I hope I am not breaching the forum rules by asking for advice on a Windows-based computer. This sticky seems to suggest it is fine.
I also appreciate that most forum members are "Macxperts" so it is slightly odd to be posting here, but my sense is that many people also know a great deal about computers in general (certainly more than I do) and should be able to provide useful advice.
Background
I have been holding off buying a new computer for over a year now, waiting for the updated iMac to be released. Having looked at it and read various comments this morning, I am increasingly inclined to go for a Windows-based system.
I use my computer for (i) internet, (ii) Word and Excel, (iii) music, (iv) photos and (v) gaming. If it were not for (v), I would go for a new iMac without upgrades. As it stands, however, (v) is most important to me and it seems that the upgrades required to make the new iMac a decent gaming computer will make it quite $$$. But I digress...
Question
A friend recommended Maingear and someone there spec'ed out a system for me. Please could you take a look at the suggested system and let me know your thoughts? In particular, are there any upgrades you think I should go for which have not been included given the games I want to play (see below).
Full details of can be found by pasting the code FLKDJ in the "View Configuration" page of the Maingear website:
http://www.maingear.com/boutique/pc/viewconfig.asp
If you would prefer not to click the url, here is a summary (but NB this does not allow you to see the various other options, just what has been suggested):
The suggested system comes in at just under $3k, which is within my budget. NB it includes monitor and peripherals.
Other Relevant Information
Games I want to play:
Apart from this I want to try to future-proof my system as much as possible. I am not in a position to buy a new system each year. I would hope that my new system will be able to play most AAA titles for the next three to five years (feasible?).
Monitor size - I am flexible on this point and grateful for advice. Happy to go with a smaller monitor if it allows me to play at higher resolutions and FPS.
Many thanks in advance for your help!
I also appreciate that most forum members are "Macxperts" so it is slightly odd to be posting here, but my sense is that many people also know a great deal about computers in general (certainly more than I do) and should be able to provide useful advice.
Background
I have been holding off buying a new computer for over a year now, waiting for the updated iMac to be released. Having looked at it and read various comments this morning, I am increasingly inclined to go for a Windows-based system.
I use my computer for (i) internet, (ii) Word and Excel, (iii) music, (iv) photos and (v) gaming. If it were not for (v), I would go for a new iMac without upgrades. As it stands, however, (v) is most important to me and it seems that the upgrades required to make the new iMac a decent gaming computer will make it quite $$$. But I digress...
Question
A friend recommended Maingear and someone there spec'ed out a system for me. Please could you take a look at the suggested system and let me know your thoughts? In particular, are there any upgrades you think I should go for which have not been included given the games I want to play (see below).
Full details of can be found by pasting the code FLKDJ in the "View Configuration" page of the Maingear website:
http://www.maingear.com/boutique/pc/viewconfig.asp
If you would prefer not to click the url, here is a summary (but NB this does not allow you to see the various other options, just what has been suggested):
- Chassis: F131 with VRTX Cooling Technology (chassis-F131m)
- Motherboard: Asus® Maximus V Gene Featuring Lucid Virtu MVP, SupremeFX III Sound, CrossFire and SLI (mb-asus-maximus-v-gene)
- Processor: Intel® Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz/3.8GHz Turbo 6MB L3 Cache HD 4000 (cpu-intel-i5-3570K)
- MAINGEAR Redline Overclocking Service: Intel® Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking (redline-turboboost)
- Processor Cooling: MAINGEAR EPIC 120 Supercooler (cooler-epic120mm)
- Memory: 16GB Corsair® Dominator Platinum DDR3-1600 Extremely Low Latency 1.5V (4x4GB) (mem-corsair-CMD8GX3M2A1600C8x2)
- Graphics and GPGPU Accelerator: EVGA® GeForce GTX 680 2GB GDDR5 Superclocked w/PhysX [ENTHUSIAST] (gpu-evga-superclocked-680-2gb-02G-P4-2682-KR)
- Power Supply: 660 Watt Seasonic® X-660 80+ Gold Certified Modular Power Supply ROHS (psu-Seasonic-X-660)
- Hard Drive Bay One: 120GB Corsair® Force GT SSD SATA 6G (w/ TRIM) [555MB/s Reads] (hdd-corsair-forcegt-120gb)
- Hard Drive Bay Two: 1TB Seagate® Barracuda 7200rpm 64MB Cache SATA 6G (hdd-seagate-ST1000DM003)
- Optical Drive One: 8X Dual Layer DVD RW Drive Slot Loading SATA (od-slimline-8x)
- Audio: Asus® SupremeFX III X-Fi THX TrueStudio Pro Premium Audio (audio-mb-asus-supremefxiii)
- Ethernet Adapter: On-board Gigabit Ethernet (nic-onboard)
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (os-windows7-homepremium64)
- Display: 23" Acer GD235HZ 1080p FullHD 3D Display 120Hz [3D Ready] (mon-Acer-GD235HZbid)
- Keyboard: Logitech® Gaming Keyboard G510 (kb-logitech-G510)
- Mouse: Logitech® Gaming Mouse G500 (mouse-logitech-g500)
The suggested system comes in at just under $3k, which is within my budget. NB it includes monitor and peripherals.
Other Relevant Information
Games I want to play:
- Blizzard titles (WoW, SCII, DIII)
- Skyrim
- Guild Wars 2
- Borderlands 2
Apart from this I want to try to future-proof my system as much as possible. I am not in a position to buy a new system each year. I would hope that my new system will be able to play most AAA titles for the next three to five years (feasible?).
Monitor size - I am flexible on this point and grateful for advice. Happy to go with a smaller monitor if it allows me to play at higher resolutions and FPS.
Many thanks in advance for your help!