Hardware New Desktop

[TerraMimic]

So, the motherboard on my old desktop died on me a while back and I've been using an older system just to get by in the meantime. I'm finally able to start looking into getting a new machine. It's been long enough since I've looked at hardware components that I'm a little out of date as to what gives the best performance vs. cost.

I'm looking to put together a decent gaming rig. I've already got a copy of win 7 pro 64-bit, so I don't need an os. I need a motherboard and cpu, 8-16 gb ram (i think), 1-2 hd's (to replace aging drives, possibly ssd?), internal card reader, optical drive (blu-ray writer, is it even worth it? otherwise I can reuse my old one), graphics card (nvidia/ati? don't know who is better at the moment), and possibly a new case (is liquid cooling a better option?). My budget is approx. $1000. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[Capt_hensley]

Dell will let you build a X-58 laptop to your specs. Price starts at $2400.00 USD
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-18/pd.aspx?~ck=mn


I got everything I wanted with a PowerSpec from Micro Center. Final price $1700.00 off the shelf, but on sale, as it had not even been put into the inventory.
http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/powerspec.aspx

Anything less is a compromise in what you want. I suggest you adjust your budget or find some credit plan that will help you get what you need now, and let you pay for it later.

 

[Hielor]

"Gaming rig" for what games? $1000 should be plenty to run all modern games at decent frame rates, and should be able to go into the next generation as well if you're willing to compromise on graphics quality. The problem with going too much more than $1000 is that there are diminishing returns--you're paying a premium for the latest and greatest without a corresponding increase in power.

Traditionally, AMD CPUs and Radeon GPUs are the best bang-for-buck options, but those GPUs in particular will have relatively poor driver support. Read reviews and comparisons on things like tomshardware.com targeted at the games you want to play in order to determine what you should get.

 

[TerraMimic]

Right, I knew I forgot to mention something. Game wise, I was thinking FSX, maybe some of the DCS games, Old Republic, Starcraft 2, Mass Effect 3, Bioshock Infinite, and of course Orbiter.

I did a quick search, and managed to come up with this for $1109 from cyberpower.

Case: Apevia X-Sniper 2 Mid-Tower Gaming Case

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Maximum Enermax 120MM Case Cooling Fans for selected case (Maximum Silent Operation) (1,000 RPM Black Color with No LED Enlobal Magnetic Barometric Bearing 17 dBA)

Noise Reduction Technology: Sound Absorbing Foam on Side, Top And Bottom panels, and more(2)

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-4670K 3.40 GHz 6MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1150

Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Dual Enermax Enlobal Silent High Performance 120MM Fans (Push-Pull))

Coolant for Cyberpower Xtreme Hydro Water Cooling Kits: Standard Coolant

Motherboard: [CrossFireX/SLI] ASUS Z87-K Intel Z87 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 2x PCIe x16 (1 Gen3, 1 Gen2), 2 PCIe x1 & 3 PCI (Pro OC Certified)

Memory: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR3/1866MHz Dual Channel Memory (G.SKILL Ripjaws X)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card (Powered by MSI)

Power Supply: 500 Watts - EVGA 80 PLUS Bronze Certified Power Supply

Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD

Optical Drive: LG 14X Internal Blu-ray Burner, BD-RE, DVD+RW, 3D Playback Combo Drive

Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

Network: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network

Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer

Operating System: None - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY

The site rates the machine as getting 69 FPS @ 1920x1200 for Starcraft 2 at "Ultimate" settings, and 71 FPS at the same resolution for Bioshock Infinite at "Very High". I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I'm assumming I can expect better FPS considering my current monitor doesn't support resolutions that high.

 

[Hielor]

FSX is a bit of a unique situation since it's CPU-limited but can't make good use of multiple cores--raw speed is really what it needs. Your 3.4GHz CPU should be fine for that.

Are you planning on overclocking? If not, or if you're planning on only mild overclocking, drop the liquid cooling system in favor of traditional fans. Liquid cooling is only useful if you want to push the limits on overclocking--which might not be the best idea if you're on a budget. The savings of using traditional fans instead of liquid cooling might allow you to bump up a level on the CPU or GPU.

 

[Columbia42]

Looks like a good system for the cost. What Hielor said, and also, not sure a 500 Watt PSU will cover all that, did you customize this rig or is it more or less off the shelf?

 

[Kendo]

My advice is to get a bigger PSU, a 500w wont last very long.
I use a 650w in my old Pentium 4, its the best thing I bought as the smaller ones kept burning out.

 

[Quick_Nick]

Nice build but I would call it overkill for the games you're looking at.
I'm happily playing Bioshock Infinite at 1080p and highest settings on a desktop that cost $825 including someone else putting it together for me and shipping it here.
Your desktop will be more future-proof though.

 

[garyw]

My advice is to get a bigger PSU, a 500w wont last very long.

another thing to add to that is that a 500w PSU will only deliver 500w in the first few weeks, after that, wear and tear will reduce the amount of power it can deliver. It's common for a 500w power supply to only deliver 300w so get something thats a few hundred watts over what you need and make sure it's a well known branded PSU.