$2000 New Gaming Rig

That is good money.

Are you looking to buy a new monitor/monitors too?
What games do you plan on playing mainly?
What other tasks are you planning to do on the rig?

People can give you vague advice, however it might not be good advice as we don't know your goals with the build.

If I had to make recommendations off the top of my head like that...Go for Intel's i5 4690k, closed loop water-cool and overclock the nuts off it. Smack in 8GB of very fast RAM (2x4Gb paring). Load in two 970's and overclock those too. Make sure you have atleast 256Gb of SSD space. Get a nice case and good z97 board to overclock all these components and don't skimp on the PSU...make it a Seasonic or XFX or EVGA witha wattage of 550 for single or 750 for dual card set ups........

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

Fill this out.

+1

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.75 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($71.85 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($118.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($554.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Titanium) ATX Mid Tower Case ($117.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.79 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($101.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1627.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 12:08 EST-0500

Basing off of your suggestion, I'm thinking something like this.

That is a strong system with lots of overclocking capability. We could probably argue A LOT about what is more value for money, how this and that can be tweaked.

At the end of the day, for 1440p or several 1080p monitors this will do very well and with the overkill PSU will provide juice for a further 980 in a years time or whatever.

Maybe worth thinking about 2 x 970 as it is within budget for you...

I just choose the 980 because of the vram issue, even though it isn't a big deal at the end of the day, and because 2 980s will outperform 2 970s. The new Corsair water cooled units are supposed to be really awesome, and that i5 can be overclock really far with it, I've seen up the 4.8 ghz.. Not 5 yet, but soon..

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.75 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($88.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($130.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($71.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($158.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 530 (Red) ATX Full Tower Case ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.75 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1736.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 12:18 EST-0500

Based on the fact that you need no monitor, keyboard or mouse and also depends on what resolution you will be playing on.

I would have gone 1 980 and a d15 or h110i

For that much, how does this look?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 4 79.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme3 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($161.78 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($90.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($532.00 @ Directron)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($532.00 @ Directron)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1996.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 12:20 EST-0500

I can refine it when you are able to provide more detailed information about what you will be doing with it.

Honestly, 2 970s is overkill. 1 980 should be more than enough, without the problems and headaches that come with sli.

My point earlier in the thread...OP never answered it.

I can post 5 setups, all optimal, super fast and aesthetically wonderful...without knowing what you are playing in though it may be a bad setup or not worth it.

I will say again...you need to pair this kind of rig to a very good 1440p monitor, several 1080p monitors or a 4k solution...Otherwise it is totally pointless and you can build something for under $1000 that will do as well on HD.

Thats funny, i have the 970s in sli and i have gotten no issues what so ever. And how do you know its overkill? Maybe he has a 4k monitor, we dont know yet. lol

It really depends on the game too. Some games are horribly optimized for sli, looking at you skyrim..

True, and i love skyrim. But you can turn off sli and run that game with no issues on one 970.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.75 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($146.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($118.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($101.05 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe ATX Full Tower Case ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.79 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard: Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. 3 White Wired Gaming Keyboard ($92.87 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse ($69.99 @ Micro Center)
Other: Swiftech H240-X Water Cooler ($149.99)
http://www.swiftech.com/H240-X.aspx
Other: Phanteks PH-LEDKT_M2 Multi Colors LED strip 2m ($24.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681198400
Total: $2014.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 12:25 EST-0500



CPU - Ya listed no apps that need HT, so why spend the extra $90 on the i7 4790k

MoBo - One of the best Gaming Mobos around, tops my $300 Asus M6F as well as the Hero and Z-97A
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/msi_z97_gaming_5_motherboard_review/14

RAM - Why do DDR-1600 when 2400 is up to 11% faster in gaming and has marginal price increase

Storage - Large SSD plus an SSHD for the rest of your games to give you SSD like performance for what doesn't fit on the SSD.

GFX - 50% faster than a single 980 while being only 20% more money. Scaling is phenomenal on demanding games. Twin 970s at 2560 res ....

Tomb Raider goes from 29.8 to 58.7; scaling = 96.98%
Battlefield 3 goes from 62.1 to 121.4; scaling = 95.49%
Far Cry 3 goes from 35.6 to 68.8; scaling = 93.26%
Crysis 3 goes from 22.5 to 43.3; scaling = 92.44%
Thief goes from 70.8 to 136.1; scaling = 92.23%
Bioshock Infinite goes from 76.7 to 143.9; scaling = 87.61%
Splinter Cell: Blacklist goes from 49.5 to 92.2; scaling = 86.26%
Battlefield 4 goes from 45.0 to 83.2; scaling =84.89%
Metro LL goes from 40.7 to 74.6; scaling =
Batman: Arkham Origins goes from 81.8 to 148.3; scaling = 81.30%


Case - Read the written reviews / watch the youtube reviews....common comment is nothing comparable in it's price range. Built in pWM or DCV fan and LED control systems, SSD mounts, great cable routing and ties, 1"+ space behind MoBo tray, PSU shroud hides all cables and PSU....

PSU - Could get buy with the 750 G2 but price of the 850 is oft priced lower than the 750 w/ rebates ... choose on buy day accordingly.

Swiftech Water Cooler - Essentially.... it outperforms every air cooler and, according to the review, "flat out embarrasses" every 240, 280 and even 360mm CLC on the market ... grab the DH-15 if ya not into water

http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/42047-swiftech-h240-x-open-loop-280mm-cpu-cooler-review?showall=&start=3

I had room in budget for Mouse and KB, so added them as options to match the white case.... BTW, MSI has white 970s dropping soon... they showed them at CES

LED Strip - If ya into that sorta thing ... again had the room in budget. Can see the effect here at end of video (25:45 mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kayq0Ad8A0Y

He put at bottom where it doesn't light up interior... I gave ya the 2m one so could go all the way around and show off ya components.

So that's where that post disappeared to....

As ya might have noticed, I'm a practicing engineer and aside from running my business, I also do all the IT here and build all the CAD boxes. Fortunately, what is good for CAD is good for gaming..... when I started doing this in the 1990s, system requirements were governed by the CAD side, now gaming drives what's needed. GeForce cards are best for 2D and 3D CAD. If you are going to get into heavy architectural rendering, Quadro makes sense for CAD, not for gaming.

The build above is very similar to the one I use in my office. Changes Id make knowing about the CAD now:

Upgrade to the 4790k + $90
Drop the KB / Mouse - $163

Leaves ya $65 to spend under ya $2k budget

Potential Upgrades:

MSI Z97 Mpower Max adds WiFi and brings total to $2023 ... It stands out as being among the least negatively reviewed boards on newegg with 0% 1 egg and 17% 2 egg ratings.

This looks fine but if you will be using CAD, a Quadro card makes more sense compared to a Geforce card.

Which Quadro card?

It could make or break your performance. Personally, i would just stick with the 980, since you did say you game. But for programs like that, a quadro would make it much faster.