Recommended Parts for Building a New Computer

[Goku]

I am no longer keeping this current. If you want help with a computer upgrade or new build please go to this thread.

[Sentrosi]

Great list here.
I know hexa-core will be real overkill with this game, but if you were to devote two cores to running FRAPS, I wonder what the performance would be compared to running FRAPS on a quad-core with no dedication.

I ask this because I'm looking at a setup that would include a hexa-core processor.

[Goku]

To be honest Sentrosi I do not have any experience recording with FRAPS. If I had to guess it likely wouldn't be that major of a increase. Most games (barring BC2) don't take major advantage of a quad core just yet, so that should be plenty for using FRAPS. Regrading the use of six core CPUs though, the AMD Phenom II X6 is in no mans land at the moment. The 2500K out does it for gaming and many CPU intensive tasks, so that is hard to recommend. With the Intel Gulf Town six core CPU is worth getting depending on what you're doing. The 2600K has stronger cores then a 990X, but not enough to out do it in highly multithreaded tasks. The 990X is still the king of the road on Intel's platform.

[Bags]

Thanks for the list, wish I was buying new for PS2 ^_^. Just going to be getting a new mobo, CPU, and RAM myself, when the specs are announced. Hopefully my $40 MSI rebate will come back before then.

[Goku]

Lol, I hope you get that MIR prior to the specs being released. I got mine about a 1 1/2 months after buying a MSI video card.

[Espion]

Getting anything other than a 2500K for a CPU atm is just wrong. For a $200 quad that you can bump up to 4GHz and pretty much be guaranteed that it will be stable is too much to pass up.

Would also recommend not going lower than ~120GB for SSDs since the speed of SSDs is dependent on their size. It will be more expensive, but it's worth it. (Intel 510 is the best balance between speed/reliability)

There's also a few antec case/PSU combos you should look at. There's a line of antec PSUs that run cooler and more efficiently than other PSUs, but only fit in a select few of their cases.

[Goku]

I don't think 120GB is crucial at the moment. For a boot drive the only important part is the read as supposed to the write that suffers at lower GB amount. You can tweak the build or above the budget for 120GB, but I think people are better off waiting awhile for prices to come down on the higher GB SSDs. At this point with the speeds we are reaching it won't be as noticeable to users, so I am hoping manufactures start focusing on more GB per $ instead of speed.

Only thing about cases are one case can look ugly to one person and another is the best thing ever. Thats why I think people are better off choosing their own. Antec makes nice PSUs and cases, but they aren't the best in the business.

[Espion]

I'd assume most people here would want to use their SSD for OS and games, so you need a bit of room for Steam since it doesn't let you install games to custom directories. With W7, Opera, Mumble, Steam, Global Agenda, BC2, planetside, and a 4th game installed on my SSD I'm using 56GB. That would be a real pain in the ass to manage with only a 64GB drive unless you didn't use it for gaming.

[Goku]

Espion you can actually put steam on an SSD and then put the rest on your storage drive using Steam Tool. Have you optimized your SSD for storage? You can cut out features you do not need to gain quite bit back, see this here. You do not have to put every game you own on an SSD as not every game takes advantage of the load times. Even if you load quicker in a FPS for example you still have to wait for the round to start depending on the game. I have about 35 GB of games and Office installed on my 64GB SSD and have no problems using it. Just have to be smart about the games/apps you put on them.

EDIT: I made a $1250 build version including a 128 GB SSD for those who wanted something above a 64 GB one. Though the build will be slightly more expensive depending on the case and any shipping+taxes.

Please don't merge the post of mine below this as I maxed out the char list in the OP and I moved the case list to another post.

[Goku]

Cases:

$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$127 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$143 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case

[Hamma]

Anyone know what the current timeline on Intel's next CPU line is? I'm going to need to build new systems but I don't know if I should wait a while or do it now.

[Goku]

The upcoming Intel CPUs are Sandy Bridge - E and Ivy Bridge. SB-E is the extreme high end targeting processors costing above $450 with quad and six cores coming this winter. Ivy Bridge is the 22nm shrink of Sandy Bridge (Intel's current mainstream) coming out in March of 2012 along with having higher clocks and lower power usage. I don't know your budget, but I would probably just build now if you really want a new PC. The quad core SB line are very good CPUs. There isn't going to be a massive difference between SB and IB.

[Hamma]

Sounds good especially if it's that long term.

I would assume i5 vs i7 is not worth the price/performance difference which is why most are suggesting i5's for gaming at this point.

It's hard to keep up on whats going on with hardware, I typically brush up when I build one then totally forget within 6 months.

[Goku]

Yes i7 is not worth it if you are only gaming. The cream of the crop CPU currently is the 2500K if you are overclocking, these can get to 4.8GHz. If you have no interest in overclocking the 2400 is the best way to go.

[Hamma]

What are the pros/cons between the different Chipsets?