Updated on October 30th 2011.
Is this the right type of PC for me?
If you?re looking for a Mainstream Gaming PC, to play video games at a 1080p resolution, you?re at the right place. Otherwise, check out our other Do-It-Yourself Computer Systems or The Best Laptops For Your Money instead.
The Corsair Force 3 90GB, the SSD featured in Tier 4 to 7 of the Mainstream Gaming PCs.
Click on a section to jump to it:
- Five Tiers to choose from
- Recommended parts summary
- Computer Builds FAQs
- Recommended parts in details
- Budget/High-End Gaming PCs
- Mainstream/High-End SFF?Gaming PCs
- Version history: Version 3.0 -> v3.0.1
About Hardware Revolution?s Mainstream Gaming Computers:
High-End Performance at a Mainstream cost
Our mainstream gaming computers feature parts that were hand-picked to offer the maximum bang for your buck, or in other terms: to offer the best performance possible at a given price.
Designed with reliability in mind
They feature a safe, reliable power supply, a case with several case fans and an after-market CPU Cooler, so that your PC will not overheat and to ensure that it will last you many years.
After all, what?s the point of good performance, if your PC crashes all the time due to a major design flaw, right?
Good to know too:
These Gaming PCs are powerful enough to easily do everyday tasks, such as working with photos and videos, doing web development, playing back high definition content and so much more.
Instead of having several articles that each cover one specific build, there are Tiers, allowing you to pick one of several systems at broader price points.
There are five tiers in this article at different price points.?The Tiers are color coded as such:
Choose from five Tiers:
Tier 3 (Identified by a?Red color):
Ideal if you want a Gaming PC with Intel?s latest quad-core Sandy Bridge CPU on a tight budget.
Our lowest cost Tier that includes Intel?s latest Sandy Bridge CPU in its quad-core form. Note that Tier 3 is the only Mainstream Gaming PCs Tier that does not include a SSD in its budget. It?s ready for a SSD if you want to add one though.
Tier 4 (Identified by a?Green color)
Our lowest cost Tier that?s equipped with a SSD and not any SSD: A Corsair Force 3 SATA III 90GB SSD! Also equipped with a powerful Intel Core i5-2500 processor and an?equally?powerful Geforce GTX 560 Ti, Tier 4 is one heck of a powerhouse PC at a relatively low price considering the performance that it offers!
Tier 5 (Identified by an Orange color):
Compared to Tier 4, Tier 5 offers a more future-proof motherboard, that?s ready for Intel?s next CPU architecture (Ivy Bridge) and PCI-Express Generation 3.0. It?s also equipped with a more powerful video card.
Tier 6 (Identified by a Dark Red color)
Offers not only a step-up in performance from Tier 5, but also a CPU with an unlocked multiplier, along with improved CPU voltage delivery unit cooling on the upgraded motherboard, improved CPU Cooling with the upgraded CPU Cooler and improved case cooling with the upgraded case.
All of this results in a Tier that?s not only powerful, as it is at stock frequencies, but that?s also optimized to be easily overclocked, in order to reach new summits of performance! Of course, it features the same future-proof features as Tier 5, while its higher performance, both at stock and overclocked frequencies, makes it even more ready for tomorrow?s video games!
Tier 7 (Identified by a?Fushia color)
This Tier takes performance to the next level, with the a video card equipped with the fastest single GPU available: The Geforce GTX 580. Just like Tier 6, Tier 7 features a CPU with an unlocked multiplier, along with improved CPU voltage delivery unit cooling on the upgraded motherboard, improved CPU Cooling with the upgraded CPU Cooler?and even greater case cooling.
All of this results in a Tier that?s not only powerful as it is, but that?s also optimized to be easily overclocked, in order to reach new summits of performance!?Of course, it features the same future-proof features as Tier 5 and 6, while its higher performance makes it even more ready for tomorrow?s video games!
Battlefield 3: Tier recommendations:
Tier 3 and 4 will allow you to play BF3 at 1920 x 1080 with high settings, with Tier 4 loading the the game faster thanks to the SSD. Tier 5 allows you to crank up the settings a tad higher, while Tier 6 and 7 should let you play at Ultra without any problem, with Tier 7 allowing for higher AA/AF settings.
Need a Tier recommendation for a specific video game?
Ask us on the forums: Tell us about the video game, the level of details that you want (i.e. I just want to be able to play the game, medium, high or maximum details) and finally the resolution (e.g. 1920 x 1080. NOT the size) of the monitor (For HDTVs, it usually 720p or 1080p) that you?ll use.
Recommended Parts Summary:
Main recommendations, upgrades and alternatives:
1. Recommended Components?are in?Bold, with one or more colors for the Tier(s).
2. Suggested Alternatives and Upgrades are in?Italic.
3. You can upgrade as many parts as you want to, including parts from higher Tiers.
4. All?Parts are interchangeable/compatible with each other, unless indicated otherwise.
In other words: You have free to choose here. You can stick to my guidelines or you can pick your favorite parts to customize YOUR Personal Computer (PC) as you wish to. Either way, there are no compatibility issues to worry about. I took care of that, by doing the research work for you.
Building this System, Got a Question, Need Help?
Computer Builds FAQs:
I often get questions such as:
- Who are you to tell me which parts to choose?
- Can you suggest me a step by step guide to build a computer?
- Why should I build a PC instead of buying one in a store?
- And many more?
1. You will find the answers to all of these questions and more in this article: FAQ: How to Build Your Own Computer
2. Is this your first build? Here are?10 Quick Tips for 1st Time Builders to get you started.
3. Newly built computer won?t start? I invite you to read?Help me: Why won?t my newly assembled PC start or boot?
4. Visit our forums here, where you can join our helpful community and ask questions.
Recommended step-by-step guides to build your PC:
1. Arstechnica Outstanding Guide for Hardware (Building the PC)
2. Arstechnica Outstanding Guide for Software (EFI/BIOS, Windows, etc.)
Free Assistance
If you have any question(s) about the build, simply head over to the forums and our community will be there to assist you.
No worries, there are no stupid questions here on Hardware Revolution. We all started from scratch and learned through our mistakes. We?ll just help you make sure to avoid those mistakes 
If you want to have your final build double-checked and get my opinion on it before ordering, or for anything else, don?t be shy, just post a thread on the forums.
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New Socket: LGA1155
SandyBridge CPUs (Core ix-2xxx) use a new socket (LGA 1155) and chipsets (H61, H67, P67 and Z68) and thus is incompatible with older motherboards/chipsets.
CPU Coolers compatibility: However, CPU Coolers that are compatible with the LGA1156 socket are also compatible with the LGA 1155 socket. Some LGA1155 motherboards support LGA 775 CPU Coolers too.
Chipsets: Currently available are the H61, H67, P67 and Z68 chipsets.
- H61 and H67 supports the integrated GPU found in the CPU and thus allow for video output without a discrete video card. However, they do not support CPU overclocking.
- P67 does not support the integrated GPU found in the CPU, but does support CPU overclocking.
- Z68 brings the best of both worlds. It supports the integrated GPU (for QuickSync) and overclocking at the same time. It also support ?SSD Caching?. It?s not without its faults though, more on this below.
Z68: About Intel?s QuickSync and SSD Caching:
Z68 allows you to access the IGP from the CPU, which allows you to take advantage of Intel?s QuickSync, a technology that lets you use the IGP in your CPU to accelerate video conversion (amongst other things), allowing you to convert video faster than with just a CPU.
However, the drawback is that the quality of converted videos is lower than if they are converted with a CPU. This is subjective though, so the loss in quality might be an acceptable drawback for you, if you value the time than you gain.
As for SSD Caching, AnandTech has two excellent articles on the subject:
- Intel Z68 Chipset & Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching) Review
- Z68 SSD Caching with Corsair?s F40 SandForce SSD
In short, while SSD caching is an interesting technology, you?re better off using your SSD as your boot drive and manually managing where your applications and games get installed (SSD or HDD), if you want the best performance possible, all the time.
For a Gaming PC: P67 or Z68?
From a performance point of view, both P67 and Z68 offers identical performance.
The exception to this is when you use a Z68 motherboard in tandem with Virtu (a program that intercepts the dedicated GPU and the IGP calls, to direct the calls to the right GPU (depending on whether you?re gaming with the dedicated GPU or converting videos with the IGP) which actually decrease performance within video games, by 5-10%.
If Virtu is not used, performance is identical on both platforms, but then you?re not using the IGP to convert videos, making P67 just as good as Z68.
On top of that, most Z68 motherboards feature video outputs ports (VGA, DVI and/or HDMI), which take space that could be used for additional USB, FireWire, E-SATA and other actual useful ports that are present on P67.
In short:
- If you absolutely want to use Intel?s Quick Sync to convert videos, despite the lower quality of converted videos and that you don?t mind the performance hit (5-10%) in video games, go with a Z68 motherboard.
- If you don?t care about Quick Sync, don?t intend to use SSD Caching (which as I explained above, you don?t want to use anyway) and would rather have the extra ports, go either with a P67 motherboard or a Z68 motherboard without the extra ports, unless you can get a good deal on a Z68 motherboard (hence why I recommend one for Tier 4 and 5, due to its killer $100 price.)
Tier 3 and 4:
A basic motherboard at a great price that?s a perfect match-up for Tier 3 and the Core i3-2100 CPU.
Note that the H61 chipset allows you to use the integrated video card from the CPU. While the performance of the integrated video card is no where good enough to play recent games, it can still be used until you buy your video card, if you?re on a tight budget.
Also note that the H61 chipset does not support overclocking, which isn?t a problem with the Intel i3-2100 because that CPU does not support overclocking either, but it?s something to keep in mind if you intend to go with say, an i5-2500K or an i7-2600K.
Finally, this motherboard only includes two SATA cables, so you?ll need an extra one if you add another hard drive or a SSD. I recommend this one: Additional 18? SATA Cable for Tier 3. The motherboards of other Tiers come with at least three SATA cables, so this is not an issue for other Tiers.
Ports, expansion slots, features, what?s included in the box, etc.
- Ports on the back: 2x PS/2, 4x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 LAN, 3 audi0 ports (for 5.1 sound) and VGA/DVI/HDMI outputs.
- Expansion slots: One?PCI-Express 2.0?16x slot (In Blue), one PCI-Express 1x and two PCI slots.
- Other connectors/features on the motherboard: Two?fan connectors (2 x 4 pins), four SATA 3.0Gb/s, two SATA 6.0Gb/s, two USB 2.0 headers (for up to four USB 2.0 ports coming from the headers in total), and support for LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156 CPU Coolers.
- Included in the box: Motherboard, two SATA cables, manual and CD.
Tier 5:
This is the motherboard for you if you want the following features:
- A full-size ATX motherboard with more expansion slots.
- The Z68 chipset, which allows for CPU overclocking.
- USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0Gbps
- Finally, this motherboard is PCI-Express 3.0 ready and is compatible with Intel next generation of CPUs, Ivy Bridge.
You?ll just need a BIOS update before upgrading to Ivy Bridge after it comes out. So far, rumours are pointing out to a March 2012 launch. Do note that PCI-Express slots run at PCI-Express 2.0 with a Sandy Bridge processor and will run at PCI-Express 3.0 with an Ivy Bridge CPU.
The only downside to this motherboard is the cooling for the CPU voltage regulation isn?t that great, so if you intend to overclock your CPU, I recommend upgrading to the Tier 6-7 motherboard below, which feature improved cooling for the CPU voltage regulation.
Ports, expansion slots, features, what?s included in the box, etc.
- Ports on the back: 4x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, One PS/2, HDMI, VGA, DVI, 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 LAN, Clear CMOS button, Optical S/PDIF ?and 5 audi0 ports (for 7.1 sound).
- Expansion slots: Two PCI-Express 2.0 (3.0 with Ivy Bridge CPU) 16x slots (8x, 8x). Two PCI-Express 1x and two PCI slots.
- Other connectors/features on the motherboard: Six fan connectors (Two 4 pins, four 3 pins), two SATA 6.0Gb/s, four SATA 3.0Gb/s, IR and COM ports, Debug LED, power and reset buttons, three USB 2.0 headers (for up to six USB 2.0 ports coming from the headers in total) and support for LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156 CPU Coolers.
- Included in the box: Motherboard, three SATA cables, Molex to SATA power adapter, Rear I/O panel shield, manual and CD.
Tier 6 and 7:
Why did I pick this motherboard:
In my opinion, the ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen 3 has the best set of features overall, many of which that I consider very important for the High-End Gaming PCs:
- PCI-Express 16 3.0 support: One of a few select motherboards that will support Generation 3 PCI-Express 16x slots, when used with the future Intel Ivy Bridge CPU (Coming March 2012 according to the latest rumours) which means that it?s more future-proof as it won?t be a bottleneck to future generation of video cards that demand more bandwidth.
- Two slots worth of space between the two main PCI-Express 16x slots, which gives the top video card some space to ?breath? in order to stay at a reasonable temperature, when you use two video cards in SLI or in Crossfire
- A?PCI-Express 1x slot that is located above the top PCI-Express 16x slot, allowing for a dedicated sound card without reducing the airflow to the top video card.
- Nothing short of?six fan connectors (Two 4 pins, four 3 pins)
- A?USB 3.0 header and an included 2 x USB 3.0 bracket that can installed in an external 3.5? bay or on a free PCI bracket.
- PS/2, FireWire, E-SATA and USB 3.0 ports, as well as a Clear CMOS button, are all located on the back of the motherboard. The Clear CMOS button alone is hugely useful when you overclock and need to clear the CMOS. No more need to move a jumper, which is a pain compared to using a simple button.
- Power and Reset buttons on the motherboard, allowing you to easily test your PC outside your case.
- Top-notch power delivery cooling, allowing for even more CPU overclocking than the Tier 5 motherboard.
Ports, expansion slots, features, what?s included in the box, etc.
- Ports on the back: 2x PS/2, 6x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0 (Two more are included with the USB 3.0 header + 2 x USB 3.0 bracket), FireWire, E-SATA, 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 LAN, 5 audi0 ports (for 7.1 sound), Coaxial + Optical S/PDIF Out and finally, a Clear CMOS button.
- Expansion slots: Two PCI-Express?3.0 16x slots (single at 16x or dual at 8x/8x), one PCI-Express 16x 2.0 (running at 4x), two PCI-Express 1x and two PCI slots.
- Other connectors/features on the motherboard: Six fan connectors (Two 4 pins, four 3 pins), four SATA 6.0Gb/s, four SATA 3.0Gb/s, FDD, power and reset buttons, 4-pin Molex connector for additional power for the PCI-Express slots, USB 3.0 header (to be used with included bracket), three USB 2.0 headers (for up to six USB 2.0 ports coming from the headers in total), FireWire header, LED debug, SLI/Crossfire support (obviously) and support for LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156 CPU Coolers.
- Included in the box: Motherboard, four SATA cables, two Molex to SATA power cables, 3.5mm audio cable, SLI dongle, USB 3.0 3.5? bracket (as well as an included PCI bracket, if you prefer to put the USB 3.0 ports in a free PCI bracket.), FDD cable, manual and CD.
Performance difference between 16x/16x vs 8x/8x PCI-Express slots: Wait, what do I hear? You NEED 16x/16x PCI-Express slots or the performance will crumble? Let me tell you this: That?s rubbish.
Here?s an excellent quote that resumes the situation: ?NVIDIA?s GeForce GTX 480 is a very fast graphics processor. To maintain its speeds, it would hypothetically require high system bandwidth, leading one to think that lesser PCI-Express configurations would cripple it.
The theory couldn?t be more wrong, as seen by the mere 2% performance loss going from x16 to x8 (which reduces bandwidth by 50%). To cite results from one of the latest and resource-heavy games in our bench, Collin McRae DiRT 2, that translates into something like 63.2 FPS vs. 62.1 FPS, at 2560 x 1600 pixels resolution ? barely a difference.?
More information on this is available at techPowerUp. As you can see, unless you use two dual-GPU cards, 8x/8x is just fine, unless losing 1.1FPS will kill you?
Upgrades to consider:
- $170 ? ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z Z68 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 MicroATX
? The interesting part of this motherboard is that it?s a Micro-ATX board and yet, it still does support two video cards, meaning that you can choose to build an ultra-powerful Gaming PC in a smaller case. One big con though is that you?ll be stuck using onboard sound, as two video cards will take all four slots worth of space.
- $220- ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 B3 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ATX
- The $240- ASUS P8P67 DELUXE B3 P67 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 CF/SLI ATX
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Tier 3:
The Core i5-2400 is a slightly slower (-200MHz) version of the popular Core i5-2500. It was picked for tier 3 for its lower price compared to the Core i5-2500.
When it comes to gaming performance, the Core i5-2400 has no problem outperforming the AMD competition, whether it?s the older $190 -Phenom II X6 1100T ?or the newer $190 ? FX-6100.
In short, it?s the best CPU for $150-200 when it comes to gaming performance.
However, it?s not a perfect CPU. One big con is that you cannot overclock it, since overclocking via the base clock is not really an option with SandyBridge CPUs (You can only raise the base clock by a few MHz before getting stability issues) and also because you cannot overclock via Turbo bins, because it also does not come with Turbo, unlike the Core i5 and i7 CPUs. Overclocking by raising the multiplier is also not an option, since that option is limited to the ?K? variant of Core i5 and i7 CPUs, the i5 2500-K and i7 2600K to be exact.
Then again, if you desire either or both of these features, you can simply upgrade to one of the Core i5 or i7 CPUs recommended below.
Tier 4 and 5
A recap on SandyBridge:
Intel current generation of CPUs, known under the codename SandyBridge (SB from here on) is here. Replacing Intel?s LGA1156 Clarkdale (Known as Core i3/i5/i7 3xx, 5xx and 8xx) CPUs, the LGA1155 based SB CPUs (Known as Core i3/i5/i7 i2xxx) bring in a 10%-50% performance improvement and lower power consumption, compared to the previous-generation of LGA1156 Clarkdale CPUs.
Overclocking: With the previous generations of Intel CPUs, to overclock, all you had to do was to raise the BCLK (baseclock) or FSB frequency, until you reach the limit of your CPU and/or motherboard and/or cooling solution.
With SandyBridge, this is no longer the case: the 6-series chipsets integrate the clock generator. What once was a component on the motherboard, the PLL is now on the 6-series chipset die. The integrated PLL feeds a source clock to many other controllers (e.g. SATA) to the CPU itself. The problem will that is if you if you raise the BCLK frequency, you will also raise the frequency of many other controllers and that will cause your PC to crash. So forget overclocking via the BCLK.
To overclock, you?ll want to raise the CPU multiplier. How much you can raise it depends on your CPU:
- If you have a CPU that offers no Turbo mode (e.g. Core i3-2100), then you can?t raise the multiplier at all and thus can?t overclock. In short: Your CPU is completely locked.
- If you have a CPU with Turbo modes (e.g. Core i5-2500), you can overclock, but just a bit, using a motherboard equipped with a P67 or Z68 chipset. In short, you are limited to an overclock of 4 processor bins above and beyond the highest turbo frequency. See the picture below for details.
In the picture above, we?re looking at a Core i5-2500, which runs at 3.3GHz by default. When a single core is active, the chip can turbo up to 3.7GHz. If you want, you can change that turbo state to go as high as 4.1GHz. Overclocking these chips relies entirely on turbo however. In the case above, the fastest your chip will run is 4.1GHz but with only one core active. If you have four cores active the fastest your chip can run is 3.8GHz. Makes sense?
- Finally, there?s the K-series of CPUs, with the Core i5-2500K and Core i7-2600K currently available. These chips are fully unlocked and will let you overclock them as far as the CPU and/or your cooling can sustain.
The Core i5-2500 vs the competition:
Now that I?ve quickly explained SandyBridge (See AnandTech full review of SandyBridge for more details) to you, let?s compare the Core i5-2500 to the competition and let me explain why I picked the Core i5-2500 as my recommendation.
Compared to the competition: As you probably heard by now, AMD launched their ?Bulldozer? CPUs, with the FX-8150 CPU being the fastest model. Here are the hard facts:
- The Core i5-2500 outclasses the FX-8150 when it comes to gaming performance, as well as the majority of other tests, according to AnandTech.
- The Core i5-2500 costs slightly less than $200. The FX-8150? $280. Lower gaming performance and higher cost, what else is there to say here really?
V.S. the previous generation: Curious to see how Sandybridge performs compared the previous LGA1156 CPUs top-performers? Check out those charts from AnandTech:
Why not recommend a K version to begin with?
The reason is simple: If you don?t intend to overclock, why spend more on the K version?
If you do want to overclock, simply pick the K version, as recommended for Tier 6 and 7, which are both optimized for overclocking, with their motherboard featuring improved voltage regulation cooling, upgraded CPU Cooler, upgraded power supply and more.
This is custom PC and I rather give you the possibility to?choose what?s best for you, instead of imposing my view.
Tier 6 and 7
CPU performance wise, the Core i5-2500K is identical to the Core i5-2500. The Core i5-2500K offers a better integrated GPU than the Core i5-2500, but considering that you?ll be using a dedicated video card (which offers far superior performance) and not the integrated GPU, this will make no difference in performance.
The main advantage of the Core i5-2500K over the Core i5-2500 is its unlocked multiplier, which allows you to overclock it to your heart?s content.
Of course, Tier 6 and Tier 7 featured recommended components that are optimized for overclocking, meaning that your overclock won?t be limited by an?inadequate?CPU Cooler or something alike.
Recommended upgrades (Compared to the Intel Core i5-2500K main recommendation):
- $294- Intel Core i7-2600 Quad-Core 3.4-3.8GHz (Turbo) 95W LGA1155
- The i7 series brings with it Hyper-Threading, which is useless for gaming (i.e. it brings no more performance to gaming), but brings additional performance for video editing and other highly-threaded workloads. The i7-2600 is also 100MHz faster (Both at default and with Turbo Boost) than the i5-2500.
- $307- Intel Core i7-2600K Quad-Core 3.4-3.8GHz (Turbo) 95W LGA1155 Unlocked Multiplier
- This is the K version of the Core i7-2600, meaning that it comes with an unlocked multiplier for full overclocking.
To avoid:
Also currently available are the Core i7-2700K ($370, 3.5GHz-3.9GHz Turbo, Unlocked Multiplier) and the Core i5-2400S ($205, 2.5GHz, 3.3GHz Turbo 65W). I recommend avoiding them both for the following reasons:
- For the Core i7-2700K: The Core i7-2600K is available for about $65 less and is an identical CPU, except for a 100MHz lower frequency. However, this doesn?t matter, since both CPU are unlocked and you could simply raise the multiplier of the Core i7-2600K to reach the frequency of the Core i7-2700K. Unless there are reports of the Core i7-2700K overclocking better than the Core i7-2600K, I see no point in dropping $60 more for 100MHz more at its stock frequency, especially considering that you?ll be overclocking the CPU anyway!
- For the i5-2400S: This is a low-power CPU, which has a TDP of 65W compared to 95W for the i5-2400. While this is a great CPU for say, an HTPC, it is to avoid for a Gaming PC, since it?s reduced frequency will greatly hurt performance.
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A few important recommendations and notes regarding video cards:
- Get the latest version of the video card drivers directly from AMD or Nvidia. That way, you?ll be sure to get the latest bug fixes as well as the best performance possible from your video card(s).
- To confirm whether Crossfire or SLI is working or not, use GPU-Z which will show that information to you in the last field at the bottom of the program.
- SLI Guide: How to enable SLI, check if SLI is enabled, actually working in your game and what to do if it?s not is a great guide from the Notebook Review forums. If you know of a similar guide that covers Crossfire, let me know, I?ll make sure to add it to the article.
- When using two or more video cards in Crossfire or SLI, you want to connect your monitors into the top video card, i.e. the video card that is the closest to the CPU.
- Most video cards require one or two PCI-Express 6 or 8 pin power connector(s) to be plugged into them to function properly. Make sure that your power supply comes equipped with enough 6 and/or 8 pin connectors for your video cards. Of course, I double-checked that already for the recommendations in this article, I simply mention it if you decide to modify a build to your own taste.
Tier 3 and 4:
The previously recommended Radeon HD 6870 gets replaced by the Geforce GTX 560 Ti, which recently got a price drop and now costs only about $45 more than the Radeon HD 6870, while offering clearly better performance, especially in those demanding games.
It also trade blows with the more expensive Radeon HD 6950 ($240), winning some games and losing some other games.
What games can this video card handle?
The Geforce GTX 560 Ti is capable of handling pretty much any game at a resolution of 1680 x 1050 with maximum visual quality. 1080p (1920 x 1080) gameplay is usually not a problem either, although you might have to scale back details in more demanding games.
Finally, it is DirectX 11 compliant, HDCP ready, able to handle HD content (e.g. Blu-Ray) and stream audio over HDMI.
Tier 5:
The EVGA Geforce GTX 560 Ti SuperClocked?gets replaced by the MSI Geforce GTX 560 Ti Hawk, which features higher frequencies for improved performance.
Thanks to its great cooling system, you won?t have to worry about overheating nor too high levels of noise.
Geforce GTX 560 (Non-Ti) V.S. Geforce GTX 560 Ti:
See, Nvidia decided to launch a standard Geforce GTX 560, after the launch of the Geforce GTX 560 Ti not that long ago. Needless to say, this is confusing, as many used to refer to a Geforce GTX 560 simply as a Geforce GTX 560, but now, a Geforce GTX 560 is actually a different video card than the Geforce GTx 560 Ti.
A Geforce GTX 560 comes with 336 processors cores, running at a frequency of 810MHz or higher, depending on the model.
A Geforce GTX 560 Ti comes with 384 processor cores, running at a frequency of 822MHz or higher, depending on the model once again.
Obviously, once you know that, you can easily tell that the Geforce GTX 560 Ti is a faster model than the Geforce GTX 560. Not that the Geforce GTX 560 is a bad card, on the contrary, but with current prices, a Radeon HD 6870 offers similar performance for $15-20 less, hence why I recommend the Radeon HD 6870 for Tier 3 and 4. I simply wanted to explain to you the difference between the two models, so you know what you?re buying and so that you don?t confuse the two Geforce GTX 560 and 560 Ti.
While the stock Geforce GTX 560 Ti is a tad slower than the Radeon HD 6950 1GB or 2GB on average, this particular EVGA GTX 560 Ti SuperClocked comes factory overclock, with a core frequency of 900MHz instead of 822MHz, enough to give it the edge over the Radeon HD 6950 1GB/2GB.
What games can this video card handle?
The MSI Geforce GTX 560 Ti is capable of handling pretty much any game at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 with high or max visual quality. Finally, it is DirectX 11 compliant, HDCP ready, able to handle HD content (e.g. Blu-Ray) and stream audio over HDMI.
Tier 6:
The EVGA Geforce GTX 570 Superclocked replaces the previously recommended two Radeon HD 6870 in Crossfire.
If you look at FPS charts from reviews, you?ll see that two Radeon HD 6870 in Crossfire offer more FPS than the Geforce GTX 570 or even the GTX 580.
So why don?t I recommend two Radeon HD 6870 in Crossfire anymore? Well you see, those FPS charts don?t tell the whole story.
The problem: Micro-shuttering
While common sense may suggest that higher FPS equals better performance, if the FPS varies a lot, it will result in micro-shuttering or in others words, jitter/shuttering/lag/very small pauses (in the?milliseconds?range) ?in the frames rendering. While FRAPS would show a steady 60FPS, that jittering/lag would result in poor/frustrating gameplay.
So what you want is smooth rendering, or in other words, a delay between each frame that?s smooth. Unfortunately, lower-end video cards in SLI or Crossfire are a lot more subject to micro-shuttering than single video cards, while higher-end video cards (Radeon HD 6970 and Geforce GTX 570/580) in Crossfire or SLI are still more subject to micro-shuttering than single video cards, but not to the same extend than lower-end video cards in Crossfire or SLI. In other words, the more higher-end your Crossfire or SLI setup is, the less susceptible it is to micro-shuttering.
For a detailed analysis on the micro-shuttering issue, I recommend reading this great article from TechReport: Inside the second: A new look at game benchmarking
This is why I?m recommending the Geforce GTX 570 over two Radeon HD 6870 in Crossfire. While your average FPS might be higher with two Radeon HD 6870 in Crossfire, the micro-shuttering will result in gameplay that less smooth than with the Geforce GTX 570.
What games can this video card handle?
Needless to say, gaming on any game at 1920 x 1080 with maximum details in the vast majority of games on a 60Hz monitor isn?t a problem at all, with gaming at 2560 x 1600 or 3840 x 1080 (Two monitors side by side) also possible, although with reduced details under some games.
Lifetime warranty
EVGA requires you to register your card online within 30 days of purchase in order to get the lifetime warranty. Otherwise, you get a two years warranty.
Tier 7:
While I used to recommend two Radeon HD 6950 2GB at this price point, I?ve stopped recommending this due to micro-shuttering issues, as explained above.
This is why Tier 7 gets a video card equipped with the fastest single-GPU, the Geforce GTX 580.
Lifetime warranty
EVGA requires you to register your card online within 30 days of purchase in order to get the lifetime warranty. Otherwise, you get a two years warranty.
Recommended upgrades:
- $594 ? MSI Lightning Xtreme Geforce GTX 580 3GB
- $700 ? Two SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6970 2GB
- $720 ? Two EVGA Geforce GTX 570 SuperClocked in SLI
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Tier 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7:
Is 8GB of RAM necessary?
Except for a few exceptions, according to?Tom?s Hardware, current games and applications won?t take advantage of more than 4GB.
However, if you?re like me and like switching back (Alt-Tab or Alt-Esc) to your desktop to check something while pausing your game and keeping it open, 8GB will greatly improve the responsiveness of your PC.
Also, if you intend on keeping this Gaming PC for more than say, 1-2 years, 8GB is worth it, especially now, considering that RAM prices have been dropping and haven?t been this low in a long time.
That way, you know that you?ll be future-proof for a while and that you can alt-tab out of your games with minimal lag.
This is exactly why all the Mainstream Gaming PC Tiers now features 8GB of RAM.?That way, you know that you?ll be future-proof for a while and that you can alt-tab out of your games with minimal lag.
Is it worth it to get RAM with higher frequencies (e.g. 2000MHz RAM vs 1600MHz RAM)?
In my opinion, there is little incentive to move to faster frequency RAM, as this usually only brings only a small performance increase, nothing noticeable (According to Tom?s Hardware ), while costing quite a bit more in some cases.
Maximum amount of RAM: Except for the ASRock H61M/U3S3 which supports two sticks of RAM for a maximum of 16GB (Two stick of 8GB), all the motherboards in this guide support four sticks of RAM, for a maximum of 32GB (4 sticks of 8GB) of RAM.
Faster or More RAM?
Can?t decide between getting faster (Higher frequency) RAM, or more (More GB) RAM?
I recommend going with more RAM, as this will allow your PC to be more future-proof and it will improve its responsiveness when you?re using demanding programs/games.
In short: More RAM will give you more performance, in the long run.
Other Upgrades:
If you want faster RAM or a 16GB kit, here are my recommended upgrades:
Heatsinks and CPU cooler clearance:
Every kit that I recommend in this guide feature either no heatsinks or small heatsinks that don?t raise too much above the RAM sticks.
Why?
- Because RAM heatsinks barely make any difference when it comes to RAM temperatures. Besides, even if you overclock it/raise the voltage (at your own risk), RAM temperatures aren?t a problem as long as you have decent airflow in your case.
- Tall RAM heatsinks can get in the way of larger aftermarket CPU Coolers, preventing you from installing your aftermarket CPU Cooler!
Important: RAM can require manual configuration within the BIOS to reach its full potential or function properly!
By default, some RAM kits will boot at lower frequencies than they are rated for. This is perfectly normal, it does not mean that your RAM is defective.
You simply have to go within the BIOS (The first thing that you see when your PC starts) and enable XMP, for your RAM to function at its rated speed. If XMP is not available or doesn?t work for some reason, you can adjust the RAM settings manually, such as frequency (In MHz, usually linked to the CPU, look for a CPU:RAM ratio), voltage (e.g. 1.65v) and timings (a series of numbers, such as 9-9-9-24). Refer to your motherboard manual and your RAM specifications for more information.
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Quick tip: Get the most performance out of your SSD, by selecting AHCI in your BIOS/EFI options. Unless you use two SSD or HDD in RAID 0 or 1 that is, in which case you want to select RAID.
SSD for Tier 4, 5, 6 and 7:
For Version 3.0, the SSD capacity gets upgraded from 64GB to 90GB. As a replacement to the Crucial M4 64GB SSD, we have the Corsair Force 3 90GB, based on a SandForce controller. Rest assured though, Corsair has a much better track record than OCZ when it comes to SSD reliability.
Required SATA cable, Tier 4 and 5 only:
Since the Tier 4 and 5 motherboards only includes two SATA cables (used by the hard drive and optical drive), you?ll need to buy an extra SATA cable to hook up the SSD to the motherboard. I recommend and included in the Tier 4/5 budget this Additional 18? SATA Cable for Tier 4-5
Who are SSDs for?
SSDs are for you if don?t mind paying more for:
- Much faster OS boot, Shutdown, Sleep and Hibernation
- Much faster program and game loading, meaning that you don?t have to wait as long for your program or your game to load.
SSD vs two hard drives in RAID 0:
Two Samsung F3 1TB can reach sequential reads of close to 300MB/s, which is higher than the 285MB/s of a 1st generation SandForce SSD, such as the Corsair Force, or OCZ Agility/Vertex 2. So that must mean that two hard drives in RAID 0 are just as good/fast as a SSD, right?
No, not even close. See, sequential reads are best scenarios, like when you?re copying a file from one hard drive to another (Assuming that you?re not bottlenecked by a USB 2.0 connection here). In that best-scenario case, two HDDs in RAID 0 can match a SSD speed.
However, in real-life, what matters the most are random 4K reads, which represents typical OS loading, program loading, game/game level loading. In those cases, a SSD can easily be fifty times as fast as a single Velociraptor HDD, considered by most as the fastest consumer HDD, scoring 52.1MB/s Random 4K Reads for a Vertex 2 SSD, vs 0.7MB/s for the Velociraptor, according to AnandTech. Needless to say, even with two Samsung f3 1TB in RAID 0, the figure for the HDDs wouldn?t increase much beyond 1.5-2.0MB/s.
That is why two hard drives can seem like a match for a single SSD on paper (due to often advertised sequential transfer rates) and why they really are not match for a SSD in real-life situations (due to the more real-life usefulness of 4K random reads/writes).
SSD Alternatives
90GB will hold the OS (Windows 7) as well as a few programs/games, depending on their size.
If 90GB isn?t enough for you or if you want an higher-end model, here are some SSDs alternatives
- $165 ? Corsair Force 3 GT 90GB SATA III SSD
- $160 ? Corsair Force 115GB SATA II SSD
- $195 ? Crucial M4 128GB SATA III SSD
? High-end performance and reliability are words that I?d use for the Crucial M4.
- $250 ? Corsair Force 3 180GB SATA III SSD
- $349 ? Crucial M4 256GB SATA III SSD
? High-end reliable 256GB SSD
For other options and alternatives, take a look at our The Best SSDs and HDDs For Your Money article.
2.5? to 3.5? bracket adapter:
Note that all of the 2.5? SSDs include a 2.5? to 3.5? Bracket, except for the Crucial M4 and the Corsair Force (This does not apply to the Force 3 nor Force GT series) SSDs, for which I recommend the $5- Rosewill RX-C200P 2.5? SSD / HDD Mounting Kit for 3.5? Drive Bay adapter.
You can skip the SSD if you need or want to cut down on costs:
If you feel like a SSD doesn?t make enough of a performance different to justify its cost or if you need/want to cut $140 from the overall cost of a Tier, you can remove the SSD from a Tier and go only with a hard drive, while still having perfectly functional PC. That?s the great part of building your custom PC, you choose the parts that go in it
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Hard Drive for Tier 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7:
Important Note:
Major flooding in Thailand resulting in limited?availability?and higher prices for hard drives:
If you were not aware of this yet, there has been a horrible?flooding?in Thailand, which has resulted in:
A- a horrible human tragedy. My thoughts are with the people of Thailand.
B- Western Digital and Seagate (who now pretty much owns Samsung hard drive division)?been forced to cut down their production of hard drives due to either factories or suppliers of hard drive parts that were affected by the flooding. The flooding is not expected to go away from several weeks, so it will take many months for the situation to go back to normal.
The result of this is lower availability and higher prices for hard drives. As I?m writing this line, on October 30th, prices are starting to stabilize at their current levels, with Samsung F3 1TB drives virtually out of stock everywhere or very expensive, Western Digital drives available but at a much higher price and finally Seagate drives which are available and slightly more expensive than before.
Pick a drive based on availability and prices:
So while I have an hard drive recommendation above, it could go out of stock or up in price just a few hours after I publish this update, so I?m actually recommending a variety of hard drives.
Do yourself a favour: Compare prices when you?re ready to buy your hard drive and buy the best deal that?s available.
Alternative: Invest the Budget for the hard drive into a larger capacity SSD:
If you don?t need a ton of storage space, or have other storage solutions (older HDD, laptop, external storage, etc.) you could also invest that $75 toward a larger capacity SSD and skip the hard drive, by going with a $250 ? Corsair Force 3 180GB SATA III SSD
Every recommended hard drive is compatible
Rest assured that every hard drive below is compatible with any of the Tiers of the Mainstream Gaming PCs.
Reliability
Reliability wise, the Samsung F3 tops the chart, followed closely by the Seagate Barracuda and then the Western Digital Caviar Black is right behind them. The Hitachi drives are the least reliable, with a 4% return rate, all according to an article by Hardware.fr.
All hard drives and all SSDs are prone to failure though, which is why you should Have a Backup System that you can rely on!
Performance
Performance wise, the Western Digital Caviar Black and the Samsung F3 trade blows at the top, followed by the Seagate Barracuda and the Hitachi drive in last place. Keep in mind that the performance difference between each hard drive isn?t significant enough to make a perceivable impact.
Prices as of October 30th 1:00AM EST:
SATA II 3.0Gb/s vs SATA III 6.0Gb/s: No performance difference for hard drives!
SATA 3.0 Gb/s (SATA II) and SATA 6.0Gb/s (SATA III) refer to the speed of the connection between the drive and the motherboard.
However, the best hard drives reach about 160MB/s (or 1.28Gb/s) in best scenarios. SATA 3.0Gb/s is plenty enough to handle that and for hard drives, SATA 6.0Gb/s does not offer any performance advantage, since the hard drives can?t even max out a SATA II 3.0Gb/s connection.
Only SSDs take advantage of SATA 6.0Gb/s due to their higher transfer rates.
In other words, if you take two otherwise identical hard drives, the SATA III model will not be faster than the SATA II model. SATA III for hard drives is just a marketing scheme
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Tier 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
This drive is able to read and burn CDs and DVDs. Silent, compatible with all major formats including DVD-RAM.
The motherboard includes two SATA cables (One will be used for the hard drive and one for this DVD Burner), so no need to worry about cables.
Also, seeing as DVD Burners often go out of stock, here are a two alternatives that you can use to replace it. All are SATA based.
- $24- LITE-ON Black 24X SATA Black CD/DVD Writer
- $25- HP Black 24X SATA 24X CD/DVD Writer ? Retail
Upgrades:
If you?d like to watch BluRay movies or TV shows, this $69 ? ASUS Black 12X BD-ROM SATA Blu-ray will do the job. However, note that it can only read CDs, DVDs and Bluray disks, not burn any of them.
If you want the ability to burn Blu-Ray disks as well, then the $80 ? LG Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE SATA is what you want.
Regarding Blu-Ray playback:
As far as I know, you still require a specific software to playback Blu-Ray disks on a PC.
Based on various reviews and feedback on various forums, PowerDVD 11 3D Ultra is the software that I recommend to you.
It is fully compatible with Windows 7 and shouldn?t give you any problems.
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Tier 3
- Cooling wise, this case includes three 120mm and one 140mm case fans, ensuring proper cooling for your Gaming PC.
Features wise, you get:
- Mesh design with dust filters.
- 2x USB 2.0, Audio out and MIC in.
- Various holes and space to route and hide your wires.
Tier 4, 5 and 6:
Currently priced at $89, the Cooler Master HAF 922 is that type of case you either love or hate, with its industrial look and the red LEDs case fans.
- Cooling wise, this case includes two 200mm and one 120mm case fans. You can add two additional 120mm (Or a Cooler Master 200mm fan) case fans on the side panel, to improve airflow to your video cards.
Features wise, you get:
- A solid steel design, with a unique industrial look.
- 2x USB, 1x eSATA, Audio out, MIC in at the top
- An hole on the back panel, to easily install after-market CPU Cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case.
- Various holes and space to route and hide your wires.
Tier 7:
This is the latest version of the Cooler Master HAF 932, now with USB 3.0 ports on the front and the inside panel painted in black.
- Cooling wise, this case includes three 230mm and one 140mm case fans. You can add an additional 120mm case fan in the GPU duct, which I recommend below in the Cooling section. It is included in the budget of Tier 7 and is highly recommended to ensure proper cooling for the two Radeon HD 6950 in Crossfire.
Features wise, you get:
- A unique industrialized/military look with the inside painted in black and fans with red LEDs.
- Tons of space to build your computer inside of it and five internal 3.5? drive bays, allowing for plenty of SSDs and HDDs.
- 4x USB 2.0, 1x eSATA, Audio out, MIC in at the top and 2x USB 3.0 via the bracket in the middle of the front of the case. All of these need to be connected to your motherboard to be functional.
- An hole on the back panel, to easily install after-market CPU Cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case.
- Various holes, rubber and space to route and hide your wires.
Other recommended cases:
If you a want with a different look, more case fans and/or other features, take a look at my list of other recommended cases:
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Tier 3, 4 and 5:
This power supply is capable of delivering up to 550W, not that you should rely on this information only as I often point in posts such as Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply, but more importantly 44A on the 12V line, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a power supply for a gaming computer.
It is also 80PLUS Bronze certified, making it fairly efficient, so that you don?t waste money on your electricity bill. Its efficiency also helps it remain fairly cool and quiet, as there is less wasted energy converted to heat to dissipate.
Based on the same platform as the Seasonic S12II series, it was recently reviewed by JohnnyGuru here and he gave it a 9 out of 10 score.
Tier 6:
This power supply is capable of delivering up to 650W, not that you should rely on this information only as I often point in posts such as Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply, but more importantly 54A on the 12V line, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a power supply for a gaming computer.
It is 80 PLUS Silver certified, to insure good efficiency, a lower power bill, less heat and noise, compared to a less efficient and/or lower quality power supply.
Reviewed at Hardware Secrets, where it got a Silver Award.
Here?s what they said about it in their conclusion:
The new PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 650 W is a very good power supply, presenting better performance than practically all 650 W power supplies we?ve reviewed to date. It only loses to Seasonic X-Series 650 W, but this model with 80 Plus Gold certification is more expensive.
Tier 7
This power supply is capable of delivering up to 550W, not that you should rely on this information only as I often point in posts such as?Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply, but more importantly 62.4A on the 12V line, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a power supply for a gaming computer.
It is 80 PLUS Silver certified, to insure good efficiency, a lower power bill, less heat and noise, compared to a less efficient and/or lower quality power supply.
Power Consumption:
How to calculate power consumption:
I recommend using the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator. Here are the settings that I used:
- CPU depending on the Tier, 90% TDP. For Tier 6-7 OC, it is overclocked to 4.5GHz/1.4V
- Video Cards depends on the Tier
- Two sticks sticks of DDR3
- One regular SATA drive + One Flash SSD
- 1 DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive
- 4 USB Devices
- 4 x 120mm regular fans
- System Load: 90%
- Capacitor Aging: 20%
A quick note about the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator:
While this is the main tool that I use to estimate power consumption, do note that sometimes, I?ll do some additional research on my own to verify these numbers. This is why you may notice that the numbers that I give below may or may not match what the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator gives you. In doubt, stick with my numbers or?ask us on the forums.
Give your power supply some overhead:
While you can match a 650W PSU with a 630W requirement, it is good practice to add about 100W of overhead, so that your PSU doesn?t run at full capacity all the time, as that will reduce its lifespan, increase its chance of failure, increase its heat output and its noise output.
Estimated Power Consumption, per Tier:
According to the?eXtreme Power Supply Calculator, with the settings that I described above,?it is estimated that this system will require at load (peak usage), the following Watts out of a power supply.?The minimum requirements are in Italic, while?my recommendations (including overhead) are in Bold:
- 395W/500W with the Intel Core i5-2400 and the Geforce GTX 560 Ti.
- 400W/500W with the Intel Core i5-2500 and the Geforce GTX 560 Ti.
- 440W/550W with the Intel Core i5-2500 and the Geforce GTX 560 Ti Hawk.
- 540W/650W with the Intel Core i5-2500K, overclocked to 4.5GHz/1.4v?and the Geforce GTX 570 Superclocked.
- 560W/700W with the Intel Core i5-2500K, overclocked to 4.5GHz/1.4v?and the Geforce GTX 580 Superclocked.
- 724W/850W with the Intel Core i5-2500K, overclocked to 4.5GHz/1.4v?and two Geforce GTX 570 in SLI.
- 775W/850W with the Intel Core i5-2500K, overclocked to 4.5GHz/1.4v?and two Geforce GTX 580 in SLI.
Other recommended upgrades:
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CPU Cooler
Tier 3: Stock Cooler
To save on costs, I recommend using the cooler included with the CPU.
While there are better coolers, the one that is included is good enough to keep the CPU at safe temperatures.
However, here are two reasons why you may choose to upgrade your CPU Cooler:
- To keep your CPU temperatures lower, which improves the reliability of your PC and the longevity of your CPU.
- To lower noise, as the stock cooler can get noisy at times, especially during prolonged work sessions, or in a warm room.
Tier 4 and 5:
The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is the latest version of the Hyper 212 CPU Cooler. It features an improved base, as well as an improved fan.
Thanks to those improvements, the Hyper 212 EVO offers much better cooling than the Hyper 212 Plus, while only costing a tad more ($35 vs $25).
Tier 6 and 7
Recommended by Brian, our collaborator for ?The Best CPU Coolers for your money? article, as a replacement to the Thermalright Venomous-X RT, as the NZXT HAVIK offers similar performance at a lower cost.
High-End performance at a mainstream price, just like the builds in this article
Want a better CPU Cooler?
The Thermalright Silver Arrow
Thermal Interface kit:
Note:?The CPU Coolers that I recommend already include thermal compound, so you don?t need to buy any.
Case Fans:
If you want to add a case fan to help keep your computer components cool or to replace the fans that came with your case, here are my recommendations:
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6 or 8 channels sound card: Integrated on the motherboard
Integrated with the motherboard, this sound card will handle many different sound setups, including headphones, a microphone and more. While integrated audio on a PC used to be absolutely horrible, it has gotten much better in the last few years, thus why I have no trouble recommending it.
Integrated sound won?t cut it?
No problem, I can understand your desire to have better than ?good enough? sound and I don?t blame you. Here?s what I recommend to you, in order of price:
- $25- ASUS XONAR DG 5.1 Channels PCI
- $50- ASUS Xonar DS 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/mainstream-gaming-pc-v301-updated-hard-drives/
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