Hi, I was looking for some free advice before I went out to assemble my PC. I'm creating a new thread because my problem is unique. I am currently a console gamer, and two and a half years down the line, I'm starting to feel that it's just not the same as the good old days with my PC. I made the mistake of buying an Inno3D 8800 Ultra and I ruined it in under a year, playing Crysis in full HD. I'm assembling a PC to prepare for Battlefield 3, I know the system requirements aren't out yet, but I'm in a hurry to get going with my PC again. So here are my priorities. Firstly, I don't care if my PC can't pump 1920x1080 pixels I would just like to play at the highest graphics quality, even thought the resolution has to take a hit. Where I live, the ambient temperatures can go up to a 100F, though I usually play in an air conditioned environment, thermal management is my foremost concern. I would stay away from any kind of over-clocking. Also, the latest parts, cards and coolers are not readily available in my country, and I would not want to import parts as they void the warranty. I have a Seventeam 650W power supply that I can reuse, and a monitor, the rest needs to be bought. It would be great if someone could write out some specs for me, keeping in mind the above discussion. Thanks!
you'd be surprised at what a good overclock can achieve if you plan ahead on the cooling end.. re-tim the cards and get air directly to the spots needed- like the cpu and gpu you can then buy lower end and save some money.. I don't think todays games are pushing much though- like new vegas.. found with an older d3d dll you could get ridiculous frame rates and it looked the same so devs are playing that game along with the gpu makers for the pc.. it's more geared towards pitching the hardware to go with the software nowdays while still keeping it console friendly .. if you want to save- buy low and oc, or in the case of ati cards.. can flash up a 6850 to 6870 nvidias 5 series seems good too, but haven't played around with one yet..
I didn't know that. Sorry, I'm a bit of a noob, so if you could just name all the components that would sit well together, and if they provide a nice and stable solution, I might consider it. I'm just really scared, I don't want to see a burnt card again, or a computer that crashes when you look into the sun while playing Crysis! I always thought that overclocking was like pushing your hardware to it's limits. I'd rather play at a lower resolution, than not play at all after a year!
Budget system that won't break the bank (in english pounds): AMD 955BE (OC'able) - £95 4GB (2x2gb) 1600 DDR3 - £50 AM3 Mobo - £60 - £80 ATi 5850 - £100 - £120 1Tb 7200rpm HD - £40 Case - £40 = £390 - £430 Add optional sound card and speakers for an extra £50.
I was looking at an i7 2600, but people suggest that the i5 2500k is a better investment. What if I don't want to overclock, which would be a better buy? Which graphics card, not mid range, is the coolest? I zeroed in on the 560 Twin Frozr, is that a good decision? I found many coolers here, but none for a graphics card. Also, why is it that no one here buys Intel motherboards? Why do people suggest Asus boards instead? I always thought that an Intel board would sit well with an Intel CPU the best!
If you're never overclocking then possibly the 2600, the only difference is a slightly higher clock speed and hyperthreading which allows the each of the 4 cpu's to handle 2 threads at once. I'm not sure if how windows handles these threads has improved yet, basically windows will see 8 cpu's, 4 physical & 4 logical. As hyperthreading performance only gives around 25% improvement in some benchmarks and apps (like video encoding times) if Windows decides to assign a thread to a logical cpu when there is still a free physical cpu available then performance is likely to be less than if everything was running on actual physical CPU's. that is if the thread requires much processing power. The twin frozr might keep the GPU the coolest, but the heat is exhausted into the case, instead of being funnelled out of the back like a closed design would, so CPU temps might be higher. Intel boards are mainly for business users, Intel licence their chipsets to other manufacturers like Asus so they can make their own design, often offering what gamers, professionals, overclockers and enthusiasts want from their motherboards. They aren't really renowned for optimising their drivers much either, I'd prefer to have an Nvidia chipset but it's not possible with i5's or i7's so i'm stuck with Intel.
Okay, so the 2600 sounds good. Would it be a good idea to put a cooler on it anyway, even if I don't overclock it, or is it not required? Wouldn't a good cabinet solve the problem of the heat being dissipated into the case? Is there a card that runs as cool as this, but a little better? Probably a 570 or some ATI card? Okay, so if I'm going with an Asus board, which one should I buy? I'm not sure, but there are some that support only a multiple of 4GB of ram, and some 6GB. Which is better?
Get the 2500k. It's quite a bit cheaper than a 2600 and performs nealy identically, hyperthreading/2mb of cache add very little performance outside benchmarks. If you ever do want to overclock you can very easily. (Many boards even have an auto overclock function which will bump it over 4ghz immediately) Graphic wise 560/6950 are both cool cards and fit your budget.
2500k, nvidia 560ti. those are the components I wouldn't leave out if I was building from scratch at the moment. Then consider an Antec 100 or 300 case. If ambient temps are high, some extra fans... Scythe Gentle typhoons. A motherboard that offers instant overclocking if you aren't bothered about doing it yourself; they are usually quite conservative. I'm sure it's probably worth waiting to see what bittech says soon though tbh... what with aftermarket cpu coolers and that on the lga1155 platform or whatever it has become.
@Deders, Nope, it's this one http://www.seventeam.com.tw/product_contentx.php?theme_select=1english&cid=99&pid=265 Would it be enough for this configuration? ie. 2500k, 560Ti Tein Frozr.
If it's configured so that 1 12v rail powers the CPU, the Graphics card has it's own 12vrail, or is shared between 2, and everything else, (which will include up to 75w for the gfx card via the PCIe slot) on the remaining 12v rail, then it should be ok. 16A on each 12v rail isn't a lot to play with but luckily sandy bridge is very power efficient, I doubt you'd be able to add a second graphics card though as it only has 2x PCIe connectors and the rest of the power would most likely come from the same rail as everything else via molex adapters. Just as a comparison, the Antec truepower new 650w offers 22A on 2 of it's 12v rails and 25 on the other 2.
I'm really sorry, that totally went over my head! If I want to reuse this power supply, what Mobo should I get? Which Mobo is the one which overclocks by default? I don't think I would be buying two cards, so let's keep that out of the equation. Also, would a CoolerMaster cooler for the CPU be a good choice?
A PSU has several rails so it can deliver different voltages to the right place. +3.3v, +5V, +12v, -12v, +5vsb. In your case the +12v rail is split into 4 rails, each with a 16 amp limiter. So although the combined total of the +5v, +3.3v and all the +12v rails can output a maximum of 635 watts between them, because of the 16A limit on the +12v rails, they can only output a maximum of (16x12) 192 watts each before shutting your computer down. So long as the power is distributed well, like I mentioned in the post above, then there shouldn't be an issue. But if it's unbalanced and one rail is pushed beyond it's limits then you'll get shutdowns. Overclocking will increase the power load required, especially if you increase the voltage. Mobo's that overclock automatically often overcompensate with the voltages so they draw more power and heat up more than is necessary. Any MSI motherboard with the Overclocking Genie (or OC genie) will overclock your MB within a matter of seconds after a push of a button.
I don't know how demanding the 560 Twin Frozr is, to be on the safer side, should I be getting a better PSU? Also, I'm slowly leaning towards the 2500k because, one, it's cheaper, and two, I believe a water cooled solution would eliminate dust problems. Looking around the net, I find that the i7 is no great shakes when it comes to playing games, an overclocked i5 should be more value for money. So if I am going to overclock, what rating PSU should I get, and what cooler?
If the 650W is cutting it too close, I think I will go for an 850W, maybe more. Later on, if I decide to add another card, I would have enough power. That would make my comp future proof, I also hear that two mid range cards are better than a high-end card, is that really true? I've heard no complaints about the 560Ti till now, I'll wait till the sys req for BF3 are out, and then I'll buy the card. It'll be great if you could point me to a good MoBo, or just link me to a good config on iBuyPower.com!
