First gaming PC

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   Hi, 

I have been lurking on these forum for a while, after doing some internet search and frankly, the community and supported has forced me to come here to buy my first true gaming pc. Kudos to the company and the fans for that.

I had a build in mind, but the product line refresh has confused the hell out of me. So, I need some advice. 

First of all my requirements:

1. Need to play all the current games at high to extreme setting, including witches, DOW2, Skyrim. I do not mind playing games that come 2-3 years from now at medium settings though.

2. I have a paltry 19" monitor now, but will be a getting a 23" one when I get my tax refund. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

3. At some point in time, (say 6 months or a year), I would like to add another 23". That will be purely for browsing etc. no dual monitor gaming.

4. Gaming the most intensive thing this set-up will be used for. No fancy video-audio editing etc. for me.

So this is the build that I have chosen : 677481.

The problem is ODE2 lvl 4 costs $300 less and has a SSD as well.

The reason I went for 1050HX power supply is that it gives me the freedom to add another 680 in the future.

Dang..forgot to add the free T shirt 

Suggestions are most welcome.

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kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Topic: First gaming PC Posted: 18 Apr 2012 at 6:24pm
	Hi, I have been lurking on these forum for a while, after doing some internet search and frankly, the community and supported has forced me to come here to buy my first true gaming pc. Kudos to the company and the fans for that. I had a build in mind, but the product line refresh has confused the hell out of me. So, I need some advice. First of all my requirements: 1. Need to play all the current games at high to extreme setting, including witches, DOW2, Skyrim. I do not mind playing games that come 2-3 years from now at medium settings though. 2. I have a paltry 19" monitor now, but will be a getting a 23" one when I get my tax refund. Any suggestions would be most welcome. 3. At some point in time, (say 6 months or a year), I would like to add another 23". That will be purely for browsing etc. no dual monitor gaming. 4. Gaming the most intensive thing this set-up will be used for. No fancy video-audio editing etc. for me. So this is the build that I have chosen : 677481. The problem is ODE2 lvl 4 costs $300 less and has a SSD as well. The reason I went for 1050HX power supply is that it gives me the freedom to add another 680 in the future. Dang..forgot to add the free T shirt Suggestions are most welcome.

bprat22 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391	Quote Reply Posted: 19 Apr 2012 at 3:21am
	Hi kaldoot....Welcome to the forums. That is a great build you put together. Saves me doing a config. I would however change the cpu cooler to the D14 for it's excellant reliability, or the H100. That stage 2 cooler you picked isn't that great. The d14 for another $30 will keep that chip cool with stage 2 oc and do it quiet and the big block of cooling fins leaves very little to fail. The H100 also is very good, it's reliability not as good, but most don't have issues, but does have a 5 year warranty. Comparing your build to the new ODE lvl 4, yours has a better case, a mobo able to sli and WiFi, and a great ps. The ODE has the SSD and H100 for $300 cheaper. If you want sli potential which you might need if you want maxed out, ultra gaming on things like Metro and BF3 then your build is it. The ODE 4 with single gtx680 will playSkyrim, Witcher, etc at max no problem on a single 23" at 1920x1080. If your budget allows, I would recommend your custom config and add your own SSD later. If budget doesn't then the ODE 4 will give you great gaming on the games you mentioned. Even a single 680 will play BF3, etc at that resolution in the 60+fps most of the time, but dipping lower when all hell brakes loose. Yep, you gotta get the free t-shirt Hope this helps and let us know. Edited by bprat22 - 19 Apr 2012 at 3:31am

kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Posted: 19 Apr 2012 at 6:58pm
	Thanks bprat, my build was done based on your previous suggestions. A few additional questions : 1. Will the X79 platform ever be relevant for gaming. I know "ever" is a vague term, but lets assume it means 5 years here. 2. Any suggestions on a decent monitor? 3. So I do not need to buy a wi-fi card with this motherboard! good to know. 4. By the way, how much difference does a SSD make for gaming performance. If significant, care to suggest a decent, small capacity one to me. I will try to see if I can fit that in my budget. 5. The usual vcore=1.4V still applies right :). Thanks for the help.

bprat22 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391	Quote Reply Posted: 20 Apr 2012 at 5:29am
	Tough to say about gaming 5 years from now. I would guess , no need for X79, but it is impossible to say. Plus in 4-5 years you'll be looking at all the new stuff anyways, regardless of what you buy now. It's just the nature of the beast. Lots of us play on the Dell UltraSharp 23/24" monitors at 1920x 1080. They're IPS monitors for great color and clarity. Others make good ips monitors but I have last years model of the U2312HM and it's great. With your build, the Z77 Deluxe, you won't need WiFi card. The ODE 4 you would. I don't have a SSD yet but some say it refreshes scenes quicker and would never be without one, others say it's not much difference. I think it would help to some degree but not necessary. Yep, tell them keep vcore 1.4 or less. Best of luck and keep us updated. Edited by bprat22 - 20 Apr 2012 at 5:33am

kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Posted: 04 May 2012 at 8:52pm
	Got busy for some time so could not follow through. Meanwhile, the new ivy bridge is here :/. so updated my config : 684360. Final set of queries, then I should be good to go. Hopefully will order this within this week. 1. Does i7 3770 offer any adv. over i7 2600k for gaming? 2. How much boost does stage 2 overclock give? I have put stage 1; since I would really like this set-up to last a while. 3. Kept 1050HX for adding another 680 in the future. I think that is it. Thank you for the help.

bprat22 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391	Quote Reply Posted: 05 May 2012 at 4:49am
	Hi kaldoot....Real nice rig. Nice job The Ivy Brdige chip itself has been shown to have about a 10-15% increase in performance and has a much better integrated gpu built in and full pcie3.0. For gamers the integrated gpu will mean very little except I think it does help somewhat with video editing, etc. The pcie.3.0 advantage will only be seen with multi gpu setups and even then for present cards is debatable. It is $85 more than 2600k, and for your setup you'll never see the difference in gaming, but if in the budget it is the latest. Your call of course. For that setup with 3770 and Noctua D14, stage 2 oc will work very good. But, I can't say what % gain one over the other is. You've left room to sli if needed and that build is great. The single 680 will meet the requirments you posted, no problem. Good Luck and keep us updated

kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Posted: 05 May 2012 at 6:14pm
	Great, will bump to stage 2 overclock then. I was just reading through some of the reviews and it seemed the new ivy-bridge ran a little bit hotter. Therefore, the apprehension about stage 2 OC. Will order in a week then.

kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Posted: 11 May 2012 at 11:12pm
	Sorry for keep coming back again and again. But yet another confusion arises! Every weekend I sit on my laptop to order this pc, there is yet another CPU/GPU launch. I have made to configurations around the same cost : 687235 and 687236. Basically one is 3770+680 and the other is 3570+SLI 670. From what I have been reading, 3770/3570 dont make any diff in gaming and 670 is only 10% slower than 680. So dual 670 will make sure I have monster gaming pc at my resolution for at least 4-5 years. Please advise.

kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Posted: 11 May 2012 at 11:22pm
	Ohh.. and I do want to play CPU intensive games like shogun2 and witcher 2 as well.

bprat22 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391	Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2012 at 4:33am
	Hi kaldoot......Either build looks great. For gaming on a 23/24" at 1920x1080 the single 680 will max out most games, but not all and keep frames 60+ if that's your goal. The other build with i5-3570k and sli 670 will max things out with room to spare for future games. There is another post where they talk of how intense Witcher 2 is to run, even worse then BF3 in some cases. I don't know for sure as nobody benches Witcher 2 with other games. The sli670 would be a bit overkill for most but would give you lots of growth. Unless your into Ultra, maxed- out everything then even a single 670 would do it. But, the sli is a sweet way to go. It's all about the budget and your own expectations. I love the sli 670 but your call. Either build will make gaming a joy.

kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2012 at 9:37pm
	That is the thing, for the same cost if 3570k or 3770k does not make much of a difference, the 680+3770k is a very inferior choice. I guess I will go with 3570k +dual 670 SLI.

kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2012 at 9:38pm


kaldoot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 18 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 49	Quote Reply Posted: 19 May 2012 at 9:25pm
	Finally ordered, now the wait. System Configuration: Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i5 3570K 3.40 GHz (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core) (Requires Z77 Motherboard) Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE (Intel Z77 Chipset) (Higher Overclocks and Unique Wi-Fi Features) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (1TB Western Digital/Seagate/Hitachi/ Samsung (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs) Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections) Video Card(s): 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB (Includes PhysX) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 Extreme Performance H20 Tube Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans Internal Lighting: - No Thanks Enhancements: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks CPU Boost: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s) Memory Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD) Virus Protection: - No Thanks Office: - No Thanks Game: - No Thanks Display: - No Thanks Surge Shield: - No Thanks Speakers: - No Thanks Keyboard: - No Thanks Mouse: - No Thanks External Storage: - No Thanks Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Small) <b></b> Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 4 Year Limited Warranty Sub-Total: $2,663.00 Tax: $0.00 S&H: Ground $65.00 Grand Total: $2,728.00

bprat22 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391	Quote Reply Posted: 20 May 2012 at 3:36am
	Real nice build. Congrats. The wait is a killer.

Asangard Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS Veteran Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2209	Quote Reply Posted: 20 May 2012 at 7:54am
	Sweet Post some Pics when you get it.
	All evil comes from within, Not from Without, Therefore, the 1st step on the Holy Warrior path, Is to recognize thyself as thy 1st enemy.

First gaming PC

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