$1100 High End Build
Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 1:28 am
Hello, I'm new here.
I am planning on building a gaming rig sometime between now and before Christmas, to take advantage of the holiday sales on components. My basic goal for making a gaming rig is to primarily play games as well as a general purpose rig for video editing (nothing intensive) and possibly photoshop. My interest in gaming stemmed from the Steam 2012 summer sale. Because of the sale, I was able to get a lot of games at heavily reduced price but my current computer cannot play a lot of the games on my library with sufficient frame rate. All in all, I don't consider myself a hardcore gamer, I mostly play games for fun or for the social aspect and not particularly to compete or anything. That being said, I have a lot of games that I want to play but require a mid range to high end build to run. I have set out to do just that. I have a Viore 22' 1080p LED TV as well as an Altec speaker and subwoofer and a Microsoft mouse and keyboard combo. I'm not really into that dual monitor stuff although some of my friends are. I am also not planning on overclocking very much (at the moment) so I'm not particularly interested in elaborate heat sink setups or nitrogen cooler. I've seen some videos on Youtube and they seem too excessive for me. My gaming preferences on the PC are mostly about games that I prefer to play on the PC as opposed to my Xbox, either primarily for the better graphics or because of convenience. Generally speaking, I'm building my gaming rig to run games like Civilization V, Assassin's Creed (all of them), Bioshock 1-3, GTA IV (with the ICE mod), GTA V when it comes out, Dishonored, Skyrim, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Hitman Absolution, Witcher 1 and 2, Far Cry (including 3 when it comes out), the COD series, Batman Arkham City, etc at the highest possible settings. I know that Battlefield 3 and Crysis are benchmarks for gaming but I'm not interested in that extreme level of gaming. All in all, I'm looking at building a rig that could play games at high or ultra high settings for the next 3-5 years.
But enough with my rambling, here is my possible build:
*Quick note: Some of these come with rebates and instant discounts. The listed prices are shown with instant discounts as rebates tend to change more often.
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 with SLI support (239.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613
Intel i5 3570K (for possible future overclock) (219.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Corsair Vengeance 16 gig RAM (2 x 8 gig) (in case I want to go 32 gig later) (84.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233299
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H motherboard (144.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W power supply(109.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018
Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 (159.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133191
Western Digital WD Black 1TB Hard Drive (109.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
Asus DVD Burner (19.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
Logitech Desktop Microphone 600 (for Skype/Ventro/GVoice) (9.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121018
Kaybles Model DHDMI-158K 15ft HDMI cable (for connecting to my monitor) (7.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812576012
That is essentially what's on my Newegg wishlist right now. I based my build on the one recommended by Gaming PC Builds (http://www.gamingpcbuilds.com/best-1000-gaming-build/). I'm looking at a cost of about $1100 give or take. I picked the Thermaltake Chaser primarily because of its aggressive look, LED lights, compartmentalization perks that make building a rig easier, modulated and adjustable straps and covers, and superior ventilation, thus justifying its higher cost over other cheaper alternatives. Again, I'm going for longevity here. I went with the Z77 because of its supposed superiority over the Z68 and its support for USB 3.0. I have a USB 3.0 1TB external hard drive and because it's a new standard, I want to stay ahead of the curve. I settled on 700W as a good power benchmark so the ModXStream it is. The one part the conflicts me the most is the GPU. For higher end gaming (running GTA IV with ICE mod for example), some people suggested the GTX 670. I went for the GTX 570 because the Gaming PC Build recommended it. I have looked at GeForce GTX 670s from MSI and EVGA. Both are significantly more expensive than the 570 by about $100. The MSI is cheaper, at least on Newegg, by about $50 due to bigger instant savings and rebates. I want to stay near $1100 but I am willing stomach a higher cost (anything below $1300) as long as it is worth the money. I was told that while MSI's customer support is restricted to North America, EVGA has better customer support and is available worldwide. I live in Los Angeles, California and goes to school in San Diego so that issue isn't of particular importance to me. What I am looking at is cost. Is there really a performance difference between the MSI version and the EVGA version that wouldn't justify the MSI's lower cost? For what I am aiming to do, which is a better choice; the 670 or the 570? I am particularly new to hardware computers being mostly a software guy myself so I'm shopping around for ideas before setting out to build my own computer.
Here are the GTX 670s that I am looking at:
MSI GeForce GTX 670 (359.99 with $30 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127675
EVGA Geforce GTX 670 FTW (389.99 with $20 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787
I also have some other questions if people here care to answer them:
1) Would I need additional heat sinks? The Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 comes with 3 so do I need more (assuming I don't overclock)? If I do, I want to get fans that have LED lights, any suggestions?
2) Should I wear protective gloves when putting together the computer?
3) I know the motherboard can provide really good sound but would it be wrong (or excessive) to invest in a sound card that could give me 5.1 surround sound?
4) I'm not entirely sure from the descriptions but does the Gigabyte motherboard provide me with a separate microphone port aside from the audio port? I need it for the microphone I'm getting.
5) Ah, the age old question; assuming that I don't go to 32 gig, 2 x 8 or 4 x 4?
6) Any suggestions on how I should monitor the heat level in my rig? I've seen some people get LCD monitors that can be built into the front ports on the case but I'm not really interested in those mods. Any on the software sides or cheap hardware alternatives? What about softwares to regulate fan speed (automatically)? What temperature range should I look for?
7) What about drivers? How do I get them. I was told that my motherboard comes with a CD but what about the others? I'm thinking of using DriverMax to get all of my drivers but I'm open to suggestions.
8) Should I invest in a wireless card? Mostly for convenience sake. If so, suggestions?
9) SSDs. Are they worth it?
10) Any good (video or otherwise) walkthroughs? If so, please share.
Thanks.
I am planning on building a gaming rig sometime between now and before Christmas, to take advantage of the holiday sales on components. My basic goal for making a gaming rig is to primarily play games as well as a general purpose rig for video editing (nothing intensive) and possibly photoshop. My interest in gaming stemmed from the Steam 2012 summer sale. Because of the sale, I was able to get a lot of games at heavily reduced price but my current computer cannot play a lot of the games on my library with sufficient frame rate. All in all, I don't consider myself a hardcore gamer, I mostly play games for fun or for the social aspect and not particularly to compete or anything. That being said, I have a lot of games that I want to play but require a mid range to high end build to run. I have set out to do just that. I have a Viore 22' 1080p LED TV as well as an Altec speaker and subwoofer and a Microsoft mouse and keyboard combo. I'm not really into that dual monitor stuff although some of my friends are. I am also not planning on overclocking very much (at the moment) so I'm not particularly interested in elaborate heat sink setups or nitrogen cooler. I've seen some videos on Youtube and they seem too excessive for me. My gaming preferences on the PC are mostly about games that I prefer to play on the PC as opposed to my Xbox, either primarily for the better graphics or because of convenience. Generally speaking, I'm building my gaming rig to run games like Civilization V, Assassin's Creed (all of them), Bioshock 1-3, GTA IV (with the ICE mod), GTA V when it comes out, Dishonored, Skyrim, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Hitman Absolution, Witcher 1 and 2, Far Cry (including 3 when it comes out), the COD series, Batman Arkham City, etc at the highest possible settings. I know that Battlefield 3 and Crysis are benchmarks for gaming but I'm not interested in that extreme level of gaming. All in all, I'm looking at building a rig that could play games at high or ultra high settings for the next 3-5 years.
But enough with my rambling, here is my possible build:
*Quick note: Some of these come with rebates and instant discounts. The listed prices are shown with instant discounts as rebates tend to change more often.
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 with SLI support (239.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613
Intel i5 3570K (for possible future overclock) (219.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Corsair Vengeance 16 gig RAM (2 x 8 gig) (in case I want to go 32 gig later) (84.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233299
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H motherboard (144.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W power supply(109.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018
Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 (159.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133191
Western Digital WD Black 1TB Hard Drive (109.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
Asus DVD Burner (19.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
Logitech Desktop Microphone 600 (for Skype/Ventro/GVoice) (9.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121018
Kaybles Model DHDMI-158K 15ft HDMI cable (for connecting to my monitor) (7.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812576012
That is essentially what's on my Newegg wishlist right now. I based my build on the one recommended by Gaming PC Builds (http://www.gamingpcbuilds.com/best-1000-gaming-build/). I'm looking at a cost of about $1100 give or take. I picked the Thermaltake Chaser primarily because of its aggressive look, LED lights, compartmentalization perks that make building a rig easier, modulated and adjustable straps and covers, and superior ventilation, thus justifying its higher cost over other cheaper alternatives. Again, I'm going for longevity here. I went with the Z77 because of its supposed superiority over the Z68 and its support for USB 3.0. I have a USB 3.0 1TB external hard drive and because it's a new standard, I want to stay ahead of the curve. I settled on 700W as a good power benchmark so the ModXStream it is. The one part the conflicts me the most is the GPU. For higher end gaming (running GTA IV with ICE mod for example), some people suggested the GTX 670. I went for the GTX 570 because the Gaming PC Build recommended it. I have looked at GeForce GTX 670s from MSI and EVGA. Both are significantly more expensive than the 570 by about $100. The MSI is cheaper, at least on Newegg, by about $50 due to bigger instant savings and rebates. I want to stay near $1100 but I am willing stomach a higher cost (anything below $1300) as long as it is worth the money. I was told that while MSI's customer support is restricted to North America, EVGA has better customer support and is available worldwide. I live in Los Angeles, California and goes to school in San Diego so that issue isn't of particular importance to me. What I am looking at is cost. Is there really a performance difference between the MSI version and the EVGA version that wouldn't justify the MSI's lower cost? For what I am aiming to do, which is a better choice; the 670 or the 570? I am particularly new to hardware computers being mostly a software guy myself so I'm shopping around for ideas before setting out to build my own computer.
Here are the GTX 670s that I am looking at:
MSI GeForce GTX 670 (359.99 with $30 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127675
EVGA Geforce GTX 670 FTW (389.99 with $20 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787
I also have some other questions if people here care to answer them:
1) Would I need additional heat sinks? The Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 comes with 3 so do I need more (assuming I don't overclock)? If I do, I want to get fans that have LED lights, any suggestions?
2) Should I wear protective gloves when putting together the computer?
3) I know the motherboard can provide really good sound but would it be wrong (or excessive) to invest in a sound card that could give me 5.1 surround sound?
4) I'm not entirely sure from the descriptions but does the Gigabyte motherboard provide me with a separate microphone port aside from the audio port? I need it for the microphone I'm getting.
5) Ah, the age old question; assuming that I don't go to 32 gig, 2 x 8 or 4 x 4?
6) Any suggestions on how I should monitor the heat level in my rig? I've seen some people get LCD monitors that can be built into the front ports on the case but I'm not really interested in those mods. Any on the software sides or cheap hardware alternatives? What about softwares to regulate fan speed (automatically)? What temperature range should I look for?
7) What about drivers? How do I get them. I was told that my motherboard comes with a CD but what about the others? I'm thinking of using DriverMax to get all of my drivers but I'm open to suggestions.
8) Should I invest in a wireless card? Mostly for convenience sake. If so, suggestions?
9) SSDs. Are they worth it?
10) Any good (video or otherwise) walkthroughs? If so, please share.
Thanks.