hey gents,

 

upon my previous room inspection my SGT has asked me to build him 2 computers so he can play his games and mirrored pc for his son,

 

i have asked for a budget and he is open (SGT salary !!!!) so i have come up with this,

 

he wants to play games and internet with the odd occasion of photoshop.

 

thoughts and suggestions please.

 

INTEL CORE i5 2500K 3.30Ghz 6MB CACHE 95W LGA1155 $ 229

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 DDR3 2133Mhz $ 165

G.SKILL Twin Pack RIPJAWS X 2x4gig (8gig) DDR3 1600MhzCL9 $ 79

Western Digital 1TB 7200rpm SATA3 64mbc CAVIAR BLACK $ 89

ASUS GTX560Ti 1GB GDDR5 DirectCUII TOP 2xDVI/HDMI $ 279

PIONEER DVR-219LBK SATA 24x DVDSL $ 24

CORSAIR TX750W Power Supply 750Watt $ 149

WINDOWS 7 Home PREMIUM 64bit DVD Edition OEM $ 119

 

ill let him choose his case but i added 200 for case. Total - $1283

 

and this

 

INTEL CORE i7 2600K 3.40Ghz 8MB CACHE 95W LGA1155 $ 345

ASUS MAXIMUS 4 GENE-Z Intel Z68 HDMI Dua lDDR3 2200Mhz $ 249

CORSAIR VENGEANCE (8 Gig) DDR3 1600mhz Matched Pair $ 99

OCZ Agility3 120GB SSD SATA3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G $ 215

Western Digital 1TB 7200rpm SATA3 64mbc CAVIAR BLACK $ 89

ASUS GTX560Ti 1GB GDDR5 DirectCUII TOP 2xDVI/HDMI $ 279

ASUS GTX560Ti 1GB GDDR5 DirectCUII TOP 2xDVI/HDMI $ 279

LG CH12LS28 BLU-RAY 12x Reader /DVD Burner LIGHTSCRIBE $ 69

CORSAIR TX750W Power Supply 750Watt $ 149

WINDOWS 7 Home PREMIUM 64bit DVD Edition OEM $ 119

 

200 dollar case again is included in price $2100

 

i think these are both pretty well set up Pc's but am open to suggestion/change.

 

 

Cheers gents.

I reckon you should wait another 1-2 weeks for the AMD Bulldozer core CPUs.

They are said to be the same price as the 2600k, and perform twice as good as a 980x.

 

Scource:

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/95633-amd-bulldozer-fx-pricing-revealed-a-lot-cheaper-than-sandy-bridge

 

http://scarletwhore.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/bulldozer21-500x375.jpg

i say stay with the i7 and intel/nvidia no matter how good bullodzer is.

 

i would say on sarges budget diffidently go with a ssd mabey a 240gb for windows 7 and some games and 1tb hhd for other gear

 

its definitely worth it

 

ps. make sure its a sata 6gbs (doesnt really matter either are fine. but it pretty much takes over the job of ram)

 

just for argument sake

 

bulldozer architecture (1 big core)

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/it/2009/AMDroadmap/Bulldozer0.png

 

intel thread strcture

http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/8fc0a4f101.png

 

and they share the cache in the bulldozer intel has individual l2 cache

i think its hard wired hyper threading not 8 cores

please dont believe any benchmarks about bulldozer yet.. NDA is supposed to expire tomoro, so there will be legit reviews out then..

 

go to this link and have a read:

 

http://semiaccurate.com/2011/10/10/exclusive-a-look-at-the-bulldozer-architecture/

Also, mouse/keyboard/monitor?

Also, mouse/keyboard/monitor?

 

nah he has the rest of the gear, just doing the towers,

 

i won't go AMD or Ati gents, it's a personal thing for me to go intel so.. Bulldozer or not.. Intel is the way to go.

quick question

 

which would be a better option gents ?

 

1 x GTX580 1536mb

 

or Sli 2 x Gtx560ti ??

 

thoughts ?

now days you can even go the gtx 580 and a cheap card nvidia card eg gt410 or something like that with phyx and it process all the phyx stuff

Its a nobrainer the 580.

 

For one simple reason, your building for someone else who had to ask you what to get.

This means they wont like any of the teething problems or tweaking that a sli or crossfire rig can bring or the drop in performance when running a game not sli enabled.

KISS applies when building for someone with unknown tech skills.

560TIs would probably give more back for buck but whole package will seem more shinny and awesome to the end user if there are minimal issues straight out of the box.

 

If he wants to update later on he can still sli the 580 in 12 months time when MW4 comes out.

Until then It will just work with no issues that will make your Sgt "unhappy with you" .

 

Oh and if you do go 580 try for the 3gb version an aftermarket cooler like maybe http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1170&products_id=18236

New games are getting intense with textures nowdays. RAGE being the best example .

 

:hi:

Fallen, thank you mate, thats what i needed to hear.. i will go a Single 580.. but with his budget prolly just a 1530mb... he only wants to play shogun 2 at the moment,

 

another question, now you have brought up "out of the box" functionality...

 

do i go t a 120GB SSD for his OS or do i get a 600 GB Vel Raptor 10k rpm drive .. i dont like the idea of explaining installation paths....

 

thoughts..

Fallen, thank you mate, thats what i needed to hear.. i will go a Single 580.. but with his budget prolly just a 1530mb... he only wants to play shogun 2 at the moment,

 

another question, now you have brought up "out of the box" functionality...

 

do i go t a 120GB SSD for his OS or do i get a 600 GB Vel Raptor 10k rpm drive .. i dont like the idea of explaining installation paths....

 

thoughts..

 

If you put windows on the ssd, leave the old style unplugged until its installed.

 

but using paths is a hard one.

 

i use to have 150gb (hdd not ssd) on my xp partition and that was enough for all may games and os and everything and i never filled it up.

 

but i didn't download films or have many games.

 

unless he sales the 7 seas, 120 might do 240 (what ever it is) would defently do it. well it depend on what he has on it i guess.

If he goes the 2K build and your assembling it then a 120 ssd and 7200rpb mechanical drive .

But make it intuitive install the OS for him and name the mechanical drive "STORAGE" or something similar with folders already on it "music " "movies" etc.

You could go to the length of setting up where his browser downloads too etc so that the SSD will only be used for program installs games and the OS.

Ive done similar for non tech people before and it guides their usage.

12 month time and it wont matter , he will probably have tinkered and read up on stuff on the web about stuff and his lad will have reformated 18 times and be compiling his own linux kernals .

:hi:

UPDATE !!!

 

i need your final input gents.. please !!

 

down to video options now and bang for buck, without SLi.. what do i do.. i have never used the 580 and either of the brands..

 

Gainward GeForce GTX 580 3GB Phantom

 

With a 3GB frame buffer onboard and an enhanced GF110 chipset, the card has been built for hardcore gamers. The Gainward GTX 580 Phantom uses a custom triple-slot cooler with three PWM fans and six nickel-plated heatpipes. Backed by a 2 year warranty. $599.00

 

OR

 

ASUS GeForce 1536mb GTX 580 DirectCU II 549.00

 

OR

 

EVGA GeForce 1536mb GTX 580 SuperClocked $599.00

 

 

personally i have never used EVGA or Gainward.. but yet the 3GB Phantom is very tempting.. so gents,

 

Which one ? anyone here used Gainward ? anygood ?

Used EVGA ages ago for CAD purposes (same with XFX if you can believe it!), Gainward, never used (same with Asus tho) but it is suppose to be pretty decent

3GB if your running more than one Monitor

 

Recommend ASUS they do make a good range of cards

3GB if your running more than one Monitor

 

Recommend ASUS they do make a good range of cards

 

so 3GB is not recomended if i am running a single 27inch ?

 

i need to have this resolved as i am making the order tonight,

 

629.00 for an extra 30 bux i got the 3GB super oc'd Gigabyte version, so am happy with that. as long as its going to be easy to use with no BS

so 3GB is not recomended if i am running a single 27inch ?

wouldn't say 'not recommended', just it is able to handle larger screen res. personally i'd get the 3Gb anyway as unless Sarge is looking to update regularly, games will chew up the vram in about a year or so i reckon (o:

Everything went smooth sailing on this build, i am rapped with the result and he will be to, and i do rate the corsair 600T Graphite in white, really well built case and final build looks great,

 

now i am just wanting to run her through the ringer and see if all is ok, so just doing Memtest and Cpu burn in at the moment,

 

do have one question, mum is using some you beaut OPTUS modem Cisco DPQ3212 and works perfectly on her (this) pc however it will not load on the new pc for sum reason, it is asking for Username and passwords but upon entering them it does not access the internet. any ideas gents ?

 

usually it has been a case of plug Cat5 in and presto your connected,

 

all LAN drivers are installed but yeah. that username and password business has got me stumped.

it is asking for Username and passwords but upon entering them it does not access the internet. any ideas gents ?

 

usually it has been a case of plug Cat5 in and presto your connected,

 

all LAN drivers are installed but yeah. that username and password business has got me stumped.

web browser set to autodetect settings yeah?

 

also can you see other computers on the network?

Everything went smooth sailing on this build, i am rapped with the result and he will be to, and i do rate the corsair 600T Graphite in white, really well built case and final build looks great,

 

now i am just wanting to run her through the ringer and see if all is ok, so just doing Memtest and Cpu burn in at the moment,

 

do have one question, mum is using some you beaut OPTUS modem Cisco DPQ3212 and works perfectly on her (this) pc however it will not load on the new pc for sum reason, it is asking for Username and passwords but upon entering them it does not access the internet. any ideas gents ?

 

usually it has been a case of plug Cat5 in and presto your connected,

 

all LAN drivers are installed but yeah. that username and password business has got me stumped.

 

 

thats what i thought for windows 7 but its actually easier to use wireless than a cable

 

why Microsoft why

so 3GB is not recomended if i am running a single 27inch ?

 

i need to have this resolved as i am making the order tonight,

 

629.00 for an extra 30 bux i got the 3GB super oc'd Gigabyte version, so am happy with that. as long as its going to be easy to use with no BS

 

The Gigabyte SOC cards are the absolute shiznit. Powerful as buggery. The Sgt should be pretty happy with that card.

well he took delivery of the PC this afternoon, paid me 450 for assembling it.. and wouldnt allow me to take any less.. soo.. very happy at my end, he has installed Bf3 and is getting 80 FPS avg on ultra.. nice.... he is happy, i am happy.. were all happy..

I'm happy for you

That's a tidy bit of money for putting a computer together - I would have done it for a box of beer! Maybe I should be charging more

yeah thanks gents, it's melb cup day at 2/14 and we got all pissed as.. today is the day to attack lol (not naming country) lollolololol havnt drank like this in a while and omg.... very exciting day, photos to follow over..

 

and usually i charge for a carton but now it's a hungee ! lool