Gaming rig help

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Musiclover08

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Hi all

I'm looking to build a rig from scratch for the purpose of mainly gaming. Games that I am looking to play are Starcraft 2, Supreme Commander 2 and the like. I'd like to run these at an above-average resolution, HD if possible but I am not that fussy. I'd like some advice on what processors to go with, graphics cards, RAM and the like.
From my limited research, I see that quad-core CPU's are recommended for gaming, any idea's on which one to get? I have heard of the i7 processor family as well, so I'm not sure which one to get. Any advice would be appreciated. I need this rig to last for about 5 years and my budget is R20 000, it can be tweaked a little but as close to budget as possible. Memory, looking for between 1-3TB, graphics need to be good, RAM at about 4-6GB. what about power supply, as well as water cooling? TIA

Regards
ML08
 
You can definitely get gaming with all settings maxed at 1920x1080 for R20k. Do you need everything? As in keyboard, screen, case etc?

But for now, you can begin with
i5 3570k with suitable Z77 motherboard - R4000
2x4GB RAM, 1333/1600mhz - R750
Anything from a HD6870/GTX560Ti to a HD7970/GTX680
120GB SSD - R2k
PSU - Corsair/Antec, 600W for some headroom, although... 500W would prob be more than ample as well

Look at cooling after making a case decision. A proper water cooled loop is quite expensive (R4k+). But sealed units max out at R1k
 
I do need an HD screen and will need a case, no need for keyboard, got one from my old gaming rig. Would you recommend an i5 over an i7? I see you have a SSD 120GB and a 1.5TB HDD, what does the SSD offer over normal HDD's? Oh yes, rather important, does the Z77 motherboard have enough USB ports? (6+) I have loads of USB gear. And lastly, is it worth getting a blu-ray drive?

Thanks!
 
A screen will set you back roughly R2k
A case is always a tricky thing to recommend. Do you care what it looks like, or must it just be able to do its duty? Reserve R1k for this so long
99% of the time I will recommend the i5, because when gaming the i7 gives no discernible performance increase. Maybe, once everything else is sorted out you can get the i7 for longevity... but even then, I'm not sure its worth the 50% premium.
SSD makes life nicer. Boot into windows, everything ready, is sub 30sec (vs my HDD which was 150sec+). Whatever programs/games are on the drive also load fast (as in blazing fast).
Most motherboards nowadays will have a minimum of 6 rear USB ports, I dont see that being an issue at all
Bluray, is up to you. Do you think you'll be watching lots of Blurays? My DVD drive for instance has been used maybe twice in the last 2 years. I'll actually be leaving it out next time I build a PC
 
For R20k you can get everything, including screen, mouse, keyboard, watercooling, SSD & operating system - but if it includes the screen & operating system, you'll have to compromise on certain things to keep it under R20k.

Archer gave a very good starting point.

These prices are just very rough estimates:
Intel Ivy Bridge i5 3570k / i7 3770k: R2k / R3k
Z77 decent chipset motherboard: R1.2k - R3k
23" LCD Full HD Screen: R2k - R3k
120GB SSD: R2k
3TB HDD: R1.6k
2x 4GB / 4x 4GB DDR3 1600: R500 / R1k
AMD HD7870 - Nvidia GTX680: R4k - R6k
Corsair TX650 v2 PSU: R1k
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo / Corsair H80 CPU (closed loop watercooled) cooler: R300 / R1k
Coolermaster 690 II - Storm Trooper case: R800 - R1.6k
Gaming Keyboard + Mouse: R500 - R2k
Windows 7 Home Premium x64: R1.2k
Total: ~R17k - R26k

For gaming you won't need more than the i5 for the next few years perhaps. The i5 also performs and overclocks better than the i7 in games at this moment.
 
I'm not really concerned for a case design, as long as it holds everything together :) I dont think I'll need the bluray drive, i still have an existing DVD drive in my old rig. I also have Windows XP intact, so no need for an operating system. How many hard drives can I have though? I'm looking to use my old hard drive with the OS on it and put in a TB or three as extra, but I must say that SSD had got me very interested.
 
Musiclover08 said:
I'm not really concerned for a case design, as long as it holds everything together :) I dont think I'll need the bluray drive, i still have an existing DVD drive in my old rig. I also have Windows XP intact, so no need for an operating system. How many hard drives can I have though? I'm looking to use my old hard drive with the OS on it and put in a TB or three as extra, but I must say that SSD had got me very interested.
Click to expand...

I highly recommend you upgrade your OS, if you are going to stick with Windows XP which is 11 years old now you shouldn't get an SSD.
 
Musiclover08 said:
I'm not really concerned for a case design, as long as it holds everything together :) I dont think I'll need the bluray drive, i still have an existing DVD drive in my old rig. I also have Windows XP intact, so no need for an operating system. How many hard drives can I have though? I'm looking to use my old hard drive with the OS on it and put in a TB or three as extra, but I must say that SSD had got me very interested.
Click to expand...

Why spend R20k on a new PC and not upgrade to Windows 7? You'd do yourself a huge favor by moving to Win7 x64.
 
Pada said:
For R20k you can get everything, including screen, mouse, keyboard, watercooling, SSD & operating system - but if it includes the screen & operating system, you'll have to compromise on certain things to keep it under R20k.

Archer gave a very good starting point.

These prices are just very rough estimates:
Intel Ivy Bridge i5 3570k / i7 3770k: R2k / R3k
Z77 decent chipset motherboard: R1.2k - R3k
23" LCD Full HD Screen: R2k - R3k
120GB SSD: R2k
3TB HDD: R1.6k
2x 4GB / 4x 4GB DDR3 1600: R500 / R1k
AMD HD7870 - Nvidia GTX680: R4k - R6k
Corsair TX650 v2 PSU: R1k
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo / Corsair H80 CPU (closed loop watercooled) cooler: R300 / R1k
Coolermaster 690 II - Storm Trooper case: R800 - R1.6k
Gaming Keyboard + Mouse: R500 - R2k
Windows 7 Home Premium x64: R1.2k
Total: ~R17k - R26k

For gaming you won't need more than the i5 for the next few years perhaps. The i5 also performs and overclocks better than the i7 in games at this moment.
Click to expand...

Working from this:

Case: R738 Cooler Master CM 690II

OR

Case: R1,479 Cooler Master Trooper

PSU: R957 Corsair TX650 V2

Motherboard: R2,275 ASUS P8Z77-V

CPU: R2,236 Intel i5 3570K

GPU: R3,760 GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD, HD7870

OR

GPU: R5,699 MSI N680GTX-PM2D2GD5, GTX680

Ram: R562 Corsair CML8GX3M2A1600C9 / CML8GX3M2A1600C9B

SSD: R1,744 OCZ Vertex 4 128GB

HDD: R1,784 Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX, 3TB/3000GB

CPU Cooler: R306 Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo

OR

CPU Cooler: R931 Corsair H80

Mouse: R697 Logitech G500

Keyboard: R830 Logitech G110

Monitor: R2,254 ASUS VS247H, 23.6" Wide LED

OS: R996 Microsoft Windows 7, Home Premium, 64bit

Total Minimum: R19139.00 (excluding shipping (R75))
Total Maximum: R22444.00 (excluding shipping (R75))
 
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Do not even consider for 1 moment to use Windows XP for a gaming PC, even if you have Windows XP Pro x64 !

1) Windows XP doesn't have DirectX 10 or 11 support
2) Windows XP 32-bit is limited to 3.25GB of RAM, which won't be good enough for games very soon
3) Windows XP's SSD support sux

NomNom:
Thanks for getting accurate prices!
 
You are mad to blow 20k on a beast pc that will be old in two years. Drop 12k and pocket the 8k for further upgrades down the line.

If you really want the best gaming experience, drop 12-13k on the components and buy a 40-46 inch led tv.
 
Thanks for the responses so far! Okay so lets forget XP :whistle: so Win 7 x64 it is. Okay lets see if I can get this down and save me some money, so OS is sorted, case is nothing to worry about. i5 CPU is what I'm gonna take as well as the SSD that NomNom listed. Ram is good as well, so all that is left is, a decent graphics card and motherboard. That Gigabyte HD7870 seems more within budget, any alternatives or is that fairly good for a GPU?

Thanks once again, getting somewhere finally!
 
You could wait until Thursday to see what price point the GTX670 is going to come in at. Otherwise your best bets are GTX570, HD6970, HD7870
 
Personally i would get the following:

32inch TV LED/LCD - R4000ish, would consider raising this to a 40/42"
z77 mobo - 2k
3570k CPU- 2k
3tb hdd - 2k
GPU: R3,760 GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD, HD7870 (took from above post) would possibly wait for teh new nvidia range, maybe the 670 would be what id get if i could afford it.
8gb of ram at the least (does not need to be gaming ram, normal value ram could work)

Case: R738 Cooler Master CM 690II ( i like this case in my opinion)
keyboard and mouse (keyboard make sure it has backlighting - and also key ghosting is important depending on the game type, mouse get what you think looks nice and has decent brand, i personally like logitech as some prices indicated above but theres so many brands out there)

PSU - Corsair is hands down the best alongside seasonic but antecs are also very nice. slightly more pricy than other PSU's but the warranty on corsairs are amazing.

i have never played with watercooling although the CM hyper 212 is very nice as well, many decent fans out there tho, just gotta check the board you get and the ram you get to make sure the clearance is right.

Good luck getting the machine man! should be enjoyable and as some have said rather spend about 12k now and upgrade in about 2 years time instead, will keep you more up to date than expecting a 5 year lifetime.
 
Hi all

So I went and did a little speccing, I'm waiting for a quote at the moment.

Intel Z77SL-50k M/B
Intel I7 Quad +HT 2600 CPU
3 x 1TB Hard Drives
2 x 4GB DDR3 H/D’s
Corsair 700W
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Cooler Master 700W GS Series +Tri Led
Cooling Fan
Sapphire HD6970 Graphics Card
DVD Writer
Logitech Cordless K/B & Mouse

Anything I could change? I think the GPU is ATI? I'm more of a NVIDIA guy :), so should that change?
I haven't added an SSD as I'm still 50/50 on it.
Lastly, what do you estimate I'm looking at for this computer?
 
Musiclover08 said:
Hi all

So I went and did a little speccing, I'm waiting for a quote at the moment.

Intel Z77SL-50k M/B
Intel I7 Quad +HT 2600 CPU
3 x 1TB Hard Drives
2 x 4GB DDR3 H/D’s
Corsair 700W
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Cooler Master 700W GS Series +Tri Led
Cooling Fan
Sapphire HD6970 Graphics Card
DVD Writer
Logitech Cordless K/B & Mouse

Anything I could change? I think the GPU is ATI? I'm more of a NVIDIA guy :), so should that change?
I haven't added an SSD as I'm still 50/50 on it.
Lastly, what do you estimate I'm looking at for this computer?
Click to expand...

Change the CPU to the new generation ones:

For overclocking:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=6043

No overclocking:
http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=6044

Change the motherboard to an Asus or Gigabyte (personal preference)
Don't get so many hard drives now since they are crazy expensive wait a little for the prices to drop.
Why get Windows 7 Professional what features do you require that Home Premium doesn't offer?
Change the PSU to a Corsair or Antec
The GPU is an AMD, ATI was bought by AMD, ATI no longer exists.
 
Musiclover08 said:
Hi all

So I went and did a little speccing, I'm waiting for a quote at the moment.

Intel Z77SL-50k M/B
Intel I7 Quad +HT 2600 CPU
3 x 1TB Hard Drives
2 x 4GB DDR3 H/D’s
Corsair 700W
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Cooler Master 700W GS Series +Tri Led
Cooling Fan
Sapphire HD6970 Graphics Card
DVD Writer
Logitech Cordless K/B & Mouse

Anything I could change? I think the GPU is ATI? I'm more of a NVIDIA guy :), so should that change?
I haven't added an SSD as I'm still 50/50 on it.
Lastly, what do you estimate I'm looking at for this computer?
Click to expand...

Hmmm....with quite a few recommendations given on certain hardware which should give at least 2-3 years service based on the budget you provided you do the complete opposite with this hardware spec.

Let me break it down, going with a Z77 motherboard paired with an intel ivy bridge will be able to take advantage of Pcie 3.0 currently dormant but when activated either bios or driver update you will have double the bandwidth on the PCie bus now you will at least need Pci e 3.0 capable graphics card. This already is future proofing your rig.

There is good reason why the guys recommend certain manufacturer boards like gigabyte, Asus etc. overall build quality is quite exceptional which gives you a super stable platform. Features like solid japanese caps, high quality mosfets, 2oz copper pcb layout and multiphase power design are just the few things which make these boards stand out from the rest not to mention the overclocking abilities.

Another component where you shouldn't skimp on is your power supply, a decent 550w or 850w for single / sli /crossfire. There is some really good reviews on power supplies on the web even on this forum.

Yeah just my 2 cents :)
 
I'd rather go with Archer's recommendation of an i5 3570k with a Z77 chipset motherboard that supports Lucid Virtu MVP.

Instead of the expensive HD6970, you can go for a very good performing Gigabyte GTX670 OC for around R4700.

Windows Home Premium x64 can handle up to 16GB of RAM: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778(v=vs.85).aspx

Avoid a cordless keyboard and mouse for gaming, unless you don't intend on playing at a competitive level.

Lastly, why 3x 1TB drives when you'll have more space with 2x 2TB and it'll be cheaper.
 
If you are still 50/50 on an SSD... Get one!

It is seriously the best investment I have made to my computer. I was 50/50 on getting one for 2 months when I decided to bite the bullet.

Windows boot times are incredibly good. Running and loading games is phenomenal.

They are expensive but completely worth it. I am even thinking of buying another one for chucking all my games on :)
 
Musiclover08 said:
Hi all

So I went and did a little speccing, I'm waiting for a quote at the moment.

Intel Z77SL-50k M/B
Intel I7 Quad +HT 2600 CPU
3 x 1TB Hard Drives
2 x 4GB DDR3 H/D’s
Corsair 700W
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
Cooler Master 700W GS Series +Tri Led
Cooling Fan
Sapphire HD6970 Graphics Card
DVD Writer
Logitech Cordless K/B & Mouse

Anything I could change? I think the GPU is ATI? I'm more of a NVIDIA guy :), so should that change?
I haven't added an SSD as I'm still 50/50 on it.
Lastly, what do you estimate I'm looking at for this computer?
Click to expand...

Because everyone else here didn't give you anything with concrete longevity, I'll post up what I'll be recommending in my NAG columns later next month. I'm not guaranteeing that you won't be upgrading - rather, you'll be adding as time goes by. I'll explain what exactly you'll be adding later, just have a look.

Intel Core i7 3770K (Ivy Bridge) @ R3343
GIGABYTE Z77X-UD3H @ R1916
Mushkin 16GB DDR3-1333 kit @ R861
GIGABYTE GTX670 2GB DDR5 @ R4672
ADATA SX900 64GB (Sandforce) @ R1161
Western Digital Green 2TB @ R1228
Sony BWU-500S @ R1317
Corsair HX650 @ R1317
Corsair Carbide 500R @ R1064
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit @ R1077
LG IPS235V-BN (Yes kids, that's an IPS panel) @ R2036

Total: R19,992

Okay, so its not as extravagantly kitted out with hard drives like yours but you'd be insane to buy multiple drives now, the damn things are too expensive. Likewise someone here suggested SLI and that's too extravagant because we have the GTX680 and GTDX670 showing everyone that you really don't need two GTX560Ti cards anymore. For now, at least.

A few things you need to take away here; first, I've listed the best Ivy Bridge gamer's chip money can buy. Its a quad-core with eight threads, so as games start to take advantage of Hyper-threading and virtual processors that badboy will earn its keep even five years from now. Do not buy any aftermarket air coolers because the ones available don't cool Ivy Bridge chips down any more than the stock one does. Watercooling units will fare much better, but the thermals of the chip are different to Sandy Bridge and it won't overclock as high for now. Wait until there's a revision of one the major cooling designers until you make your move. For now, 4.2Ghz on stock voltages will be possible with temps hitting about 85 degrees.

Secondly, high-speed RAM isn't going to help many people today unless they're tuning their system and running benchmarks. DDR3-1333 is still very fast and I've chosen Mushkin RAM over the other kits. With a little latency tightening, it'll run better than most kits out there anyway. The board I chose because it has enough expansion possibilities including multiple PCI slots for legacy cards like TV tuners.

The GTX670 runs in exactly the same performance bracket as the GTX680 with about 5% performance difference in most games. Given the card's lower TDP and temps, it will overclock much higher and bring you more rewards. Later you can nab another one on a sale and SLI them (do this in about a year or so). A single one will last you two years, SLI will go up to four so long as you scale down settings when you reach that point.

I also included a Blu-Ray drive because in the future you're going to want to make Blu-Ray rips of your movies and store them onto a NAS or a shared folder. As notebooks begin skinning themselves to anorexic levels and DVD drives disappear, you'll be glad to have your movies in high-quality MKV rips. Watching a high-def anime rip on a tablet is also something to experience.

Also yeah, that's an IPS panel. You'll struggle to find anything with the same kind of colour quality and intensity on other TN panels. I know I've left you with no spare change, but I'm sure you can stump up another R300 or so for your Logitech wireless bundle.

Everyone else: PCI-E 3.0 is nothing but a marketing gimmick at this point. Z77 offers native USB 3.0 support with Ivy Bridge chips, so that should be your reason, not some silly high-end connection standard that no-one intends on fully utilising anyway.
 
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