Mid Range Gaming Machine Build

[dragonlord72]

I am about to buy my OS.

Should I order a Win 7 or 8 keeping in mind the drivers for other components
Also for gaming should I go with a Win 7/8 ?

Personally I like Win7 but would like to know the Pros and Cons of one OS over other targeting a gaming PC.

 

[dragonlord72]

Also I see for a Radeon 7970 HD, there appear to be different manufactures or names preceding 7970.

e.g Sapphire 7970 ,XFX Twin Frozer,HIS ICQX^2 etc.


What is the difference between these cards by different manufacturers?

Is it that Radeon 7970 HD is sort of a spec/arch that different manufacturer implement differently and thus different names associated with 7970?

If that is the case which would be considered the best investment for $300+/-10

 

[toughtrasher]

I am about to buy my OS.

Should I order a Win 7 or 8 keeping in mind the drivers for other components
Also for gaming should I go with a Win 7/8 ?

Personally I like Win7 but would like to know the Pros and Cons of one OS over other targeting a gaming PC.

Personally, I get better performance on Win 7, 8 seems a bit heavy on my rig.

 

[dragonlord72]

Personally, I get better performance on Win 7, 8 seems a bit heavy on my rig.

True.but do the games that may follow require Win8 ?

 

[mfenn]

True.but do the games that may follow require Win8 ?

Given enough time, almost certainly yes. Practically speaking though, game developers support older OS's for a very long time. Just in the last year or so have we started to get a lot of games that require at least Windows Vista, which was released 7 years ago.

Keeping in mind that any PC bought when Vista was new would be completely incapable of running today's games due to lack of CPU and GPU power, I'd say that OS compatibility is not something that you should worry about. Windows 7 is an extremely popular OS and will be supported for years to come.

Also I see for a Radeon 7970 HD, there appear to be different manufactures or names preceding 7970.

e.g Sapphire 7970 ,XFX Twin Frozer,HIS ICQX^2 etc.


What is the difference between these cards by different manufacturers?

Is it that Radeon 7970 HD is sort of a spec/arch that different manufacturer implement differently and thus different names associated with 7970?

If that is the case which would be considered the best investment for $300+/-10

The 7970 is the actual GPU chip made by AMD. Companies like Sapphire, XFX, HIS, MSI, etc. buy the chips from AMD, put them onto boards, and attach coolers. I'm simplifying a little here because there is a lot of collaboration between AMD and their partners, but you get the general idea.

The overall performance characteristics of the graphics card are determined by the GPU chip that's on it. Board manufacturers can make small changes like overclocking the chip at the factory, but the performance difference is usually less than 10%. The main user visible differences are the cooler (read: noise and temperatures) and the warranty length.

With all that in mind, my strategy is to buy the cheapest card with a good cooler. Right now that'd be this MSI 7970 Twin Frozr.

 

[dragonlord72]

===============================
Update:

To Decide:
MoBo: AS Rock Z87 Pro3 or GA-Z87X-D3H or MSI Z87-G45 or
ASUS Z87-PRO LGA

The reason for so many options is I have a friend of mine who is using his employee discount to get me a deal.

SSD : Any [would like recommendations]
I have an externl USB3.0 Drive[1TB] that can act as a data drive

Have:

CPU:
I5 4670k

RAM:
GSKILL Ares 8GB

Case+PSU:
Rosewill galaxy02 + capstone 750 M

GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127732

Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Win7
===============================

I would like to thank mfenn and lehtv and others for providing theirs insights to help me with my build[awesome on GPU].

I am expecting to receive all the parts by Friday.

Would like opinions about the MoBo options I have mentioned.
I picked out from different mid range builds from the sticky again.

 

[lehtv]

Since you already bought a 750W PSU, I'd definnitely get a SLI/crossfire board to go with it.

Asus Z87-A + Samsung 840 250GB $285 (save $30)

I assume the employee discount applies to combos just the same

 

[dragonlord72]

Since you already bought a 750W PSU, I'd definnitely get a SLI/crossfire board to go with it.

Asus Z87-A + Samsung 840 250GB $285 (save $30)

I assume the employee discount applies to combos just the same

Ohh he is not from newegg so no combos ot any external sites either.
He is from Intel and is using an internal employee site so I just wanted to know your inputs on which of the MoBo are good under $160-$200.
He says there is emp discount on components consisting of Intel parts.

 

[Blue_Max]

Agreed. If you need a bit of both get a Bitphoenix Prodigy and a Mini-ITX motherboard. It's a very popular rig for lans and the like.

I have the Prodigy and it's got good cooling (and cool to look at!) but not the best for portability... I've seen other ITX cases which would house almost as much space but HALF the physical size and no brittle handles to break!

There are some very nice mATX cases which come with a sturdy handle from the get-go and don't take up any more space than the prodigy does.

 

[mfenn]

Ohh he is not from newegg so no combos ot any external sites either.
He is from Intel and is using an internal employee site so I just wanted to know your inputs on which of the MoBo are good under $160-$200.
He says there is emp discount on components consisting of Intel parts.

We need to know what your final price is on the different options you've listed in order to advise you on the best deal.

 

[dragonlord72]

Unfornately my friend ran out of his annual employee discount.
So I am back to square one.

Need a MoBo and a SSD
budget 200$ after taxes and shipping

Is this possible.
Please note that I might OVerclock in 6 months but CFX is not something I am considering right now.

Can someone suggest me a good combo that I can use?

The above mentioned combo is a little expensive for my budget.

 

[lehtv]

Asus Z87-A + Samsung 840 120GB $210 is currently the cheapest combo of a SLI/CF board with an SSD. It's $30 off, so buying a non SLI/CF board and an SSD wouldn't actually save you much (asrock pro3 $95 AR + Kingston V300 $90). Regardless, I don't think it's a good idea to save here because you already have a 750W PSU. If you didn't want SLI/CF compatibility you wouldn't buy a 750W unit

 

[dragonlord72]

Asus Z87-A + Samsung 840 120GB $210 is currently the cheapest combo of a SLI board with an SSD

Just to be sure when u mean SLI its SLI or CFX right?

SInce I have an 7970 on the way.

 

[dragonlord72]

Asus Z87-A + Samsung 840 120GB $210 is currently the cheapest combo of a SLI/CF board with an SSD. It's $30 off, so buying a non SLI/CF board and an SSD wouldn't actually save you much (asrock pro3 $95 AR + Kingston V300 $90). Regardless, I don't think it's a good idea to save here because you already have a 750W PSU. If you didn't want SLI/CF compatibility you wouldn't buy a 750W unit

I kind of realized that after I ordered the combo as mentioned in one previous post.

Cant help it though now.

 

[dragonlord72]

I have just ordered segate baracuda 2TB disk from New Egg..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

I have read a review which has the below information for the same disk on amazon.
=================
You'll need to contact the seller and ask them to check the code on the drive. If they can't verify, don't buy it, better to get a drive from a different company, where its hopefully not a surprise game of what's in the box.

S - SU - Suzhou China
W - WU - Wuxi China
Z - TK - Korat Thailand

F = 3 platters with either 5 or 6 heads (bad 2TB drive or good 3TB drive)
E = 2 platters with 4 heads. (good 2TB drive)
D = 1 platter with 2 heads. (good 1TB drive)
==================

How do I check or verify this information?
Please let me know your reviews on this disk.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Pretty sure that all of the new barracuda's are 1 TB/platter...

 

[mfenn]

Pretty sure that all of the new barracuda's are 1 TB/platter...

Yep, all the STX000DM003 drives drives are 1TB/platter.

 

[lehtv]

So are ST2000DM001 and ST3000DM001.

 

[dragonlord72]

Hi All,

I have received all my components except the 7970.
I have a question regarding the case[rosewill galazy-2] and SSD[samsung evo 120GB].


Where and how do I place the SSD in the Galaxy case?
There seeems to be no way I can secure it the SSD with 4 screws.

Can some point me out to a video or description on how to do it?

Please note this is my first build with google as my guide but all I find are reviews for galaxy case not how to put the ssd or hdd in.

 

[lehtv]

Order a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter. Meanwhile you can leave the SSD lying on the floor, it doesn't have moving parts so it doesn't matter if it's not secured.

 

[dragonlord72]

Order a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter. Meanwhile you can leave the SSD lying on the floor, it doesn't have moving parts so it doesn't matter if it's not secured.

Thanks

The newegg video review for galaxy mentions a adapter with the accessory kit.
however using the accesory seems to point the ports on the SSD to back of case. Should I use that or the one in the link you proided?

 

[lehtv]

Either will probably work fine. But I'd prefer to have the ports in the same direction as on 3.5" drives, and I don't know if the Rosewill accessory is the same quality as the Silverstone. The reviews on the Silverstone adapter are excellent with next to no people having any trouble fitting the SSD on it. And a lot of other adapters are plastic, this one's metal

 

[dragonlord72]

I have received all my components and having assembled the PC started the BIOS.
I have win 8 On bootable USB .
It installs fine on ssd ,then restarts ,configures device setting and then restarts and blank screen.
I see that my monitor is getting some input ow it mentions no signal.

I have a external, GPU plugged in and am using VGA out from it.

The same problem as mentioned in this threadhttp://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1778782/windows-pro-64bit-fails-continue-installation-ssd-blank-screen.html

I know this from another forum but I could not find a more similar problem than this to mine.
Please let me know if this query needs a new thread?

 

[lehtv]

What do you mean you have external? Are you using the integrated GPU or the graphics card? Have you tried both? Have you tried outputs other than VGA?

 

[Torn Mind]

People link to other fora and review sites all the time.

If it is an external hard drive, then you should remove it because it can screw up the boot and make it take forever.