Advice on buying a gaming PC

[petrivanzyl]

Hi guys

Any advice on buying a decent gaming PC? Budget of +-R20k

[StarBound]

I am refering you to my post here:
http://forums.pcformat.co.za/viewtopic. ... 3#p1660583

What you can replace is the CPU with a i7 3770 for R1000 extra, the GPU up to a Geforce GTX670 for around R1000 more or even a Radeon 7970 for around R1500 more, and the motherboard to a MSI Z77A-GD65 for R1000 more to have SLI/Xfire support. I would also highly recommend an 120-160gb intel 310/320/330 SSD as a boot drive for around R1400 extra.

[petrivanzyl]

So this is what my initial research come up with, is this decent for around R20k?

Intel Core i5 3570K, 3.4GHz, LGA1155, Quad Core (with 4 threads), 22nm, 6MB L3 c - R2288
Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003, 2TB/2000GB, SATA6G, Green, 5900rpm, 64MB ca - R1154
G.Skill F3-1600C9D-16GAR, Ares with Red heatsink, 16GB (2x 8GB), DDR3 1600, CL9, - R1065
MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC, GTX670 Power Edition OC, 2GB 256bit DDR5, SLI, PCI-E 3.0 (x - R4663
ASUS P8Z77-V PRO: all-in-one LGA1155, Intel Z77 chipset, 4x dual channel DDR3-26 - R2731
OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" SATA6G SSD, Read: 550MB/s, Write: 420MB/s, Random Write - R1227
LG E2770V-BF, 27" LED display , 2x HDMi + PiP support , with remote control , 12 - R3585
Cooler Master Silent Pro M2, 850w (12v: 816w), EPS12V V2.91 + SSi + ATX 12V V2.3 - R1479
Cooler Master CM 690II Advanced, Mid Tower, Nvidia Edition, Black with Green Tri - R1064
Microsoft Windows 7, Home Premium, 64bit, support 1 CPU / 16GB memory, support m - R1045
ASUS DRW-24B3ST, 24x SATA, black , with E-Hammer + OTS (Optimal Tuning Strategy) - R202
TOTAL - R20503

[Tribble]

Why would you chose an i5 if you want a serious gaming machine? Surely i7 is a must?

[naughty]

Why would you chose an i5 if you want a serious gaming machine? Surely i7 is a must?

generally not much difference in real world gaming benchmarks between the two - most games dont really take advantage of the hyperthreading - and the two cpu's are at similar clock frequencies - only real difference between the cpu's is hyperthreading

BUT

given that the budget is around R20k and the difference in the price of the two cpu's is only around a grand i would chose the 3770k ..... albeit more for vanity than for sanity

[Tribble]

And perhaps games in the future will make use of the differences....

So - had my laptop a better GFX card and drivers...... oooh I tremble at the thought

[petrivanzyl]

Yeah I don't think 3770K v 3570K would make a big difference in performance. It's only R900 so maybe...

What about the other stuff?

[StarBound]

Again I would recommend an intel SSD over any other SSD on the market but thats just because I had problems with OCZ. I actually recommend the Gigabyte GTX670 over other card manufacturers because of its cooler. Unless MSI released a twinfrozer version of the 670 I would stick with gigabyte.

The 850 silent is in the region of R400 more than the GX750 isnt it? And with my system specs I have not reached max power usage. Also what are the extras the ASUS board provides over its competitors?

Other than that the system still seems really solid.

[petrivanzyl]

This specific MSI card is a twinfrozer version - the reason why I like is because of the twin fans/cooler!
The ASUS P8Z77-V PRO has wifi and pretty much anything else you would expect, but otherwise I'm just a ASUS fan...

[StarBound]

Ah I see. Haven't seen that version of the card yet.

[naughty]

And perhaps games in the future will make use of the differences....

So - had my laptop a better GFX card and drivers...... oooh I tremble at the thought

and by then you should be ready to upgrade intel says that the replacement for ivy bridge is due in the first half of next year already

I learned my lesson the hard way - buy what you need at the time - theres no way to futureproof your system cos when games do take advantage of hyperthreading there will probably be a much faster CPU available than the 3770k - or maybe even 6 core with hyperthreading wont be extreme but might become mainstream by then ..... and everyone will want to change

right now gaming depends far more on the graphics card - so he is right in concentrating the better part of the budget in the bit that matters

The ASUS P8Z77-V PRO has wifi and pretty much anything else you would expect, but otherwise I'm just a ASUS fan...

nice board - i opted for a gen3 asus Z68 cos i got it pretty cheap but these new asus Z77 boards with onboard wi-fi are pretty sweet even though some of the rivals are cheaper

[Tribble]

I have gone from ecstatic trembling to a depressed heap. *Sigh*

[naughty]

I have gone from ecstatic trembling to a depressed heap. *Sigh*

well if its any consolation im sure you are having a great time with the CPU that you have - so dont worry about whats coming up and just worry about enjoying what you have

[Tribble]

Oh I am loving it - but this is my work machine. My other PC has the game responsibility I can only tell you that I want an i7 in an NZXT Phantom - RED.

[petrivanzyl]

I actually recommend the Gigabyte GTX670 over other card manufacturers because of its cooler.

So I checked out the GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD, GTX670, 2GB/2048MB 256bit DDR5, with WindForce 3. Seems like an awesome card, its R300 more than the MSI but probably worth it. Thanks for the tip!

[petrivanzyl]

I also checked out the Asrock Z77 Extreme 6. Should I consider it over the ASUS P8Z77-V PRO?

Any advice on a cooler to use on the i5 3570K?

[StarBound]

I don't think you need more than a stock cooler. But if your going for something good then check out the Corsair H80. Its a closed loop water cooler. Its not cheap though.

[Anakha56]

Please read the news article attached to this thread: http://forums.pcformat.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=41020 when deciding what CPU you need for your upgrade. It could save you some money that could be used elsewhere .

/For the lazy ones the direct link is here:

http://techreport.com/review/23246/insi ... today-cpus

[naughty]

I also checked out the Asrock Z77 Extreme 6. Should I consider it over the ASUS P8Z77-V PRO?

Any advice on a cooler to use on the i5 3570K?

to be honest that Asrock board looks terrific but looks alone is not a good enough reason - there are a few other plus points to the board for me ie it uses a Realtek ALC 898 audio codec vs the ALC 892 that the Asus uses which should give you better sound which is important for me and it should be considerably cheaper than the Asus but its also made/designed by Asus and its a great color which is a plus if you are going to have a chassis which shows it off

in regards to the cooler - the standard cooler as mentioned above is adequate - i have also tried a Zalman CNPS12X extreme on my 3570k and then i also tried out a Corsair H100 liquid cooling kit

heres the temperature comparison

zalman fan



corsair aircooler



dont worry about current temps cos that obviously depends on what you were doing at the time and also how long the machine was on for - rather look at the minimum temps that these went down to - that will give a better indication of the cooling capability

pics of the coolers on the CPU

Zalman fan



corsair H100 block



corsair H100 Radiator



the liquid cooling solution is obviously large hence if you want to use something like that then i suggest getting a Corsair Osbidian 650D chassis instead of anything else you are planning to use since that is actually at the exactly right size with perfectly sized mounting holes to allow it to fit inside the chassis .... I had to do some crazy mods to my case which required lots of cutting with a jigsaw

heres a link to my thread about my case mod - my actual eventual hardware is basically similar to what you are planning to get only my motherboard is an older model and i have an AMD/ATI Radeon 6970 card instead of the Nvidia one you are planning - all i need now is the solid state drive and im more-or-less where i want to be in terms of hardware

http://forums.pcformat.co.za/viewtopic. ... 1#p1662371

[petrivanzyl]

Anyone actually has the Asrock Z77 Extreme 6? Any problem experienced? I've only seen positive reviews...

[KALSTER]

If it gets good reviews and it comes with a decent warranty, then I say go for it. I have had my Biostar for 2.5 years (I think) and have never had a day of troubles from it. People like to go for the larger brands, but the smaller ones often offer very good value for money. There are very few really bad motherboards around these days afaik. And it looks quite nice as well.