Gaming I plan on building my first computer soon.

[ACDCGAMER]

Well, that's the thing. I WANT to get back into PC gaming but the most recent PC game I've played is Left 4 Dead 2, which will undoubtedly run fine even with a single 5770. I'm considering getting Bad Company 2 though since I LOVED playing BF2 (in fact, I reinstalled BF2 for the heck of it recently and it's still fun! Buggy as hell, but awesome) when it came out.

 

[keine]

also:

on 1366. personally I didn't think it warranted enough performance for the (sometimes extreme) price premium. i never even considered it. but then again, I am a budget pc builder. i buy part X and make it perform like top of the line part Y. extreme bang for buck builder here. thats why I went i5. however, if you have the cash, just flat out having Y, is sometimes so much more relaxing and time saving.

good pick on the intel route. I also personally have found that intel has a gaming performance compared to AMD that *IS* worth the price premium.

 

[keine]

212+ is a great budget cooler (just dont get it from newegg as its way overpriced over ther.. get it from amazon instead.. around $27 or something)
binGO~!
i know the reason why. I literally watched that heatsink jump from 30$ to 60$, simply because it got a high rating in maxium pc. it was the cooler I was going to buy before the mugen..but the inSANE price inflation on that part made me sick. if you can find it for 30$ get it. if not, go somewhere else.

Well, that's the thing. I WANT to get back into PC gaming but the most recent PC game I've played is Left 4 Dead 2, which will undoubtedly run fine even with a single 5770. I'm considering getting Bad Company 2 though since I LOVED playing BF2 (in fact, I reinstalled BF2 for the heck of it recently and it's still fun! Buggy as hell, but awesome) when it came out.
i personally wouldn't be so sure on the 5770 for left4dead 2. call me overshooting, but i'd go 5850 (!!!or eqivalent>Nvidia!!!!)
another very very lol important question when making this GPU decisions is what is your native res.
QUOTE(madridi4ever @ Sep 20 2010, 03:40 PM)

LGA 1156 is almost a dead socket

a very true statement.

 

[ACDCGAMER]

Also, a good 5850 can be overclocked to 5870 speeds.

I'm not sure about going for the new CPU lineup when it's released, as it'll probably be too expensive for my tastes. Even if it was similarly priced, that means that the older chips could potentially go down in price. I don't care either way, though, but I might as well just go for a 1366 build. Thing is, besides triple-channel memory, are there any other benefits the 1366 CPUs have in comparison to the 1156 CPUs? Like I said before, from some benchmarks I've seen, the i7 870's benchmarks are actually better than some of the lower-end 9xx i7's.

Also, I think I'll switch to getting the HAF 922 case. It's cheaper, and I hear its cable management is better and it's MUCH easier to install hard drives and optical drives than the Antec 902. Also, I hear the 902's dust filters on the front are a pain in the ass to remove in order for them to be cleaned out.

I have a 16:10 1680x1050 monitor btw. Not sure how many people have them anymore now that 1080p monitors are here but I'm in no need to replace my current monitor.

 

[Originality]

A HD5770 is enough to play L4D2 on the highest settings. I'm using a HD4870 for just that, which is roughly the same. Getting a HD5870 will be enough for anything coming in 3-5 years time - a fact which I think is important simply for futureproofing.

E.g. if you get a HD5770 now, sure you save plenty of money on it, but in 1-2 years time you'll feel the need for a better graphics card. Sure, Southern Islands (aka HD6xxx, unless I'm getting my information mixed up) will be out by then, but so will Sandybridge CPUs with LGA 1155 (to replace 1156, or LGA 2011 to replace 1366), meaning you need a new motherboard to go with them. If you've got a good income, then none of this will matter, but for the rest of us...

 

[ACDCGAMER]

I'm going to, at a minimum, stick with the 5850, that way I can potentially overclock it to 5870 speeds if I want and it'll still last me for quite some time. Or get two 5850s in the future for Crossfire.

Like I said before, I don't think I'm going to wait for the new Sandybridge CPUs or the Southern Islands lineup of ATI cards. Whatever happens, I'm fine with this build and it could potentially be better for me if I waited, as the prices of these components could possibly go down. Not sure how things would turn out that way but that's if I decide to wait a bit longer, which I'm not sure if I'll do or not.

 

[ACDCGAMER]

By the way, what do you guys think of Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound? Apparently everyone loves it but is there anything else I should take a look at that's better?

 

[Originality]

Arctic Silver 5 is recommended across several sources in the UK (from magazines to professional computer/console building/repair companies). So is the Zalman thermal paste I use - not because it performs better (they're roughly the same) but because each bottle comes with a very useful lil brush, kinda like nail varnish/polish - makes it easy for a very thin, even layer... which in turn is great for the CPU (although I used it with the heatsinks in my Rampage Extreme too, and in one of the Xbox 360s I fixed - it works a lot better than other thermal pastes I've used in repairs).

 

[ACDCGAMER]

Okay then, I guess I'll stick with that then!

Still though, is the question of how much better off I am getting an Intel Core i7 950, for example, which is a 1366 CPU, rather than the 870 that I've been looking at... :/

 

[keine]

if you wanna be totally "accurate" with your AS5 (I use it too), go to AS5 web site and read the official application instructions. they are very scientific. who knows it may save you 3 degress or two.

 

[ACDCGAMER]

WHOA. The Antec 902 is on sale for $95, $65 after rebate. Holy crap.

Still considering the HAF 922 though. xD

 

[ACDCGAMER]

Okay, not to bump this, but I think I'm almost done finalizing my build and a few more suggestions couldn't hurt. Now I'm looking at the nVidia GTX 460 and it looks pretty well-priced! Should I get that instead of the 5850 or is it some sort of trap?

Also, I just don't see if it's worth it (or even necessary) to go to a 1366 build. They apparently run hotter and use more energy than 1156s and performance-wise, some of the 1366 CPUs have almost the same benchmarks as some of the 1156 ones.

 

[Bulit]

Okay, not to bump this, but I think I'm almost done finalizing my build and a few more suggestions couldn't hurt. Now I'm looking at the nVidia GTX 460 and it looks pretty well-priced! Should I get that instead of the 5850 or is it some sort of trap?

Also, I just don't see if it's worth it (or even necessary) to go to a 1366 build. They apparently run hotter and use more energy than 1156s and performance-wise, some of the 1366 CPUs have almost the same benchmarks as some of the 1156 ones.

I would recommend the gtx 460 for a few reasons. It is cheaper, they have similar performance, and it's made by nVidia so you get all of the cool features like physx.

Performance comparison:

Spoiler

 

[ACDCGAMER]

Wow, that's impressive. Is there a particular brand that I should get? PNY, ASUS, etc.?

 

[Midna]

Lucky bastard. You have money.

 

[Bulit]

get a palit gtx 460 1gb platinum.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814261076

 

[ACDCGAMER]

Hmm... the MSI Cyclone one looks better IMO.

 

[Bulit]

Hmm... the MSI Cyclone one looks better IMO.

Wow, I completely missed it. Yeah, go for the cyclone instead. Although, the palit is clocked at 800 mhz compared to the cyclone's 725 mhz.

 

[ACDCGAMER]

True. I could always overclock the MSI though.

 

[Bulit]

True. I could always overclock the MSI though.

Yeah, and at $210, the cyclone is a much better deal.