My new gaming rig :D

[ultimateironman]

i got tired of my 5 year old PC. ive upgraded the ram and video card several times, but the mobo and CPU(amd duel core 2.3GHz) are just too out dated to play the newest games on any video setting or older games on a high setting.

i dont have any pictures of it put together yet, just links to the parts i received. the HDD and PCU still need to be ordered(credit card max is too low to order all of it at once) but the mobo, cpu, heatsink and RAM are all installed.

This was my first computer build by myself, so cross your fingers that i dont fry stuff when i plug it in!

CPU
intel i7 2.93GHz

CASE
Cooler Master STORM

MOBO
BioStar

RAM
CORSAIR 8gb DDR3

PCU
Rosewill BRONZE 1000w

HDD
Samsung 1TB 7200rpm

 

[coffeejunky]

What GPU setup will you be having?
I highly suggest choosing a different PSU, preferably one made by Seasonic, Corsair or Antec. Depending on the setup you probably don't need a 1kw PSU. HDD is a good choice tho

 

[ultimateironman]

Nvidia Gforce GTS250 is whats in my current computer. going to move it over to teh new setup.

the only reason i was going to get that PSU is because its $70 off currently. $130 is around the price range for alot of 600w or 750w PSUs, so while its on sale ill get more power for the same price.

like this one from corsair, 600w for $95. and its in stock at my local Best Buy.

if you want to link me a suitable substitute, ill gladly think about it. my opinions can be changed easily

 

[SgtSpike]

I wouldn't get a Corsair GS PSU... it might be ok, but some Corsair PSU internals are made by crappy manufacturers, so you have to be careful. I always go shopping for PSU's by the rating. Basically, search all PSU's by rating, and look at the 5-egg ones in the wattage I am looking for.

It depends what video card you are getting, but any single video card solution that doesn't have two chips onboard (i.e. 6990 has two) will be powered just fine by a good 500w.

 

[coffeejunky]

I wouldn't get a Corsair GS PSU... it might be ok, but some Corsair PSU internals are made by crappy manufacturers, so you have to be careful. I always go shopping for PSU's by the rating. Basically, search all PSU's by rating, and look at the 5-egg ones in the wattage I am looking for.

It depends what video card you are getting, but any single video card solution that doesn't have two chips onboard (i.e. 6990 has two) will be powered just fine by a good 500w.

Yeah Corsair really screwed up by going for crappy OEMs on their new ranges. That being said if you go for a TX or VX you cannot go too far wrong. Here is my suggestion ulti -

Budget choice -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-371-044&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo
It's green which can be either a pro or con. Very highly rated on the 12v rails, so should be sufficient for most single or dual GPU setups. 80+ Bronze certification. No braided cables if that is of concern to you. 2x8-pin GPU cables.

Mid Range Choice -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&cm_re=650w_psu-_-17-139-005-_-Product
One of Corsairs best PSUs, Decent single 12v rail, suitable for up to mid range multi-GPU setups or top end single GPU setups. Braided cables. Pretty efficient and has very good RMA service in US. 2x8-pin GPU cables.

Top range choice -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&cm_re=corsair_850w-_-17-139-009-_-Product
Should be enough for almost all dual GPU setups, has 4x8-pin GPU cables, so no need to mess with molex adaptors on higher range GPUs. Also one of Corsair's better units, as above good RMA service.


As I said before I highly reccomend you avoid the Rosewill. It's likely made by a cheapo OEM, and for that price there are better available. It's not bad, but it's not great either. The fact that it has 4 rails is not always a bad thing but I'd prefer dual or single rails, as you do have to make sure they are balanced if you are going to have high-end GPU setups.

 

[ultimateironman]

i just got everything together, and went to plug external stuff in so i can turn it on......and realized something was missing from the mobo. it has no onboard video chipset, so no video plug of any kind.. so guess i have to take the video card out of this comp to do anything with teh new rig.

 

[SgtSpike]

Lulz.

 

[ultimateironman]

woohoo. no magical blue smoke or electric popping sounds so far!

im installing windows 7 now. god its going to take forever on my internet connection to get my games reinstalled on this computer.

 

[coffeejunky]

woohoo. no magical blue smoke or electric popping sounds so far!

im installing windows 7 now. god its going to take forever on my internet connection to get my games reinstalled on this computer.

You could hook up the old HDD to the new motherboard (be sure not to boot from it) and copy the steamapps folder over. Thats what I always do.

 

[ultimateironman]

it will let me do that? ive never been able to just move a installed program over and run it, always had to do a fresh install.


also, i got 7.5 or 7.0 rating for my computer(and i havnt updated the drivers yet), and im used to running on comps that are 5 or 5.5s(a 1.0 - 7.9 scale). dont understand why the poop it uses that scale. apparently a 0-10 scale isnt good enough for microsoft lol.

 

[coffeejunky]

it will let me do that? ive never been able to just move a installed program over and run it, always had to do a fresh install.


also, i got 7.5 or 7.0 rating for my computer(and i havnt updated the drivers yet), and im used to running on comps that are 5 or 5.5s(a 1.0 - 7.9 scale). dont understand why the poop it uses that scale. apparently a 0-10 scale isnt good enough for microsoft lol.

You have to reinstall steam, then once steam is installed, pause all downloads immediately. Close steam and copy over the steamapps folder from the old drive to the new (make sure you copy it to the right place) steam should detect that the installs are incomplete and complete the installations when you first run the game (i.e. set up directX GFWL or Rockstar social club). Sometimes you will run into trouble, sometimes not (if a game says it cannot start choose properties and Verify integrity of game cache before giving up on it). It can be a little bit of hassle, but its much better than downloading 120GB of data on a 300kb/s download.