Hardcore PC gamers, need your help

[socal87]

I'm comparing builds on Sager...I can't figure out why a NP9370 and NP9170 with similar options are $100 different. Both with i7 3630QM, GTX 680M, 16GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, etc...everything is exactly the same except the price, and apparently you can put a third HDD in the optical bay in the 9370...which I imagine you could also do with the 9170.

Comparable Alienware m17x is $2,374...and that's with a 500GB hard drive vs 1TB in the Sagers.

 

[ehancock]

IIRC it's just a difference in the finishes. Brushed metal vs plastic. Also pretty much any sager should have multiple mini pci, one will be an msata.

powernotebooks.com and xoticpc.com are generally the "go to" people for sager and msi builds


I'm at such a tough spot. I want to buy a new gaming laptop but i have so many plans for my car this summer. I feel irresponsible doing both.

 

[Do Work Son]

Why get a laptop then? Desktops are cheaper, easier to mod, and last longer.

 

[Buferd]

Laptops are gonna cost you for the portability factor. If you are indeed going to be moving it around a lot then the laptop premium and lack of upgrade-ability are the way to go. If you are one of the many people that just want a laptop so they can sit in the living room and use the computer then a desktop is defiantly the way to go for price, performance, future upgrades.

 

[nouse4aname]

Here's my build. Put together with some black friday week deals and some christmas gifts.
NZXT Source 210 Elite White case
MSI Z77A-GD55 board
I5 3570k processor
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3gb vid card
Rosewill 700W psu
32gb G.Skill Ripjaws(just went with so much since it was uber cheap over black friday)
OCZ Vertex 4 512gb SSD ($299! on amazon over black friday)
WD Black 1tb hdd
ASUS dvd r/w
Boots up Windows 8 in a few seconds.

Need to get an extender for the cpu power plug then finalize some cable management.

Haven't decided on a cpu fan yet. Just using the stock for now. Which has it sitting at 47 degrees celsius right now with Civ 5 running in high settings on a large map on one monitor and some browsing on the other. System temp is 32 degrees.

Primarily debating between these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118075&Tpk=cnps9900max red
And one of the many sealed water cooling systems.

 

[Djmikeyd]

List so far :

i5-3570K overclock edition?
Gtx 670 . I know some companies modify these cards so they can run cooler? What are some good options?
Mad ram sticks yo!

And I decided I will build this PC myself. Its fun and I have taken apart my old pc many times before only to clean it, but this will be a good learning experience.

 

[socal87]

IIRC it's just a difference in the finishes. Brushed metal vs plastic. Also pretty much any sager should have multiple mini pci, one will be an msata.

powernotebooks.com and xoticpc.com are generally the "go to" people for sager and msi builds


I'm at such a tough spot. I want to buy a new gaming laptop but i have so many plans for my car this summer. I feel irresponsible doing both.

I see...configured the same system on Powernotebooks and XoticPC...Powernotebooks quoted same regular price, with 3% cash discount. XoticPC actually quoted higher regular price. At least the two sites offer a little bit more customization, such as no OS, removing branding, etc...

 

[Buferd]

List so far :

i5-3570K overclock edition?
Gtx 670 . I know some companies modify these cards so they can run cooler? What are some good options?
Mad ram sticks yo!

And I decided I will build this PC myself. Its fun and I have taken apart my old pc many times before only to clean it, but this will be a good learning experience.

There you go! It will be a good learning experience and there is more than enough support videos on YouTube and Newegg. Lookup LinusTechTips on YouTube. He does tons of reviews on PC parts and is pretty good. I personally never mess with over clocking just because I've always got the performance I need and my parts last a long time. The i5 is probably your pinnacle right now of price/performance. Like some stated earlier you could go with AMD and save some coin. Get a part list together or wish list on Newegg and post it here. Also mention what games you plan on playing.

 

[nouse4aname]

If you've got a MicroCenter near you the 3570k has been going on sale pretty regularly for $169. Quite a bit cheaper than newegg/tigerdirect/etc. There are boards out there like my MSI Z77A-GD55 board that have one button auto overclock features as well if you want to take a guided first step into overclocking.

If you're gathering components over time like I did, check out techbargains.com which highlights some of the better sales across multiple sites.

 

[ehancock]

Why get a laptop then? Desktops are cheaper, easier to mod, and last longer.

Lol yeah i know. I work in IT and can get cost from many major vendors. It would be significantly cheaper for me to build a desktop. However my wife likes to play games too and i need two computers. I don't have a lot of space for one desktop, let alone two. I also play games at my dining room table and I don't want to be forced to sit at a desk in a room when I want to play games, plus i can take my laptop to the couch or work or friends and have all my shit.

Laptops are gonna cost you for the portability factor. If you are indeed going to be moving it around a lot then the laptop premium and lack of upgrade-ability are the way to go. If you are one of the many people that just want a laptop so they can sit in the living room and use the computer then a desktop is defiantly the way to go for price, performance, future upgrades.

This. Mainly the ability to take it wherever i want.

I see...configured the same system on Powernotebooks and XoticPC...Powernotebooks quoted same regular price, with 3% cash discount. XoticPC actually quoted higher regular price. At least the two sites offer a little bit more customization, such as no OS, removing branding, etc...

They both regularly run sales like $x off $1500 order, etc. If you have the parts laying around you can also get them without ram, hd, etc. but you typically have to call or chat to get quotes for it. I have a ton of extra parts laying around so i will probably be ordering without hd and ram.

 

[Djmikeyd]

OP If you have a microcenter by your house they sell Intel i7-3770K cpus for $230..and the i5-3570k fo like $160 something. for $1000 you should beable to put togeather a killer gameing pc but very subtle. Mid tower, Asus Z77 board, Ivy bridge CPU and 8GB RAM. As for gpu thats where it gets tricky...a GTX 660TI would be good enough for most things but the 670/680 will obviously out class it by a large margin higher up the scale.

I just put togeather my brothers pc for just about 1100 and he can play any game on max settings no problem ( single monitor)

Also unless your over clocking ( dont see why you would need to just to play game and do light work ...) the stock air cooler is just fine...

Damn! they do have one pretty close, I will check it out! thanks dude

 

[Buferd]

Lol yeah i know. I work in IT and can get cost from many major vendors. It would be significantly cheaper for me to build a desktop. However my wife likes to play games too and i need two computers. I don't have a lot of space for one desktop, let alone two. I also play games at my dining room table and I don't want to be forced to sit at a desk in a room when I want to play games, plus i can take my laptop to the couch or work or friends and have all my shit.

You work IT so we are in the same boat. I hear you on wanting to take it anywhere and especially on the lack of space (use to live in a studio apartment). Laptops are nice too for LAN parties (Go Geeks! :character0293

My situation allows me to be flexible now with a desktop and have a nice workstation with two monitors so I can be more "setup" at home compared to the nomad life of a laptop user

 

[nouse4aname]

My office is the nicest room in the house(just put in new flooring, paint, furniture) so no problem sticking with the desktop for gaming. I've got a very nice laptop as well but when not on my desktop I just grab my nexus tablet instead. When I do use the laptop for work I hook it up to my dual monitors. Easy to get spoiled by those and get used to needing them.

 

[Djmikeyd]

Ok, getting close to the budget so I will have to stretch

List:

Graphics Card :GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Power Supply :CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Processor : Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz LGA 1155 OR i5-3570K

^ can get great deals on both, with the i5 being 100$ cheaper either way, will be around 230~ for the i7.

Hard drive : Western Digital WD RE4 WD1003FBYX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Enterprise Hard Drive -Bare Drive


So I need help picking a Motherboard to stuff all this in there, SSD? HALP! What else? Some type of cooling for the Processor? Moar HELP PLZ lol

 

[mycrors7]

mobo

if you CAN, get the Asus z77, if not, the z68 will do just fine for a fraction of the cost

sexiest z77: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

a very good z68: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

SSD, get one in your price range. preferably around 120gb
id stay away from OCZ. me and other family members have had issues with their SSD's
i have this little guy as my SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236
i got it on sale for around $70. couldnt pass it up. it has worked flawlessly so far

cooling for the CPU, go water cooled
I have the Antec h2o khuler
my cpu runs cold under pressure
h2o 620; one of the cheapest and best(for the price) liquid cooling systems you can get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209049

ive rendered a 4 minute, 1080p video. a 6 minute, 320kbps song and had skyrim running all at the same time

my CPU was right around 42C
now that's what i call cooling.
rendering ANYTHING will work the CPU to it's max