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A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig?

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dbzlotrfan

Total Posts : 5
Joined: 4/12/2012
Status: offline

A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Thursday, April 12, 2012 6:47 PM (permalink)

This seem like a decent rig to play most current and forthcoming PC games? . . . .

Budget - Within about $1500 (American)

Resolution - At first 1680 x 1050 - Eventually HD (and a dual monitor setup)

Games / Settings Desired: Everything from DOS era on, yes you read that correctly. Most should probably be high settings (if not ultra)

Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc) - Folding at home (may run in background) - no Video editing, no modeling

Country - USA

Parts that can be reused: Not that I can think of (see current specs as to why)

Buying Parts: Before the end of the year, hopefully before fall or end of summer

Will NOT prebuilt

Part list permalink:
Part price breakdown by merchant:
Benchmarks:

- CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Microcenter)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ NCIX US)
- Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-M Pro Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($122.99 @ NCIX US)
- Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
- Hard Drive: OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Newegg) [OS]
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
- Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card ($507.86 @ Newegg)
- Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($124.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($145.98 @ Newegg)
- Optical Drive: LG GH22NS90B DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)

Total: $1531.75
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-12 21:45 EDT-0400) Current specs:

Case: No idea (although it is a HP slimline, gray) - that should give some idea of the sort of case.

Motherboard: Asus A8N-BR (Pyrite) (1 PCI, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN, IEEE-1394)

Motherboard Chipset - nVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE, AMD Hammer

Power Supply: No idea (but it's less than 100 watts, I think)

Processor: DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2000 MHz (10 x 200) 3800+

CPU Cooler: A fan

Memory:

- DIMM1: Kingston 1 GB DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM (5-4-4-12 (at) 266 MHz) (4-4-4-12 (at) 266 MHz) (3-3-3-9 (at) 200 MHz)

- DIMM2: Kingston 2G-UDIMM 2 GB DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-15 (at) 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 (at) 266 MHz) (3-3-3-9 (at) 200 MHz)

Hard Drive: 250 GB ATA drive

Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVDRRW GSA-H20L ATA Device (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/32x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit

And what I wanted in a new system:

Hardware

USB 2.0 speeds that are minimum of 30 MB a second

USB 3.0 speeds that are at lest 300+ MB/s [I will get / use an SSD]

Firewire (and or eSata port) --- because I have a external hardrive that has both along with USB

At lest a solid terabyte (1.5 TB)

Has either a VGA or DVI port (current monitor I have has both)

Also has support for HDMI (for the future monitor)

Multi card reader (although I mainly need SD and Memory Pro Stick Duo)

Able to use a PS3 controller AND A XBOX 360 controller (yes I know 360 is native support . . .)

I would like a quad core.

Multiple internal DVD drives - Also to make installations faster

Plenty of 3.5/5.25 drive bays . . .
Software

Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit) (Main OS) -- Mostly for languages

Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit (if needed)

May first run Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit - as I have both 32/64 bit discs now)

Windows XP (if 64 bit won't run some of the games I have) (if needed)

Folding@home - (although I use my PS3 for that when I'm not using it)

Gaming Software:

- Will use steam:

Elder Scrolls (Morrowind -> Skyrim)

Portal 1 & 2

Batman Arkham (Asylum/City)

Sonic Generations

Quake (all)

Doom (all)

Wolfenstein (3D) & 2009 - and the others

Commander keen (all)

Bioshock (1/2) (perhaps infinite)

L.A. Noire

Bejeweled 2/3

Peggle

Various COD's

anything else that interests me

- Will use CD/DVD's of the games I have:

Warcraft 2 - Tides of Darkness & Beyond the Dark Portal

Warcraft 3 - Reign of Chaos & Frozen Throne

Diablo 1 - 3 (when it comes out)

The Sims 1 - And all expansions

The Sims 2 (probably)

Simcity 4000 & Rushhour

Heroes of Might and Magic - 1-6

May use emulation (to run up to the PS2/Wii)

Other Thoughts

Eventually a dual monitor setup (and one be HD resolution)

I will wait for some parts (hard drives, GPU, etc) to drop in price.

Will wait for IvyBridge. . . . (when is the release anyway?)

I WANT UEFI, NOT regular old BIOS (that this slimline has

May eventually like a dual GPU (crossfire?)

Monitor Thoughts:

First and foremost: Full HD

Widescreen

Supports: HDMI, DVI, Displayport (if the motherboard of the computer does)

Within 1 - 2 MS response time (current monitor is 5 MS response time)

Screen size - 25 to about 27 inches

boredgunner

Total Posts : 18259
Joined: 7/17/2008
Location: Лиманск-13
Status: online
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Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Thursday, April 12, 2012 6:59 PM (permalink)

Looks great, although I'd get a different SSD and go with a larger res monitor sooner if possible. Looks like you'd run all of those games smoothly on max settings at 1080p easily, except for maybe Batman AA. Dual GPU is unnecessary, and may cause issues. Ivy Bridge CPUs are on the way, Z77 motherboards are already available.

peeler05
half of skyrim is traveling or alt tabing to google how to play the game.

gutcheck
I just left my son in the sink to run upstairs and download Black Mesa

HotRodPolk

Total Posts : 2332
Joined: 8/2/2008
Location: Denver, Colorado
Status: offline
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Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Thursday, April 12, 2012 8:10 PM (permalink)

With your timeframe, Z77/Ivy is the way to go. Now, if you get that mobo and the 2500K/2600K at Microcenter, you'll get $50 off it. By the end of summer, the Ivy should have the same deal there, if you wait for them.
Also, when setting up multiboot, install XP first, then 7.
I have 11 OS' in my setup, working great since '08. In order to play DOS games, you'll need XP. There's a lot of older games that won't run on 7. (Or Windows 8, for that matter)...

Multi-Boot 3x 7 64, 4x 8 Pro 64, Gigabyte EP43-UD3L Mobo, Intel E5300 cpu OC'd at 3.7Ghz, Hyper 212 EVO cooler
7 GB DDR2, EVGA GTS450, 5 WD hdd's (3x 160 GB, 320 GB, 1 TB), Samsung DVD Multi Burner, ASUS DVD Multi Burner
SoundBlaster Live 24-bit card, Coolmax CTI-700B psu, Tt Dokker case, HP Media Keyboard, HP Wireless Comfort Mouse Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience Wheel/Pedals, KDSusa rad7c LCD (1280x1024), Sony 19" CRT (1280x1024).
'74 Pioneer SX838 receiver, Pioneer SR9000 Spks (front), Polk Audio spks (surround), Dahlton 300 watt 10" Subwoofer (w/Pioneer sub).
Built for Gaming, Video Production, and Cubase DAW...

dbzlotrfan

Total Posts : 5
Joined: 4/12/2012
Status: offline

Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Thursday, April 12, 2012 9:05 PM (permalink)

How long does that microcenter thing (CPU/motherboard) last? If it's only a few more weeks - and gone by the time I'd get the parts I'd be mostly worthless but if it lasts the rest of the year that's $50 saved I'd guess.

I probably first get the general parts, buy an download what I can -- if anything requires XP and has long loading times than I'll probably get a ~250 GB SSD for XP and the games. - Seem reasonable?

HotRodPolk

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Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Friday, April 13, 2012 2:35 AM (permalink)

dbzlotrfan

How long does that microcenter thing (CPU/motherboard) last? If it's only a few more weeks - and gone by the time I'd get the parts I'd be mostly worthless but if it lasts the rest of the year that's $50 saved I'd guess.

I probably first get the general parts, buy an download what I can -- if anything requires XP and has long loading times than I'll probably get a ~250 GB SSD for XP and the games. - Seem reasonable?

They've been running that deal for a couple years, so it ought to be around when you're ready.
You could do an ssd for XP, but a WD Caviar Black, or a Raptor would be cheaper and have more room.
Use an ssd for Win 7 64 bit, and the newer games. The newer games would take better advantage of an ssd's speed.

nick1551

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Joined: 7/14/2006
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Folding: 3,251,752

Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Friday, April 13, 2012 3:21 AM (permalink)

Save yourself some $$ and scratch the Seasonic 650w and get a Corsair or Xfx 650w (both made by Seasonic). Or if you want/can spend that much, get a 850w Corsair or Xfx unit, for future expansion (what I would do).

Also I would spend the extra $5 and get the 1600mhz Ripjaws, or since it seems to be mostly a gaming rig, even 2x4gb would be fine.

Heatware Evga 8800GT 512mb Fan Speed BIOS

i7-920 @4.0 - Evga X58 Micro - 2x4gb Gskill - XFX HD6870 - WD 1tb Blue - Corsair HX620 - CM690
Samsung Blaze 4g -- PAC-man 4.1.2 @1.8ghz
Acer A100 -- CM10 4.1. 2 @1.5ghz

HotRodPolk

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Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Friday, April 13, 2012 3:44 AM (permalink)

Right now, Microcenter's selling the 2600K for $199! Best deal ever! Wish I had the cash, I'd jump on that...
And get an EVGA 680, not an ASUS. EVGA's support is far and away the best in the business.

dbzlotrfan

Total Posts : 5
Joined: 4/12/2012
Status: offline

Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Friday, April 13, 2012 8:52 PM (permalink)

I've have had up to a 850 watt PSU selected, got told to use a 650. If I am to change it again I want it to be modular (lest to some degree) and be 80+ bronze efficient (or better).

For what ever reason the end cost was 1430 (or so) now it's 100 more and I haven't changed anything (far as I can recall).

HotRodPolk

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Location: Denver, Colorado
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Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Friday, April 13, 2012 9:09 PM (permalink)

dbzlotrfan

I've have had up to a 850 watt PSU selected, got told to use a 650. If I am to change it again I want it to be modular (lest to some degree) and be 80+ bronze efficient (or better).

For what ever reason the end cost was 1430 (or so) now it's 100 more and I haven't changed anything (far as I can recall).

Actually I meant the video card, but since you brought it up, I'd get the Corsair AX 750 psu. Gold certified...

dbzlotrfan

Total Posts : 5
Joined: 4/12/2012
Status: offline

Re:A good long lasting gamming and multipurpose rig? Saturday, April 14, 2012 8:27 PM (permalink)

I first should see what games I buy and what games of those have long loading times (upwards of if not more than) a minute - wouldn't you think? If I wait the SSD prices will come down and I get bigger SSD for a "cheaper" price.

The games that do require a single core I can play on my laptop for the time being. I did originally have a second SSD for XP and the games but I thought I can wait - get it cheaper use the money to get a better GPU (680) and the I7.

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