Computer list review/recommendation

[MustangGT]

Hey guys, just wanted to get you're opinions about this build and verify if everything is compatable/ any recommendations you guys would make. Thanks :D

CPU: Intel i5 2500k LGA 1155 Boxed Processor

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H60 High performance Liquid CPU Cooler Kit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008

Mobo: Asus P8Z68 Deluxe LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Mother Board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131753

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Series 16GB DDR3-1600

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145347

Sapphire Technology Dirt 3 Special Edition AMD Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 x 16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102954

PSU: Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid Tower ATX Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008&Tpk=corsair%20400r

Optical Drive: Asus 24x Internal DVD +/- RW SATA Writer

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0355159

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64 Bit OEM

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0361170

[Hammell]

Looks alright, I haven't checked the compatibility on everything yet, but I will say 2 things:

1. Nvidia > Radeon
2. look at noctua coolers. they're great for the price, work really well and come with thermal gel.

[fred_thy_grt]

I have a cooler master 212+ that is "universal" and it's a pos. The screws came bent, and are now stripped. So I recommend looking into what Hammell said.

[MustangGT]

Thanks for the input, but after like an hour of eggxpert chat I reconfigured my list. lol
I know Nvidia is better than Radeon for the high peformance GPU but for cards $250 and below I think Radeon takes it. If there is a crazy deal on a GTX 580 at microcenter Im gonna camp outside. lol

Im trying to get my build to look similar to this

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn306/Mourey17/1.jpg

[Hammell]

Reliability > Looks.

Remember, that a gfx card doesn't need to be 300 dollars to play games well. I spent 125 on my 9800gtx+ and i can run almost anything right now on high settings. Your ram, proc and mobo are where your gfx strength really lies.

And just to throw this out there. My i7 never runs hotter than 40 degrees celsius with a Noctua air cooler. Liquid can be a huge pain in the ass.

Trying to make a profile on that site, but even when I put in the address of a gas station in brownville NY, it still tells me that it's invalid. POS.

Anyways, this is what I'd add:

1. Core i7 2700K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor : http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0376491


3. noctua power house http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

4. vid card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625)

you could also get less memory. no one needs 16 gigs. regardless of what almost anyone tells you. Anyways, you end up just displacing money. the money taken off of the card and w/o liquid cooling gear makes up for the added on for the i7. and that fan, while not the quietest thing around, will keep your whole machine running cool, i shit you not.

So, you're spending maybe 60 bucks more at the most, and getting a better rig out of it.

[Cossack]

Nice case choise I have to say - Corsair is pretty bad ass with it. Because of cable management options the cooling is very good in it.

About mobo - Maybe you should look for Gen 3 mobos? MSI and ASRock have them. Those mobos have good reliability because you will be able to put ivy bridge with PCI Express 3.0 card witch apparently is 2 times faster than what we have now.

OS: Best versions of Win 7 are Professional and Ultimate. Everything below that is so cutted out and derp.

Cooling and Ram: its very good. if I could afford I would go for 16 as well. :D Dont buy anything below 8 GB because 4 GB is starting to not be enough.

GPU is good but what Hammell is saying: Nvidia>Radeon

580 is pretty bad ass card. ;)

About mobos: MSI solution: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130610 That is one pretty bad ass board.
Of course if there would be ASUS ROG solution with Gen3 I would go for that one ;)

[RedWater]

corsair ram is good, but get less of it (8gb) and buy the dominator xtreme.
get a nvidia GFX Card.
get a mobo like cossack said.

buying windows? lol is all im going to say.

[MustangGT]

@Hammel to my understanding, for gaming i5 2500k is the sweet spot were i7 is just overkill/for bragging rights :D

The Corsair H60 cooler I found listed on Amazon for $60 and its a simple as mounting the back plate, the fan and snapping it in, its not like those custom liquid coolers, Im not that tech savvy to try to do that lol


@Cossack, would this qualify as gen 3? http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364229

With Microcenter, if you purchase an i52500k you get $60 off any mobo (the ones they have at my store at least) :D

I do realize that Nvidia is the superior company, but for now I think Im going to stay with the Saphire 6950 $245 w/rebate + Dirt 3 :) but I am going to take into consideration how long the GTX 580 is going to last me if I pay an extra 200 now

@ Red, u get it for free?

[Cossack]

@Cossack, would this qualify as gen 3? http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364229

With Microcenter, if you purchase an i52500k you get $60 off any mobo (the ones they have at my store at least) :D

I do realize that Nvidia is the superior company, but for now I think Im going to stay with the Saphire 6950 $245 w/rebate + Dirt 3 :) but I am going to take into consideration how long the GTX 580 is going to last me if I pay an extra 200 now


Noup, its not Gen 3 mobo. But as you want ASUS product so badly then here you go: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0378094 Gen 3 ASUS board. ;)

About Radeon or Nvidia choice - Nvidia FTW, Radeon - can run things but not making you smile that much as Nvidia solutions ;) By the way, MSI cooling solutions for GPU's are the best on market. You can do OC with now problem with it.

And same deal with OS here. :D Why spent 300 bucks on thing if you can get for free and it works just fine with all updates :D

[RedWater]

Mustang serious? Do I really need to google search "Windows 7 ultimate torrent" for you? :D

[MustangGT]

but dont u get viruses from those torrents? How would it work if you use it on a comp w/o an OS? lol

And Cossak they dont carry that mobo. Is there a difference in Gen 3 even if Im not going to do any OC?

[Cossack]

then what ASUS Z68 mobos they carry with PCI Express 3.0 slots? :(

Noup, there is none.

[MustangGT]

so when I go there should I ask for gen 3 mobos?

[Cossack]

Yeah, do it. If they don't have ASUS Gen3 board, take MSI. ;)

[MustangGT]

lol will do, but Im still curious as to how torrenting win 7 works. Would you download it on a comp the save it to a CD for the build?

[Cossack]

Mustang - you just download .iso or smt like that image - write it on DVD, when writen on disk, install it on desired system. I use already activated Win 7 Ultimate and it works just fine. :D

[MustangGT]

would you want to help me do this? plz? I give cookie :D

[Cossack]

Meh, Red can tell you everything you need ;)

[MustangGT]

sounds good. thnx for the info/recommendations! :D

[MustangGT]

Gonna get a black mobo so the blue parts can stand out more

Which is better?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-128-498&SortField=2&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

vs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-128-507&SortField=1&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo

[Cossack]

None of them are Gen 3...

Just here is every single Gen 3 board available on newegg and pick one:

1.ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271)

2.MSI Z68A-GD55 (G3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130622) - this is one what Cole got for his own PC.

3.ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792)

4.ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264)

5.MSI Z68A-GD65 (G3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130611)

6.ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790)

7.MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130610)

8.ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131791)

Just pick one you will be ready for future.

[MustangGT]

Do you think Microcenter are just lazy at not putting if its pci 3.0?

Im pretty sure
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0366668

is this the last mobo you posted.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0364206

same as number 6.

But Im definetly going to ask them when I go.

Thanks for helping me out, I appreciate it; and I'd send you a cookie or something but I think it wont taste good when it gets to your house. :p

[Cossack]

Mustang... These board have the same number, yeah, BUT they are not Gen 3 version. Because it came out later and so they made new version just replacing slots to new one... And most people are not aware of this and then don't get what they wanted.

I see in website they are available.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0378094 - this is what you looking for. Please pay attention at product name and on those what you posted just now.

[MustangGT]

ohh ok, I was shopping on inventory at my local Microcenter, Ima call them Monday and ask if they can get some gen 3 mobos shipped to their location. Thanks again for answering my retarded questions. lol

[Cossack]

Meh, its ok. Main thing is that you will get there one pretty badass rig ;)