Help Me Build My New Gaming Rig

The whole order looks real good. Glad you got the "Advanced" HAF, and Win7.

Please post photos when you start, so we can follow.
 
The whole order looks real good. Glad you got the "Advanced" HAF, and Win7.

Please post photos when you start, so we can follow.

I'll be sure to post lots of pictures throughout each step of the build, but this is a 2-paycheck project so the 2nd part of the build won't be ordered for about 2.5 more weeks.

I should have it up and running next week though!
 
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Hmmm... Now I'm a bit concerned about my choice of GTX 680.

I'm a bit worried about the poor performance increase over the GTX 670 (and subsequently, the GTX 670's increase over the 660ti). GTX 660ti -> GTX 680 is a disappointing performance difference for a +66% cost. However, this is generally always the case with videocards, has been for years, just seems that even the margins are especially low right now. Regardless, I still decided on the GTX 680.

However, now I'm reading a lot of complaints about the GTX 680 (and GTX 670 for that matter, to a lesser extent) having a lot of stability issues, BSOD/RSODs, etc. happening within 0-3 months of installation. This worries me a bit.

So, I'm currently stuck between: GTX 680, Radeon HD 7970, or GTX 670.

I want to go with the GTX 680 simply for the performance, hoping somebody can justify or dismiss my worries.

Also, any of the NVidia cards 660ti and higher come with a free copy of Borderlands 2, which adds a bit to the value, my friends keep telling me to buy that game. The HD 7970 comes with a game I've never heard of. Dirt Showdown or something like that.


For now, I think I am still leaning toward buying the GTX 680, and hoping that if I get a defective card, it shows its true colors within the 30-day newegg RMA period, so I don't have to deal with manufacturers customer service.
 
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One thing I've learned over the years when it comes to finite issues such as this,....go with your gut.

I can give you numerous reasons to go with the GTX 680, and I can also make a solid case for the 670, while others will swear by the 7970.

The bottom line...you need to do what makes you feel comfortable. Newegg is very good to deal with. You can notify them that you've change your mind, and you're going to return the 680 as soon as it arrives, and they'll send you the card of your choice, without issue, I'm sure.

Do what makes you comfortable.
 
One thing I've learned over the years when it comes to finite issues such as this,....go with your gut.

I can give you numerous reasons to go with the GTX 680, and I can also make a solid case for the 670, while others will swear by the 7970.

The bottom line...you need to do what makes you feel comfortable. Newegg is very good to deal with. You can notify them that you've change your mind, and you're going to return the 680 as soon as it arrives, and they'll send you the card of your choice, without issue, I'm sure.

Do what makes you comfortable.


The more benchmarks and reviews I read, the more I agree with this statement. The performance and price are close enough that no 1 is really going to blow away the others, it depends on what game I'm running (and what game will I be running tomorrow, anyway?). I like the free Borderlands 2 offer with the GTX cards, and considering the GTX 670 and GTX 680 have about the same problems, I'm just gonna grab a GTX 680, hope for no problems, and deal with it if there are.

Thanks.
 
You may want to ask OS-Wiz, what he thinks of his 680 cards.

He's running a pair of them in SLI, and has been for months. To the best of my knowledge, even with over clocking, he's had no problems with either card.
 
You may want to ask OS-Wiz, what he thinks of his 680 cards.

He's running a pair of them in SLI, and has been for months. To the best of my knowledge, even with over clocking, he's had no problems with either card.

That's good to hear. I'm not too worried anymore. $500 is just about the level that I start to get uneasy with my money.


Side note, another reason I love newegg: I placed 2 orders earlier this afternoon (not even 5 hours ago) and they're already packed, UPS tracking codes, will ship TODAY... And considering my proximity to Industry, CA, I can expect delivery Monday or Tuesday :D

After I figure my finances I'm going to try to get in 1 more order today so that I will hopefully have my RAM shipped out so I can get everything running by Tuesday.

UPDATE: 3rd order:
Sales Order Date: 9/21/2012 5:46:26 PM
Shipping Method: UPS 3 DAYS

1 x ($169.99) Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR240GB-DX 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
$169.99​
1 x ($69.99) G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-8GBXM
$69.99​

Subtotal:$239.98
Tax:$17.40
Shipping and Handling:$0.00
Total Amount:$257.38
And since I'm sure somebody is wondering why I'm doing this in 4 seperate orders: my finances are not all in the same place right now.



My new worry: a lot of hard drives (1-1.5TB) have dropped below the price point of my favorite Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB @ $110. I've been using these hard drives for YEARS now with no problems, but now I'm questioning whether I should be spending $110 on a secondary hard drive. I don't need that much space, I just don't want to ever come close to running out of space (It would take me some time to even fill my 240GB SSD, but I want only OS/programs on it).

Anybody have extended experience with other brand/models of hard drives, minimum 500GB, preferably 750GB - 1.5 TB range, 7200RPM+, with great longevity, at a lower price point than $110?
 
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I guess I really have to consider what the secondary drive will be used for.

I guess it will be storing movies, music, pictures/images, and rarely-used programs, though lately I haven't been saving many of these at all. I've been streaming movies (Netflix, etc.) and music (Pandora, etc.).

With that in mind, do I even need a 7200RPM drive (wouldn't a 5400RPM drive be better if I'm not running programs off of it?), and should I care about read/write speeds? Also, I doubt I even need 1TB of extra space... maybe I'll look into a 500GB for this. Or, isn't there something I can do to turn the extra space into increased performance?

I doubt I'll need a grand total of space exceeding 500-750GB, and I already have 240GB on my SSD.


EDIT: Come to think of it, my 1TB WD Caviar Black in my last computer probably survived the accident. Is there any risk involved in attaching/testing a hard-drive that MAY have water damage? If it could, in any way, affect ANY of my new parts, I won't even risk it... but it seems like worst case scenario it just wouldn't work? Two things could have happened... 1) The hard drive itself may have suffered direct water damage. 2) The PSU received a LOT of water damage (destroyed), and it was still attached to everything in the case, so it may have destroyed other parts with it if it surged or something.

I have a few old computers laying around, maybe I'll try to slap it in one to see if it survived. If it didn't, I might look into a 500GB WD Caviar Blue model instead, for $60.
 
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I would imagine most of the GTX 680 issues you read about were by AMD fanboys :lol:

I've never had a problem since day one with my 680s with any game ever! And I challenge any 7970 or 670 owners to beat these air cooled, two card scores:
 

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I've been using WD Blue 500GB drives for years, without a single failure. I use one internally for data storage, another internally for back-up, and another externally for back-up.

I used 2 more in the computer I built for my son, and another in the machine I built for my grandson. That's six WD Blue drives in use for years with no issues.

---------- Post added at 05:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:23 AM ----------

...I challenge any 7970 or 670 owners to beat these air cooled, two card scores:


Show Off! :lol:
 
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