Support NeoGAF

[Wolf Akela]

For the whole thing I'd only pay probably $200.

 

[Mœbius]

If gaming is your primary then yeah...a i5 will be just fine. Although I wonder if the hyper threading of the i7 would come in handy for your 3D work? On the gaming side though there won't be much difference.

If you drop to a i5 and even a drop from a 580 to a 570 is about a $150 difference...that's $250 right there enough for your SSD. SSD is absolutely worth it IMO.

Cool, I guess I'll do it that way then. Thanks for the second opinion.

 

[ACE 1991]

So how good is the "damn capable" $600 build? What kind of performance could one expect from cutting edge titles like Witcher 2?

 

[pseudocaesar]

So how good is the "damn capable" $600 build? What kind of performance could one expect from cutting edge titles like Witcher 2?

The Witcher 2 at about Medium settings at 1680x1050 resolution.

 

[RoboShmup]

Computer has been bought! Thanks for the help everyone! Came out to $900, not including rebates.

 

[Izayoi]

Computer has been bought! Thanks for the help everyone! Came out to $900, not including rebates.

Awesome! Now you get to wait along with ballad and I for our parts to slowly start trickling in.

 

[CaLe]

Awesome! Now you get to wait along with ballad and I for our parts to slowly start trickling in.

And I...

http://i51.tinypic.com/10eqys5.jpg

Added a 6870 for CF since then...

Been over a week now, can't wait anymore. (They're assembling it..)

The waiting part is the hardest.

 

[Izayoi]

Been over a week now, can't wait anymore. (They're assembling it..)

The waiting part is the hardest.

I would have died. Hell, I couldn't even wait a week to buy the damn thing, let alone actually get the parts and put it together.

My hat is off to you.

 

[CaLe]

I would have died. Hell, I couldn't even wait a week to buy the damn thing, let alone actually get the parts and put it together.

My hat is off to you.

Thanks.

Actually, what's even worse, is that for some reason one of the components ended up being out of stock... So, yeah... This caused further delay.

I hate stores that mark a component as in-stock and it ends up being a lie.

Grats on the new rig, too !

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I use a Sony 52" 1080p LCD HDTV as my main PC monitor. I sit roughly 6 feet away from it. I don't have any problems with pixel density at that distance, it's just a bigger monitor to me. A much, much bigger monitor. :3 Both my gaming PC and my media center PC now feed through my receiver to this TV.

Depending on the TV you have, you might have color issues unless you have properly calibrated it and set the TV to accept PC-level blacks correctly. Colors will be very washed out and messed up if your source is outputting TV-level blacks (16-235) to a TV set to PC-level blacks (0-255), conversely, blacks and whites will be crushed if you are outputting PC-level blacks to a TV which is expecting TV-level blacks.

Some TVs attempt chroma-upsampling on input signals, since DVD and Blu-ray are both encoded with chroma-subsampling (Y/Cb/Cr 4:2:0 for anyone who cares), this needs to be disabled if your TV allows it. Usually setting the TV to Game/PC mode disables this chroma-upsampling, which otherwise will fuck up text on colored backgrounds and that sort of thing.

It was not all that trivial to get my TV looking right for accepting PC inputs, but once I lived life at 52", it's hard to go back to my Dell 24" 2405 monitor which now generally always sits lonely and dark on my computer desk to the left of my home theater setup.

 

[kevm3]

I'll have to look at adjusting my tv since I'm also using it as a monitor. Thanks for the information.

 

[CaLe]

I use a Sony 52" 1080p LCD HDTV as my main PC monitor. I sit roughly 6 feet away from it. I don't have any problems with pixel density at that distance, it's just a bigger monitor to me. A much, much bigger monitor. :3 Both my gaming PC and my media center PC now feed through my receiver to this TV.

Depending on the TV you have, you might have color issues unless you have properly calibrated it and set the TV to accept PC-level blacks correctly. Colors will be very washed out and messed up if your source is outputting TV-level blacks (16-235) to a TV set to PC-level blacks (0-255), conversely, blacks and whites will be crushed if you are outputting PC-level blacks to a TV which is expecting TV-level blacks.

Some TVs attempt chroma-upsampling on input signals, since DVD and Blu-ray are both encoded with chroma-subsampling (Y/Cb/Cr 4:2:0 for anyone who cares), this needs to be disabled if your TV allows it. Usually setting the TV to Game/PC mode disables this chroma-upsampling, which otherwise will fuck up text on colored backgrounds and that sort of thing.

It was not all that trivial to get my TV looking right for accepting PC inputs, but once I lived life at 52", it's hard to go back to my Dell 24" 2405 monitor which now generally always sits lonely and dark on my computer desk to the left of my home theater setup.

Wow.. Awesome info, thanks.

Do you have a guide that explains how to properly calibrate the TV ?

Also, what option determines if the TV accepts PC-level blacks..?

Also, stupid question, did you just set your desk 6 feets from the TV?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Do you have a guide that explains how to properly calibrate the TV ?

Nope, since every TV's menu options are different and some TVs have user-configurable options that other don't. I will refer you back to your TV's manual instead.

Also, what option determines if the TV accepts PC-level blacks..?

Most TVs mark this option as something similar to RGB Full Range or Expanded Range or something like that.

Also, did you just set your desk 6 feets from the TV?

I game from my comfy couch. /smug

For PC gaming, I set my keyboard and mouse on a couple of $11 TV trays I bought at Target. They're meant for food, but they work fine with a keyboard and mouse. You'll need a wireless keyboard and mouse combo unless you want to run USB cables across your living room floor.

 

[Salacious Crumb]

37 inches. Too big for a desktop monitor?

 

[Inferno313]

Hey guys, I'm starting to look into building a gaming PC over the summer. It'd be my first.
I'm just starting to look at CPUs and GPUs, but if I built a computer around the i5 2500k and the Nvidia GTX 560 ti what kind of performance and price would I be looking at?

 

[Mr Nightman]

37 inches. Too big for a desktop monitor?

Not at all man, my first desktop was hooked up to a 42 inch vizio, shits badass :-D

 

[RumblingRosco]

Hey guys, I'm starting to look into building a gaming PC over the summer. It'd be my first.
I'm just starting to look at CPUs and GPUs, but if I built a computer around the i5 2500k and the Nvidia GTX 560 ti what kind of performance and price would I be looking at?

Just ordered my PC with these parts. That right there will cost you around $420-$460 (if you buy from Newegg, depending on which 560 ti you get). Throw on ~$150 for a motherboard, between $50-80 for memory (4 or 8 GB), $50 on the low-end for a case, $60+ for a PSU, $20 for a CD/DVD drive... I'd honestly say $700 is the absolute lowest if you're skimping on things, but really, more like $800-900 which would not include Windows, Microsoft Office, or a monitor/speakers.

Performance-wise, it'd kick some pretty decent ass at 1080p, or increasingly better at lower resolutions.

 

[Cj70]

Thanks for the advice guys, I've updated my build as below. Just a few questions:

Will I be able to max out the witcher 2 with this build or do I need to upgrade something?
I've dropped the psu to 650W, will that be enough keeping in mind I want this to last a while and through potential upgrades?
Should I grab a sound card?
Would a SSD for OS provide a big reduction in noise levels? If so I'll grab one

For my monitor what's more impressive IPS or 120hz and nvidia3d? I've read really good things about the 3D but one of my friends wont keep quiet about how pretty his IPS screen is.

 

[kpx0]

dont see the need for the 2500/2600k for gaming... im running an i3 2100 (got for $100 with motherboard at microcenter) with a $140 radeon 6850 and pretty much every game ive thrown at it flies at 1920x1200

 

[Fredescu]

dont see the need for the 2500/2600k for gaming

Being able to overclock it means getting a few more years out of the processor. Many people are running overclocked Q6600s today and having no problems in games. The 2500k is the default choice for this reason.

 

[Izayoi]

Thanks for the advice guys, I've updated my build as below. Just a few questions:

Will I be able to max out the witcher 2 with this build or do I need to upgrade something?
I've dropped the psu to 650W, will that be enough keeping in mind I want this to last a while and through potential upgrades?
Should I grab a sound card?
Would a SSD for OS provide a big reduction in noise levels? If so I'll grab one

For my monitor what's more impressive IPS or 120hz and nvidia3d? I've read really good things about the 3D but one of my friends wont keep quiet about how pretty his IPS screen is.

http://i54.tinypic.com/i5ubk3.png[IMG][/QUOTE]
1.) No, you will not be able to. You'll need at least a GTX 580, and even that is questionable depending on resolution.
2.) I would upgrade to at least a 750W, especially if you're going to be doing SLI with another GTX 570. If you're planning on upgrading your videocard to a GTX 580 and plan on SLI'ing that, you're going to probably need around 1000W.
3.) It depends. Are you going to be using expensive headphones/are an audiophile? If yes to either of those questions, then I would strongly recommend it. If not, eh. Not a necessity.
4.) HDD's aren't terribly loud as is. If you're just trying to get a quiet machine an SSD would be the very last thing I would consider.
5.) 120Hz monitors are apparently fucking awesome, and reasonably priced. I would look at both in person, if possible, before making my decision.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

If you're thinking of getting into Nvidia 3D Vision, research very carefully before you start buying components.

 

[Link0080]

Your Current Specs: Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz, G.SKILL 4GB DDR3, ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO, Radeon HD 4890
Budget: something like $300
Main Use: Gaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: The Witcher 2 and Battlefield 3 at max 60 fps hopefully
Are reusing any parts?: I hope i can just keep everything except the gfx card
When will you build?: a month or so
Will you be overclocking?: No

If I need to upgrade the cpu I can do so in a few months.

 

[opticalmace]

dont see the need for the 2500/2600k for gaming... im running an i3 2100 (got for $100 with motherboard at microcenter) with a $140 radeon 6850 and pretty much every game ive thrown at it flies at 1920x1200

Maxed out? Which games?

 

[Zinga]

Your Current Specs: Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz, G.SKILL 4GB DDR3, ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO, Radeon HD 4890
Budget: something like $300
Main Use: Gaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: The Witcher 2 and Battlefield 3 at max 60 fps hopefully
Are reusing any parts?: I hope i can just keep everything except the gfx card
When will you build?: a month or so
Will you be overclocking?: No

If I need to upgrade the cpu I can do so in a few months.

That's still a pretty good computer... I would just save my pennies until the end of the year when the next gen ATI cards come out, you could always drop a X6 core in there though and OC it to 4ghz

 

[kpx0]

Being able to overclock it means getting a few more years out of the processor. Many people are running overclocked Q6600s today and having no problems in games. The 2500k is the default choice for this reason.

yeah but 2-3 years from now when the i3 2100 is too slow for gaming, the low end ivy bridge cpus will be out for about the same price (~$100-150)... which will be faster than a 2500/2600k (maybe even overclocked) and use less heat/power usage etc... for the price of a P67+2500k ($300) i can get an H67+2100 ($100) now which is perfectly fine for todays games and then upgrade to a low end ivy bridge later and probaby still have money in my pocket.

same thing with the Q6600 example... back when it was a high end $200+ chip, i went with a "low end" E7200.. i used it very recently and upgraded to the i3. the e7200 was more than adequate back then and now the low end sandy bridge cpus are more than adequete now

Maxed out? Which games?

all my currently played games: starcraft2, l4d2, bad company 2, witcher 2, crysis 2... i am playing at 1920x1200 all HIGH settings... Anti Aliasing is either 2-8X depending on the game... everything is 30+ fps smooth

 

[chaosblade]

Your Current Specs: Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz, G.SKILL 4GB DDR3, ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO, Radeon HD 4890
Budget: something like $300
Main Use: Gaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: The Witcher 2 and Battlefield 3 at max 60 fps hopefully
Are reusing any parts?: I hope i can just keep everything except the gfx card
When will you build?: a month or so
Will you be overclocking?: No

If I need to upgrade the cpu I can do so in a few months.

6950 or 560Ti would keep you under budget.

If you were willing to go a little over $300 you could get a 570 or 6970, most of those are closer to $350 but you can find a few for $320 or so after a rebate.

Nothing else really needs to be upgraded. I'd recommend getting a good cooler and OCing that 720, but I see you're not interested in that.

 

[Aselith]

I just bought a new Nvidia video card which should arrive tomorrow. What would be the best way to clean off my old Radeon drivers? Running Windows 7 if that matters.

 

[Fredescu]

i can get an H67+2100 ($100)

What? Try $200. You're exaggerating the difference. 2500k+P67 is well worth the extra $100.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

I just bought a new Nvidia video card which should arrive tomorrow. What would be the best way to clean off my old Radeon drivers? Running Windows 7 if that matters.

Uninstall using Control Panel, download and install THIS: http://phyxion.net/Driver-Sweeper/Driver-Sweeper/

Reboot, hit F8 repeatedly then boot into Safe Mode. Run Driver Sweeper and have it clean all traces of AMD display drivers. It'll ask if you want to reboot when done. Say yes. Take out Radeon videocard, put in Nvidia card, install Nvidia drivers.

 

[French]

Hi,

Last week I bought a P67 motherboard ( Gygabyte UD4 ) but I just realized that new motherboards ( Z68 ) have been released.

Knowing that I don't care about o/c, do you think I made a mistake buying a P67 ? Or I shouldn't care ?

Thanks.

 

[Aselith]

Uninstall using Control Panel, download and install THIS: http://phyxion.net/Driver-Sweeper/Driver-Sweeper/

Reboot, hit F8 repeatedly then boot into Safe Mode. Run Driver Sweeper and have it clean all traces of AMD display drivers. It'll ask if you want to reboot when done. Say yes. Take out Radeon videocard, put in Nvidia card, install Nvidia drivers.

Thanks! I was looking into it and saw a mention of Drive Sweeper but I wanted to hear from our excellent PC community here as to what they preferred for the task.

 

[Jeramii]

yayyyy. i'm talking to you guys from my new home built pc!

antek 900 case.
intel i5 2500k
asus gtx 570

only thing that happened today that was a real pain in the ass is that i had no idea the gtx 570 required a 6 and an 8 pin source from my psu.

so i had to go run out and pay full price at best buy for a 750w one that would do the trick. had to pay about $130ish. going to have to return the other one to new egg.

oh well. everything is up and running so i am happy! ^__^

 

[chaosblade]

Hi,

Last week I bought a P67 motherboard ( Gygabyte UD4 ) but I just realized that new motherboards ( Z68 ) have been released.

Knowing that I don't care about o/c, do you think I made a mistake buying a P67 ? Or I shouldn't care ?

Thanks.

Z68 has some new features, but your board is plenty good. Don't sweat it.


And regarding Driver Sweeper, I used that at one point and I ended up being unable to install the Windows 7 service pack. I had to go in and manually replace some files it had deleted. Maybe I just screwed something up, but make sure you make a backup and keep in mind you used the program if any issues ever come up later.

 

[SneakyStephan]

So how good is the "damn capable" $600 build? What kind of performance could one expect from cutting edge titles like Witcher 2?

The witcher 2 on high with a few ultra settings @30-40 fps 1080p

I use a Sony 52" 1080p LCD HDTV as my main PC monitor. I sit roughly 6 feet away from it. I don't have any problems with pixel density at that distance, it's just a bigger monitor to me. A much, much bigger monitor. :3 Both my gaming PC and my media center PC now feed through my receiver to this TV.

Depending on the TV you have, you might have color issues unless you have properly calibrated it and set the TV to accept PC-level blacks correctly. Colors will be very washed out and messed up if your source is outputting TV-level blacks (16-235) to a TV set to PC-level blacks (0-255), conversely, blacks and whites will be crushed if you are outputting PC-level blacks to a TV which is expecting TV-level blacks.

Some TVs attempt chroma-upsampling on input signals, since DVD and Blu-ray are both encoded with chroma-subsampling (Y/Cb/Cr 4:2:0 for anyone who cares), this needs to be disabled if your TV allows it. Usually setting the TV to Game/PC mode disables this chroma-upsampling, which otherwise will fuck up text on colored backgrounds and that sort of thing.

It was not all that trivial to get my TV looking right for accepting PC inputs, but once I lived life at 52", it's hard to go back to my Dell 24" 2405 monitor which now generally always sits lonely and dark on my computer desk to the left of my home theater setup.

Don't most new tv's support the full 0-255 greyscale by now?
Nice read btw.

yeah but 2-3 years from now when the i3 2100 is too slow for gaming, the low end ivy bridge cpus will be out for about the same price (~$100-150)... which will be faster than a 2500/2600k (maybe even overclocked) and use less heat/power usage etc... for the price of a P67+2500k ($300) i can get an H67+2100 ($100) now which is perfectly fine for todays games and then upgrade to a low end ivy bridge later and probaby still have money in my pocket.

same thing with the Q6600 example... back when it was a high end $200+ chip, i went with a "low end" E7200.. i used it very recently and upgraded to the i3. the e7200 was more than adequate back then and now the low end sandy bridge cpus are more than adequete now

Great post except that it's a dual core and there are already several games seriously bottlenecked by dual cores.
Will you be able to use the same motherboard with the ivy bridge upgrade?
If not you wasted a whole lot of cash on an intel SB mobo and an already bottleneck grade cpu.

A cheap amd mobo+3ghz athlon II quad core would have made more sense then.

I pretty much did what you did, but 3,5 years ago.
Got me a phenom II x3 720BE with unlocked multiplier and a crossfire enabled am2+ mobo.
Oc'ed it to 3.2 ghz, ignored all the 'hyuck hyuck no point in getting a 3 core dual core is enuff, else get an i7 for raw speed' and still sitting comfortably in every game for the forseeable future.
When the time to upgrade comes I'll be able to get bulldozer or a midrange ivy bridge (though with a new mobo as it'll have been 4-5 years by then) and the 2 mobos/cpu's together won't have cost me any more than a i7 920+ mobo would have back then.

8-10 years of good cpu performance in games for the price of 5 years.

 

[opticalmace]

yeah but 2-3 years from now when the i3 2100 is too slow for gaming, the low end ivy bridge cpus will be out for about the same price (~$100-150)... which will be faster than a 2500/2600k (maybe even overclocked) and use less heat/power usage etc... for the price of a P67+2500k ($300) i can get an H67+2100 ($100) now which is perfectly fine for todays games and then upgrade to a low end ivy bridge later and probaby still have money in my pocket.

same thing with the Q6600 example... back when it was a high end $200+ chip, i went with a "low end" E7200.. i used it very recently and upgraded to the i3. the e7200 was more than adequate back then and now the low end sandy bridge cpus are more than adequete now




all my currently played games: starcraft2, l4d2, bad company 2, witcher 2, crysis 2... i am playing at 1920x1200 all HIGH settings... Anti Aliasing is either 2-8X depending on the game... everything is 30+ fps smooth

Okay, fair enough. Personally I find 30 fps too choppy, so I go for around 50 FPS as a minimum. I'm still running a dual core 775 but I would go for the 2500K for the extra performance if I were building. I also like maxing out settings at my native res.

 

[kpx0]

Great post except that it's a dual core and there are already several games seriously bottlenecked by dual cores.

please post source that shows the i3 2100 (dual core) being a bottleneck in ANY game.. i actually see benchmarks that show the i3 2100 beating out the i7 920 (last years high end quad core) in some games!

Will you be able to use the same motherboard with the ivy bridge upgrade?
If not you wasted a whole lot of cash on an intel SB mobo and an already bottleneck grade cpu.

my i3 with motherboard was $100, i can buy 3 of those for the price of a single 2600k or 2 of em for a single 2500k... cant see how i wasted cash in any possible way. when ivy bridge comes out, im hoping to pick up a low end one for $100-150

 

[Tubobutts]

Your Current Specs: Q9400 2.66 GHz, 8GB DDR2, Radeon HD 6870
Budget: $800 but I could go over
Main Use: Gaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: The Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, Skyrim
Are reusing any parts?: Im going to keep my 6870 and eventually get another one to crossfire with it. I could also keep my power supply if 750w would be enough for what I have.
When will you build?: A month or two but I could wait longer if necessary.
Will you be overclocking?: Not sure yet, but leaning towards yes.

So far I've been looking at:
Intel Core i5 Processor i5-2500K 3.3GHz
ASUS P8P67 PRO
Corsair XMS3 8 GB 1333 MHz

I'm pretty new at PC building and am mostly wondering if it is necessary for me to upgrade now or if i can afford to wait a bit. Any cpu cooling or case recommendations would be especially welcome since I'm thinking about overclocking and don't know what kind of cooling would be necessary.

 

[Link0080]

Nothing else really needs to be upgraded. I'd recommend getting a good cooler and OCing that 720, but I see you're not interested in that.

I would OC if i knew how, I also read that its possible to unlock the 4th core, I'm open to trying if its not too difficult.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Don't most new tv's support the full 0-255 greyscale by now?
Nice read btw.

They do. You have to set it yourself though. Technically the source is supposed to be able to read the EDID the TV sends to it via HDMI telling it that it's set to Full Range so could you please output Full Range. In practice, it rarely ever works that way as most devices ignore the EDID beyond the bare minimum of what resolutions are supported, so you set it yourself on both the source and display or else you can't ever be completely sure it's correct.

 

[SneakyStephan]

please post source that shows the i3 2100 (dual core) being a bottleneck in ANY game.. i actually see benchmarks that show the i3 2100 beating out the i7 920 (last years high end quad core) in some games!

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screenshots/original/2011/05/TheWitcher2-CPU.png

I thought bc2 also ran terrible on dual cores, but it seems that was fixed in a patch by now? Stopped playing the game shortly after release.

Gta4 scales well with quad cores but I guess your i3 2100 is fast enough anyhow.

Just witcher 2 then I guess

my i3 with motherboard was $100, i can buy 3 of those for the price of a single 2600k or 2 of em for a single 2500k... cant see how i wasted cash in any possible way. when ivy bridge comes out, im hoping to pick up a low end one for $100-150

cpu and mobo 100 dollars combined? Then I didn't say anything, since when did sb mobos (or any intel mobo for that matter) become affordable, they were expensive as hell in the i7 days.

 

[Ezahn]

Hi guys,

I'm a total noob who wants to build a new gaming pc, having sold his e8400 / 8800 GT.
Maybe you'll remember this from some older posts! (be patient ^^)

The monitor is the LG W2363D-PF, so 120Hz and 1080p.
My objective is to have a very capable computer right off the bat, and being able to have an upgrade path in the future.
What about this setup? I'm italian, so don't worry about the € prices and strange names ^_^

Assemblaggio e Test PC € 35,00
Hard Disk Interno Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200rpm 32MB SATA2 HD103SJ € 43,70
Case Midi Cooler Master 690 II LITE ATX Pure Black € 77,00
Masterizzatore Interno Sony AD-5260S 24x DVD/CD SATA Bulk Nero € 17,70
Alimentatore PC Corsair Gaming Series GS800 800W 80plus € 81,20
CPU Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz Socket 1155 95W con GPU Sandy Bridge Boxed BX80623I52500K € 178,00
RAM DDR3 G.Skill Ripjaws-X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 1600MHz 8GB (2x4GB) CL9 1.5v € 77,00
SSD Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB 2.5" Lettura 355MB/s Scrittura 140MB/s Sata3 CTFDDAA128MAG-1G1 € 169,90
VGA Gainward GeForce GTX 570 GS-GLH Core 800MHz Memory GDDR5 4000MHz 1280MB 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort € 283,10
Scheda Madre Gigabyte Z68X-UD3-B3 Socket 1155 Intel Z68 DDR3 SATA3 USB3 ATX € 130,60

TOTALE: 1.093,20 €

Thanks for your valued help!

 

[Cheech]

And I...

http://i51.tinypic.com/10eqys5.jpg

Added a 6870 for CF since then...

Been over a week now, can't wait anymore. (They're assembling it..)

The waiting part is the hardest.

You will be super pleased with that dual 6870. First thing I did was a Crysis playthrough. The game still looks stunning, and is even better on "Very High". I think I tuned one or two things down to get a fairly steady 55-60 fps. Shit looks photo real at times.

 

[Fredescu]

my i3 with motherboard was $100

Then you got a crazy deal that is well below RRP. The CPU alone is $125 on newegg, and the cheapest H67 is $70 which in itself is cutting corners. Since the equivalent P67+2500k system is about $325, if they got the same 50% off deal you did, it would be about $162.50. A non overclockable dual core is absolutely not worth the $60 savings (or $120 savings in real world prices) unless you're really trying to scrape in under a certain price.

Is this $100 deal available today? Do you have a link?

 

[Inferno313]

Just ordered my PC with these parts. That right there will cost you around $420-$460 (if you buy from Newegg, depending on which 560 ti you get). Throw on ~$150 for a motherboard, between $50-80 for memory (4 or 8 GB), $50 on the low-end for a case, $60+ for a PSU, $20 for a CD/DVD drive... I'd honestly say $700 is the absolute lowest if you're skimping on things, but really, more like $800-900 which would not include Windows, Microsoft Office, or a monitor/speakers.

Performance-wise, it'd kick some pretty decent ass at 1080p, or increasingly better at lower resolutions.

That sounds great.
I'm wondering though if I should spend the extra $100 or so and get a 570 or stick with the 560Ti. What say you GAF?

 

[RS4-]

Your Current Specs: Q9400 2.66 GHz, 8GB DDR2, Radeon HD 6870
Budget: $800 but I could go over
Main Use: Gaming
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
List SPECIFIC games that you MUST be able to play: The Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, Skyrim
Are reusing any parts?: Im going to keep my 6870 and eventually get another one to crossfire with it. I could also keep my power supply if 750w would be enough for what I have.
When will you build?: A month or two but I could wait longer if necessary.
Will you be overclocking?: Not sure yet, but leaning towards yes.

So far I've been looking at:
Intel Core i5 Processor i5-2500K 3.3GHz
ASUS P8P67 PRO
Corsair XMS3 8 GB 1333 MHz

I'm pretty new at PC building and am mostly wondering if it is necessary for me to upgrade now or if i can afford to wait a bit. Any cpu cooling or case recommendations would be especially welcome since I'm thinking about overclocking and don't know what kind of cooling would be necessary.

With those three things you're looking at, that's around/close to $400. Everything else, you can keep from your current build; you didn't list your case so there's a chance that you can probably keep that as well.

Cooling - Coolermaster Hyper 212+, Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 (if you buy this, you may have to buy the mounting bolt kit for the 1155/56 motherboard, not sure if those are included right now). The 212+ is only $30 so that's great value, while the Thermalright is nearly twice that.

There's also the CoolIT Eco ALC and Corsair H series for liquid cooling. I've got no experience with liquid.

 

[Yoritomo]

Then you got a crazy deal that is well below RRP. The CPU alone is $125 on newegg, and the cheapest H67 is $70 which in itself is cutting corners. Since the equivalent P67+2500k system is about $325, if they got the same 50% off deal you did, it would be about $162.50. A non overclockable dual core is absolutely not worth the $60 savings (or $120 savings in real world prices) unless you're really trying to scrape in under a certain price.

Is this $100 deal available today? Do you have a link?

They ran this deal at Microcenter. If you buy CPUs anywhere else but microcenter you're wasting money.

2500k is 179. I got a q9550 100 dollars off of regular price a couple of years ago from there. They have ridiculous deals periodically.

 

[NinjaKixx]

Trying to get some help from people here. Got a GTX 580 this weekend and on Bad Company 2 every so often my FPS will drop from the 90's to the 40's for a couple minutes, then it will go back to normal. I look in MSI Afterburner and see my card is only running at 50%. I check my CPU (Phenom 2 x6 1075T overclocked to 3.6) and see it is running at around 80%. Doesnt seem to be a bottleneck correct? I updated to the witcher 2 beta drivers pretty much immediately after installing card.

 

[Smokey]

Thanks for the advice guys, I've updated my build as below. Just a few questions:

Will I be able to max out the witcher 2 with this build or do I need to upgrade something?
I've dropped the psu to 650W, will that be enough keeping in mind I want this to last a while and through potential upgrades?
Should I grab a sound card?
Would a SSD for OS provide a big reduction in noise levels? If so I'll grab one

For my monitor what's more impressive IPS or 120hz and nvidia3d? I've read really good things about the 3D but one of my friends wont keep quiet about how pretty his IPS screen is.

I was in the same spot you were in trying to decide between a ips and q 3d monitor. I went with the asus 3d 120hz monitor. I don't have any impressions of 3d performance as I haven't gotten the kit yet, but for general use and the games I've played so far its great.

I'm starting to get put of my phase of being a videophile. IPS will for sure give you better colors but the games on my monitor looks great as is so I am satisfied. That 120hz does make a difference.

 

[Fredescu]

They ran this deal at Microcenter. If you buy CPUs anywhere else but microcenter you're wasting money.

2500k is 179. I got a q9550 100 dollars off of regular price a couple of years ago from there. They have ridiculous deals periodically.

Wow, that's pretty good. I'm not from the USA so Newegg is all I have to go off. I would find a $100 combo like that fairly temping, but that 2500k price seems damn cheap too.