A lasting gaming and multipurpose rig?

[dbzlotrfan]

This seem like a decent rig to play most current and forthcoming PC games? I have gotten plenty of suggestions for parts in previous threads . .

• Purpose of System: Gaming, browsing internet, watching videos. But mostly for gaming. I also do want to use Folding@home as well.
• Budget: Within about 1600 American dollars
• Country: USA
• Reuseable parts: Can't, see below (current specs) as to why
• Overclocking: Doubtful. Though if I can get enough airflow I may try
• Monitor: Currently 1680 x 1050 (22 Inches) - I eventually want HD (Between 23 - 27 inches)
• Features of Motherboard: Firewire, USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, eSATA, UEFI
• OS: Windows 7 64 bit (I have the discs for 32 & 64 bit)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($217.52 @ Mwave)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($459.98 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Silverstone 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($107.10 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH22NS90B DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
----------------- these I will buy later ---------------------
Optical Drive: LG GH22NS90B DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH22NS90B DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Samsung P2770FH 27.0" Monitor ($294.98 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64-bit) ($185.98 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($45.96 @ Amazon)

Total: $2149.40
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-03 23:34 EDT-0400)

Current specs:

• CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Clocked @ 2.0 GHZ)
• CPU cooler: Fan
• Motherboard: Asus A8N-BR (Pyrite)
• Memory: 3 GB DDR 2
• Hard Drive: 250 GB ATA
• Video Card: nVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE, AMD Hammer
• Case: HP Slimline (gray)
• Power Supply: No idea. Really can't be much more than 100 watts
• Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST DVDRRW GSA-H20L ATA Device
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit

And what I wanted in a new system:

Hardware

• USB 2.0 speeds that are minimum of 30 MB a second (although faster is good)
• USB 3.0 speeds that are at lest 300+ MB/s [I will get / use an SSD]
• Firewire (and or eSata port) --- because I have a external hardrive that has both along with USB
• Several (e)SATA ports
• At lest a solid terabyte (1.5 TB)
• Supports VGA, DVI (@ first). Eventually HDMI
• Multi card reader (although I mainly need SD and Memory Pro Stick Duo)
• Able to use a PS3 controller AND A XBOX 360 controller (yes I know 360 is native support . . .)
• I would like a quad core.
• Built in WI-FI!

Software

• Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit) (Main OS) -- Mostly for languages
• May first run Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit - as I have both 32/64 bit discs now)
• Windows XP (May run through a virtual machine)
• Folding@home

Gaming Software:

- Will use steam:

• Elder Scrolls (Morrowind -> Skyrim)
• Portal 1 & 2
• Batman Arkham (Asylum/City)
• Sonic Generations
• Quake (all)
• Doom (all)
• Wolfenstein (all)
• Commander keen (all)
• Bioshock (1/2) (perhaps infinite)
• L.A. Noire
• Bejeweled 2/3
• Peggle
• Various COD's
• anything else that interests me

- CD/DVD'S I have:

• Warcraft 2 - Tides of Darkness & Beyond the Dark Portal
• Warcraft 3 - Reign of Chaos & Frozen Throne
• Diablo 1 - 3 (when it comes out)
• The Sims 1 - And all expansions
• The Sims 2 (probably)
• Simcity 4000 & Rushhour
• May use emulation (to run up to the PS2/Wii)

Other Thoughts

• Eventually a dual monitor setup (and one be HD resolution)
• I will wait for some parts (hard drives, GPU, etc) to drop in price.
• Will wait for IvyBridge. . . . (as if I have a choice)
• I WANT UEFI, NOT regular old BIOS (that this slimline has)

Power Supply Thoughts:

• ABSOLUTE MAX Watts: 750w
• Efficiency: AT LEST 80+ Silver
• Modular - semi or fully

Monitor Thoughts:

• Screen: Full HD & Widescreen
• Supports: HDMI, DVI, Displayport (if the motherboard of the computer does)
• Within 1 - 2 MS response time (current monitor is 5 MS response time) [if I'd notice a real difference and price]
• Screen size - 25 to about 27 inches

Q:

1. What use would I (as a regular home user) have for dual 10/100/1000 Mpbs?
2. I doubt WiFI A/N will effect me as the router we use supports B/G. Though could I see lest some improvement in speeds? (doubtful)

[Mountain Mania]

CM Hyper EVO is a bit better then the 212+...u get a flat copper base that makes better contact with cpu heatspreader.
Seasonic X _Series psu are fantastic....A 650 Gold+ would be top notch.

Gigabyte Z68 motherboards had a lot of boot loop problems, I'd avoid their Z77's myself.

ASRock + Biostar have some nice Z77 boards if you aren't trying to hit over 5 Ghz.

$185 for the OS? You can do better.

Overclocking a "K" series processor is simplistic. You increase the multiplier (no bclk/fsb increase) and may have to bump up the vcore in the bios ONE notch. Done.

[dbzlotrfan]

Someone on this end throws a fit every time I mention a PSU using more than like 300 watts, 750 is probably already pushing it. I won't overclock or use a second GPU as I know he'd throw a even bigger fit because I'd need a larger PSU (even though it's 80% all around).

[Yeah]

About the PSU~

Well way back when- quad core cpu's needed a lot of juice, and even single solution video cards needed A LOT of startup juice. Unless your planning on going SLI or dual card- theres no reason for a PSU over around 500 watts. The 650 is a nice one to go with in hot areas where you need constant voltage in hot climates. So I sorta agree with the someone on your end blasting you every time you mention a high wattage psu. How often are you going to be playing a game / burning a dvd / burning a cd / optimizing your hard drives AND editing some 3d sprites ?

Your just not going to push current PSU's to their limits like you would have just a few years ago. With these new CPU's that just do not require as much voltage as before.

[Activate: AMD]

You can save money on the following items and not lose much

mobo -get a lower-end model, most of the basic features are the same. Built in wifi is usually an up-sell feature. you can probably find a discrete adapter for less than the price difference... though using wifi on a desktop seems silly to me if you can avoid it.
ram -4x4GB is total overkill, 2x4GB is more than enough

PSU is fine, most things look fine. why are you listing 3 CD rom drives? having mutliple CD rom drives is totally a thing of the past. I use mine once a month max at this point. GPU might be overkill. 7970 is a totally high-end card and you could probably get more than enough GPU to run all those games well at 1680x1050 OR 1080P for 60% of the cost

[dbzlotrfan]

I'd far rather have built in wifi, I'm about 60 feet away from the router but in separate areas of the house, unless we care to run a cable from one end to this room - wifi. Along with the router not having any more free ports.

Right now I'm using an gold connected pin (I think) to the back of this slimline, an acer 11" laptop I have can get upwards of a MB/s (for what-ever reason) this barely gets 350 KB . . . .

I won't overclock (hence no K). Or use a dual GPU (I think i'd need even more PSU power for that) - and despite it being $20+ more I've also changed to a seaseonic: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasoni...supply-ss750km

[Activate: AMD]

I'd far rather have built in wifi, I'm about 60 feet away from the router but in separate areas of the house, unless we care to run a cable from one end to this room - wifi. Along with the router not having any more free ports.

so is there any other reason to really want built in wifi over a separate pcie card? that will significantly reduce the number of available motherboards because only high-end boards typically integrate it. You're probably going to wind up costing yourself 70$ just to get that feature

[Lenny]

Just get a USB wireless adapter. One with a extension cable and antenna is ideal. I use this one on one of my rigs. Works great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833166056