Yoorah's PC build plans \o/

• Yoorah wrote on 2012-04-29 01:01
  So far, I have...
  
  CPU: Core i7-3770K ~$313
  (not available yet D:)
  
  MOBO: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 $230
  http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_722&item_id=047274
  
  RAM: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 16GB (2x8GB) ~$125
  http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_311_312_612&item_id=046643
  
  GPU: XFX Double D Radeon HD 7870 ~$375
  http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=69829
  
  SSD: Intel 520 Series $190
  http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=179_1088&item_id=045626
  
  HDD: WD CB 1TB $0
  (already has)
  
  BD/DVD: idk? D: $?
  
  PSU: Seasonic X-660 Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold 660W $130
  http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_443&item_id=039392
  
  Case: Antec P280 ~$120
  http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=6_112&item_id=043936
  
  OS: Windows 7 x64 $0
  (already has)
  
  Total (not finalized) $1483 + tax ;_;
  
  ------------------------------------
  
  As you can see, this is not a cost-optimized gaming machine. :P And a lot of the parts are more expensive than you can typically get away with, so I hope I'm not scaring any perspective builders/system buyers with these component costs.
  
  An example being the power supply, kinda pricey at $130. But it is fully modular, gold-efficient, quiet and Seasonic-grade quality. :) I might still look at alternatives, though, so if anyone's got any recommendations that fit my quality and performance requirements, feel free to post!
  
  Things I'm not sure about:
  -It may be worth it to get the non-hyperthreaded (3550K) CPU instead. I'm not sure how useful HT is in applications that would benefit from more than 4 cores. There's a potential to save ~$100 here without much (?) performance loss. Something to look into!
  
  -I wonder how much the NVIDIA 670 Ti will cost, and when it will be available? Right now, the AMD 7870 is a powerhouse for what you pay for--demolishes the NVIDIA 570, beats the 580 sometimes. But if the 670 Ti gets released at a similar price point and offers more performance, then it's worth considering. But NVIDIA can't really produce 680s right now, so I don't know the likelyhood of them releasing 670s any time soon...
  
  -I want 16GB RAM in 2x8GB setup (for future potential 32GB upgradability!), with 1600MHz speed, CL9 timings. Not sure if Patriot is a trustworthy brand, though.. and selection for alternatives doesn't seem plentiful. u_u Kingston plox? Or maybe I'll get that Corsair with the stupid tall wannabe-heatsinks...
  
  -I hardly ever use the optical disc drive these days, with games on Steam and all. Nonetheless, I'd like to have a half-defent DVD burner, maybe with Blu-Ray support. Dunno which brands are considered top grade in quality, however. LGs are typically "okay." I've heard Lite-On was nice, but idk... D: If someone here is an expert in optical drives, feel free to give input. Otherwise, I'll go research myself. :P
  
  -That Sabertooth motherboard is nice, but I'm wondering if those mini-fans on it generate noticeable additional noise. If they do, I may get a simpler board. D: The main thing I like about it is that it's made with higher-quality parts than normal. An alternative would be Gigabyte's "ultra durable" boards, I guess? Z75 boards might be cheaper without losing too many features, too.
  
  Still feeling kinda bad replacing my nicely-running 6 year old system. D: But my parents could really use, compared to my old P4 laptop that they're using as a desktop right now. :|
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-04-29 02:09
  you can send your old computer to the cat :O
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-04-29 02:46
  I would, but unfortunately the main reason I'm building a new system in the first place is 'cause my parents need a better system to use, so they're getting my current one. x(
• Episkey wrote on 2012-04-29 02:54

  Quote from Yoorah;851107:

  I would, but unfortunately the main reason I'm building a new system in the first place is 'cause my parents need a better system to use, so they're getting my current one. x(

  
  
  Sure ... :chin:
  
  [S]It's okay to treat yourself to a new computer.[/S]
  
  I don't know much about hardware - but is 16 GB of RAM necessary? To then upgrade it to 32 GB? O_O
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-04-29 03:12
  16GB is not necessary, but there are things you can do with 16GB if you know what they are. :P
  
  Namely: Virtual machines and RAMdisk.
  
  The VM thing is pretty self-explanatory.
  
  RAMdisks on the other hand are essentially hard disks living inside your RAM. Because RAM is several orders of magnitude faster than hard disks (including SSDs), there are cool ways to exploit this. For instance, you can have Windows mount its page file/swap on a RAMdisk. You can also mount Windows' \temp directory there. Both of these give you some performance benefits. And one more thing I'm curious about is what happens if you take it further? Installing a game onto the RAMdisk = instantanous loading times for that game? It'd be fun to find out!
  
  If you don't care about all this fancy stuff, 8GB is more than adequate for a gaming system. Technically, you could go for even less, but modern graphics cards (at least, from AMD) like to fill up huge amounts of free RAM with pre-loaded graphics data. This doesn't improve in-game FPS, but does improve the fluidity of the game experience and rendering quality a bit.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-04-29 03:20

  Quote from Yoorah;851107:

  I would, but unfortunately the main reason I'm building a new system in the first place is 'cause my parents need a better system to use, so they're getting my current one. x(

  
  
  do your parents use one for work?
• Episkey wrote on 2012-04-29 03:43

  Quote from Yoorah;851121:

  
  RAMdisks on the other hand are essentially hard disks living inside your RAM. Because RAM is several orders of magnitude faster than hard disks (including SSDs), there are cool ways to exploit this. For instance, you can have Windows mount its page file/swap on a RAMdisk. You can also mount Windows' \temp directory there. Both of these give you some performance benefits. And one more thing I'm curious about is what happens if you take it further? Installing a game onto the RAMdisk = instantanous loading times for that game? It'd be fun to find out!

  
  
  Interesting. My computer originally came with 8 GB, but an extra 4 GB was added for free ...
  
  I wonder if something like that would be possible in my case, even while I'm playing a game the maximum RAM usage is like 20%.
  
  Of course, I don't know much about computers - sadly. I hope to hear some interesting results arise from your tweaking.
• Halfslashed wrote on 2012-04-29 04:23
  HyperThreading typically isn't worth it, so just go with the 3550k.
  
  As far as burners, go with the cheapest DVD burner you can find of the following brands: LG,Samsung,Sony, Lite-On
  
  For RAM, go for G.Skill Ripjaws/Ripjaws X, Corsair RAM of any type and Crucial RAM of any type.
• TA wrote on 2012-04-29 04:24
  Rule of thumb is to wait at least 6 months before getting newly released hardware. Price will drop and bugs will be worked out.
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2012-04-29 08:07
  Oooh, right, I totally forgot about RAMdisks.
  
  Seasonic is sex. I use the M12-II 520.
• BizarreJuju wrote on 2012-04-29 16:34
  Dang that SSD, my new desktop is like 8-9 month old and my 80gb SSD is at 20gb ;_;
  
  Is that Sabertooth allright? I've been hearing negatives about that motherboard (unless thats a newly improved type)
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-04-29 19:03

  Quote from TA;851163:

  Rule of thumb is to wait at least 6 months before getting newly released hardware. Price will drop and bugs will be worked out.

  
  
  unfortunately
  not true for Sandy Bridge
  it kept its price until the the Ivy Bridge came out
  but that's because it has a great price:performance ratio and is kicking AMD's ass in CPUs
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-04-29 21:06

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;851125:

  do your parents use one for work?

  
  Naw, it's mostly for web browsing and stuff. But with newer sites, a P4 laptop with 512MB of RAM and a crappy GPU made by a company that is no longer in business will struggle quite a lot. It's also a pain in the ass for me to run maintenance tasks on it for them. The thing is slow as hell, it's driving me nuts. x_x
  
  

  Quote from Episkey;851138:

  Interesting. My computer originally came with 8 GB, but an extra 4 GB was added for free ...
  
  I wonder if something like that would be possible in my case, even while I'm playing a game the maximum RAM usage is like 20%.
  
  Of course, I don't know much about computers - sadly. I hope to hear some interesting results arise from your tweaking.

  
  Yep, 12GB is about the minimum total RAM capacity you need where a RAM disk becomes viable. You'd probably want to allocate 4GB to the RAM disk, so you'd have 8GB of RAM left for the rest of the system.
  Read this article if you're interested in learning more about RAM disks. The parts about using more than 4GB of memory on a 32bit OS don't apply in your case, but the rest does. :P
  
  

  Quote from TA;851163:

  Rule of thumb is to wait at least 6 months before getting newly released hardware. Price will drop and bugs will be worked out.

  
  This is a good rule of thumb for most consumer electronics, and possibly graphics cards (price-wise), but other than that.. it doesn't typically apply very well in terms of computer components.
  
  

  Quote from BizarreJuju;851471:

  Dang that SSD, my new desktop is like 8-9 month old and my 80gb SSD is at 20gb ;_;
  
  Is that Sabertooth allright? I've been hearing negatives about that motherboard (unless thats a newly improved type)

  
  Good thing you didn't go with that 40GB drive!
  
  As for the Sabertooth, it's just your typical ASUS quality board, with some extra features and more reliable (over-engineered lawl) components. The more I look at it, though, the more it seems unnecessary... The price difference is insignificant, however, so whatever. Just gotta find out if those two mini fans are noisy. :| What complaints have you heard?
• TA wrote on 2012-04-29 22:08

  Quote from Yoorah;851633:

  This is a good rule of thumb for most consumer electronics, and possibly graphics cards (price-wise), but other than that.. it doesn't typically apply very well in terms of computer components.

  
  
  Yes.... it does. :chomp2:
• elumini wrote on 2012-04-30 19:38
  Yoorah, as a joke I used to make....
  
  
  Go get EVGA's Classified SR-2, fill it uip to 48GB of RAM @ 1800 Mhz each. Dual Intel Xeons (Because you're that ballin') with GTX 680's in SLI. Slap 1500W PSU onto the mix, some epic liquid cooling gear (EVGA has a case dedicated to the board and liquid cooling unit~ around 200) and slap whatever SSD you want and you'll have a monster.
  
  Price? Over your budget at 3-5k ;P