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My Gaming Rig


TechAngel85

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Okay, as most of you already know I'm building a gaming rig to replace my gaming laptop that was unfortunately stolen. I still have a little over a month before I can order my parts but I wanted to post a list of my components here to gather opinions and suggestions. So here they are with my reasonings for each component:

 

 

UPDATE:

So I've had to make some changes to my rig. Some upgrades, some downgrades to be able to stay within my budget. I'm thinking that I can get this system for around $1000 (US) buy the time I add in deals and shop around for the components at lower prices (which NCIX seems to have a few better prices than Newegg atm).

 

 

 

The Setup:                                                                      

 

 

Computer Case: NZXT Source 530 CA-SO530-M1 NZXT Source 210 S210-001

 

The original case that I wanted was the Corsair Obsidian Series 650D. However, with this build I have to cut some costs here and there to keep the overall build within my price range. The case was the first thing I cut; however, I still wanted certain features. The NZXT Source 530 was my second choice provided me with most of the features I wanted will still being a really good case: excellent air flow, bottom mounted PSU, modular drive bays, fan filters, USB 3.0 front ports and designed for cable management.

 

Downgraded:

All-in-all, I cut the cost of the case yet again to try to lower by budget while still keeping my amazing rig that is going to power me into the future.

 

 

Motherboard: ASUS Z87-A ASUS Z87-PRO

I had a difficult time deciding on my motherboard. I wanted something that would last through several upgrades and have all the features I desired. In the end it was between the Gigabyte GA-Z87MX-D3H and the Asus Z87-A. The Asus board won out by a narrow margin. All-in-all the two boards are very similar; however, Asus's software features (and seeing them work) did it in for me. The look of the board was also as a factor for me since my case is windowed and I didn't want to go with the typical blue or red theme.

 

Upgraded:

I was able to cut cost enough to upgrade my board to a better version of the same series. The ASUS Z87-PRO has all the great features of the Z87-A and more. Extra USB, intergrated WiFi, upgraded audio chip, upgraded LAN chip and some more technicial stuff.

 

 

Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K

Since I'm building a new PC and the price point for the IvyBridge and Haswell cores are pretty much the same, I decided to just go with the latest Haswell core line. I originally had the i7-4770K picked out. However, the budget didn't allow for that extra $100. I also really don't need the higher L3 cache or hyperthreading right now, so I decided the i5-4670K will do just fine. I went with the unlocked version so that I can overclock it using the included Asus software that comes with my motherboard choice.

 

 

Graphics Card: EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 760 2GB EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB

I went with nVidia because I'm just a fan and have had better experience with them over AMD/ATi. The choice of GTX 760 was a budget decision again. I would like the GTX 770 and if I can figure out a way to save $100 on the build then I might put that toward the 770 over the 760.

 

Upgraded:

Same card, more VRAM! I'll probably still be upgrading to the 770.

 

 

Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance Pro (DDR3/1600/8GB) Crucial Ballistix Tactical 4GB

The memory I have chosen is for dual channel running the highest stock speed with the lowest CAS. For this I've chosen the Corsair Vengeance Pro serious dual channel kit with timings of 9-9-9-24. I know there are some RAM sticks out there that have 8-8-8-24 timings; however, I ultimately chose this kit due to it being $10 less and because it matches the black/gold theme of the motherboard.

 

Downgraded:

Not so much as downgraded as I've chosen a different brand/series and only 4GB to get me started. This was because this ones above are discontinued and the downgrade to 4GB was one of the things I did to knock $40 (US) off the build. I'll be adding more of these latter to fill up my slots.

 

 

Power Supply: Thermaltake SMART Series 550W Cooler Master i600

Originally, I had chosen the OCZ ZT Series 650W; however, budget kicked in again. I don't need anything more than a 550W and the fully modular PSUs are priced higher. Therefore, I made a sacifice and chose this Thermaltake PSU instead, which is partially modular and provides enough power to handle this rig.

 

Upgraded:

I switched up brands here as well and have gone with Cooler Master and upgraded from 550W to 600W in the process.

 

 

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB

Though I seriously want an SSD, I can't afford one right now that will hold my OS and my games. That left me with a HDD as my only choice for the moment. I've always been a Western Digital fan and have never used anything else due to their reliability. However, I found that I could get a similar Seagate for $20 cheaper. So I'm trying my hand with Seagate for this build.

 

Monitor: Acer IPS Panel Black 23" 5ms (the market changes too quickly...leaving this up-in-the-air until I'm ready to purchase)

I originally had several Asus monitors picked out; however, over time they keep going "out of stock" with that little message saying that it "might not be restocked" (I usually always buy from Newegg). So at the moment, and this could change any time, I've gone with this Acer. It's open box so I'm getting it for $30 less and if there are cords missing it won't be a big deal because I have extras laying around. My only two criteria on my monitor was it had to support full HD (1920x1080) and it had to be an IPS panel.

 

I'm finishing off this build with a Blue-ray player from LG, a Gigabyte gaming mouse and a standard (non-fancy) keyboard from Logitech. I will be shopping around the net for cheaper prices on these components when the time comes to order them; however, Newegg tends to be one of the cheapest around.

 

Any thoughts/opinions/suggestions?

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That's true; however, to do that I'll need to figure out how to come up with the extra $50 that'll cost. I could probably save $50-150 between now and the time that I order the parts. If so, I'll get the 4GB edition of the GTX 760.

 

EDIT:

Or an extra $140 for the GTX 770 4GB. :D

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From yesterdays discussion I know we are likely to disagree with each other; I am giving you my 2 cents anyway :P

 

In short: Get a cheaper cpu, in favor of a better gpu. If you intend to build a gaming rig, your cpu should never be more or as expensive as your gpu, since cpu calculations aren't that big of a deal in games anymore.

Of course that doesn't mean that you should go buying your cpu at a garage sale.

Id consider buying a card from amd (e.g. AMD A10-6800K) instead, which can be nearly as good (>in games!<) for alot less money. Spend the extra 100$ in your gpu and i promise that gaming will be alot more fun ;)

 

edit: don't forget to get a cpu cooler.. stock cooling is just.. meh ;S

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IPS panel allows for the greatest viewing angles. You don't have to be perfectly aligned with your monitor for it to display the proper colors. It is also better for editing purposes which I still plan on doing so editing. When I look for a monitor I make sure it has a digital port (DVI not HDMI), a good contrast ratio and a response time of 5ms or less. If you plan on playing at really high resolutions (I don't plan on going higher than 1920x1080) then make sure it has a Display Port as well. The display port is the only way to get true 4K right now too.


From yesterdays discussion I know we are likely to disagree with each other; I am giving you my 2 cents anyway :P

 

In short: Get a cheaper cpu, in favor of a better gpu. If you intend to build a gaming rig, your cpu should never be more or as expensive as your gpu, since cpu calculations aren't that big of a deal in games anymore.

Of course that doesn't mean that you should go buying your cpu at a garage sale.

Id consider buying a card from amd (e.g. AMD A10-6800K) instead, which can be nearly as good (>in games!

 

edit: don't forget to get a cpu cooler.. stock cooling is just.. meh ;S

I sort of ninja'ed you above. I also do some editing in Photoshop and Premiere Pro so the CPU is also important to me. I went with the K version ($50 more) of the i5 so that I can overclock it. Eventually, maybe next year, I'll probably upgrade to the i7. So I do see your point and it's something for me to think about because that is $50 that could go towards the video card.

 

I've also been looking at CPU coolers today...Newegg doesn't have crap for the 1150 socket.

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If you are planing on doing anything serious with photoshop then I would recommend looking even more on monitors... Just because it is an IPS panel does not mean that its color coverage is high enough. Most of the reviews I found of that monitor are basically just saying... "Oh look at the pretty colors and view angle".... which is what every IPS panel can do... but since most people come from TN panels or hell even old CRT´s then the colors will look crisper but not necessarily be close to full sRGB coverage.

 

Here I ofc. assume that what you plan on doing require the sRGB color space to begin with. Since if you require something more professional then that monitor for sure aint going to cut it.

 

Also if the monitor has support for at least HDMI 1.4 then it can do 4k....

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If you are planing on doing anything serious with photoshop then I would recommend looking even more on monitors... Just because it is an IPS panel does not mean that its color coverage is high enough. Most of the reviews I found of that monitor are basically just saying... "Oh look at the pretty colors and view angle".... which is what every IPS panel can do... but since most people come from TN panels or hell even old CRT´s then the colors will look crisper but not necessarily be close to full sRGB coverage.

 

Here I ofc. assume that what you plan on doing require the sRGB color space to begin with. Since if you require something more professional then that monitor for sure aint going to cut it.

 

Also if the monitor has support for at least HDMI 1.4 then it can do 4k....

I'm not doing anything near professional quality; however, any further suggestions on the monitor? I'm mainly going with IPS because I'm coming from laptops where the viewing angle has to be just right or colors/brightness fades. You pretty much have to be look right on at a 90 degree angle or your screwed with the laptop monitors. This was my reasoning for the IPS.

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When I was looking for mine I made great use of this site

https://www.prad.de/en/monitore/index2.html

 

They do not cover ALL monitors, but some lines share the same panel, while they might be lacking in other stuff, like stands etc.

 

But their reviews are almost entirely tech based, and they do back up their claims with data, as opposed to many monitor reviews which basically cook down to "I thought it looked nice".

 

That said then I agree with the IPS panel. TN panels are only if you need 3d and/or super high refresh rates... which only really matter if you are playing FPS games professionally.

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Prad is the hardcore site for monitor reviews. If they say the monitor is good it is outstanding.

Another thing to consider when buying a monitor for gaming is blurbusters.com, there is a prad review of an Asus (TN) panel with strobo backlight which seems to be very good but not really cheap. Personally I'm waiting for Oled to become cheaper, but I'm on a SyncMaster 305T.

 

If you want to save money, maybe you can find a cheaper g.skill ram. They usually clock the best and were a little cheaper then corsair in the past. Besides, memory clock makes a really small difference. At least in dual channel with stock chipset clock.

 

It's true that you need a good CPU cooler if you are planning on overclocking. I'd recommend Noctua but they are not exactly budget.

 

Are you sure you need the k version of the CPU? With the right mobo you could overclock using the north bridge clock (would require a lot of reading though and maybe a custom chipset cooler).

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If you are primarily gaming it doesn't make sense to get a high end monitor. Any decent TN panel is going to look the same with games. If you don't believe me, go down to your frys and check out the dirt 3 they have on their test machines. There is no difference between a plasma screen or a cheap TN panel when you are gaming on skyrim, there just isn't. For the price of a decent IPS panel, you can get two nice TN panels, and IMO get more use and utility out of them anyway. That is what I recommend actually, a pair of 22inch TN panels would do quite nicely.

 

For professional media work, IPS panels are where it is at. There is a difference between IPS panels. There are better deals to be had, but the high end dell monitors, and the apple panels are really nice, and often very high resolution. They are actually worse for gaming though because they typically have lower refresh rates and response times, so you won't get as clear an image in motion.

 

If you want something that is a great picture and great with all kinds of media it might make sense to just by an HD television. You can get a really nice 42 inch LED TV for about 500$, which is what you would pay for an IPS panel anyway, and it will have a higher response time and great colors too.

 

As for the computer case, I cannot more highly recommend the RC690 2. Better airflow, better aesthetic (IMO), bottom mounted PSU, great cable management, entirely tooles, the best case I have ever owned by far. I am not sure on the USB 3.0 front ports, but that seems like small potatoes overall. The only con for that case is the front mounted fan has an LED on it (IMO). You can take out the fan or cut the LED cable if you don't like the bling. Everything else looks fine, gl with your build.

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I agree with Mothergoose here on the monitor. I'm probably just going to stick with what I have at the moment on all aspects and just plan to save and spend extra on the video card to get the GTX 770 or a 760 with more vram.

 

I'm also considering dropping down to a non K version of the i5 since I'll most likely be upgrading to the i7 next year.

 

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

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