned.

 

[Fear]

not to worry on the ssd as im sure there are quite alot of life left in the ssd if maintained pretty well. then i would go for the ssd caching option in conjuction with the velo drive, a pretty beastly alternative option without a care or worrying, dont you think?

You know wireless rules over homeplugs plus its the pci-e version which should get popped on top of the first gpu so it should cause any blocking of the fans on the 580s which should leave a good gap of airflow from the case fans.

You know what i have been thinking over the last week is that the SSD cache drive as good as it sounds is probably not a really good thing (correct me if i am wrong) as they change what is stored on them program wise to speed up whatever is being used the most so if you are constantly using different things more often then you will be wearing out the limited read/write at a much faster rate than say having a SSD as the main drive ?

Eeeeeewwwwww wireless endless problems and headaches wired plug in and switch on thats more like it

 

[DaveyP16]

When playing about with the build I noticed no change in price when changing the samsung 1333 ram to the kingston of a higher speed, any reason for this in quality of product?

Also the monitor i'm thinking of going for is the dell u2711, priced around 600. You guys used one of these?

 

[Teaz]

You know what i have been thinking over the last week is that the SSD cache drive as good as it sounds is probably not a really good thing (correct me if i am wrong) as they change what is stored on them program wise to speed up whatever is being used the most so if you are constantly using different things more often then you will be wearing out the limited read/write at a much faster rate than say having a SSD as the main drive ?

Eeeeeewwwwww wireless endless problems and headaches wired plug in and switch on thats more like it

Not really, its more of a stimulated raid and if it did, it would take quite some pretty long while or years for that to happen unless some secret unknown problem occurs.

When playing about with the build I noticed no change in price when changing the samsung 1333 ram to the kingston of a higher speed, any reason for this in quality of product?

Also the monitor i'm thinking of going for is the dell u2711, priced around 600. You guys used one of these?

Really? that has happened before but didnt know the reason behind it, if it is then you could go for the 1600mhz ram but its not really needed as you wouldnt really notice a difference in use, its usually there for some good overclocking.

as for the monitor, no. for starters, i dont think i could afford that kind of monitor


nope, wirelss for me, especially in the house i live in

 

[Fear]

When playing about with the build I noticed no change in price when changing the samsung 1333 ram to the kingston of a higher speed, any reason for this in quality of product?

Also the monitor i'm thinking of going for is the dell u2711, priced around 600. You guys used one of these?

I have seen people mention that before about the price not changing whenever i do them i always get a different price between the 2 but i have found the odd time the config page stops updating the price on various compnents when you keep adjusting things.

Never used a dell screen i bought a samsung 26" about 4 years ago been really impressed with it.

 

[Teaz]

Never used any pro dell screen apart from the so called 'pro' ones i used back in college but that i does look nice but price is pretty big lol so i bought an near matching alternative for about half the price, only liked it for the colour accuracy when i do my photoshop and photo work.

 

[Fear]

Not really, its more of a stimulated raid and if it did, it would take quite some pretty long while or years for that to happen unless some secret unknown problem occurs.

Fair enough i will take your word for it

 

[DaveyP16]

Case
SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV03 - GAMING ENTHUSIAST TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
2nd Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
600GB VELOCIRAPTOR WD6000HLHX, SATA 6-Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (10,000rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
SSD CACHE DRIVE
20GB INTEL® SSD 311 SERIES - CACHE DRIVE FOR SYSTEM / 1st HDD
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£45)
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£162)
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE (£8)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® G510 GAMING KEYBOARD WITH GAMEPANEL™ LCD (£84)
Mouse
LOGITECH® G700 WIRELESS LASER GAMING MOUSE (£68)
Speakers
LOGITECH S120 2.0 BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,494.00 including VAT and delivery.


Oh and def stick with that case over the sniper? broke my heart that card reader wasnt supported lol.

what about that? what u guys think? Would that handle any games thrown at it?

**changed the speaker as I will stick with my creative gigaworks ones and use throw those £9 in with the sale of mine.