$2000 System Build for 2nd system

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oniasiu

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Oct 5, 2013
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10,510
Hi guys,

Just finished reading Proximon’s guide for making a PC, now I need advice on rebuilding my 6 year-old pc. For my 1st pc build, I just got whatever was on sale; now I want a well-designed, well-oiled machine after a recent PSU failure on my main PC.
My last pc was as follow:

CPU: Core 2 Quad Q6600
MB: Asus P5N32-E Sli Plus LGA 775
RAM: DDR2 800
Case: HAF-X
PSU: Rosewill Capstone-450
CPU Cooler: Coolmaster Hyper 212 Plus
GPU: Radeon HD 5670
SSD: Crucial M4 256GB
HDD: 1 – 2TB Western Digital Green, 1 – 500GB Western Digital Blue

My goals are to get a good pc build list together and then save up for it getting the parts slowly over the next year or so. Therefore a priority, list of acquisition would be good. My goals are the following:

Approximate Purchase Date: Rolling, will save for build.

Budget Range: ~2,000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 1.)Gaming, 2.)Data Storage, 3.)Movie Watching, 4.) Surfing the Web

Parts not Required: Case, Keyboard, Speakers, OS, SSD

Preferred Websites for Parts: Amazon, Newegg

Country: USA

Parts Preference: none

Overclocking: yes

SLI: Maybe, the articles I’ve read said that gaming is more stable with less tearing on one GPU

Monitor Resolution: 1 – 1920X1200, 1 - 1600X1200

Additional Comments: I would want it as silent as possible. My brother’s PC is quiet during general use while mine is audible like the ocean waves in the background. I’m also thinking of getting the MDCiFlex filters for the case. Also I don’t mind getting better fans to make the case more quiet. Also, please keep in mind that I plan to keep this build for 5-6 years with only upgrades when parts fail, so I don’t mind paying a little more to get parts that will last that long.
 
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photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
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My advice is going to CHANGE as time goes on and prices change.

Also, $2000 is more than you need to spend. I recommend concentrating on a solid CPU like the i5-4670K and reliable motherboard, Power Supply and 8GB of DDR3 memory.

A GTX770 or similar card is pretty powerful but again no point in picking an exact model if you don't know when it will be purchased.

SLI?
If you were buying today, I'd recommend something like a SINGLE, GTX780 EVGA 967MHz graphics card. It's very powerful, and you also want to keep the noise down.

G-SYNC:
Do some reading on NVidia's G-Sync technology for new monitors. You may not be in the market but it's good information. Basically, it's about new monitors that make gaming much more smooth.

*I'll put together a rough build below to get you started.
 
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smorizio

smorizio

Titan
Jan 22, 2010
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125,315
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2tVqD
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2tVqD/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2tVqD/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-PRO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($179.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill AEGIS 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($182.80 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 Black ATX Full Tower Case ($159.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1202.24
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-01 17:21 EST-0500)
 
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photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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Update:
Your old system should NOT be rebuilt. You can't keep Windows from it, or most of the hardware. There's no point in keeping much of it at all or then what do you do with THAT system?

So my BUILD BELOW will not include a monitor or SSD. It's really a guide anyway since you aren't buying immediately.
 
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photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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My parts list and COMMENTS: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2tVPk

Again, since I don't know WHEN you are buying I just concentrated on the core components for reference.

1) Motherboard: This "Hero" from Asus has SupremeFX audio which is superior to any Realtek solution. Particularly important for watching videos with good speakers.

2) CPU Cooler: There are alternatives to this on you can research more if need be but the one listed is a solid, inexpensive cooler. Make sure to get one with PWM FANS.

3) DDR3 memory:
8GB is pretty much standard (2x4GB) and 1866/2133 is basically the "sweet spot"; below that and some throttling can occur though it's not common, and above this it's mostly pointless.

4) CASE: The case I chose is pretty nice:
- cable management
- front USB3
- easy access side panels
*You should spend more time doing research.

5) GTX780:
This is a powerful card and runs very quietly. As I said before, don't go SLI if quietness is a prime concern. Plus the 780 is plenty.

6) MONITOR:
I didn't include one as I see no point (again the date).
*I do recommend looking into a G-SYNC monitor next year. ASUS has first dibs, and should even have a monitor with the SLOT for the new G-Sync card but not the actual card itself. I like the idea of being able to replace it and also not buy right away, if the monitor is good and reasonably priced of course.

Summary:
I hope these CORE PARTS help get you started. Make sure to research each individual part, in particular the case, graphics card, motherboard and Power Supply.
 
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photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/g-sync

Just FYI, G-Sync (compatible monitor in 2014 and NVidia 600/700 card) is the only solution that can solve the following AT THE SAME TIME:

1) Screen tearing
2) Lag
3) Stutter/jutter

There's a lot of confusion about this technology. For example, many people think it doesn't matter as long as you can get above 60FPS and are synching to 60Hz. No. G-Sync at about 60FPS has less lag, less stutter, and depending on the game, less jutter as well.

To avoid screen tearing, AND have minimal lag you have to jump up to 120FPS VSYNC'd which gets pretty expensive for hardware (and you'll notice if you drop below, or have much jutter).

Anyway, there's some good videos online, and some a few explanations though it can get quite confusing. The bottom line though, is if you think it's NOT going to make much difference then you really don't understand it.

*I should also add that I absolutely love gaming on my 27", 2560x1440 monitor. I do NOT like triple monitor setups, and now I find even 24" a little small.

While I play MOST games such as Skyrim at 1920x1080 due to them looking basically the SAME, there are several games that look much better at 2560x1440. Basically, top-down games with small text/HUD elements such as:
- Starcraft 2
- Diablo 3 (if I cared)
- Torchlight
- CIV 5

I consider my monitor the most important part of my gaming rig really. I have no interest in upgrading for several years (GTX680/i7-3770K) as I can max out most games (and thanks to Steam sales I won't be buying more games for a while). I'll probably upgrade ONLY the graphics card in three more years.

I've found the ability to properly TWEAK games pretty important as well, since some of the settings in games like BF3 can kill frame rates for minimal quality difference. I always tweak to maintain 60FPS.

Cheers.
 
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