Ordered new rig --Ibuypower Chimera 4se

[corvetteguy78]

Was time to update my Ibuypower gaming rig from 2006(i've had to replace some parts here and there)..the Chasis fell apart over time, broken doors, non functioning USB ports, audio ports, media reader etc...It ran pretty good but had a tough time playing somewhat older games like Dragon Age Origins on high settings, actually i couldn't play it on high, more like medium low settings. I was also running out of space as it only had a 250gig HD. I had like 2 gigs left of space.

Old config was essentially this:
-Visiontek Radeon HD 5770 1GB video card
-OCZ PC2 6400 Platinum series ram 4GIG(2 x 2GIG modules)
-Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
-ASUS Motherboard M4A785-M
AMD Phenom 9550 Quad core processor 2.2GHZ

New Config is this: should be day and night from my old PC--should arrive by the 18th

1 x Case Chimera Inferno 4SE Gaming Case - Flame
1 x Processor AMD FX-8350 CPU (8x 4GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
1 x Motherboard Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 -- AMD 990FX w/ 4x PCI-E 2.0 x16
1 x Memory 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1866 Memory Module ADATA XPG V2**
1 x Video Card AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB - Single Card
1 x Power Supply 750 Watt - Corsair CX750M - 80 PLUS Bronze, Full Modular
1 x Processor Cooling Asetek 510LC Liquid CPU Cooling System [AMD] - ARC Dual Silent High Performance Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow)
1 x Primary Hard Drive 120 GB ADATA S510 SSD -- Read: 550MB/s, Write: 510MB/s - Single Drive
1 x Data Hard Drive 500 GB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive
1 x Optical Drive LG Blu-ray Reader Combo Drive
1 x Sound Card ASUS Xonar DSX -- 7.1 Channels, 192kHz/24-bit
1 x Network Card Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
1 x Keyboard iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Keyboard
1 x Mouse iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Mouse
1 x Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit
1 x Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty Service
1 x Advanced Build Options Tuning TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound - The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks
1 x Advanced Build Options Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Achieve exceptional airflow in your chassis
1 x Advanced Build Options Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Basic Pro Wiring
1 x Advanced Build Options Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Advanced - Power Package (Individually Sleeved 24-pin ATX, 8-pin CPU, and SATA Drive Power Cabling)
1 x Advanced Build Options Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower - Advanced - Video Package (Individually Sleeved 8-pin and 6-pin PCI-E VGA Power Cabling)
1 x Meter Display NZXT Sentry 2 Touch Screen Fan Controller & Temperature Display
1 x Media Card Reader / Writer 12-In-1 Internal Media Card Reader/Writer - Black
1 x Free Stuff [FREE Game Download] - AMD Never Settle Forever Silver Reward - Select 2 Free Games (Choose from Sniper Elite III, Murdered: Soul Suspect, and more) - Free w/ purchase of AMD Radeon R7 260, R9 270 Series Graphics Cards
1 x Free Stuff [FREE] - McAfee Antivirus PLUS 2014 - FREE with any System ($49 Value)
1 x Free Stuff [FREE] - Turtle Beach Z1 Headset - FREE with ALL iBUYPOWER Systems ($29 Value)
1 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction Basic - iBUYPOWER Harmony SRS Sound Reduction System - Reduce System Noise
1 x iBUYPOWER PowerDrive PowerDrive Level 1 - Up to 10% Overclocking

 

[TurboMirage]

so what do you play? WOW?

 

[corvetteguy78]

so what do you play? WOW?

I play mostly single players like skyrim...mmorpg take up to much life lol..i have darksiders 1 and 2..dragon age origins...kingdoms of amalur...games like that...i wanna get murdered and a couple other games

 

[TurboMirage]

you wanna get murdered eh? lol

 

[corvetteguy78]

you wanna get murdered eh? lol

lol dick....

there are a few games i want that my old PC just wont run unless on low settings...8 year run is pretty good for a computer....i may have went overboard on this one, actually upgraded the ram and liquid cooling system just now to next level cooling and the ram to Corsair Vengeance...hopefully the graphics card is good enough or i maybe just get a second one but i really dont think i need Xfire or SLI

 

[TurboMirage]

you probably need both

last game i played on my pc was starcraft2 . still havent picked up part 2... soon part 3 will come out :/

 

[corvetteguy78]

I upgraded the Ram to Corsair Vengeance 8gig 1866, the power supply to Corsair RM 850watt full modular gold(due to stocking issues which would cause delays), and the liquid cooling to the Asetek 550LC(from the 510)...from what i have been reading, i am pretty confident this thing can run any current game on ultra settings at atleast 60fps but well shall see, it's scheduled to arrive on Tuesday....the shipping weight on this thing is listed as 93lbs(mouse and keyboard included)...sayyyyyyyy whhhattttttt

the Graphics card is a Powercolor Radeon R9 270x currently running at about $200 on amazon so if needed I'll just pick up another one and run Crossfire and add another 8gigs of the Corsair Vengeance($83). I also get two free games which is nice

At that point, there is no way i would need anything else for several years....

 

[Matts96HB]

I bought an iBuyPower rig almost two years ago. I added a SSD and upgraded the GPU to a 7870 GHz edition. Its been excellent. I'm just waiting for the need for two cards to arise so I can grab a second and go crossfire.

Sounds like you definitely got something to last you a while. The mouse and keyboard that came with my computer weren't too bad, but there's definitely higher quality stuff out there.

Any reason you went with the AMD processor?

 

[corvetteguy78]

I bought an iBuyPower rig almost two years ago. I added a SSD and upgraded the GPU to a 7870 GHz edition. Its been excellent. I'm just waiting for the need for two cards to arise so I can grab a second and go crossfire.

Sounds like you definitely got something to last you a while. The mouse and keyboard that came with my computer weren't too bad, but there's definitely higher quality stuff out there.

Any reason you went with the AMD processor?

Yea my Ibuypower was excellent for 6-7 years...years...no complaints which is why i am going back.

I've just always had good luck with AMD and use AMD whenever i built my PC's. And of course the price difference....The comparable Intel I7 is twice the price(CPU only) however it is a better performer. I just don't really need top of the line for my builds because i am not really a hardcore gamer. This is why i go with AMD CPU and GPU instead of Nvidia and Intel.

My system shipped was $1750 the equivalent Intel/Nvidia build shipped is $2028, a $278 difference....I already went over the $1500 budget i had set for myself when doing the build so i had to draw the line somewhere lol.

If this thing lasts as long as my last one i will be thrilled

on a side note, i could have built the same computer(without the case as it is custom, but similar case) for around 1400-1500 bucks by ordering all the same parts separately on amazon...but its just an absolute hassle if something doesn't work after you piece this thing together and you need to figure out what's broken and send it back, i don't have that kind of time anymore

 

[Matts96HB]

Yea my Ibuypower was excellent for 6-7 years...years...no complaints which is why i am going back.

I've just always had good luck with AMD and use AMD whenever i built my PC's. And of course the price difference....The comparable Intel I7 is twice the price(CPU only) however it is a better performer. I just don't really need top of the line for my builds because i am not really a hardcore gamer. This is why i go with AMD CPU and GPU instead of Nvidia and Intel.

My system shipped was $1750 the equivalent Intel/Nvidia build shipped is $2028, a $278 difference....I already went over the $1500 budget i had set for myself when doing the build so i had to draw the line somewhere lol.

If this thing lasts as long as my last one i will be thrilled

on a side note, i could have built the same computer(without the case as it is custom, but similar case) for around 1400-1500 bucks by ordering all the same parts separately on amazon...but its just an absolute hassle if something doesn't work after you piece this thing together and you need to figure out what's broken and send it back, i don't have that kind of time anymore

I might've gone the same route on the CPU, but I got a great deal on a build with an i7 920 during Black Friday 2012.

I watched my roommate build an entire PC from the ground up. He got lucky and didn't have any dead parts, I can imagine that'd be a total nightmare.

 

[TurboMirage]

DIY just isnt the same anymore. with so many cheap cheap parts even with good manufacturers it is a crapshoot to get decent parts. . ive got this core 2 quad rig here ive been trying to dump for a month together, or separate.. its worth money on paper but it isnt worth money if i cant get rid of it.

personally i feel it is smarter to get a custom rig from a builder company like you did if you can't just grab something off the shelf from a major manufacturer.

 

[corvetteguy78]

DIY just isnt the same anymore. with so many cheap cheap parts even with good manufacturers it is a crapshoot to get decent parts. . ive got this core 2 quad rig here ive been trying to dump for a month together, or separate.. its worth money on paper but it isnt worth money if i cant get rid of it.

personally i feel it is smarter to get a custom rig from a builder company like you did if you can't just grab something off the shelf from a major manufacturer.

Yeah the problem with going to Best Buy or PC Richards or even Amazon sometimes, and buying a Rig is that I have no idea what is in side it. Most of the time they don't give you the full specs...they will say, Intel I7, 8 Gigs Ram, HD Graphics Card with 2gig, etc....They sell Ibuypower's but they don't list all the specific parts inside.

Custom is the way to go if your spending that kind of money.

And you are definitely right about parts not being the same...I started building PC's at age 15 and the parts were solid back then...after awhile i was getting to many bad MB's, RAM modules, G-Cards..etc...to much of a hassle to save a couple hundred bucks.

I might've gone the same route on the CPU, but I got a great deal on a build with an i7 920 during Black Friday 2012.

I watched my roommate build an entire PC from the ground up. He got lucky and didn't have any dead parts, I can imagine that'd be a total nightmare.

yeah I've had mostly good luck building my own Rigs, but its when you get the bad luck that really sucks because you go without a computer for weeks. That's why i bought my Ibuypower years ago, i was tired of getting bad parts and waiting and waiting. Also, if something goes wrong, it's Ibuypower's problem not mine, at least for the first year.

 

[Briansol]

I think the biggest problem is that It's almost impossible to build your own cheaper these days. I used to build my own all the time. Sure, you don't always know what you are getting, but the time to put it together, add in the cost of windows (if you're going that route) and the hassel if something does't work or is incompatible, after you just spent $200 more... sucks.

I'm probably done buying towers at this point in my pc career. I don't game. I do 99.95% of my pc stuff on my chrome book as it is. The only times i've turned on my tower in the past few months has been to print something. And if i had a modern printer on the network instead of through a parallel cord (lol yup) i wouldn't even need to use it for that. The only thing i still want a pc for is FTP. Once there's an app for the chrome book that doesn't suck for that, i basically have 0 use for a pc any more.

 

[reikoshea]

I still build my own, but i do a lot of custom work, CPU heavy tasks, and heavy gaming as well.

X99 and the new haswell-e and ddr4 come out in 2 weeks, and the new gforce 880 should be out in 6 weeks. Gonna be building a new machine with all that gear.

I think you did a fine job on a PC that'll last you 4-5 years with some moderate/heavy gaming. If you're not a compiled code developer or video editor (and I do both) then the AMD platform is the best bang for your buck.

 

[corvetteguy78]

I still build my own, but i do a lot of custom work, CPU heavy tasks, and heavy gaming as well.

X99 and the new haswell-e and ddr4 come out in 2 weeks, and the new gforce 880 should be out in 6 weeks. Gonna be building a new machine with all that gear.

I think you did a fine job on a PC that'll last you 4-5 years with some moderate/heavy gaming. If you're not a compiled code developer or video editor (and I do both) then the AMD platform is the best bang for your buck.

Lol, well i don't have the means to build a $8000 computer with DDR4 and the New Intel Haswell E processors and Nvidia 880 vid cards....i hear early release of DDr4 is going to run atleast $500 for a 4 gig stick...hopefully in 6-7 years if/when i need a new PC it will be cheap enough to afford

 

[reikoshea]

Yeah well, bonus checks just got announced....I can pick up most of the hardware with most of that check plus about another thousand out of savings. Coulda done it all had it not been for the Vegas Trip.

 

[corvetteguy78]

Yeah well, bonus checks just got announced....I can pick up most of the hardware with most of that check plus about another thousand out of savings. Coulda done it all had it not been for the Vegas Trip.

I thought Vegas Hookers were reasonable?

Seriously if you build that Rig, assuming the x99 chipset boards, DDR4, haswell e and Nvidia 880 are out by Spring 2015..you should run and post some benchmarks

 

[corvetteguy78]

I think the biggest problem is that It's almost impossible to build your own cheaper these days. I used to build my own all the time. Sure, you don't always know what you are getting, but the time to put it together, add in the cost of windows (if you're going that route) and the hassel if something does't work or is incompatible, after you just spent $200 more... sucks.

I'm probably done buying towers at this point in my pc career. I don't game. I do 99.95% of my pc stuff on my chrome book as it is. The only times i've turned on my tower in the past few months has been to print something. And if i had a modern printer on the network instead of through a parallel cord (lol yup) i wouldn't even need to use it for that. The only thing i still want a pc for is FTP. Once there's an app for the chrome book that doesn't suck for that, i basically have 0 use for a pc any more.

I honestly had a Ibuypower /MSI 17.3" Laptop in my cart before i bought this PC. I travel somewhat a lot and figured it would be nice to have with me so im not always bored which leads to me going out spending my own money on drinking at the bars lol.

it was spec'd as follows:

Display
MSI GT70 Dominator, 17.3" FHD, Anti-Glare 1920x1080
Processor:Intel® Core™ i7-4810MQ Mobile Processor (4x 2.8GHz/6MB L3 Cache)
Memory:8GB [8GB x 1] 1866MHz DDR3 SO-DIMM Laptop Memory G.SKILL Ripjaws
Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M 6GB GDDR5 [GT70 Dominator]
Primary Hard Drive:1 TB 7200rpm Super Slim Laptop Hard Drive - Single Drive
Optical Drive:6x Blu-Ray-R/8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [GT70]
Media Card Reader / Writer:Built-in SD Memory Card Reader/Writer [Laptop]
Sound Card:HD Audio with Creative Soundblaster Cinema
Network Card:Killer E2200 Gaming Networking
Internal Wireless Network Adapter:Intel 7260AC Wireless + Bluetooth Combo [GT70]
Operating System:Windows 8.1 + Office 365 Trial [Free 30-Day !!!] 64-bit
USB Ports:Built-in 2x USB 2.0 Ports + 3x USB 3.0 Port [Laptop]
Webcam:Built-in HD Digital Web Video Camera [MSI]
Warranty:Standard Warranty Service - Optiboost MSI Two Years Limited Warranty + Life Time Technical Support


I just don't know much about laptop gaming and was worried it wouldn't be enough to support the future. Plus the fact that my wifes regular laptop always get hot so i'd need one of those laptop coolers.

70% wishes i had purchased a Laptop instead but again, just not sure about upgrades and gaming capabilities.

 

[Briansol]

Why not get a chromebook then for on the go? cheap as hell. it's not a gaming rig, but it's good for streaming vids, stays cool, and battery lasts legit 8-9 hours on a charge.

 

[corvetteguy78]

Why not get a chromebook then for on the go? cheap as hell. it's not a gaming rig, but it's good for streaming vids, stays cool, and battery lasts legit 8-9 hours on a charge.

well i want something for gaming for on the go as well...chrome book won't do, and i already have a Samsung Galaxy Tablet(The original 7inch) for regular internet browsing and emails and small things like that that i bring with me, plus an IBM Lenovo T510 Thinkpad from work if i need a keyboard for bigger projects.

If i didn't have those things already and just wanted "something" i would definitely get a chrome book.