Gaming Rigs

Hey people I plan on building my own rig with a budget of around £3000

this will be my first rig i have built myself, im hoping to have around 4.00GHz processors, two powerful graphics cards and say 8 to 12Gb RAM.

any suggestions on hardware and a well ventilated case would be appreciated thanks.

Andrew

Where do you want to buy from? Do you want a monitor?

You realize 3k is a huge amount of wasted money, same as 12 gig of ram in a gaming rig.

Here you go:

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail [BX80623I72600K]
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6990 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [102-C20601-00-AT]
Asus P8P67 DELUXE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) [4719543177761]
Corsair Professional Series™ Gold AX850 High Performance 850W Power Supply (CMPSU-850AXUK) [CMPSU-850AXUK]
OCZ Vertex 2E Bigfoot 90GB 3.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive [OCZSSD3-2VTX90G]
Coolermaster HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942) [RC-942-KKN1]
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8) [CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8]
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) []
Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1156/LGA1155/LGA775/AM2/AM2) []
OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM []
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) [GFC-00599]

That above is 1861.00 including shipping vat.

Its a killer setup with a dual gpu in 1 package. Though currently the sandybridge mobos had a bugged controller so you'd either risk maybe having an inssue in a yr or 2 or wait a month for rev2 boards.

hey thanks, and i put a budget that high cos i wasnt sure what to expect so was really just set on impulse.

thanks again.

Hi Andrew welcome,
What a fantastic project you have planned. Awesome!
You have obviously thought about this in detail as to what you want your new build to achieve.

Building your own is a very personal thing & it's great to seek & receive advice as Patonb has relayed above.

Mine is of a different sort.
You will have done research, right? If you have not visited these links below, please do so.
As you will see when you visit, one specialises in building rigs with different components, testing them and reporting on their worthiness or otherwise. (independent evaluation)
Not only of the rigs themselves,but also of the individual components.

The other gives in-depth explanation into the individual components and what they consider good value for money e.g. ram.etc. Very informative, I learned a lot.

How to Build Gaming Computers

Home - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

I have to say my opinion of what you spend is up to you, as long as you achieve your ultimate rig, be it £1500 or £3000, or anything in-between.

As for the question of Ram I would, as others, recommend a minimum of 4 gigs.
A good gaming PC these days would have 6-8 gigs.
DD3 is a little faster, as long as your mobo will take it.

For Ram, try and keep in mind that some new releases are requiring more Ram from your system.

NOW most of the new games require 2-3 Ram, including 'Medal of Honour' (new)2gig.
So try and find out what future ones might require. You can always add Ram!

I would say, of present trends 8gigs should be enough.
Apologies for long post, giving you alternative suggestions.
Thanks

Every new processor/mobo is DDR3. BUT the big question is is it dual or triple channel. Only the x58 1366 socket intel chips use triple channel. All others right now use dual channel.

The newest cpus, akza sandy bridges use low voltage ram..... 1.5V... and theres 2 things to ram speed... the ddr3 speed, aka 1333 1600 or 2000, and timings....

You can save a bout 300 if you don't go dual cards.. but if you got cash... do it

Hi, I agree with the above.
I have just got 4gigs, but as games seem now to require more and more, the new ones anyway.
To some extent i've been let behind

Just giving my opinion without the tech.

3k

Yeah Stewie 3k! The mind boggles with what you could build!
Rolls Royce of Gamers? Wow!

Seriously its the best gpu out there.... at 500 quid alone.

Seriously! Wow!

Patonb you have given some very good advice, I hope you got rep for that.

hey guys and sorry been quite busy with Graph Comm work.

If i can get some of the best components out there it'll be great as ill only need to upgrade them when they get fried or become out dated.

Do you research, know what you want, take good advice.
Exciting project!
Patonb advice is very good, should check out the parts he recommended.
See what you think, compare, etc.

Hey Andrew,
Found this link with lots of video's of gaming rigs, thought it would be interesting for you.

computer gaming rigs - Google Search

yeh I've done quite a bit of research and I know what i want. I have just checked out those components and they are amazingly priced. eveyones advice is being extremely helpful and thanks to everyone.

Honestly.... The video card I spec'd there is way over the top.

It's honestly going to give a marginal boost over a cheaper card, like a gtx 570, which is nvidias 2nd best card.
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [012-P3-1570-ER ]

The rest of the build is honestly a solid build for any person looking to get a upper end build, give or take the ssd drive. Which I'd suggest to anyone wanting a great boost.

If I didn't build my i7 950 just before the 1155 chips came out, I would have the mobo/cpu combo.

Also if you noticed, I spec'd the Noctua NH-D14, which is most likely able to get you around 5.0GHz overclock... 4.7 almost garrenteed.

Great thanks for the advice patonb, and I'm doing some research on overclocking just now (i.e. reading from other forums and websites)

If I can find a detailed enough guide on how to OC, then Ill give it a blast on my current hardware.

The 1155 chips are much simpler than the old chips.... Almost anyone can get a 4.5Ghz overclock on them... Which is a great % overclock.

Just google for your board and overclocking.

great and with the NH-D14 cooler I'd be able to clock the mobo and cpu to about 4.8GHz, or just the mobo/chips ??

More info here.

PassMark Software - CPU Benchmark Charts