Urgent computer help!!

[MasterofXD]

So My father and I are buying a gaming comp (850$ max with taxes) and we came across this

GIGABYTE GA-Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68 Motherboard
Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz Quad Core unlocked CPU
Gigabyte Radeon HD 6870 Overclocked 1GB GDDR5
RAM - Patriot 4GB DDR3-1333MHz G2 Desktop Memory Module x2 (8GB total)
Seagate 1TB Serial ATA HD
Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Mid-Tower Computer Case
OP Drive - Sony Optiarc AD7280S-OB 24x DVDRW Drive
PSU - ???
This build is inspired by this build and case:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...9&Sku=B69-1373
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...504&CatId=1509
1. Ok so the things I'am missing are a PSU (since diablotek sucks hard), which I asked around, needs 600W to power this thing,but at the same time, people say 500W is fine, which PSU should I take, any suggestions for a good one? (post here, and please try to use tigerdirect)

2. How good is this rig? How well will it play modern games such as skyrim, Saint's row, etc without too much lag/be fluid enough to play?

3. How good is the case? WIll it fit all my parts? Is everything compatible together and there won't be any errors?

4. Will the motherboard be big enough to take in newer graphics cards later on? So I can upgrade my GPU without upgrading my motherboard?

5. Will the video card fit in the case? I heard I'll need to remove an HDD bay to fit it. What happens if I remove a bay?

6. What do you think of the setup in general? is it great for my budget?


Thanks for the help!!

[Allen]

1. A 500 watt would be more than enough. You could run that off a solid 400 watt honestly. A 500 watt would give you plenty of over head to allow for overclocking. I wouldn't go 600+ unless you're wanting to run Crossfire..even then, a 650 watt would handle that with no problem. You want to stick with Corsair, Seasonic, Antec and PC Power and Cooling for the most part, OCZ sometimes uses Seasonic internals as well, but there power supply lineup is pretty much hit or miss. However, you can choose which one you like:

Psus:

500watt:
Corsair CMPSU-500CXV2 Builder Series™ CX500 Power Supply - 500W, 80 Plus, 120mm Fan, Single +12V Rail, Active PFC at TigerDirect.com

600watt:
Corsair CMPSU-600CXV2 Builder Series™ CX600 Power Supply - 600W, 80 Plus, 120mm Fan, Single +12V Rail, Active PFC at TigerDirect.com

650watt:
Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 Power Supply - 650 Watts, ATX, 140mm Fan, 80 Plus Bronze, SLI Ready, Active PFC at TigerDirect.com

2. The rig is good. 2500k will overclock to 4.5Ghz with a decent heatsink. I'd suggest this board:

Newegg.com - ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

also get this (should take the CPU to 4GHZ easy):

Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-GP Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler - 120mm, LGA 1366, 1156, 775, AMD AM3, AM2+, AM2 at TigerDirect.com

Tiger direct doesn't appear to sell asrock, their quality is some of the best at the moment for socket 1155 and the boards also offer PCI-E 3.0. This is a P67 board I've chosen because you have a dedicated graphics card, no real need for a Z68 board...you're paying more for no real benefit when the cost could get you a full featured higher quality board for the same price.

As for games, you should be able to play most games at or below 1080 fairly well, however the 6870 may struggle a bit with some games at 1080 resolution. Overall, it will lend a pleasant gaming experience at 1080 if you adjust a few settings. 6xxx series scales amazing in crossfire, so later on you can always buy another and have really good performance.

3. The case is one of the best budget enthusiast cases, it's a fantastic case, it will house all your stuff no problem and also has great cable management.

4. The board you chose will limit you in the future in GPU upgrades as it's PCI-E 2.0. Next gen graphics card will support PCI-E 3.0 and provide more bandwidth. So if you're using a PCI-E 3.0 card in a PCI-E 2.0 motherboard, you wont be getting the full potential of the graphics card, essentially causing a bottleneck.

Also, get this ram instead, the ram you chose is 1333mhz, which 1600mhz can be had for the same price.

34.99 after rebate:
Patriot G2 Series PGD38G1600ELK Division 2 Edition Desktop Memory Kit - 8GB (2 x 4GB) PC3-12800, DDR3 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24 CAS Latency, XMP Ready at TigerDirect.com

or you can just go for these:
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B Vengeance Desktop Memory Kit - 8GB (2x 4GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, 9-9-9-24 CAS Latency, Intel XMP Ready, Unbuffered at TigerDirect.com



5. If it doesn't fit, just remove the middle hard drive bay, that's why they made it removable so it can accommodate longer video cards. You're not going to be putting your hard drive in that one anyways, you'll be putting your drive in the bottom bay, don't worry about it.

6. It's a good build, it'll keep you in the game for years to come. As with anything, over time you will need upgrades, just do a piece at a time. You shouldn't need to upgrade anything atleast within the next couple years, if anything you can just add another 6870 in crossfire and be completely satisfied if you need a performance boost later on.

[Shing]

About PCI-E 2.0 and 3.0...
[Hardwarecanucks]HD 7970 PCI-E 3.0 vs PCI-E 2.0 comparison

[Allen]

Originally Posted by Shing

About PCI-E 2.0 and 3.0...
[Hardwarecanucks]HD 7970 PCI-E 3.0 vs PCI-E 2.0 comparison

Too bad those benchmarks are pointless, it'll be a couple gens until PCI 3.0 is fully taken advantage of and getting a pci 3.0 would set you up to be ready for it without having to upgrade later

[Shing]

Originally Posted by Allen

Too bad those benchmarks are pointless, it'll be a couple gens until PCI 3.0 is fully taken advantage of and getting a pci 3.0 would set you up to be ready for it without having to upgrade later

Yea, PCI-E 3.0 is good if you are going for sure and dont want to change your motherboard for years.