What do you think of this gaming computer build?

PTRP

2012-08-14 15:32:24 UTC

Yup, the 2500K - GTX 570 pair can indeed play BF3 and SKYRIM on ultra settings on a 1080p monitor with decent FPS. When it comes to future proofing, your build would be good for several years and I would be the first to be shocked if after 3 years it couldn't even play all games on mid settings because I strongly believe that even though technology (of which gaming is included) is indeed changing rapidly, it is not that fast and there is always a limit of what you can do.

But if you could build it yourself or have a friend assist you, it be best and more worth your money, here is an example of a COMPLETE gaming build that is under $1300:

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K - $230

ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - $150 ($130 after rebate)

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL - $46

Seagate Barracuda ST3750525AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $70

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition OC 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (11199-03-20G) - $310 ($295 after rebate)

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom - $75 ($50 after rebate)

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN3-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0 and Black Interior - $90 ($80 after rebate)

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Internal 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Model IHAS324 - $22

Rosewill Gaming Keyboard RK-8100 (RIKB-11003) - $25

RAZER Abyssus Mirror Special Edition Black 3 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired 3500 dpi Mouse - $30

inland Home/Office Series 88034 7.2 Watts 2.0 Speaker - $10

Acer S220HQLAbd Black 21.5" 5ms LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 ACM 100,000,000:1 (1000:1) - $120 (1080p)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM - $100

TOTAL : $1278 ($1178 after rebate), this is a complete build that can let you play all games on max settings with good FPS on a 1080p monitor and higher resolutions.

NEWEGG.COM PARTS AND PRICES

The HD 7870 is faster overall than a GTX 570, especially that the one I provided is an OC version, and not to mention that it is considerably more power efficient.

IrishVT

2012-08-14 15:48:15 UTC

Yeah, that's a pretty standard build. You don't need 16GB for gaming though - 8GB is more than enough.

You listed the heatsink twice lol.

For motherboard, just look at the specs. From what you've listed, you'll need....

- a socket 1155 motherboard (must match the socket on the CPU)

- at least 2 SATA III ports (for the hard drive and DVD drive - Sata 3 is often listed as SATA 6gbps)

- a PCIe x16 slot.

You also will want one that overclocks well, so you'll look for a chipset z68 or z77 motherboard, with z77 being newer.

Finally, go with an ASUS or Gigabyte brand. To me, they're the only ones worth looking at with very few exceptions. ASUS is the best, but Gigabyte is cheaper.

$120 GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128543

$130 ASUS P8Z77-V LK - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837

The gigabyte one also gives you a $15 gift card and a bad antivirus program.

---

If you can swing it with your budget (I'm sure you can), pick up a 120GB/128GB SSD (Sata III) and a larger storage drive. Its ridiculous how fast 200GB can be used up.

Frag Master

2012-08-14 15:25:46 UTC

John, the more the Gigabyte the bigger, at least get a 128GB SSD for the OS, and wait for the Kepler powered GTX660 it will make you happy.

This is what I recommend for a big bang for your gaming buck, enjoy,

ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

$127.99

Save: $62.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131806R

Kingston SSDNow V200 Series SV200S3/256G 2.5" 256GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (Stand-alone drive)

$159.99

Save: $30.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139951

GeIL EVO Veloce Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model GEV316GB1600C9DC

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144615

GeForce GTX 660 Ti specs leaked, beats expectations

AMD and NVIDIA are ready to enter a new round of competition this fall with NVIDIA releasing more budget-oriented models of its highly successful Kepler family. The first in the line will be the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, expected later this month. While the card has been kept a secret the folks at TweakTown somehow laid their hands on one and the specs and performance really outshined everything expected so far.

Starting with the specs the reviewed GeForce GTX 660 Ti came with an unknown Kepler core running at 915 MHz in default mode and at 980 MHz in Turbo Mode. The core featured 1344 stream processors, up from the expected 1152 CUDA cores – which is definitely good news! The on-board 2 GB GDDR5 memory was accessed, however, via a 192-bit bus, making for 144.2 GB/sec of bandwidth. It’s worth mentioning that the GDDR5 memory worked at 6008 MHz effective, just like the GTX 670 and GTX 680.

And here comes the bad news for AMD and AMD fans – the GeForce GTX 660 Ti easily beat in tests the Radeon HD 7850/HD 7870 and even the HD 7950 and HD 7970 – cards that cost more than the 200 USD that the GTX 660 Ti is expected to cost. This might mean another round of price reductions for AMD graphics cards.

Aside from the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, NVIDIA is expected to launch the GeForce GTX 650 in September of this year. The GTX 650 will be based on the GK107 core and will feature 384 stream processors. The card will come with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory accessed via a 128-bit bus. Frequencies are unknown but the GTX 650 will be the same old GeForce GT 640 this time equipped with GDDR5 memory instead of the older GDDR3.

http://www.hitechreview.com/it-products/pc/geforce-gtx-660-ti-specs-leaked-beats-expectations/38526/

anonymous

2012-08-14 14:55:53 UTC

I have a Slightly less Powerful Rig, and I can handle LA Noire on all of the Highest Settings. This will suffice any of the latest Games and future proof possibly another 3-6 Years.

shadow761943

2012-08-14 15:02:02 UTC

Those specs look great! One minor caveat: From my experience with the Cooler Master Storm Scout case, space can get pretty tight when you're doing cable management so I would suggest you swap it for a modular power supply. Other than that the rest of your system seems very capable.