Question about
What's in your box?
If you have a blazing custom gaming PC, what have you built it with? Looking for good suggestions for video and graphics cards, motherboards, fans, etc.
top answers
veronica's pick
I wouldn't say my box is right up there with the elite gaming rigs, but it's awesome for the money. I did a custom build a month or so a go (my first).
Here's my spec:
Asus P8P67 LE ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler + Arctic Silver 5 Thermal paste
Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance Memory
XFX HD 6870 1GB Graphics Card
Samsung HD103SJ 1TB HDD
Coolermaster GX 750W PSU
Antec One Hundred Case
I went for as much umph as I could get for my money and I think I got a good deal. Total price was around £650 / $1,056. Was straight forward to set up and is running well. I can play all the games I enjoy in their highest settings for the first time ever (WoW, Crysis, CoD, etc.). Happy days!
Note: I would advise you to look for exactly what you need, it's easy to end up paying ridiculous money for components that will never get the use they were made for. Hope your search for your dream rig goes well.
Here's my spec:
Asus P8P67 LE ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler + Arctic Silver 5 Thermal paste
Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance Memory
XFX HD 6870 1GB Graphics Card
Samsung HD103SJ 1TB HDD
Coolermaster GX 750W PSU
Antec One Hundred Case
I went for as much umph as I could get for my money and I think I got a good deal. Total price was around £650 / $1,056. Was straight forward to set up and is running well. I can play all the games I enjoy in their highest settings for the first time ever (WoW, Crysis, CoD, etc.). Happy days!
Note: I would advise you to look for exactly what you need, it's easy to end up paying ridiculous money for components that will never get the use they were made for. Hope your search for your dream rig goes well.
mark as good answer
4 people like this answer
Clicking the mark as good answer button helps us highlight the best answers.
community pick
Hey :)
CPU: Unless you're doing some heavy video encoding / editing / rendering and you just want something decent for gaming, go for the Intel i5 2500k. The i7 has hyper-threading which makes all that other stuff a lot easier, but apart from that, it has no benefits for games.
Motherboard: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813... ---- This is a decent motherboard for the price. You have the option of buying another graphics card and running it in Crossfire / SLI for extra juice. :)
GPU (Graphics Card): Personally, I would go with Nvidia. If you're looking for a top end system, go for the MSI Twin Frozr II GTX 580. The cooling on the card is brilliant, as well as being factory overclocked for lush speeds. Like I said before, you could end up getting two of these and have double the power.
CPU Cooler: Don't fuss around with watercooling; go for the Noctua NH-D14. It's a monster of a cooler, and will easily keep temp's low for an overclocked CPU (could get it to around 4.6GHz to 4.8GHZ, which is more than enough).
HDD: The 1TB Samsung F3 is an awesome drive. It's fast, it's reliable and it's cheap. What more could you ever want?
SSD: Now these things are awesome. Install Windows onto an SSD and BOOM, you've booted up your system in about 8 seconds :) They're super fast. If you installed WoW onto it for example, loading screen times would be lightening fast. I'd say... The Mushkin Chronos 120GB (big enough for your operating system and a few games.
RAM: Using the mammoth of a CPU cooler like the Noctua, you'll have trouble fitting RAM with huge heatsinks underneath. But IMO, they aren't really needed, anyway. Instead, go with the 8GB Mushkin Blackline. Nice and fast, nice and small and again, cheap.
PSU: As a rule of thumb, I always go for much more wattage than you'll actually use in a power supply. This ensures that it'll stand the test of time, since the outage from PSU's droops a little when it gets older. You won't need to upgrade this for a long time if you go for the Modular Corsair 1050W (Modular because then you only add on the cables that you need for your build, and you aren't left with a huge bundle left to tidy up). Now, 1050W is a TON for one single 580, I know. But like I said, buying another one down the line would be a very good idea and this would give you enough power to do it.
Case: Cases are very specific to your own tastes. I could spend hours telling you about all the cases I love, but you might hate them. That said, there are a few things to make sure are included.
1) Cable management! You don't want cables flowing all over the place. It decreases airflow. Cable management is basically small holes that allow you to feed your cables around the back of the case.
2) Space - This is pretty much a common sense issue, but you'll need to insure you'll have enough space in your case for all of your components. Just to clarify, you'll need a full tower case for the build I've linked.
3) That it's sturdy - You don't want your case falling about. Do some research, make sure the case you picked isn't made out of cheap plastic.
Fans: Fan brands that are generally good are:
1) Be Quiet!
2) Corsair
3) Zalman
4) Coolermaster.
I hope that's all helped, even just a little bit.
CPU: Unless you're doing some heavy video encoding / editing / rendering and you just want something decent for gaming, go for the Intel i5 2500k. The i7 has hyper-threading which makes all that other stuff a lot easier, but apart from that, it has no benefits for games.
Motherboard: www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813... ---- This is a decent motherboard for the price. You have the option of buying another graphics card and running it in Crossfire / SLI for extra juice. :)
GPU (Graphics Card): Personally, I would go with Nvidia. If you're looking for a top end system, go for the MSI Twin Frozr II GTX 580. The cooling on the card is brilliant, as well as being factory overclocked for lush speeds. Like I said before, you could end up getting two of these and have double the power.
CPU Cooler: Don't fuss around with watercooling; go for the Noctua NH-D14. It's a monster of a cooler, and will easily keep temp's low for an overclocked CPU (could get it to around 4.6GHz to 4.8GHZ, which is more than enough).
HDD: The 1TB Samsung F3 is an awesome drive. It's fast, it's reliable and it's cheap. What more could you ever want?
SSD: Now these things are awesome. Install Windows onto an SSD and BOOM, you've booted up your system in about 8 seconds :) They're super fast. If you installed WoW onto it for example, loading screen times would be lightening fast. I'd say... The Mushkin Chronos 120GB (big enough for your operating system and a few games.
RAM: Using the mammoth of a CPU cooler like the Noctua, you'll have trouble fitting RAM with huge heatsinks underneath. But IMO, they aren't really needed, anyway. Instead, go with the 8GB Mushkin Blackline. Nice and fast, nice and small and again, cheap.
PSU: As a rule of thumb, I always go for much more wattage than you'll actually use in a power supply. This ensures that it'll stand the test of time, since the outage from PSU's droops a little when it gets older. You won't need to upgrade this for a long time if you go for the Modular Corsair 1050W (Modular because then you only add on the cables that you need for your build, and you aren't left with a huge bundle left to tidy up). Now, 1050W is a TON for one single 580, I know. But like I said, buying another one down the line would be a very good idea and this would give you enough power to do it.
Case: Cases are very specific to your own tastes. I could spend hours telling you about all the cases I love, but you might hate them. That said, there are a few things to make sure are included.
1) Cable management! You don't want cables flowing all over the place. It decreases airflow. Cable management is basically small holes that allow you to feed your cables around the back of the case.
2) Space - This is pretty much a common sense issue, but you'll need to insure you'll have enough space in your case for all of your components. Just to clarify, you'll need a full tower case for the build I've linked.
3) That it's sturdy - You don't want your case falling about. Do some research, make sure the case you picked isn't made out of cheap plastic.
Fans: Fan brands that are generally good are:
1) Be Quiet!
2) Corsair
3) Zalman
4) Coolermaster.
I hope that's all helped, even just a little bit.
mark as good answer
11 people like this answer
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 12GB RAM
Hard Drives: Seagate and Western Digital, I beleive- both HDD not SSD...
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth P67
Computer Case: Thermaltake Tsunami (Black) (oldie, but a good one!)
Power Supply: Antec 800W
Built this one about a month ago. All that plus a new heatsink, OS, DVD player, and some little bits and peices = ~$1200 from Micro Center.
It's been running great with Windows 7 Home Premium. Games have fast FPS and no lags that I've noticed. I can play several videos at once too, so I supposed it would be good for editing too. You probably wouldn't have to go crazy with the RAM like I did, but it was on sale so I splurged. :)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 12GB RAM
Hard Drives: Seagate and Western Digital, I beleive- both HDD not SSD...
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth P67
Computer Case: Thermaltake Tsunami (Black) (oldie, but a good one!)
Power Supply: Antec 800W
Built this one about a month ago. All that plus a new heatsink, OS, DVD player, and some little bits and peices = ~$1200 from Micro Center.
It's been running great with Windows 7 Home Premium. Games have fast FPS and no lags that I've noticed. I can play several videos at once too, so I supposed it would be good for editing too. You probably wouldn't have to go crazy with the RAM like I did, but it was on sale so I splurged. :)
mark as good answer
5 people like this answer
Mine is more of a general-purpose mule, not a 'blazing'. Built it with silence, utility and reasonable power in mind.
Case: Fractal Design Define R3. Rear fan replaced with Noctua P12 (from the D14 combo), front fan replaced with Noctua S12.
CPU: i7-2600K
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14, running central fan only
MB: Asus P8P67 Deluxe
GPU: Asus DirectCU II GTX580 - a quieter-than-normal version of the reference 580. Takes up 3 slots.
Memory: I bought some. I have no idea what it was.
PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus 1KW
Boot & program storage: 2 x Intel ElmCrest SSDs
Main Storage: OCZ Z-Drive P88 R2
At general load in my deathly quiet home office, I can't hear it over the Mac Pro juddering in the background. And even if I turn off all the juddering / screaming Apples (depending on ambients) it's still no more than a quiet whirr.
Case: Fractal Design Define R3. Rear fan replaced with Noctua P12 (from the D14 combo), front fan replaced with Noctua S12.
CPU: i7-2600K
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14, running central fan only
MB: Asus P8P67 Deluxe
GPU: Asus DirectCU II GTX580 - a quieter-than-normal version of the reference 580. Takes up 3 slots.
Memory: I bought some. I have no idea what it was.
PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus 1KW
Boot & program storage: 2 x Intel ElmCrest SSDs
Main Storage: OCZ Z-Drive P88 R2
At general load in my deathly quiet home office, I can't hear it over the Mac Pro juddering in the background. And even if I turn off all the juddering / screaming Apples (depending on ambients) it's still no more than a quiet whirr.
mark as good answer
2 people like this answer
1 x LIAN LI PC-60FNWX Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
1 x BIOSTAR TPOWER i55 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 x COOLMAX ZP-850B 850W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI / CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC and Compatible with Core i3/i5/i7 Power Supply
1 x Intel Core i7-875K Lynnfield 2.93GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor BX80605I7875K
1 x OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P2000LV4GK
1 x Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler
1 x MSI N465GTX Twin Frozr II GE GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
1 x BIOSTAR TPOWER i55 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
1 x COOLMAX ZP-850B 850W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI / CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC and Compatible with Core i3/i5/i7 Power Supply
1 x Intel Core i7-875K Lynnfield 2.93GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor BX80605I7875K
1 x OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P2000LV4GK
1 x Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler
1 x MSI N465GTX Twin Frozr II GE GeForce GTX 465 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
mark as good answer
1 person likes this answer
Rocking the following...
Intel i7-2600K Sandy Bridge
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 motherboard
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 16GB DDR3 ram
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 case
2x Radeon HD 6970 2GB video card
OCZ Vertex 3 240GB SSD (primary)
4x WD Caviar Black 1TB (storage)
Plextor Blu-Ray Burner
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RSC00-80GAD3-US 1200W psu
CORSAIR H100 Liquid CPU Cooler
Dual booting Windows 7 x64 Ultimate/Mac OS X 10.7 Lion (hackintosh)
Intel i7-2600K Sandy Bridge
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 motherboard
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 16GB DDR3 ram
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 case
2x Radeon HD 6970 2GB video card
OCZ Vertex 3 240GB SSD (primary)
4x WD Caviar Black 1TB (storage)
Plextor Blu-Ray Burner
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RSC00-80GAD3-US 1200W psu
CORSAIR H100 Liquid CPU Cooler
Dual booting Windows 7 x64 Ultimate/Mac OS X 10.7 Lion (hackintosh)
mark as good answer
1 person likes this answer
My first advice is usually to head on over to www.silentpcreview.com and checking out their choices. Even if you don't go absolutely bonkers making your PC whisper quiet, many things (like CPU coolers and the like) are very efficient when they are quiet - so you get quality gear and a solid chance of making a quiet machine.
More specifically, the "gold standard" for cases if you are after function and silence rather than flash is (in my opinion, anyway) an Antec Performance series P183. They are absolutely huge, but built to be quiet. An option might be the P180 Mini (which isn't all that mini, just smaller than the hulking P183)
Then you just pick good stuff off the SPCR lists above (PSU, CPU cooler), an i5 CPU of some kind probably for good price/performance, 8 gigs of RAM just to be on the safe side (there are no huge differences in these components anymore in my opinion) and a graphics card in the upper midrange, price-wise (GeForce or ATI, natch, and either is good) and you should have a kick-ass setup that might even be very quiet if you pick the right parts.
But my focus is more on a usable, quiet, discreet machine that can also game rather than a fire-breathing monster that requires stock in a nuclear reactor to power, so that's something to keep in mind. I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice on how to make one of those, too.
EDIT: Oh, and absolutely get an SSD! The OCZ Vertex 3 should be awesome and the 120 GB is merely expensive, not obscenely so. In fact, it's probably worth skimping elsewhere and getting the SSD rather than going with a rotating platter. SSD is a must.
More specifically, the "gold standard" for cases if you are after function and silence rather than flash is (in my opinion, anyway) an Antec Performance series P183. They are absolutely huge, but built to be quiet. An option might be the P180 Mini (which isn't all that mini, just smaller than the hulking P183)
Then you just pick good stuff off the SPCR lists above (PSU, CPU cooler), an i5 CPU of some kind probably for good price/performance, 8 gigs of RAM just to be on the safe side (there are no huge differences in these components anymore in my opinion) and a graphics card in the upper midrange, price-wise (GeForce or ATI, natch, and either is good) and you should have a kick-ass setup that might even be very quiet if you pick the right parts.
But my focus is more on a usable, quiet, discreet machine that can also game rather than a fire-breathing monster that requires stock in a nuclear reactor to power, so that's something to keep in mind. I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice on how to make one of those, too.
EDIT: Oh, and absolutely get an SSD! The OCZ Vertex 3 should be awesome and the 120 GB is merely expensive, not obscenely so. In fact, it's probably worth skimping elsewhere and getting the SSD rather than going with a rotating platter. SSD is a must.
mark as good answer
1 person likes this answer
My box is a second attempt at an HTPC sized machine. It uses a Lian Li PC--V351B case (Doghouse Systems use to use this case for one of their lines) which has much better internal support for parts then my previous attempt.
Inside is:
OCZ Modstream Pro 500W PSU
ASUS M4A785-M Micro ATX Motherboard
AMD Phenom II x4 945 3.0Ghz
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 & OCZ 2GB (1x1GB) DDR2
BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 OC MAXCORE 55
The case supports most decent length graphics card and I can probably slip in the newer GeForce 400 or 500 cards in here. Some parts were pulled from an older machine such as ram and HDD. Decided not to make the jump to DDR3 due to cost issues at the time I built this.
I would be careful with the Corsairs XMS series ram as the last two I ordered came with bad sticks. There's a bit of a quality control issue going on with them on their budget line ram. Not sure about their more expensive ones.
One thing I can't stress enough, find a modular power supply. Corsair or OCZ seem pretty good to me. Modular PSUs make it not only limits the extra cables that will be in the PC but also improves airflow since you don't have to stuff the unused ones in the drive bay area or other spots out of the way.
As far as sound cards go, if your looking for quality sound then a good sound card might be in your future. Especially if you do the podcast recording/editing. Built in ones have various problems with grounding and noise and can also bog the system down depending on what gets put threw it.
Inside is:
OCZ Modstream Pro 500W PSU
ASUS M4A785-M Micro ATX Motherboard
AMD Phenom II x4 945 3.0Ghz
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 & OCZ 2GB (1x1GB) DDR2
BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 OC MAXCORE 55
The case supports most decent length graphics card and I can probably slip in the newer GeForce 400 or 500 cards in here. Some parts were pulled from an older machine such as ram and HDD. Decided not to make the jump to DDR3 due to cost issues at the time I built this.
I would be careful with the Corsairs XMS series ram as the last two I ordered came with bad sticks. There's a bit of a quality control issue going on with them on their budget line ram. Not sure about their more expensive ones.
One thing I can't stress enough, find a modular power supply. Corsair or OCZ seem pretty good to me. Modular PSUs make it not only limits the extra cables that will be in the PC but also improves airflow since you don't have to stuff the unused ones in the drive bay area or other spots out of the way.
As far as sound cards go, if your looking for quality sound then a good sound card might be in your future. Especially if you do the podcast recording/editing. Built in ones have various problems with grounding and noise and can also bog the system down depending on what gets put threw it.
mark as good answer
1 person likes this answer
This is not what my system is right now! But this is best bang for the buck right now!
Processor Intel Core i7-2600K $315.00
Motherboard ASUS P8Z68-V PRO $209.00
Memory CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 $80.00
Hard Drive HITACHI Deskstar 1.5TB $79.00
SSD Intel 310 40GB SSD $165.00
Power SupplyCorsair TX850 $135.00
Case COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel 89.99
My next pc will have specs close to this
Getting ready for BF 3, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, Deus Ex, Bioshock Infinite, eh Veronica? ;)
Processor Intel Core i7-2600K $315.00
Motherboard ASUS P8Z68-V PRO $209.00
Memory CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 $80.00
Hard Drive HITACHI Deskstar 1.5TB $79.00
SSD Intel 310 40GB SSD $165.00
Power SupplyCorsair TX850 $135.00
Case COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel 89.99
My next pc will have specs close to this
Getting ready for BF 3, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, Deus Ex, Bioshock Infinite, eh Veronica? ;)
mark as good answer
1 person likes this answer
Actually just bought a new system yesterday from Fry's specifically for flight simming.
Intel Core i7 2600k
Asus P8P67 Pro
Corsair DDR3 1600 8GB
Asus Nvidia GTX 560 Ti
WD VelociRaptor 300GB
Thermaltake 850W
I thought this was a pretty decent balance of newish parts to price. Was a little over 1k before tax. Have some rebates coming, too. Of course, this doesn't include a case (I already had one) and a monitor. So far, I'm extremely happy with the components, and it still leaves room for upgrade to SSD, more memory and adding a second video card for SLI.
Intel Core i7 2600k
Asus P8P67 Pro
Corsair DDR3 1600 8GB
Asus Nvidia GTX 560 Ti
WD VelociRaptor 300GB
Thermaltake 850W
I thought this was a pretty decent balance of newish parts to price. Was a little over 1k before tax. Have some rebates coming, too. Of course, this doesn't include a case (I already had one) and a monitor. So far, I'm extremely happy with the components, and it still leaves room for upgrade to SSD, more memory and adding a second video card for SLI.
mark as good answer
1 person likes this answer
I may not have a powerhouse of a machine, but I always taken pride in how quiet and cool my computer stays. It purs while playing Starcraft II and my CPU barely goes over 50C when running prime95. Here's what I used:
Lian Li PC-7B
Zalman CNPS10X Performa
Scythe SY1225SL12L 120mm case fan (front and rear)
EVGA GTX 460 (coolest and quietest GPU on Anandtech's benchmarks)
The other stuff:
Intel Core 2 Quad 9550
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P
8GB (4x2GB) G.Skill DDR2 800
120GB OCZ Vertex 2
Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650W
I also like MSI's Twin Frozr cards, which come in both ATI & nVidia flavors.
Lian Li PC-7B
Zalman CNPS10X Performa
Scythe SY1225SL12L 120mm case fan (front and rear)
EVGA GTX 460 (coolest and quietest GPU on Anandtech's benchmarks)
The other stuff:
Intel Core 2 Quad 9550
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P
8GB (4x2GB) G.Skill DDR2 800
120GB OCZ Vertex 2
Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650W
I also like MSI's Twin Frozr cards, which come in both ATI & nVidia flavors.
mark as good answer
1 person likes this answer
Nvidia gtx500 series are good enought and intel i7 :)
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Hmmm welll I just rebuilt my machine in anticipation of BF3....
Asus P8p67 deluxe
12 GB gskill
i7-2600k
dual nvidia 460's
some SATA3 drives and one 2TB SATA2 drive.
nothing TOO out there. It's not flashy, but it'll see the kessel run in.... wait. wrong reference.
OC's easily, but haven't seen a need to do that yet.
the key is to get the board + processor you want and always keep an eye out for deals.
I didn't spend more than $1k on upgrading.
Asus P8p67 deluxe
12 GB gskill
i7-2600k
dual nvidia 460's
some SATA3 drives and one 2TB SATA2 drive.
nothing TOO out there. It's not flashy, but it'll see the kessel run in.... wait. wrong reference.
OC's easily, but haven't seen a need to do that yet.
the key is to get the board + processor you want and always keep an eye out for deals.
I didn't spend more than $1k on upgrading.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
While my custom box is getting a little long in the tooth, the piece of advice I'll give you is to spend as much as you can now and also think about overclocking options to avoid upgrading again too soon. The Core 2 Duo E6600 that cost me a pretty penny back in 2003 (or early 2004? it was a long time ago!) is still a surprisingly adequate processor for playing today's games, and that's despite the fact that I've never bothered to overclock. I should be able to squeeze a little more life out of it once I have a nicer video card and the CPU becomes the new bottleneck.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
I guess I'm probably on the low end...but I have a nVidia 9500 GT, 4 gb of 1066 DDR2 GSkill RAM, and a 2.5 GHz Wolfdale core Intel Dual Core Processor - Sometimes I feel like my tower is like C3P0 in the Episode 1 - works well, but from the outside doesn't look all that great.
I'm going back to AMD and ATI though for my next rig.
I'm going back to AMD and ATI though for my next rig.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Don't forget a good soundcard... I went with a cheap $40 soundblaster so I could buy the better video card; Mistake. Had to replace it with a better card (spend the $130. I bought the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium.) I might have gone with an every higher end card but my wife had me on a budget (I only went over it by a few hundred but don't tell on me)
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Somewhat in need of an upgrade now, but it's still a decent rig!
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 mobo, Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 @ 3GHz, Kingston 8GB (4x2GB) PC2-8500 1066MHz DDR2, Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 4550 512MB (yes, it sucks, I know), Asus Xonar DG soundcard, Corsair HX 520W PSU, Antec 300 case, 24″ Dell UltraSharp U2410, Windows 7 Home Premium x64, and....brace yourself:
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD502IJ) 500GB SATA2 16MB Cache
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103UJ) 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103UJ) 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103SJ) 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103SJ) 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Western Digital 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 mobo, Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 @ 3GHz, Kingston 8GB (4x2GB) PC2-8500 1066MHz DDR2, Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 4550 512MB (yes, it sucks, I know), Asus Xonar DG soundcard, Corsair HX 520W PSU, Antec 300 case, 24″ Dell UltraSharp U2410, Windows 7 Home Premium x64, and....brace yourself:
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD502IJ) 500GB SATA2 16MB Cache
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103UJ) 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103UJ) 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103SJ) 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103SJ) 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
Western Digital 1TB SATA2 32MB Cache
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Building a great gaming PC depends greatly on what resolution your monitor is running at native. Theres a significant difference in the hardware required to game "effectively" at 1680X1050 (common 20"-22" LCD resolution) versus at 2560X1600 (30" LCD Resolution).
A single ATI/Nvidia 6950/560 Ti will drive 1680X1050 with bells and whistles in most modern games fairly well... but bump up to 1920X1200 or 2560X1600 then you will need to step up to a ATI/Nvidia 6970/570GTX.. and realistically if you want to run the latest Battlefield 3 at 2560X1600 with full details then you will need 2 ATI 6970's or 2 Nvidia 570GTX/580GTX
But build around a Intel Core i5 2500K and a P67 or Z68 is a solid core build to run modern games. I also really like Corsair's H60 cooler which is a maintenance free water cooling solution that is very newb friendly to install.
A single ATI/Nvidia 6950/560 Ti will drive 1680X1050 with bells and whistles in most modern games fairly well... but bump up to 1920X1200 or 2560X1600 then you will need to step up to a ATI/Nvidia 6970/570GTX.. and realistically if you want to run the latest Battlefield 3 at 2560X1600 with full details then you will need 2 ATI 6970's or 2 Nvidia 570GTX/580GTX
But build around a Intel Core i5 2500K and a P67 or Z68 is a solid core build to run modern games. I also really like Corsair's H60 cooler which is a maintenance free water cooling solution that is very newb friendly to install.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
I built this around Oct 2010, but still probably more powerful than most:
- Intel Core i7 980x Six-Core Socket
- Asus ROG Rampage III Extreme
- Corsair vengeance heatspreader, 12GB DDR3 1600MHz
- OCZ Vertex II extended 120GB SATA II SSD (I have 2 of these installed)
- WD 1TB SATA II HDD 7200rpm - black series
- EVGA nVidia GTX 480 1536MB
- Antec DF-35 Dark mid-tower gaming case (this is good for LAN party and stuff, almost 10 lb lighter than all metal cases)
- Corsair Professional Series Gold 1200W power supply
- Corsair CPU water cooling, H70
So for 2011 Q3, you can consider changing to
- Six-core Intel sandy-bridge CPU, prefer the extreme series
- Another gaming motherboard for sandy-bridge
- nVidia GTX 580 or 590
- OCZ Vertex III 120GB SATA III SSD
Hop this helps.
- Intel Core i7 980x Six-Core Socket
- Asus ROG Rampage III Extreme
- Corsair vengeance heatspreader, 12GB DDR3 1600MHz
- OCZ Vertex II extended 120GB SATA II SSD (I have 2 of these installed)
- WD 1TB SATA II HDD 7200rpm - black series
- EVGA nVidia GTX 480 1536MB
- Antec DF-35 Dark mid-tower gaming case (this is good for LAN party and stuff, almost 10 lb lighter than all metal cases)
- Corsair Professional Series Gold 1200W power supply
- Corsair CPU water cooling, H70
So for 2011 Q3, you can consider changing to
- Six-core Intel sandy-bridge CPU, prefer the extreme series
- Another gaming motherboard for sandy-bridge
- nVidia GTX 580 or 590
- OCZ Vertex III 120GB SATA III SSD
Hop this helps.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Here are my specs:
Intel DP55SB Extreme ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
EVGA GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
300Gig SATA Hard Drive (forgot what brand)
LG DVD Burner (forgot the speeds)
Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W
U.S. Robotics USR5637 High-performance V.92 modem 56Kbps USB Data
Antec Case
Klipsch Speakers (forgot the model)
Windows 7 Home
X-TRAC mouse pad
Sony 24 inch monitor (also forgot what model)
I want upgrade my Videocard to EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 and I also want to upgrade my Hard Drive to SSD. I am using a Microsoft mouse and a keyboard which I forgot the name and you can find it on my gdgt.com profile.
Note: Due to having some produces for a long time you forget the model names, so you can find them in my gdgt profile, thanks.
Intel DP55SB Extreme ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
EVGA GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
300Gig SATA Hard Drive (forgot what brand)
LG DVD Burner (forgot the speeds)
Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W
U.S. Robotics USR5637 High-performance V.92 modem 56Kbps USB Data
Antec Case
Klipsch Speakers (forgot the model)
Windows 7 Home
X-TRAC mouse pad
Sony 24 inch monitor (also forgot what model)
I want upgrade my Videocard to EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 and I also want to upgrade my Hard Drive to SSD. I am using a Microsoft mouse and a keyboard which I forgot the name and you can find it on my gdgt.com profile.
Note: Due to having some produces for a long time you forget the model names, so you can find them in my gdgt profile, thanks.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
I have an Origin PC
i7 950 quad core overclocked to 4Ghz (water cooled)
12 Gig of ram
Asus motherboard
nVidia GTX550 Ti - Single atm but I have 2 more so I can SLI if I ever feel like it
I have a WD HDD with 6GB/s transfer rate
Windows 7 Ultimate
I love this machine, Origin is made in America (Florida) and supported in America, lifetime free labor and tech support.
i7 950 quad core overclocked to 4Ghz (water cooled)
12 Gig of ram
Asus motherboard
nVidia GTX550 Ti - Single atm but I have 2 more so I can SLI if I ever feel like it
I have a WD HDD with 6GB/s transfer rate
Windows 7 Ultimate
I love this machine, Origin is made in America (Florida) and supported in America, lifetime free labor and tech support.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
I just finished putting together a nice rig:
Asus P8Z68-V Pro motherboard
Intel Core i7-2600K (overclocked to 4.4GHz)
Zalman CNPS7X CPU cooler (Arctic Cooler MX-2 thermal paste)
8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz (don't know brand, friend gave it to me)
Asus GTX560 Ti 1GB video card (830MHz)
500GB boot drive + 1.5TB data drive
Corsair AX750 PSU
Cooler Master Storm Scout case
An important consideration is that I wanted to use an external video card for gaming while still having access to Quick Sync for video encoding/transcoding. The Asus P8Z68-V Pro is one of the motherboards that works with the Lucidlogix Virtu driver to make Quick Sync available. Also for an overclocking newb like me, it has the "TPU" switch that makes a mild overclock (1GHz!) easy and safe to achieve.
I didn't want a huge 120mm air cooler. At hardwaresecrets.com I found a review showing that the Zalman CNPS7X with its 92mm fan performed almost as well as the best 120mm coolers, so that's what I got. Installation is slightly awkward because the blue heatsinks on the motherboard crowd the area around the CPU, but I was able to do it with the motherboard already mounted in the case.
The Corsair AX750 is really expensive, but it's the highest quality and it's modular so you only plug in the cables you need.
The Cooler Master Storm Scout mid-tower case is a two-year old design, so it doesn't have USB 3.0 ports on the front panel, but it has 4 USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, headphone/mic jacks, a reset switch and a switch to turn off the case fan LEDs. The case also comes with 140mm front and top fans, and a 120mm rear fan. It also has a sturdy handle on top of the case that makes it really easy to pick up and move around. A good deal at $80.
My previous computer was old and weak. I just put this rig together, I don't even have any modern games yet; but I know this will kick ass. Waiting for Battlefield 3.
Asus P8Z68-V Pro motherboard
Intel Core i7-2600K (overclocked to 4.4GHz)
Zalman CNPS7X CPU cooler (Arctic Cooler MX-2 thermal paste)
8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz (don't know brand, friend gave it to me)
Asus GTX560 Ti 1GB video card (830MHz)
500GB boot drive + 1.5TB data drive
Corsair AX750 PSU
Cooler Master Storm Scout case
An important consideration is that I wanted to use an external video card for gaming while still having access to Quick Sync for video encoding/transcoding. The Asus P8Z68-V Pro is one of the motherboards that works with the Lucidlogix Virtu driver to make Quick Sync available. Also for an overclocking newb like me, it has the "TPU" switch that makes a mild overclock (1GHz!) easy and safe to achieve.
I didn't want a huge 120mm air cooler. At hardwaresecrets.com I found a review showing that the Zalman CNPS7X with its 92mm fan performed almost as well as the best 120mm coolers, so that's what I got. Installation is slightly awkward because the blue heatsinks on the motherboard crowd the area around the CPU, but I was able to do it with the motherboard already mounted in the case.
The Corsair AX750 is really expensive, but it's the highest quality and it's modular so you only plug in the cables you need.
The Cooler Master Storm Scout mid-tower case is a two-year old design, so it doesn't have USB 3.0 ports on the front panel, but it has 4 USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, headphone/mic jacks, a reset switch and a switch to turn off the case fan LEDs. The case also comes with 140mm front and top fans, and a 120mm rear fan. It also has a sturdy handle on top of the case that makes it really easy to pick up and move around. A good deal at $80.
My previous computer was old and weak. I just put this rig together, I don't even have any modern games yet; but I know this will kick ass. Waiting for Battlefield 3.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
2x 2GB sticks of DDR3 ECC 1333 Mhz RAM
HIS Radeon HD 5770 1 GB GDDR5 Eyefinity Video Card
HP 2310m 23-inch DVI/HDMI/VGA display
Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5 TB 5400 rpm, SATA
LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20L
Antec BP430 430W Power Supply
Antec Three Hundred case
This is my first computer build so i focused on affordability and upgradability. The components above i got for a combined total of $848. Obvious upgrades are a new hard drive (SSD is preferable but the market isn't very stable or affordable yet), extra memory (haven't needed it yet), and a new graphics card (very few motherboards out there support two GFX cards running at 16x PCI 2.1 so a new mobo would be needed at a minimum for dual GFX).
The box was made for maximizing on the "Tock" Intel upgrades which are advances in Microarchitechture for a mature process technology (32nm).
pcper.com/images/reviews/668/32nmwm01.jpg
Thus the next major upgrade would be a mobo, 22mm processor, power supply, dual gfx, and more memory upgrade.
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
2x 2GB sticks of DDR3 ECC 1333 Mhz RAM
HIS Radeon HD 5770 1 GB GDDR5 Eyefinity Video Card
HP 2310m 23-inch DVI/HDMI/VGA display
Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5 TB 5400 rpm, SATA
LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20L
Antec BP430 430W Power Supply
Antec Three Hundred case
This is my first computer build so i focused on affordability and upgradability. The components above i got for a combined total of $848. Obvious upgrades are a new hard drive (SSD is preferable but the market isn't very stable or affordable yet), extra memory (haven't needed it yet), and a new graphics card (very few motherboards out there support two GFX cards running at 16x PCI 2.1 so a new mobo would be needed at a minimum for dual GFX).
The box was made for maximizing on the "Tock" Intel upgrades which are advances in Microarchitechture for a mature process technology (32nm).
pcper.com/images/reviews/668/32nmwm01.jpg
Thus the next major upgrade would be a mobo, 22mm processor, power supply, dual gfx, and more memory upgrade.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
This is the first system I've built from scratch in about 10 years. The goals were FRAPS editing with Sony Vegas (supports CUDA for GPU transcoding) as well as gaming. The system would be near top of the line, with room to grow (power supply mainly falls into this category).
eVGA p67-FTW motherboard (picked because of customer support & gaming focus, good-luck getting an a free overnight RMA from a company like ASUS )
i7-2600k (Do your benchmark research. For me, Intel is better for 3 out of 4 games/applications that I use primarily)
8GB G.Skill 2133 DDR3 (best deal on the egg at the time)
eVGA GTX 570sc
H70 cooler (while some air-coolers are better or cheaper, this one doesn't cause heat-sink clearance problems)
Agility3 SSD (rebooting isn't a bathroom break anymore /sadface )
2TB WD Black SATA3
1200w Corsair PSU (covers SLI & overclocking if the need arises)
HAF 922 Case
Crysis 2 realism is decent.
25 man WoW raids are awesome with ultra settings while recording with FRAPS.
Sony Vegas editing and encoding is quick and responsive.
eVGA p67-FTW motherboard (picked because of customer support & gaming focus, good-luck getting an a free overnight RMA from a company like ASUS )
i7-2600k (Do your benchmark research. For me, Intel is better for 3 out of 4 games/applications that I use primarily)
8GB G.Skill 2133 DDR3 (best deal on the egg at the time)
eVGA GTX 570sc
H70 cooler (while some air-coolers are better or cheaper, this one doesn't cause heat-sink clearance problems)
Agility3 SSD (rebooting isn't a bathroom break anymore /sadface )
2TB WD Black SATA3
1200w Corsair PSU (covers SLI & overclocking if the need arises)
HAF 922 Case
Crysis 2 realism is decent.
25 man WoW raids are awesome with ultra settings while recording with FRAPS.
Sony Vegas editing and encoding is quick and responsive.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Possibly the upcoming Mac Pro. Not very custom I guess. 😃
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
I've been running the setup below for over 3 years now. Used to have 2 4850's but the fan got really loud so I took it out.
ASUS P6T Deluxe
Intel i7-920
Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler
OCZ Platinum 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
ATI VisionTek Radeon HD4850 512mb
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W
SILVERSTONE TJ10-B
2X WesternDigital 1TB
Plextor PX-755SA DVD+/-RW
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer
Mitsumi Floppy 8 in 1 Card Reader FA404M
ASUS P6T Deluxe
Intel i7-920
Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler
OCZ Platinum 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
ATI VisionTek Radeon HD4850 512mb
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W
SILVERSTONE TJ10-B
2X WesternDigital 1TB
Plextor PX-755SA DVD+/-RW
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer
Mitsumi Floppy 8 in 1 Card Reader FA404M
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
I upgrade something here-n-there every few months even if it doesn't need an upgrade.
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
MBO: EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
CPU: Intel i7-920 3.06GHz LGA1366 8MB-L3
GPU: EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR GT 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000)
HDD: 2x1TB Samsung F3 7200RPM, 1x500GB WD RE4 7200RPM
Opt: Pioneer Blu-Ray Burner SATA BDR-2205
Casing: XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower
PSU: XFX Black Edition XPS-850W-BES 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC
Current Upgrade Plans include... EVGA 141-GT-E770-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard, Thermaltake Toughpower W0133RU 1200W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC PSU, and a 2nd EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support video card (for SLI).
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
MBO: EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
CPU: Intel i7-920 3.06GHz LGA1366 8MB-L3
GPU: EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support
RAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR GT 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 (PC3 16000)
HDD: 2x1TB Samsung F3 7200RPM, 1x500GB WD RE4 7200RPM
Opt: Pioneer Blu-Ray Burner SATA BDR-2205
Casing: XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower
PSU: XFX Black Edition XPS-850W-BES 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC
Current Upgrade Plans include... EVGA 141-GT-E770-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard, Thermaltake Toughpower W0133RU 1200W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC PSU, and a 2nd EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support video card (for SLI).
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
It is not the fastets but it can play all actual titles between 30-60fps full hd and is also very small and therefor portable;) All components were in total around €700,-!
B.t.w. Important for h/w choices was also the possibilty to make it easy dualboot to OSX Lion (thanks to TonyMac)
G.Skill 8GB DDR3 PC3-10666 DC Kitt
Western digital WD Caviar Black 1TB
Silverstone SST-SG07B
Intel Core i5 2500 Boxed
Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3
XFX HD6870
B.t.w. Important for h/w choices was also the possibilty to make it easy dualboot to OSX Lion (thanks to TonyMac)
G.Skill 8GB DDR3 PC3-10666 DC Kitt
Western digital WD Caviar Black 1TB
Silverstone SST-SG07B
Intel Core i5 2500 Boxed
Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3
XFX HD6870
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Mine is old but hey it can run most of the current games at very high settings. I think I built mine 2004-2005. Hope to really upgrade one more time by next year but still haven't seen the need of it since the performance of my desktop is still pretty powerful.
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64bit
MBO: EVGA nForce 780i SLI
CPU: Intel Q6600 Core2Quad 2.4Ghz
GPU: 2 set in SLI: Galaxy GTS 450, 1GB GDDR5
RAM: A-Data 8GB DDR2 (forgot the exact spec)
HDD: Primary: Samsung SSD 128GB Secondary: 2x 320GB Western Digital Blue. Backup: 1x Samsung 1TB 7200RPM
Optical: LG Blu-Ray Reader/DVD Burner SATA
Media: Generic All-in-one card reader with USB and eSATA port.
Casing: Silverstone Raven 2
PSU: Thermaltake 850w (forgot which version, Toughpower or TR2)
I have of course upgraded every year, and the only thing that rarely gets updated from that set of hardware is the CPU, interestingly enough, and the Optical drive. Upgraded to the current motherboard because it was given to me, upgraded the hard drive from weird failures (so glad to have a large back up drive) and also for SSD speed, and the RAM has been upgraded because the previous ones also failed on me. The video card has been updated as well every two years, not due of failed devices, just that I can resell them at a good value. But hey all of it was at 7.1 and above in that weird Windows 7 rating system.
I'm hoping next year I can upgrade the motherboard, CPU, and the RAM but will need some good advice from friends.
Stuff I was debating to get: gaming network card (I don't really play enough online games to justify this yet), dedicated audio card (I heard this helps gaming performance rather than using the built in audio system from the motherboard), and a cable card unit since I do love to watch and record shows.
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64bit
MBO: EVGA nForce 780i SLI
CPU: Intel Q6600 Core2Quad 2.4Ghz
GPU: 2 set in SLI: Galaxy GTS 450, 1GB GDDR5
RAM: A-Data 8GB DDR2 (forgot the exact spec)
HDD: Primary: Samsung SSD 128GB Secondary: 2x 320GB Western Digital Blue. Backup: 1x Samsung 1TB 7200RPM
Optical: LG Blu-Ray Reader/DVD Burner SATA
Media: Generic All-in-one card reader with USB and eSATA port.
Casing: Silverstone Raven 2
PSU: Thermaltake 850w (forgot which version, Toughpower or TR2)
I have of course upgraded every year, and the only thing that rarely gets updated from that set of hardware is the CPU, interestingly enough, and the Optical drive. Upgraded to the current motherboard because it was given to me, upgraded the hard drive from weird failures (so glad to have a large back up drive) and also for SSD speed, and the RAM has been upgraded because the previous ones also failed on me. The video card has been updated as well every two years, not due of failed devices, just that I can resell them at a good value. But hey all of it was at 7.1 and above in that weird Windows 7 rating system.
I'm hoping next year I can upgrade the motherboard, CPU, and the RAM but will need some good advice from friends.
Stuff I was debating to get: gaming network card (I don't really play enough online games to justify this yet), dedicated audio card (I heard this helps gaming performance rather than using the built in audio system from the motherboard), and a cable card unit since I do love to watch and record shows.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
A good (but not the most expensive) CPU. I still am happy with my Core 2 Duo E6600. Today I would go for an i5 2500K.
I have had good experiences with Intel and before that with ASUS mainboards.
I think changing the board takes a lot of effort.
However I always buy mid range GPUs and replace them every two years.
I recently bought a HD 6850.
I have had good experiences with Intel and before that with ASUS mainboards.
I think changing the board takes a lot of effort.
However I always buy mid range GPUs and replace them every two years.
I recently bought a HD 6850.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate Signature Edition 64bit
MBO: MSI P67A-GD65 (B3)
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K
CPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
GPU: EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 570 (012-P3-1572-AR)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600 MHz 8GB (2 x 4GB)
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 120GB
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black (1TB, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache)
Wireless card: Linksys WMP600N
PSU: NZXT HALE90 850W
Case: NZXT Phantom white
Monitor: ASUS VH238H
Newegg parts list (comes out to just under $2000) - secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?W...
MBO: MSI P67A-GD65 (B3)
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K
CPU cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
GPU: EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 570 (012-P3-1572-AR)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600 MHz 8GB (2 x 4GB)
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 120GB
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black (1TB, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache)
Wireless card: Linksys WMP600N
PSU: NZXT HALE90 850W
Case: NZXT Phantom white
Monitor: ASUS VH238H
Newegg parts list (comes out to just under $2000) - secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?W...
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
This isn't a joke btw, just thought I would add it for the laughs ^_^ It was a custom built desktop that my dad built back in 2002. I've been using it since then as my primary computer since I can't afford a laptop yet, and surprisingly it's actually not that slow. I can stream HD video and even do 1080p output as well, so I *assume* that the video card in here was good for it's time.
OS: Windows XP
CPU: AMD Athlon XP
RAM: 1.0GB DDR @ 199MHz
MOBO: Soyocomputer K7VKPE
GRAPHICS: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE 256MB
DISPLAY: (the only new thing on this setup) LG W2361 23" 1080p Monitor
HDD: 81GB Maxtor
DRIVE: Standard DVD/CD Read and Write Drive
TEMP: The whole thing usually runs at around 44 °C inside the box.
The whole thing, like I said, streams HD video (Netflix) fairly well and covers all other daily uses perfectly (schoolwork, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) so until I can afford a new laptop it works. :P
OS: Windows XP
CPU: AMD Athlon XP
RAM: 1.0GB DDR @ 199MHz
MOBO: Soyocomputer K7VKPE
GRAPHICS: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE 256MB
DISPLAY: (the only new thing on this setup) LG W2361 23" 1080p Monitor
HDD: 81GB Maxtor
DRIVE: Standard DVD/CD Read and Write Drive
TEMP: The whole thing usually runs at around 44 °C inside the box.
The whole thing, like I said, streams HD video (Netflix) fairly well and covers all other daily uses perfectly (schoolwork, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) so until I can afford a new laptop it works. :P
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
AMD phenom II x4 black edition overclocked to 3.4ghz
asus nfroce 750 motherboard
gtx465 1gb ddr5 ram (soon to be two)
4gb crossair ddr3 ram
500gb 7200 rpm wd hdd
I plan to add a second gtx465, extra 4gb of ram and upgrade to a phenom II x6
asus nfroce 750 motherboard
gtx465 1gb ddr5 ram (soon to be two)
4gb crossair ddr3 ram
500gb 7200 rpm wd hdd
I plan to add a second gtx465, extra 4gb of ram and upgrade to a phenom II x6
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Core i5 2500K (Best power / $ processor out there!)
8GB DDR3 1333
AMD Radeon 6870 1GB
More than enough power to run anything at full settings on 1680x1050, not too expensive either!
8GB DDR3 1333
AMD Radeon 6870 1GB
More than enough power to run anything at full settings on 1680x1050, not too expensive either!
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
I build this a month ago. unforunately it is not for gaming.
Here is the specs:
Intel Core i7-2600K
Gigabyte Z68X-UD4-B3 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz 16GB (4x4GB)
CoolerMaster V8 Cooler
XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition Twin Fan
OCZ Vertex 3 256GB SSD
2x WD 2TB Caviar Green SATA3 HDD
LG BR Writer
Thermaltake Dokkr case
Seasonic 750W PSU
Really good but wish I had gone for a better graphics card.
Here is the specs:
Intel Core i7-2600K
Gigabyte Z68X-UD4-B3 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz 16GB (4x4GB)
CoolerMaster V8 Cooler
XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition Twin Fan
OCZ Vertex 3 256GB SSD
2x WD 2TB Caviar Green SATA3 HDD
LG BR Writer
Thermaltake Dokkr case
Seasonic 750W PSU
Really good but wish I had gone for a better graphics card.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Build as powerful a computer as I could, and I've been pretty happy with the results.
ASUS P6X58D Premium motherboard
Intel i7-950 overclocked to 4.0 GHz
12GB Kingston HyperX RAM
128GB Intel 510 SSD
Corsair Obsidian 700D case
2x EVGA GTX470 in SLI
All of this heat is dissipated by 2x Zalman Reserator 1s with a generic aquarium pump and some modded shrouded fans to draw air past the Reserators. Temps are about 50 C right now.
ASUS P6X58D Premium motherboard
Intel i7-950 overclocked to 4.0 GHz
12GB Kingston HyperX RAM
128GB Intel 510 SSD
Corsair Obsidian 700D case
2x EVGA GTX470 in SLI
All of this heat is dissipated by 2x Zalman Reserator 1s with a generic aquarium pump and some modded shrouded fans to draw air past the Reserators. Temps are about 50 C right now.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
I built this exactly one year ago (Aug 2010), because my old box was running nearly 5 years old, and I wanted StarCraft 2 to run maxed. :D It ran me ~$2000 at the time. Here is what I have:
CPU: Intel Core i7-950 3.06Ghz 8M LGA1366
CPU Cooler: Noctua 120mm SSO Bearing Quiet CPU
RAM: CORSAIR CORE I7 XMS3 6GB PC10666
Mobo: ASUS P6X58D Premium Intel X58 Socket LGA1366
Sound Card: Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe
Headphones: Astro Gaming A40 (w/Preamp)
Hard Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HD 10K/16MB/SATA-3
Video Card: Diamond Radeon HD 5870 1GB DDR5 PCIe
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800w Power Supply
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case*
*The case seems to be discontinued, but I highly recommend Antec, and one like this. The 4 fans (one in back, one on top, two in front) all have manual adjusters, so it's very quiet during normal use. Even while gaming, when I turn them up to be safe, it doesn't interfere with the gaming audio.
CPU: Intel Core i7-950 3.06Ghz 8M LGA1366
CPU Cooler: Noctua 120mm SSO Bearing Quiet CPU
RAM: CORSAIR CORE I7 XMS3 6GB PC10666
Mobo: ASUS P6X58D Premium Intel X58 Socket LGA1366
Sound Card: Creative Labs SB X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe
Headphones: Astro Gaming A40 (w/Preamp)
Hard Drive: WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA HD 10K/16MB/SATA-3
Video Card: Diamond Radeon HD 5870 1GB DDR5 PCIe
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800w Power Supply
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case*
*The case seems to be discontinued, but I highly recommend Antec, and one like this. The 4 fans (one in back, one on top, two in front) all have manual adjusters, so it's very quiet during normal use. Even while gaming, when I turn them up to be safe, it doesn't interfere with the gaming audio.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Hi Veronica,
Asus is the choice for motherboards.
David Dolbec
Asus is the choice for motherboards.
David Dolbec
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 SLI/Xfire Motherboard
i5 2500K CPU
Cooler Master 212 Hyper Plus CPU Cooler
8GB G-Skill 1600 DDR3 RAM
XFX 6950 -2GB Video Card
OCZ Elitexstream 1000W Power Supply
All in my old ThermalTake Armour Jr. Case
with my old HDD, 2X 320GB & 2X 500GB
Took the DVD drive out, went with a USB one instead. (It was IDE)
Still with my G5 & G15 mouse and keyboard
i5 2500K CPU
Cooler Master 212 Hyper Plus CPU Cooler
8GB G-Skill 1600 DDR3 RAM
XFX 6950 -2GB Video Card
OCZ Elitexstream 1000W Power Supply
All in my old ThermalTake Armour Jr. Case
with my old HDD, 2X 320GB & 2X 500GB
Took the DVD drive out, went with a USB one instead. (It was IDE)
Still with my G5 & G15 mouse and keyboard
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
My small rig....
Intel Core i7 2600k
Asus Maximus IV Gene - Z
Corsair H80 watercooling unit
Corsair 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance Memory - Black
Dual EVGA GTX 560ti Crysis 2 Edition - SLI
WD VelociRaptor 600GB S/6
Dual WD Caviar Black 2TB
Coolermaster 1200 Silent Gold Pro
Everything is in a Silverstone FT03 case with Coolermaster Excalibur Fans and Red LED's to match the hardware.
Intel Core i7 2600k
Asus Maximus IV Gene - Z
Corsair H80 watercooling unit
Corsair 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance Memory - Black
Dual EVGA GTX 560ti Crysis 2 Edition - SLI
WD VelociRaptor 600GB S/6
Dual WD Caviar Black 2TB
Coolermaster 1200 Silent Gold Pro
Everything is in a Silverstone FT03 case with Coolermaster Excalibur Fans and Red LED's to match the hardware.
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
Just wrote an article the other day on my blog -
khairulanwar.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/best-desktop...
You can read the article on why I choose the components, and a systematised approach to finding components you need for your own use.
Components I used in the article to build my uncle's rig:
Core essential components to playing current games at max settings on a 24" screen, with lots of room for future upgrades - so it can last for the next 5 years.
Khairul
khairulanwar.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/best-desktop...
You can read the article on why I choose the components, and a systematised approach to finding components you need for your own use.
Components I used in the article to build my uncle's rig:
- Intel Core i7-2600
- Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3
- Corsair Vengeance 8GB Kit CL9 PC3-12800 1600 Mhz
- MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5 OC 2GB
- FSP Aurum 600W
- WD Green 1.5TB 64 MB
- LG 24x DVD Combo Writer
- CM Storm Enforcer
Core essential components to playing current games at max settings on a 24" screen, with lots of room for future upgrades - so it can last for the next 5 years.
Khairul
mark as good answer
0 people like this answer
follow this question
share:
Products mentioned
43 users following this question, including:
This question has been viewed 1725 times.
Last activity .