Hey all, I'm thinking about getting a decent PC for the upcoming release of Skyrim. I'm thinking I want it to last a while, so I was wondering what you all think?


Antec Twelve Hundred 1200 Ultimate Gaming Full Tower Case - Black
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 3.30GHz Black Edition (Socket AM3) Processor
Asus Crosshair IV Formula AMD 890FX (Socket AM3) DDR3 PCI-Express Motherboard
OCZ StealthXStream 2 700W Power Supply
LG BH10LS30 Internal Blu-Ray ReWriter BD-RW SATA Drive - Black - OEM
LiteOn IHAS324-32 24x Internal DVD±R/RW SATA Drive - Black (Retail)
6GB Corsair Dominator GT (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Triple Channel - CMT6GX3M3A1866C9
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6970 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card x2
2TB Western Digital WD2001FASS Caviar Black 3.5" SATA II Hard Drive x2
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series PCI-Express 7.1 Sound Card
Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller - PC / Xbox 360 (JR9-00002)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit OEM Operating System
Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator and Fan CPU Cooler
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1450 RPM Cooling Fan x5
Prolimatech PK-1 Nano Aluminum Thermal Compound - 5g

On a quick note, I've already got wireless keyboard/mouse, and I'm thinking of plugging it into my 32" HDTV.

It will surely play Skyrim, though we can't possibly know how well at this point. Also, triple channel RAM is pointless considering the motherboard you've chosen (or any AM3 mobo) only supports dual channel. 2x2GB will suffice for a gaming rig.

AMD CPUs run on dual channel memory, so you may want to get rid of the triple channel memory and stick either 2x2GB for 4GB or 2x4GB for 8GB total in there. Unless you really need Windows 7 Ultimate, there is no need in buying it. Home Premium can do everything needed for a gaming PC and the extra stuff in Ultimate is just there as "bloatware".

I would say a 700W should be good, but you atleast want 100-150W overhead on the PSU, and the 6970 can take up to 300W by itself on a full load. As to the hard drive, unless you really need the space, I would say drop 1 of the 2TB drives and place an SSD in there for your boot drive.

Give Intel's Sandybridge a consideration as well. The 2500K and 2600K are a couple of the more faster chips on the market. Otherwise, the AMD setup you got is still nice.

What everyone else said.

Also, if you want to reduce load times I highly recommend picking up an SSD or hybrid drive (should be a bit cheaper closer to November), with enough space to run Windows + your apps and games.

That will surely play Skyrim on max.

Yup. At the prices they sell at, Intel's SB CPUs are a no brainer. Change out the Asus AMD AM3 motherboard for an ASUS P8P67 Pro/Deluxe and grab either an 2500K or 2600K and you will be kicking ass for years.

Asus Crosshair IV Formula AMD 890FX = $204.99
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 3.30GHz Black Edition = $269.99

ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 = $184.99
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz = $224.99

Cheaper and much, much faster. Still, you'd probably be fine on what you have.

Tbh, I usually stick to AMD becuase I've always had a hatred of Intel, not for any reason but I do think AMD easier to over clock, not that I'd need it now, but I'm thinking for the future. I want to use this system for while an I may have to do a little bit of OCing. However I like the thoughts on an SSD, and I will change one of the SATA HD's to an SSD drive, also I'll change the RAM to 4x 2GB (8GB total).

Just one other thing; would any of you guys recommend water cooling? I've heard good things about it.

make sure to check out some reviews of the SSD you plan to buy, they is a lot of variation in speed and capacity for TRIM/garbage collecting etc.

AMD Phenom II Black Edition vs Sandybridge 2500k
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/203?vs=288

Doesn't sound like you want to be convinced, so I'll stop there. IMO, water cooling is overkill and too much of a hassle - especially if one isn't going to do extreme overclocking. Basic CPU fan coolers such as the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus are just dandy.

I to will nudge you in the direction of Intel's SB line. I'd leave any preconceived notions at the door. Intel CPU's rock. (Currently, not that they, or AMD don't have duds.)

Mild OCing only needs a decent tower/closed loop WCing (H50/etc) I have my 3.06GHz 950 at 4.2GHz using the H50 in push/pull. (Not exactly mild but no extreme either.)

I am going full on water cooling myself because I live in an attic, and it gets damn hot up here in the summer. I also want to try and push my OC some more but simply can't at this point. (Plan to water cool CPU/NB/SB first then GPUs later.)

Yes, it will run Skyrim. Most of those specs are much better than mine, so if my computer runs it your new computer will run it

Thank you Wildeyes for that comparison. Looking at them side by side it's starting to sound very good. I might be convinced on the Intel. It's been a while since I built a PC so I'm still a little behind on the latest equipment.

Also, thank you to everyone for the water-cooling tips. I think I'll leave it for the moment, I'm going to be moving about a bit in the forseeable future, so air cooling would likely be more reliable, and less likely to get damaged.

On another note, now im being convinced to lean towards the intel's would you reccomend Nvidea SLi's (as I'll be putting 2 cards in) or stick with the ATi, as in the past I'v always associated AMD+ATi and Intel+Nvidea?

Consider the H50 or H70 (Closed loop.) options. They make for a cleaner case interior an I very much like that.

They all play well together, no need to group them up.

The 6970 is no slouch, I see no reason to switch to Nvidia. (Unless you reeeeally want to.) A second 6970? Sure if funds allow and you want a dual setup.