It wasn't long ago that a GeForce GTX 580 was $500 or very near it, and that's way too much now that the Radeon HD 7950 and 7970 are out. But for $380 before a $30 rebate, it makes a lot more sense.
A GeForce GTX 580 does take a lot of power, so I'd stay with a 650 W power supply if you get one. If you're looking to save money, you don't need a full tower case, though.
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Have you ever used stereoscopic 3D before? A lot of games look terrible, because there isn't any sensible place to put any 2D stuff (e.g., the UI). A lot of people can't use it for very long, either, as it causes headaches. On a $1500 budget, you can get a stereoscopic 3D gaming system if you want, but you really don't want to buy it, play it for a couple hours, decide it's dumb, and never turn on 3D again.
I've been watching these threads for the last few weeks as I need to replace my ageing relic of a PC. On a side note it was a CyberPower and the PS blew and took the video card with it. I have a 750watt Corsair in there now and that is pretty much the only component I will keep for the new build.
Anyhow, my question is one of timing. With the new video cards JUST released and with the Ivy Bridge CPUs due out shortly is it a good idea to wait a month or so? Shouldn't prices drop (and any idea on when we might see some lesser cousins for the 680)?
I hate to plug another publisher but PCworld has a guide to building your own Gaming Rig on the newstands today....Very informative on new stuff etc.....It might help.
Have you ever used stereoscopic 3D before? A lot of games look terrible, because there isn't any sensible place to put any 2D stuff (e.g., the UI). A lot of people can't use it for very long, either, as it causes headaches. On a $1500 budget, you can get a stereoscopic 3D gaming system if you want, but you really don't want to buy it, play it for a couple hours, decide it's dumb, and never turn on 3D again.
That's something i'm wondering myself.. but if i go with the GTX 580 which is about the same price range I wouldn't have to switch anything in my set up. It's a decision i have to make but it's a cool added feature i could have for basically free. In total my set up comes to a little under $2,000. Does that sound right for build including a monitor?
Do not buy a PC from Cyberpower, Ibuypower, alienware or Dell.
They will sell you a PC for whatever budet you have for sure. And 12 months from now when you start having problems you will be out of luck.
Example- some guy posted here a few weeks back who bought a PC from one of them. Bought a $1k processor which they put into an $80 motherboard and a no name junk power supply. And if i remember correctly a $150 video card.
Point being they will sell any fool whatever he wants, and it will work when you get it home. For how long? who knows. I think the guy I posted about lasted about 2 weeks. Which in all honesty was him probably trying to do a massive OC when he had no idea what the hell he was doing.
Once again- Listen to Quizzical.
I have been visiting these boards for many years. He knows what he is talking about and will help you build a solid rig that wont go poof 6 months from now.
Edit: I will throw in my 2cp about the 3d thing. Not worth it IMO. It sounds cooler than it is, for a few games it will be OK, the rest of the time it will go unused. Or worst case scenario you will use it once or twice and never again.
I would change one thing. Go ahead and get a Blu Ray ROm drive. I bought a cd/dvd burner / BR ROm drive off tigerdirect for $59 bucks. I have my PC hooked up to a 46" lcd and can now watch blu rays on it with my PC. If thats something your interested in. I use the LCD as a second monitor for when I play something like Arkham City with an x box controller, and have a 24" monitor for MMO's and what not. Just an Idea
Do not buy a PC from Cyberpower, Ibuypower, alienware or Dell.
They will sell you a PC for whatever budet you have for sure. And 12 months from now when you start having problems you will be out of luck.
Example- some guy posted here a few weeks back who bought a PC from one of them. Bought a $1k processor which they put into an $80 motherboard and a no name junk power supply. And if i remember correctly a $150 video card.
Point being they will sell any fool whatever he wants, and it will work when you get it home. For how long? who knows. I think the guy I posted about lasted about 2 weeks. Which in all honesty was him probably trying to do a massive OC when he had no idea what the hell he was doing.
Once again- Listen to Quizzical.
I have been visiting these boards for many years. He knows what he is talking about and will help you build a solid rig that wont go poof 6 months from now.
Edit: I will throw in my 2cp about the 3d thing. Not worth it IMO. It sounds cooler than it is, for a few games it will be OK, the rest of the time it will go unused. Or worst case scenario you will use it once or twice and never again.
I would change one thing. Go ahead and get a Blu Ray ROm drive. I bought a cd/dvd burner / BR ROm drive off tigerdirect for $59 bucks. I have my PC hooked up to a 46" lcd and can now watch blu rays on it with my PC. If thats something your interested in. I use the LCD as a second monitor for when I play something like Arkham City with an x box controller, and have a 24" monitor for MMO's and what not. Just an Idea
I'm definitely going down the build my own route and Quiz helped me out a ton but my last decision is 3d or not. Have you ever tried it? There's either people who love it or hate it, most of the haters haven't tried it yet or just think it's a gimmick.
You might check out Maximum PC they just built one for $500, $1500, and $2100, all good pc's. They even have a best of the best list which is really good. www.maximumpc.com/
That's not a useful link as it merely goes to the site's home page. Regardless, you can usually beat such builds by quite a bit by considering what's on sale the day you buy. And that's even assuming that it was a sensible build in the first place, which sometimes they aren't.
But ... what if you couldn't build it yourself or know anyone that you can trust to do the job? Are there any reputable companies out there that one could get a gaming computer built without getting taken advantage of?
I'm definitely going down the build my own route and Quiz helped me out a ton but my last decision is 3d or not. Have you ever tried it? There's either people who love it or hate it, most of the haters haven't tried it yet or just think it's a gimmick.
If you're the one getting stereoscopic 3D, then it doesn't matter if I think it looks cool or not. What matters is if you like it.
A Blu-Ray player makes sense if you want to watch Blu-Ray movies on your computer. If not, then it's a waste of money. It's not a future-proofing issue, as
1) Blu-Ray is unlikely to ever be a de facto universal standard the way DVD is today, and
2) even if Blu-Ray someday is universal, the drives will be a lot cheaper then.
I can confidently say the latter because there is no way that Blu-Ray will become a universal standard while it is a lot more expensive than DVD.
I decided to wait for something better to come out later and just enjoy good old 2D gaming. This is what i'm looking at, it's your original build plus a Nvidia GTX 580. Also what would you suggest for a new monitor, I was looking at a Asus one that looked like a steal for $180
The speed of the hard drive matters a lot if you're running real programs off of it, but not much if you aren't. For bulk data like videos, pictures, or music, the hard drive speed doesn't matter. The idea of getting both an SSD and a hard drive is that you put the programs where speed matters on the SSD and then you put bulk data on the hard drive. If you're the sort of person who likes to have a zillion huge games installed at once, then maybe you fill up the SSD and need to install some on the hard drive, too.
The speed of the hard drive matters a lot if you're running real programs off of it, but not much if you aren't. For bulk data like videos, pictures, or music, the hard drive speed doesn't matter. The idea of getting both an SSD and a hard drive is that you put the programs where speed matters on the SSD and then you put bulk data on the hard drive. If you're the sort of person who likes to have a zillion huge games installed at once, then maybe you fill up the SSD and need to install some on the hard drive, too.
Well actually with a 120g SSD he wont be putting much on there anyways.
OS plus about 3-4 games ( depending ) and thats about it. With game sizes being 20-30g + nowdays having a decent secondary drive to put other games on does matter. If all he will do is store episodes of That 70's show and the 2pac record collection then no, it really wont matter
And for the blu ray player / cd/dvd burner why not make your computer able to play blu rays? for an extra $25 bucks over a dvd/cd burner & drive you can get a blu ray player. Thats about as cheap as your gonna get for blu ray. Now if you never watch blu ray and dont plan on it then i agree, it would be a waste of money.
The speed of the hard drive matters a lot if you're running real programs off of it, but not much if you aren't. For bulk data like videos, pictures, or music, the hard drive speed doesn't matter. The idea of getting both an SSD and a hard drive is that you put the programs where speed matters on the SSD and then you put bulk data on the hard drive. If you're the sort of person who likes to have a zillion huge games installed at once, then maybe you fill up the SSD and need to install some on the hard drive, too.
Well actually with a 120g SSD he wont be putting much on there anyways.
OS plus about 3-4 games ( depending ) and thats about it. With game sizes being 20-30g + nowdays having a decent secondary drive to put other games on does matter. If all he will do is store episodes of That 70's show and the 2pac record collection then no, it really wont matter
There's still no need. I've a 120gb SSD on my system and that is enough for usually 1-2 MMO's and 2 -3 single players. I just store the rest on my hard drive and transfer them to the SSD if i'm playing them regularly. I guess some people might play a crap load of games in a small period of time but i'd guess most are like me and only play a handful. It's literally seconds to move them across drives if need be.
If you want to use a 5900 speed drive and swap your games out then cool. I Personally dont, I would rather install the games I play every now and then on my secondary drive and my main ones on a SSD. But once again Thats ME.
I just made a suggestion or two, he can choose what he likes and go from there. Not like what I suggested was gonna double his costs or something. Even with a blu ray drive and a faster HD were talking what? 40$ maybe of a $1500 build. OH MY
I was feeling good until now, it's really difficult to piece together a build with so many different choices..
Build one based on what your gonna do with it.
I can tell you what I do with mine. I watch Blu Rays & DvD's, Music, Streaming, & gaming. Thats what I do the most with mine. I have it connected to a 47" lcd TV and wired to a 24" monitor. I play alot of SP games with an xbox controller on the LCD TV, Play MMO's and what not on the monitor. Watch alot of movies via streaming & blu ray disc and music whenever with a decent 5.1 surround sound system.
So I have a blu ray player in my computer that gets useda decent amount. I have a 120g ssd and two 7200 rpm drives for storage, extra games, ect.
I usually keep around 10 or 15 games installed on my computer. Most dont get played often, but when I do get in the mood i have them on a 7200 rpm hd and can just walk up and hit play. Main games on the SSD.
If your gonna use it just for gaming then build it just for that. If you want a media center type build then add in stuff with that in mind.
Personally, I think stereoscopic 3D is a stupid gimmick, and has been ever since it was introduced way back in the 1950s. I don't expect it to catch on for gaming at all until people figure out how to make it work well enough to be very common in television. It's much, much easier to make it work decently in television or movies when you can render things ahead of time than games where you have to render everything on the fly. Television programs also tend not to have a bunch of 2D stuff that doesn't fit nicely anywhere the way that games do.
That said, as I said above, what matters is your opinion, not mine, since you're the one that has to live with the system. If you're a huge stereoscopic 3D enthusiast with a 3D TV and you love it, then sure, try a stereoscopic 3D gaming system. If the extent of your experience with stereoscopic 3D is that you've seen a few movies and thought it was kind of cool, then you'll probably be disappointed to see that it doesn't work nearly so well in games as it does in movies where the whole thing was designed from scratch to be 3D, and then regret the purchase.
You should be aware that you'll likely face early adopter problems. Nvidia and AMD both have their own proprietary stereoscopic 3D stuff. Nvidia's has been around longer, and is probably more mature. DirectX 11.1 includes some stereoscopic 3D stuff, and that will be an industry standard. Once it comes, AMD and Nvidia may well discontinue support for their proprietary approaches. Any game designers that do anything to accommodate stereoscopic 3D will surely work with the DirectX implementation first, and probably ignore the proprietary stuff entirely.
While Radeon HD 7000 and GeForce 600 series cards support DirectX 11.1, Windows won't until Windows 8 launches. Microsoft will likely release DirectX 11.1 for Windows 7 and Vista, and not just Windows 8, but I'm not entirely certain of that. If video cards need DirectX 11.1 support in order to use stereoscopic 3D via DirectX, then the GeForce GTX 580 might not support stereoscopic 3D very well for long, as it doesn't support DirectX 11.1. I don't know how that will play out. But it's something you might want to look into.
Personally, I think stereoscopic 3D is a stupid gimmick, and has been ever since it was introduced way back in the 1950s. I don't expect it to catch on for gaming at all until people figure out how to make it work well enough to be very common in television. It's much, much easier to make it work decently in television or movies when you can render things ahead of time than games where you have to render everything on the fly. Television programs also tend not to have a bunch of 2D stuff that doesn't fit nicely anywhere the way that games do.
That said, as I said above, what matters is your opinion, not mine, since you're the one that has to live with the system. If you're a huge stereoscopic 3D enthusiast with a 3D TV and you love it, then sure, try a stereoscopic 3D gaming system. If the extent of your experience with stereoscopic 3D is that you've seen a few movies and thought it was kind of cool, then you'll probably be disappointed to see that it doesn't work nearly so well in games as it does in movies where the whole thing was designed from scratch to be 3D, and then regret the purchase.
You should be aware that you'll likely face early adopter problems. Nvidia and AMD both have their own proprietary stereoscopic 3D stuff. Nvidia's has been around longer, and is probably more mature. DirectX 11.1 includes some stereoscopic 3D stuff, and that will be an industry standard. Once it comes, AMD and Nvidia may well discontinue support for their proprietary approaches. Any game designers that do anything to accommodate stereoscopic 3D will surely work with the DirectX implementation first, and probably ignore the proprietary stuff entirely.
While Radeon HD 7000 and GeForce 600 series cards support DirectX 11.1, Windows won't until Windows 8 launches. Microsoft will likely release DirectX 11.1 for Windows 7 and Vista, and not just Windows 8, but I'm not entirely certain of that. If video cards need DirectX 11.1 support in order to use stereoscopic 3D via DirectX, then the GeForce GTX 580 might not support stereoscopic 3D very well for long, as it doesn't support DirectX 11.1. I don't know how that will play out. But it's something you might want to look into.
I already decided against 3d completely, sorry that you wrote that whole post it was very descriptive but at this point all i wanted to know was a few things i still need help on to finish this process so i can start building this PC so i can game. my last questions are should I stick with the first graphics card you recommended for my budget or should i go Gtx 580. That's all pretty much being that i'm using the first build almost in its entirety. Lastly what wireless driver should i use since my room is far away from the router i want good wireless connection.
I already decided against 3d completely, sorry that you wrote that whole post it was very descriptive but at this point all i wanted to know was a few things i still need help on to finish this process so i can start building this PC so i can game. my last questions are should I stick with the first graphics card you recommended for my budget or should i go Gtx 580. That's all pretty much being that i'm using the first build almost in its entirety. Lastly what wireless driver should i use since my room is far away from the router i want good wireless connection.
Personally, I'd probably get the Radeon HD 7870. It's a little slower than a GTX 580, but also a little cheaper, and I'd like to have the newer architecture for the better feature set and the much lower power consumption. But if you prefer Nvidia, then the GeForce GTX 580 isn't a bad deal, either. (Actually, personally I'd probably save some money and get a 6870 for less than half the price, but then, I don't mind turning graphical settings down.)
I would not get the exact GTX 580 that you linked, however. You can get a better cooler with roughly the same factory overclock for cheaper and skip the rebate, too:
The EVGA card you linked is an external exhaust model, which is a huge advantage if you're trying to cram it into a case with inadequate airflow. But for a full tower case with several very large fans, I'd just go internal exhaust and let the case fans do their job. It's easier to get heat off of the video card if you can spray hot air off in every which direction.
If you like rebates, then you can also get a GTX 580 for $50 cheaper before rebate and $60 cheaper after rebate, as compared to the one you linked earlier:
One thing I should warn you about with a Crucial M4 SSD: you should check the firmware version when it arrives. The firmware version that it ships with is printed on a sticker on the SSD itself. If it's 0309, then you're set. If it's 0009, then you need to upgrade it to 0309. You can get the new firmware from Crucial's web site. The new firmware fixes a bug that would make the SSD start causing blue screens after about 5000 hours of use.
It's been nearly 3 months since the firmware update was issued. I'd assume that as soon as they had the new firmware, all subsequent SSDs they shipped had the new firmware rather than the old. I don't know how long it takes to clear out stocks of the old, however.
Ya dont be worried about putting the system together yourself, its really not that hard, might take a few hours your first time and looking a few things up on the net , but in the end its worth it.
Its a good experience, and IMO a fun one , sort of brings you a little closer to your PC ,lol
Comments
What about a gtx 580?
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
That actually makes some sense. Prices have fallen a fair bit since last time I checked. For example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500234
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127567
It wasn't long ago that a GeForce GTX 580 was $500 or very near it, and that's way too much now that the Radeon HD 7950 and 7970 are out. But for $380 before a $30 rebate, it makes a lot more sense.
A GeForce GTX 580 does take a lot of power, so I'd stay with a 650 W power supply if you get one. If you're looking to save money, you don't need a full tower case, though.
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Have you ever used stereoscopic 3D before? A lot of games look terrible, because there isn't any sensible place to put any 2D stuff (e.g., the UI). A lot of people can't use it for very long, either, as it causes headaches. On a $1500 budget, you can get a stereoscopic 3D gaming system if you want, but you really don't want to buy it, play it for a couple hours, decide it's dumb, and never turn on 3D again.
I hate to plug another publisher but PCworld has a guide to building your own Gaming Rig on the newstands today....Very informative on new stuff etc.....It might help.
That's something i'm wondering myself.. but if i go with the GTX 580 which is about the same price range I wouldn't have to switch anything in my set up. It's a decision i have to make but it's a cool added feature i could have for basically free. In total my set up comes to a little under $2,000. Does that sound right for build including a monitor?
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
Listen to Quiz.
Do not buy a PC from Cyberpower, Ibuypower, alienware or Dell.
They will sell you a PC for whatever budet you have for sure. And 12 months from now when you start having problems you will be out of luck.
Example- some guy posted here a few weeks back who bought a PC from one of them. Bought a $1k processor which they put into an $80 motherboard and a no name junk power supply. And if i remember correctly a $150 video card.
Point being they will sell any fool whatever he wants, and it will work when you get it home. For how long? who knows. I think the guy I posted about lasted about 2 weeks. Which in all honesty was him probably trying to do a massive OC when he had no idea what the hell he was doing.
Once again- Listen to Quizzical.
I have been visiting these boards for many years. He knows what he is talking about and will help you build a solid rig that wont go poof 6 months from now.
Edit: I will throw in my 2cp about the 3d thing. Not worth it IMO. It sounds cooler than it is, for a few games it will be OK, the rest of the time it will go unused. Or worst case scenario you will use it once or twice and never again.
I would change one thing. Go ahead and get a Blu Ray ROm drive. I bought a cd/dvd burner / BR ROm drive off tigerdirect for $59 bucks. I have my PC hooked up to a 46" lcd and can now watch blu rays on it with my PC. If thats something your interested in. I use the LCD as a second monitor for when I play something like Arkham City with an x box controller, and have a 24" monitor for MMO's and what not. Just an Idea
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2043563
This is just my opinion tho
I'm definitely going down the build my own route and Quiz helped me out a ton but my last decision is 3d or not. Have you ever tried it? There's either people who love it or hate it, most of the haters haven't tried it yet or just think it's a gimmick.
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
But ... what if you couldn't build it yourself or know anyone that you can trust to do the job? Are there any reputable companies out there that one could get a gaming computer built without getting taken advantage of?
Here is what i have landed on:
Qty.
Product Description
Savings
Total Price
1
Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148725
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
$119.99
$99.99
1
EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1582-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...
Item #: N82E16814130590
Return Policy: VGA Replacement Only Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$439.99
$419.99
1
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996995
Item #: N82E16820226191
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$44.99
1
LITE-ON Black Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo SATA Model ihes112-04 - OEM
Item #: N82E16827106374
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$59.99
1
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC 7mm Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820148529
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
-$45.00 Instant
$199.99
$154.99
1
Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-650 650W Continuous @ 50°C, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V ...
Item #: N82E16817182071
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
$119.99
$99.99
1
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ...
Item #: N82E16819115072
Return Policy: Iron Egg Replacement-Only Return Policy
ZALMAN CNPS9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835118223
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant
-$11.00 Combo
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$264.98
$248.98
1
Newegg Promotional Gift Card - $10.00
Item #: N82E168GC000001
Your Promotional Gift Card will be emailed 4 days after invoice.
1
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128506
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986
Return Policy: Software Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
-$12.00 Combo
$289.98
$257.98
1
G.SKILL 4GB Micro SDHC Flash Card w/ SD Adapter Model FF-TSDG4GA-C4
Item #: N82E16820231509
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$4.99 Saving
$4.99
$0.00
Subtotal:
$1,386.90
Calculate ShippingZip Code: 01541 ShopRunner 2Day -- $0.00Other -- Logout ShopRunner
Shipping:
$0.00
1
Rosewill THOR V2 Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer Case, support up to E-ATX / XL-ATX, come with Four Fans - 1 x Front Red LED ...
Item #: N82E16811147053
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant
-$25.00 Combo
$149.99
$94.99
Subtotal:
$94.99
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
If you're the one getting stereoscopic 3D, then it doesn't matter if I think it looks cool or not. What matters is if you like it.
A Blu-Ray player makes sense if you want to watch Blu-Ray movies on your computer. If not, then it's a waste of money. It's not a future-proofing issue, as
1) Blu-Ray is unlikely to ever be a de facto universal standard the way DVD is today, and
2) even if Blu-Ray someday is universal, the drives will be a lot cheaper then.
I can confidently say the latter because there is no way that Blu-Ray will become a universal standard while it is a lot more expensive than DVD.
I decided to wait for something better to come out later and just enjoy good old 2D gaming. This is what i'm looking at, it's your original build plus a Nvidia GTX 580. Also what would you suggest for a new monitor, I was looking at a Asus one that looked like a steal for $180
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The Seagate Hard drive you listed is a 5900 rpm drive. Not sure if that was intentional or not.
I personally would get a faster drive even as a secondary.
Just found a western digital 1TB 7200 RPM for $85. Going with that instead..
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
The speed of the hard drive matters a lot if you're running real programs off of it, but not much if you aren't. For bulk data like videos, pictures, or music, the hard drive speed doesn't matter. The idea of getting both an SSD and a hard drive is that you put the programs where speed matters on the SSD and then you put bulk data on the hard drive. If you're the sort of person who likes to have a zillion huge games installed at once, then maybe you fill up the SSD and need to install some on the hard drive, too.
I didn't fully understand your strategy with the SSD but now i do. Quiz, i'm only really on the fence with the graphics card and my monitor..
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
Well actually with a 120g SSD he wont be putting much on there anyways.
OS plus about 3-4 games ( depending ) and thats about it. With game sizes being 20-30g + nowdays having a decent secondary drive to put other games on does matter. If all he will do is store episodes of That 70's show and the 2pac record collection then no, it really wont matter
And for the blu ray player / cd/dvd burner why not make your computer able to play blu rays? for an extra $25 bucks over a dvd/cd burner & drive you can get a blu ray player. Thats about as cheap as your gonna get for blu ray. Now if you never watch blu ray and dont plan on it then i agree, it would be a waste of money.
There's still no need. I've a 120gb SSD on my system and that is enough for usually 1-2 MMO's and 2 -3 single players. I just store the rest on my hard drive and transfer them to the SSD if i'm playing them regularly. I guess some people might play a crap load of games in a small period of time but i'd guess most are like me and only play a handful. It's literally seconds to move them across drives if need be.
Thats why i said " I personally "
If you want to use a 5900 speed drive and swap your games out then cool. I Personally dont, I would rather install the games I play every now and then on my secondary drive and my main ones on a SSD. But once again Thats ME.
I just made a suggestion or two, he can choose what he likes and go from there. Not like what I suggested was gonna double his costs or something. Even with a blu ray drive and a faster HD were talking what? 40$ maybe of a $1500 build. OH MY
I was feeling good until now, it's really difficult to piece together a build with so many different choices..
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
Build one based on what your gonna do with it.
I can tell you what I do with mine. I watch Blu Rays & DvD's, Music, Streaming, & gaming. Thats what I do the most with mine. I have it connected to a 47" lcd TV and wired to a 24" monitor. I play alot of SP games with an xbox controller on the LCD TV, Play MMO's and what not on the monitor. Watch alot of movies via streaming & blu ray disc and music whenever with a decent 5.1 surround sound system.
So I have a blu ray player in my computer that gets useda decent amount. I have a 120g ssd and two 7200 rpm drives for storage, extra games, ect.
I usually keep around 10 or 15 games installed on my computer. Most dont get played often, but when I do get in the mood i have them on a 7200 rpm hd and can just walk up and hit play. Main games on the SSD.
If your gonna use it just for gaming then build it just for that. If you want a media center type build then add in stuff with that in mind.
Choices are good, build what suits your need
Personally, I think stereoscopic 3D is a stupid gimmick, and has been ever since it was introduced way back in the 1950s. I don't expect it to catch on for gaming at all until people figure out how to make it work well enough to be very common in television. It's much, much easier to make it work decently in television or movies when you can render things ahead of time than games where you have to render everything on the fly. Television programs also tend not to have a bunch of 2D stuff that doesn't fit nicely anywhere the way that games do.
That said, as I said above, what matters is your opinion, not mine, since you're the one that has to live with the system. If you're a huge stereoscopic 3D enthusiast with a 3D TV and you love it, then sure, try a stereoscopic 3D gaming system. If the extent of your experience with stereoscopic 3D is that you've seen a few movies and thought it was kind of cool, then you'll probably be disappointed to see that it doesn't work nearly so well in games as it does in movies where the whole thing was designed from scratch to be 3D, and then regret the purchase.
You should be aware that you'll likely face early adopter problems. Nvidia and AMD both have their own proprietary stereoscopic 3D stuff. Nvidia's has been around longer, and is probably more mature. DirectX 11.1 includes some stereoscopic 3D stuff, and that will be an industry standard. Once it comes, AMD and Nvidia may well discontinue support for their proprietary approaches. Any game designers that do anything to accommodate stereoscopic 3D will surely work with the DirectX implementation first, and probably ignore the proprietary stuff entirely.
While Radeon HD 7000 and GeForce 600 series cards support DirectX 11.1, Windows won't until Windows 8 launches. Microsoft will likely release DirectX 11.1 for Windows 7 and Vista, and not just Windows 8, but I'm not entirely certain of that. If video cards need DirectX 11.1 support in order to use stereoscopic 3D via DirectX, then the GeForce GTX 580 might not support stereoscopic 3D very well for long, as it doesn't support DirectX 11.1. I don't know how that will play out. But it's something you might want to look into.
I already decided against 3d completely, sorry that you wrote that whole post it was very descriptive but at this point all i wanted to know was a few things i still need help on to finish this process so i can start building this PC so i can game. my last questions are should I stick with the first graphics card you recommended for my budget or should i go Gtx 580. That's all pretty much being that i'm using the first build almost in its entirety. Lastly what wireless driver should i use since my room is far away from the router i want good wireless connection.
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
Cheap, easy to install, and looks great. Thanks
[EQ][DAoC][WoW][WAR][SWToR][GW2][TSW][WS}
Personally, I'd probably get the Radeon HD 7870. It's a little slower than a GTX 580, but also a little cheaper, and I'd like to have the newer architecture for the better feature set and the much lower power consumption. But if you prefer Nvidia, then the GeForce GTX 580 isn't a bad deal, either. (Actually, personally I'd probably save some money and get a 6870 for less than half the price, but then, I don't mind turning graphical settings down.)
I would not get the exact GTX 580 that you linked, however. You can get a better cooler with roughly the same factory overclock for cheaper and skip the rebate, too:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127567
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125364
The EVGA card you linked is an external exhaust model, which is a huge advantage if you're trying to cram it into a case with inadequate airflow. But for a full tower case with several very large fans, I'd just go internal exhaust and let the case fans do their job. It's easier to get heat off of the video card if you can spray hot air off in every which direction.
If you like rebates, then you can also get a GTX 580 for $50 cheaper before rebate and $60 cheaper after rebate, as compared to the one you linked earlier:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500234
That's also external exhaust, and looks like a reference card to me. You lose the factory overclock, but that's a pretty big price difference.
One thing I should warn you about with a Crucial M4 SSD: you should check the firmware version when it arrives. The firmware version that it ships with is printed on a sticker on the SSD itself. If it's 0309, then you're set. If it's 0009, then you need to upgrade it to 0309. You can get the new firmware from Crucial's web site. The new firmware fixes a bug that would make the SSD start causing blue screens after about 5000 hours of use.
It's been nearly 3 months since the firmware update was issued. I'd assume that as soon as they had the new firmware, all subsequent SSDs they shipped had the new firmware rather than the old. I don't know how long it takes to clear out stocks of the old, however.
Ya dont be worried about putting the system together yourself, its really not that hard, might take a few hours your first time and looking a few things up on the net , but in the end its worth it.
Its a good experience, and IMO a fun one , sort of brings you a little closer to your PC ,lol