Building Gaming Rig for 50K

[priyam1309]

1. What is the purpose of the computer?
A: Gaming

2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
A: N - AMDs Only

3. What is your MAX budget?
A: 50K

4. Planning to overclock?
A: N

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A: WIN 7 Ultimate

6. How much hard drive space is needed?
A: 1TB

7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen you want? If you already want have one and want to use it, mention its resolution and size.
A: Best Possible, HD

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)
A: 7.5

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A: Yes

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A: 1 - 2 Months

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
A: Yes

12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
A:

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A: Bangalore

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
A: I have build the below config and mentioned my doubts / issues -

1. AMD Phenom X6 - 1055T : 8.3K {Should I opt for AMD Phenom X6 1075T instead by coughing up around 1K more}
2. Gigabyte GA890GPA - UD3H : 8.5K {What about ASUS M4A88Td EVO USB 3.0 which is cheaper by 2K}
3. WD 1TB Black Caviar (6GB/s): 4.4K
4. Corsair Vengence 4GB X1 DDR3 1600MHZ : 2.5K
5. Sappire Radeon HD 6950 : 13K {Sappire Radeon HD 6850 is about 3.5K cheaper -- Suggestions??}
6. Cabinet Circle Volcano (Supports eSata & USB 3.0) : 3.5K {Not sure if Circle Brand is worth - Pls Suggest anything reliable which has USB 3.0 support in the above price range }
7. SMPS - Cooler Master Extreme 500W : 3K { Is 500W adequate or should I go for 550W }
8. Benq G2220 HD : 8.5K {DELL ST2220L is another option -- Which one }

Do I need separate CPU Coolers, if so please suggest!

 

[aniket.cain]

If you are going to buy it in 1-2 months and since you want an AMD only system, you should wait for the Bulldozers.

 

[priyam1309]

The Bulldozers would be around 300$ or roughly 15K and will be released in Oct 2011 (as mentioned in Digit Sept '11 Issue). Hence ruled that out!

 

[priyam1309]

Also should I opt for MSI HD 6950 2 GB Twin Frozr III, and what would its street price at Bangalore?

 

[aniket.cain]

The Bulldozers would be around 300$ or roughly 15K and will be released in Oct 2011 (as mentioned in Digit Sept '11 Issue). Hence ruled that out!

Have a look at this:

AMD Bulldozer, Llano prices hit the web

 

[thetechfreak]

Sorry but with a Budget of 50k and gaming use its BEST to go for Intel processors.

They just outperform AMD processors.

Component | Make | Price Processor |Intel Core i5 2400|9300
Motherboard |Intel DH67BL-B3|5500
RAM |Gskill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9S-4GBXL|1600
Graphic Card |Sapphire HD6950 1GB|13200
HDD |Seagate 500GB 7200.12|1900
DVD Writer |LG 22X SATA DVD|900
PSU |Corsair GS600|4000
Case |NZXT GAMMA|2000
Monitor |Benq G2220HD|7000
Mouse |Logitech MX-518|1300
Keyboard |Logitech KB-200|400
Mouse Pad |Razer Goliathus Fragged Omega S - Speed/Control|500
UPS |Intex 1KVA|1800
Speakers |Logitech Z313|1500
| Total |50600

 

[aniket.cain]

Also, at the same price as your AMD Phenom X6 1075T, you can get a Core i5-2400 which performs much better. Check out this page for the superiority of i5-2400:

AnandTech - Bench - CPU

 

[priyam1309]

Ankit,
According to AnandTech Reviews AMD performed better in all the Games and I am purely interested in Games and Movies.

Guys,
I am really getting confused.
Also, please suggest on the Graphics card and compatible Cabinet with PSU.
I am really stuck on Graphics card, Cabinet and PSU also CPU Coolers (req or not)

 

[Cilus]

priyam1309, in gaming, Intel Sandybridge Processors perform better than any AMD counterparts and the Anandtech Chart aniket has provided, it is clearly visible.

According to AnandTech Reviews AMD performed better in all the Games

Where did you get that?

 

[thetechfreak]

According to AnandTech Reviews AMD
performed better in all the Games and
I am purely interested in Games and
Movies.

Well, the thing is the current generation of Sandy Bridge proccys outperform the old Amd chips pretty bad. A budget of 50k deserves nothing less than i5 Sb. The 6 core Amd might outperform the i5 2400 in a few benchmarks but for gaming i5 is suitable.
If you cand spend around 5k more we would have suggested i7 2600 which is a killer processor.

 

[d6bmg]

Ankit,
According to AnandTech Reviews AMD performed better in all the Games

No way. i5 SB outperforms AMD phenom x6 in gaming.

 

[heartripple]

thetchfreak suggested best rig possible in this budget....

 

[d6bmg]

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A: 1 - 2 Months

then wait for bd.

 

[priyam1309]

So finally I have come up with the below two configs AMD / INTEL.
Please share the pros and cons of each -

AMD
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 8.3K
Gigabyte GA890GPA UD3H 8.5K
Corsair 1 X 4GB Vengeance 1600Mhz 2K
Sapphire 6950 1GB 13K
Seagate 1TB 7200.12 2.7K
Benq E2220HD 8.5K
Cooler Master Storm Enforcer 4.5K
Corsair VX550 3.5K
LG 22X SATA DVD COMBO 0.9K
Logitech Keyboard Mouse Combo 1.2K
TOTAL 53.1K



INTEL
Intel core i5 2400 9.3K
Intel DH67BL-B3 5.5K
Gskill Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9S-4GBXL 1.6K
Sapphire 6950 1GB 13K
Seagate 1TB 7200.12 2.7K
Benq E2220HD 8.5K
Cooler Master Storm Enforcer 4.5K
Corsair VX550 3.5K
LG 22X SATA DVD COMBO 0.9K
Logitech Keyboard Mouse Combo 1.2K
TOTAL 50.7K

Please UPDATE the Price if you see it different from Bangalore Street Price.

Guys, I have few other things in mind -

1. Does the Gigabyte motherboard support Crossfire so that later I can pair up twin GPUs?
2. Which board do I need to get for the same functionality in INTEL?
3. Is WD 1TB Black Caviar faster than Seagate Baracuda 1TB 7200.12?
4. Is Benq E2220HD full LED and full HD with HDMI Port?
5. which of the RAMs is better GSkill or Corsair - Also I would be upgrading soon to either 16GB or 12Gb (4GB + 8GB)?
6. Also suggest some good UPS for my config with provides atleast 30min backup and has good warranty on the battery?

And FINALLY THE BIG QUES - Which one should I go with?

 

[Cilus]

For gaming Phenom II X6 1075 is a bad choice and it is not even a Black Edition CPU. No games benefit from more than four cores currenly but benefit from higher clock speed. And 2400 is way too powerful in gaming compared to 1075T.

1. Yes the Gigabyte mobo will let you go for Crossfire @ X8-X8 setting.
2. For getting same functionality of Multi GPU support in Intel 1155 socket, you must need either P67 or Z68 based motherboard. The best one at budget is MSI Z68A-GD55 @ 9.4K.
3. Yes WD Black HDDs are faster than Seagate 7200.12 based SATA HDDs.
4. BenQ E2220HD is a full HD monitor with Piano finish and has all sort of connections like 2 x HDMI, DVI, VGA, 3.5mm line in/out, headphone jack, 4x USB and also comes with two 1.5W RMS Speakers But it is not a LED display. The performance is very good.
5. Gskill Ripjaw rams perform marginally better than Corsair Vengeance when oveclocked to 1800 MHz or higher. But that difference is actually negligible. So get any of them which comes cheaper. And 2 X 4 GB is more than enough for any applications, no need to go beyond that.
6. For UPS, get APC Black 1.1KVA @ 4.3K

 

[priyam1309]

2. For getting same functionality of Multi GPU support in Intel 1155 socket, you must need either P67 or Z68 based motherboard. The best one at budget is MSI Z68A-GD55 @ 9.4K.

What are the other options? And what is name of Technology to look for? I believe Crossfire is used by AMD and so INTEL would call it with a Different name. also please mention the prices for those.

4. BenQ E2220HD is a full HD monitor with Piano finish and has all sort of connections like 2 x HDMI, DVI, VGA, 3.5mm line in/out, headphone jack, 4x USB and also comes with two 1.5W RMS Speakers But it is not a LED display. The performance is very good.

Please refer some LED Monitor with atleast twin DVI Ports.

 

[Cilus]

^^ Don't confuze Processor with Graphics card. Crossfire is technology to support multiple AMD GPUs in a single motherboard and it is known by Crossfire whether it is implemented in an AMD based or Intel based platform. Check for the boards with two PCIE X16 slot and check if Crossfire support is mentioned in the specification. Currently almost all Sandybridge P67/Z68 based motherboards with minimum of two PCI Express X16 slots running @ X8-X8 speed support both SLI and Crossfire.
And MSI Z68A-GD55 is the cheapest Z68 mobo with multi GPU (both CF and SLI) support as per my knowledge.

 

[vidhubhushan]

the config uses H67 motherboard and afaik, h67 supports only upto 1333 so how 1800mhz overclocked?

For gaming Phenom II X6 1075 is a bad choice and it is not even a Black Edition CPU. No games benefit from more than four cores currenly but benefit from higher clock speed. And 2400 is way too powerful in gaming compared to 1075T.

1. Yes the Gigabyte mobo will let you go for Crossfire @ X8-X8 setting.
2. For getting same functionality of Multi GPU support in Intel 1155 socket, you must need either P67 or Z68 based motherboard. The best one at budget is MSI Z68A-GD55 @ 9.4K.
3. Yes WD Black HDDs are faster than Seagate 7200.12 based SATA HDDs.
4. BenQ E2220HD is a full HD monitor with Piano finish and has all sort of connections like 2 x HDMI, DVI, VGA, 3.5mm line in/out, headphone jack, 4x USB and also comes with two 1.5W RMS Speakers But it is not a LED display. The performance is very good.
5. Gskill Ripjaw rams perform marginally better than Corsair Vengeance when oveclocked to 1800 MHz or higher. But that difference is actually negligible. So get any of them which comes cheaper. And 2 X 4 GB is more than enough for any applications, no need to go beyond that.
6. For UPS, get APC Black 1.1KVA @ 4.3K

 

[Cilus]

I just answered your question which one is better, Ripjaw or Vengenace, I didn't say that you can overclock them in your H67 mobo. For H67 board, get Corsair Value Series 4GB X 1 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 1.2K.