Help with building a pc that will last a while

[lans83]

Like the title says, I'm lookin for help with piecing together a new pc that will last me quite a while. It's time that I upgraded from my current laptop for gaming and it can not handle playing Star Wars the Old Republic. I've tried the settings tweaks and everything but still no good. SW is not the only thing I'm being left in the dust from being unable to play, as there are several other games I'd like to still play. I do not want to jump on the 'early adapter' bandwagon again, as it's not always the best route to go. My budget is $1000, but would like to go way lower than that if possible. The things I'm lookin at help picking out are the video card, cpu, power supply, and ram. I want something that later on if I choose, or decide to take up multiboxing WoW or SW again (3 accounts each may be my limit this time), can handle without any problems, a minimum of 8gigs of ram, and minimum of 4 cores, 8 preferably if affordable. The remaining $ coverage will be on the OS which will be Win7 64bit, if I need Ultimate for the 8+gigs, I need to know that. Case, I'll pick one out that I like, hdd I will pick out a good 7200rpm Seagate, SSD, I'll use the one I bought for my laptop and dvd drive can be a fairly cheap but good dvd burner, blue-ray is out of the question since I've got a PS3. I'd like to have two x16 PCI video cards if priced right to run in SLI mode, or used as two separate cards to lighten the load for multiboxing. Monitors, I've got covered already, as well as mouse and keyboard. Newegg will be my source for buying all this as I've got credit through them. I'll see what I can find or piece together, but I'm not up with the times on what's good for the $s right now. My last pc I built sounded like a damn jet engine taking off at times, so picking some quite fans for a case wouldn't hurt also, no liquid/vapor cooling tho, too risky with kids running around and when transporting. I'd appreciate any help you guys/gals can assist me with here. edit: Add in a new damn good wifi router in that mix. I think mine, after 5 years is finally goin out on me and I need this rig to work well on a wireless connection, as it won't be in the same house as the router :/


Edit:----------------------------------------------------------------

Wasn't sure to delete or modify this or the following post, so I'll just add what I have settled on here. I went a little over my initial budget, but in doing so, I believe I've left myself with room for improving it as time goes by just by adding in an extra video card, adding in a large SSD when prices drop more, and overclocking when it comes time to.

New setup:

Dvd Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118040

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129093

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701

Vcard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130662

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182188

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233197

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131781

OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

Grand Total: $1,332.66 after discounts (only $10.75 for 3 day shipping)

Might be overkill for now, but it won't stay that way forever. I love the design of the case above with the total customization of the drive bays, I love case modding, so that's worth the extra $ to me. I'll change out the stock CPU heatsink and fan later on when I add the extra SSD drive and video card, then I'll overclock the cpu too. Still got my SSD I bought for my laptop I'll use for games, and when the prices on them drop, I'll add one or two more and do a fresh install of everything.

Your thoughts on this? BTW, thank you guys so much for helpin me out here.

[lans83]

I compiled a list of items to piece together my new rig and was wondering what you guys think. How long do you think this setup will last me and perform? If you can think of anything better than what I've found for the same price or cheaper, please let me know. I want to grab this motherboard now, but not sure if a re certified is worth it and for this price? If you think so, I'll try to grab it within the next two days first, tonight if I can get a quick response.

Dvd Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118040

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148701

Vcard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130687

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231497

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188079

OS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211

Subtotal: $1,259.91

A little over, but should still be able to get it.

[Ualaa]

If at all possible, I'd go with an i5 2500K or i7 2600K based system.
They're not that much more than the 920/930 or the 940/950 systems and much more powerful.

The essential difference between 2500/2600K is that the i5 has no hyperthreading (logical cores), while the i7 has one for each physical core on the CPU.
If you're primarily gaming, the logical cores don't do much for you and according to some tests actually slow you down slightly unless they're disabled for the game.
But if you're streaming or otherwise multitasking, they can be of use to you.

2500K is about $100 less than 2600K.
The K is slightly more expensive than the non K version.
The K stands for unlocked multipliers, meaning you can very easily overclock the system.
With a cheap aftermarket cooler, you can overclock a fair ways and be quite stable.



I like the video card.
Plenty of ram on it.

Looks like two DVI ports and an HDMI, so three monitors if you want that many.

Plus its a pretty strong card, for other games too.



Not a ton of storage space on the HD.
But Seagate has been dependable, and 7200rpm is decent.

Plus you can easily put in more storage down the line, if you need it.

I'd really consider a 64gb+ SSD, as your gaming folder.
If not now, then in the future as an additional upgrade.
It is a massive increase in your gaming enjoyment.



I too went with Win7 Home Premium, 64-bit.
No complaints on the OS.

It is much less of a resource hog, than Vista was.

I might consider going Professional, rather than Home Premium.
Only because you can do a virtual Win-XP desktop, if you have a few older titles that won't run on Win7 that you like.
I have a few of these, and have to run them on my older system that is not nearly as nice.
My roommate likes his simple, but totally easy to use and understand the features, graphical editing program that runs on XP but not on Vista/7.
So that is a consideration, but might not matter to you at all.

[lans83]

I chose the 500gig hdd cause I really don't need alot of space for right now, can always upgrade later. I've got the 60gig ssd in my laptop I can put in the pc for games, but not alot can fit on it, mostly WoW and SWtOR. Gonna get Diablo 3 and many other games after that I figured I can always install on the main hdd or a new one later. I've got an external for backup/storage I'm using now that's 500gigs and the one hdd in my laptop is a 300gig I don't even use up. I'd like to start learning to record while in games and sharing, which is why I figured I'd grab the i7, saw you post in another thread that it's better for that than the i5 and I'm lookin at a futureproof pc or one that'll last me a while. Atleast another 3-4 years. Main question now is still, is buying refurbished hardware better than buying new parts and especially for that price it's listed at now? To save a few bucks, can you recommend a really good motherboard if I opt to grab an i5 cpu instead tho?

[thefunk]

Just a point - 16 gig RAM is the limit for windows 7 home premium. Limit for Windows 7 professional/ultimate is 192 gig.

[lans83]

After Ualaa mentioned that about the games, I decided to switch to Professional instead. I didn't know that you couldn't run them on the Home edition. I've got several old games I still can't play on my laptop I'd like to go back and replay also as a breakaway from all of these. I didn't know that about the limit on ram tho, thank you for letting me know.

[lans83]

Ok, thoughts on this cpu, mobo, and ram:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233197

Changed the OS to Win7 Prof also and total, the price difference will only increase by about $30 or so, but I'm guessing performance would be better on gaming with this setup. I can due without video recording or streaming, I'm just sick of being left in the wind when it comes to enjoying video games with all the settings up on high and/or maxed out and still get damn good framerates.

How about the PSU tho, I know Antec has a good record, but would the wattage on that be enough for this setup?

[MiRai]

Looks like two DVI ports and an HDMI, so three monitors if you want that many.
When you plug in an HDMI cable you deactivate one of the DVI ports. The only nVidia cards that can run 3 monitors
are dual-GPU cards.


Ok, thoughts on this cpu, mobo, and ram:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233197

Changed the OS to Win7 Prof also and total, the price difference will only increase by about $30 or so, but I'm guessing performance would be better on gaming with this setup. I can due without video recording or streaming, I'm just sick of being left in the wind when it comes to enjoying video games with all the settings up on high and/or maxed out and still get damn good framerates.

How about the PSU tho, I know Antec has a good record, but would the wattage on that be enough for this setup?
The system looks fine as is and you should update your original post to reflect your new choices or people might
reply to (or view) this thread looking at the old 1366 system and be confused. If you can afford an i7 2600 I would
grab that instead because in my tests (the sticky at the top of this forum (http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?p=336875#post336875)), Hyper-Threading is shown to benefit
multiboxing. As for the PSU, it looks fine as well and JonnyGuru (http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=211) gave its big brother (the 900W model) a great review.

[lans83]

When you plug in an HDMI cable you deactivate one of the DVI ports. The only nVidia cards that can run 3 monitors
are dual-GPU cards.


The system looks fine as is and you should update your original post to reflect your new choices or people might
reply to (or view) this thread looking at the old 1366 system and be confused. If you can afford an i7 2600 I would
grab that instead because in my tests (the sticky at the top of this forum (http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?p=336875#post336875)), Hyper-Threading is shown to benefit
multiboxing. As for the PSU, it looks fine as well and JonnyGuru (http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=211) gave its big brother (the 900W model) a great review.


Does it make a difference if I choose the 2600 over the 2600K? I've never really explored overclocking and not sure if I ever will. If I get the 2600 I found by the 4th, I can save around $40.

[MiRai]

Does it make a difference if I choose the 2600 over the 2600K? I've never really explored overclocking and not sure if I ever will. If I get the 2600 I found by the 4th, I can save around $40.
No, you don't need to overclock if you don't want to. The CPU will intelligently overclock itself using its built in Turbo Boost
but, I wouldn't consider that a real overclock because it dynamically changes based on CPU temperatures. If you're going
to use the Intel fan that comes boxed with the CPU I almost wouldn't recommend overclocking because, when you
overclock you generate more heat and that Intel cooler doesn't always handle it very well (that's where an aftermarket
cooler comes into play).

[Ualaa]

To give you an idea...
As a comparison for you, I went with:
- Win 7, Home, 64-bit (Operating System)
- The OS runs on an OCZ Vertex 3, 120GB (SSD), while the gaming folder funs on a Patriot Torq, 64GB (SSD).
- Asus P8Z68-VPro (motherboard)
- i5 2500K (processor)
- Corsair A70 (cooler)
- 8GB of DDR3, 1600mhz (ram)
- eVGA Ge-Force GTX570 1280mb (video card)

Have not overclocked at all, but was intending to at one point (hence the Corsair A70) and likely will do a conservative overclock at some point in the future.

I have no problems running the main client (1920x1080) on settings close to 3/4's of maximum and four slave windows (also on a 1920x1080 monitor) on lower settings close to 1/4 of maximum.
The game is very smooth for me, and with streaming under new settings only slightly less smooth but very playable.
While playing/streaming my play, I typically have Firefox open in the background (10-15 tabs open), am playing iTunes, am running Inner Space + IS Boxer (boxing software), have uTorrent open, and a few open office spreadsheets and/or documents going.

[lans83]

I changed the original post to include what all I have settled on based on the info y'all have givin me. Thank you so much for the help.

[ZooljinX]

Good choice on the 2600K its awsome, and with the new Bios the sandy bridge uses its childs play to OC if you ever want to squeeze out a tad more :) (as said before in the thread a good Air cooler is almost on par with Custom watercooling setups, just a few degrees diff, and even a fairly budget one can get you a good 4k+ OC with ease)

[lans83]

I'd love to go the watercooling route, I'm just not sure cause of so many mishaps can leave the whole system getting fried from a leak, condensation buildup, or anything like that. Plus, I'd like my system to be easily mobile with kids running around the house, not something I want to risk really. The cooler I'm looking at getting, is a Cooler Master one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 I'll see how it sits in the case and next to the ram before I add a second fan to the other side of it, but will if I can squeeze it in.

[ZooljinX]

Be sure to check reviews and such before getting a cooler, make sure it can take the load of the 2600K all i can do as help is list a recent swedish made review on a set of coolers for 2600K
http://www.sweclockers.com/recension/14710-processorkylare-vintern-2011/15#pagehead (sorry its in swedish but you can read the °C and its for a 2600K OC'd to 4.6k)
If you find any of these in your price range you ca atleast see the °C you'll get with them