# Opinions on Gaming Computer?



## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

I picked out parts for a gaming computer I plan to make. It had to stay under $600. I'm not exactly a professional, so I thought I'd ask the community if there's anything I should change/add/etc.

I plan to use this computer for World of Warcraft, Minecraft, and a few other things. If you could estimate how much FPS I'd get in these game, I'd appreciate it.

Please note that I didn't choose a hard drive because I'm going to use the 500GB one that I already have.

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Newegg.com - ASUS ENGTX550 TI DC/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model SH-222AL/BSBE LightScribe Support - CD / DVD Burners
Newegg.com - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg.com - G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS
Newegg.com - ASRock Z68M/USB3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2310 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52310

Thanks.


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## Technodean (Oct 30, 2011)

change the cpu for a i5 2500k and over clock it to 4.4 ghz plus. A more powerful PSU for future expansion. and some gaming ram.


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

What do you mean by gaming ram?


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Gaming ram is just a marketing gimic, The ram you chose should be fine, timings look ok. 

Look for a asus or gigabyte board (better quality) asrock is a 3rd tier manufacture (lower quality)

Change the psu to a better 1
Newegg.com - XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Thanks for the information. I switched out the PSU & Processor and found an Asus Motherboard. How does it look?
Newegg.com - ASUS P8H67-M LX (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 SATA 6Gb/s Micro ATX Intel Motherboard


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Mobo looks fine

Memory I found, Bout the same price better timings
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK

What cpu and psu did you change too?


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

These.
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52500
Newegg.com - XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Looks good


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## Technodean (Oct 30, 2011)

Sorry what I mean by gaming ram is something like this. Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9
i.e faster and better heat spreading. As they quote "XMS3 memory has been tested for compatibility with Intel Core i5 and i7 processors as well as Intel XMP support."


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Thanks for all the help guys. It really means a lot.

Since, like I had mentioned, I am not what you would call an expert, I don't really know what kind of performance I would get out of this rig. Well, I know It'll be fast, but what I'm trying to figure out is, for example, how much FPS do you think I'd get in a game like World of Warcraft with maxed out settings?


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

With WoW and Minecraft maxed you should get 60+ with those parts


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Wow, awesome. More than I expected, honestly.

Thanks for the help again, guys. Without it I would have probably ended up buying some pretty crappy parts.

Let's hope all goes well when I buy it all in mid December.


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Keep us posted on the progress


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Will do.


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Just found another set of memory. Same company, same price, but the numbers are a bit different.

Which is better?

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Look at the numbers.
One is 1333MHz and the other is 1600MHz.
Asus site shows memory Standard as DDR 1333/1066 Memory for the P8H67-M LX.
You would want: Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

I found a new Motherboard. It still doesn't support the 1600 RAM, but it has USB 3.0 and HDMI, which my old one does not have. I think I'll be using it instead.

Newegg.com - ASUS P8H67-M LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Good news, guys!

I just bought all the parts. The only change I made besides the ones I have already mentioned is that I upgraded my RAM from 4gb to 8gb (Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL). For anyone curious, the grand total was around $650 ($600 with the Mail-in rebates).

Everything should be here by Wednesday!


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Keep us posted


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. I had changed the case from a HAF X 912 to a Rosewill CHALLENGER (Newegg.com - Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan) and forgot to mention so. Do you guys think this will be fine size-wise? There was also another USB 3.0 version of the case for an extra $10. What's the difference?


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

I would prefer the HAF, better made product than Rosewill IMO.


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

It saved me a few bucks and it also came with 3 free fans (one with a blue LED) so I got it for the hell of it. I can always replace it in the future if it's not to my liking.

And another question. I've done some research, and, with my ASUS 550 TI, people are saying you will only get up to about 30 FPS in WoW if you have multisampling maxed out. I got this info from a YouTube video of someone with the same video card but only 4gb ram and an Intel i3 processor. Do you think, since I have an i5 and 8gb of ram, it would allow me to max out multisampling and still get 60+ fps?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The faster CPU and more RAM won't make game play any better. No game can utilize over 3GB. Gaming is primarily dependent on the GPU.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

it will be fine however if you wanted quality then you should have stuck with the haf.


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

For now I'll just wait it out until Wednesday when all my parts arrive. Since the GPU came with a 60-day return policy, I'll return it and chip out a few more bucks to get a better one if I don't find my games running fast enough.


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## Shaynk (Nov 12, 2011)

Wow is actually a very cpu dependent game, so you can expect better performance then what you saw in the video, but don't expect double the fps.


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Another update.

With extended research, I have decided that the 550 Ti is not powerful enough to handle the gaming I plan to do. I have the money for an upgrade, so why the hell not.

I'm gonna buy the new one right now and then return the old one for a refund as soon as the new one comes in.

Here's the new GPU!
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1460-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

the 650w psu isn't enough for that card you will need 750w atleast


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Are you sure? With the situation I'm in right now, I'm not sure if I'll even be able to get it replaced right away.

What if I don't do any overclocking? Could the 650w do it?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

yes 550w + 30% is 715 so 750w since there is no such thing as 715w

You will risk damage running it with that psu wether you overclock or not. If you do intend to overclock you most definetly need atleast 750w and if you intend to overclock high then you should consider 850w

Now I know for a fact you could get that cpu to 4.7GHz but without a quality make of psu that is 750w or higher you risk system damage on a large scale

with 650w and no overclocking you are still running a risk


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

I apologize for the late update, but;

The computer is up and running with no problems.

As for the information about needing to get a better power supply, I did some more research and figured out I do not. In fact, 750w is an overkill for this build.

Other than that, everything is good. Games running at 60+ FPS just like I had hoped.

Thanks for all the help, guys.


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## Laxer (Dec 28, 2010)

750W is in no way overkill for the build...

The computer will only consume as much power as needed....

The figure you calculated is most likely based on just average draw. The rule of thumb is to add ~30% to that number then round high to select the PSU wattage.

The XFX unit you selected is top quality but may leave your system hungry for power as you start adding case fans and OCing/stressing.

Overall, beautiful build.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

750w is not overkill at all. You fail to take into account PSU capacitor aging which will start diminishing from day one. One year into it your PSU will probably be 25w or so less than new. When we advise on a PSU we always take that into account. Your PSU will run it, but you're not looking into the future at all, were as we do as the majority of us techs here do this for a living.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Using the underpowered PSU will shorten the life of the other components and the GPU is the most affected.
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f210/power-supply-information-and-selection-192217.html


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

I am glad you have it running.

I await your new thread when the new psu starts causing you issues which it will.


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Alright, I understand. I guess the information I received was invalid.

I'll take an 850w psu into consideration to buy within the upcoming months once I get some money. I'll try to keep it easy on the games until that time comes.

Thanks for the clarification.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

850w is a bit too much but 750w is right. Just make sure you get a good brand.

A bad brand can cause even more issues


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## JakobDylanC (Oct 30, 2011)

Yeah, I plan to get XFX again.


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