Hardware config need help

Nasdero

hey im about to get a new system, mainly for ns2 but of course not only for that. i dont know if that fits here but i didnt found another pace on the board here neither.


i did some setup online in a configurator and would like to know your opinion cuz the times
i really did some research on hardware is long time ago and i fear im not up to date anymore...


heres the system:

Cooling:
Thermaltake Contac 30
1 x € 29,99*

NVIDIA PCIe
GIGABYTE Geforce GTX 670 OC
DisplayPort, HDMI, 2x DVI 1 x € 369,-*


CPU Sockel 2011
Intel® Core™ i7-3820
FC-LGA4, "Sandy Bridge E" 1 x € 269,-*

Power
be quiet! Pure Power CM L8 730W
schwarz 1 x € 99,90*

Midi Tower
Aerocool Strike-X Advance Black
black 1 x € 59,90*

DVD
ASUS DRW-24B5ST
1 x € 19,29*

Solid State Drive 2,5" SATA
Mushkin ChronosMX 2,5" SSD 120 GB
SATA 600, MKNSSDCR120GB-MX, schwarz 1 x € 93,90*

Mainboards Sockel 2011
MSI X79A-GD45 (8D)
Sound G-LAN SATA3 USB 3.0 1 x € 197,90*

HDD 3,5" SATA
Seagate ST1500DM003 1,5 TB
SATA 600, Barracuda 7200.14 1 x € 83,90*

RAM DDR3-1600
G.Skill DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit
F3-1600C9D-16GSR, Sniper-Serie 1 x € 89,90*


you guess it will run smoth with ns?

TychoCelchuuu

Although it will be sort of nice for NS2, an i7 is way overkill. At most you want an i5 that you overclock, and for gaming an i3 is in fact more than sufficient. A GTX 670 is also massive overkill. Buy something much cheaper and save the extra money for upgrading your video card a few years down the line when the new console generation comes out and when games therefore require faster video cards than they do now. 16 GB is more RAM than you need too; 8 gigs is sufficient.

sherpa

I don't keep up with xbox 720/PS4 news but assuming they have more cores than their predecessors then more games should make use of it in a PC in a couple years time. Battlefield 3 will make use of all cores now, FWIW.

A 730w PSU is asking for a big energy bill unless you plan to add a second graphics card down the line. 600w is more than enough for a modern single-card system.

16GB RAM is massive overkill; of my 8GB, 2GB died recently (dropping me down to 6GB) and I never felt the difference. I only noticed when randomly checking system info. For all I know I've been on 6GB for months (works both ways: have since replaced the broken module so I'm back up to 8GB and I haven't noticed anything, on both Win7 and Win8 64bit).

Don't forget a 3rd party heatsink+fan for the CPU. In my experience a stock i7 HS is not good enough to do the job (the Intel one that came with my i7 950 idled at over 50deg., I've switched to an Arctic Cooler and it idles at 38deg.) Also worth spending £5 on thermal compound and a cleaner.

Nasdero

thanks for the answers i changes spu down a bit to 630 watt and 8gig ram and a better cooler the Scythe Mugen 3 Rev.B he shall do the job i guess.
for the saved money i chose a better case with cable management and stuff ;-)

Talesin

I would strongly disagree on the PSU front. Having a large PSU just means that it CAN provide that much power, not that it DOES constantly. Yes, generally on a higher-wattage PSU the efficiency is somewhat less than on a smaller unit, but the monthly power bill difference is less than fifty cents on average... and having a larger-than-needed PSU can help rule out a LOT of stability issues. I don't build a gaming system with anything less than a 700W unit, and prefer a 750, even for a single video card. It also means that you can expand the system down the line without re-buying the PSU.

One of my servers is running dual 750W hotswap supplies, for example (so 1.5kW in total), but *actually* draws around 200W during normal operation.


RAM is cheap. If you spend an extra $20 now, you also futureproof nicely and allow yourself more flexibility when in operation. I'm running 48GB in my current system, as it was fifty bucks more than 24 (and I was running out of memory at 12). I'd advise something other than g.Skill though. It's bottom-of-the-barrel and priced accordingly. Also very rarely hits its supposed timings without instability. For a bit more, look at the Kingston HyperX line.

Likewise, bang-for-buck the i5 is a good deal. The i7 is handy if you're a power user and have a LOT of tasks running concurrently. I go for the top end as I know I'm going to need it in the long run.


I'd steer clear of the MSI motherboard. On my own builds, I only use ASUS. Rock-solid performance, and they don't cut corners. I spent three days working on an MSI 785G-E53 for a client who couldn't turn down one of the case fans for HTPC operation... only to find out that only 3/4 case fan headers had PWM control. Blew my mind with how freaking STUPID that is. Gigabyte is an acceptable second-best, when I'm building for a client; but again, all of my personal gear is ASUS only.

lolfighter

I agree about the PSU. Don't go way overboard like I did with an older computer (1kW PSU for a system that didn't even draw 600W under full load, dunno what I was thinking), but get one with some wiggle room. Also helps if you want to stuff more in there later.