Building PC with $2000 Budget

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jykf

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Dec 21, 2008
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I'm trying to put together a powerful computer that will last a very long time.

I'd like an Intel quad-core processor, at least 4GB of DDR3 RAM, multiple USB slots, FireWire, wireless capabilities, a fast DVD drive/burner, a good sound card, and a fast HDD (preferably 500GB or over).

I need a good graphics card (or two graphics cards, depending on the other hardware) that can handle Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 2, and other more demanding games.

Also, a case to hold everything together, enough power, cooling, etc.

I'll be using the computer for gaming, video editing, graphics design, and generally very demanding operations, all at the same time.

It would also be nice if the computer is easy to upgrade as new technologies come out.

I have about $2000 available to me (not including the OS, monitor, keyboard, and mouse, which I'll take care of later).

I've been doing some research, but it's more complicated than I thought. I'd be grateful if anyone could recommend a build or any sort of advice.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Generally I'd say do the research yourself and then come and ask questions

but that would be a d*ck move :)


ATM Core i7 is the way to go

Although, I don't know what size monitor your going to be using so i'm going to assume a monitor size of 1920 by 1200


CPU: Core i7 920 = 300$
MOBO: Asus P6T Deluxe = 300$
RAM: 6 GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227380 - 300$ - this will require a bios update for the asus p6t as there is currently a bug where it doesn't read all the ram correctly which is easily fixed
GPU: I personally would dish out 500$ for your very own GTX 295 but it will be a monster to cool so i'm going to have to go with a 4850 X2 performs almost on par with a 4870 X2 and is almost half the price - 300$
FireWire - Some motherboards support firewire... not sure if the asus p6t does or not, but you can always get a cheap firewire pci card if it doesn't - 10$
Wireless Capabilities - 10$ pci card off newegg
DVD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153 - 26 $
Sound Card: I'll assume you want gaming - I have this and i love it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006 - 90$
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218 - 75$
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 - 120$
Case: Antec P182 - 100$
Case Fans - Scythe Slip Stream: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185059 balance of performance and silence - 40 $ (3 for case 1 for heatsink)
Heatsink: Xigmatek S1283 w/ adk-i7361 (the bracket will be out in a week or so) - 50$

OS: Vista 64 1PK license - 100
Monitor... up to you

GRAND TOTAL: 1895$

EDIT: deleted unneeded suggestion and added X2 to the 4870 :)
 
shortstuff_mt

shortstuff_mt

Glorious
Apr 1, 2008
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Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 $299.99

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128362 $298.99

That motherboard has onboard Firewire, I believe. I also didn't add a sound card since the board has on-board 8-channel sound. You can always add a sound card later if the onboard isn't good enough.

G.SKILL PI Black 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231238 $239.99

There are some cheaper kits out there, but I really like the PI Black series of RAM.

VisionTek 900250 Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129114 $529.99

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043&Tpk=antec%20twelve%20hundred $159.99

Corsair CMPSU-1000HX ATX12V &EPS12V Power Supply - CMPSU-1000HX
http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-1000-watt-hx-series-12v-atx-sli-ready-80-plus-certified-power/q/loc/101/207510101.html $229.99 - $20.00 MIR

That PSU is overkill, but I added it so you would be ready to add another GPU later, but I don't know why you'd need another 4870x2 anytime soon. You could downgrade to a 750W PSU if you don't think you'll be adding another GPU later.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&Tpk=wd6401aals $84.99

You might want to pick up two of these HD's since you'll be doing video editing and graphic design.

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173 $28.99

D-Link DWA-556 IEEE 802.11n (draft) IEEE 802.11g IEEE 802.11b PCI Express Xtreme Desktop Adapter - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127218 $79.99

Total - $1,952.91 - $20.00 MIR = $1932.91
 
G

Guest

Guest
I like my build more :) its what i'd buy

Funny how people can build different computers that are still very similar computer but for different reasons

also wtf with the samsung drive? REALLY!!!! Its 3 dollars more than my lg drive... I call ZOMBIE BULLSH*T your a zombie... definitely
 
Shadow703793

Shadow703793

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Feb 3, 2007
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+1 for everything except the router. Get a Linksys or Netgear. Also unless OP's playing at very high res (1920*1080) I doubt he'll need to CrossFire later or heck he might not even need a 4870X2 depending on the games he play.

@OP: What resolution do you plan to play at? Also what games?
 
G

Guest

Guest
Yeah we just chose slightly differently :) same price though so which ever he likes more he can go for

OR

He can be a rebel and make his own list w/ the knowledge he has now gained
 
J

jykf

Distinguished
Dec 21, 2008
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18,510
Thanks for the help, everyone.

thogrom, I did research before posting, but I knew so little that I figured it would be better to see what others had to say first. If I knew my stuff I would have came here with a build of my own. Thanks for being nice about it, though.

After quite a bit of deliberation, I've settled on a few parts:

Motherboard:
ASUS P6T Intel X58 Core i7 Extreme/Core i7 Socket 1366 PC3-16000 (DDR3-2000) ATX Motherboard Retail

Processor:
Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

RAM:
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
OR
OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Is there a big difference between DDR3 1600 and DDR3 1866? Also, if I buy DDR3 1600 now, and decide to upgrade in the future, would it be more practical to upgrade to something faster than DDR3 1866? In that case, it would be better to buy the former, I think.

Video Card:
SAPPHIRE 100270SR Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
OR
SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

I'm not sure which I should get. I've read that the 4850 X2 performs about as well as the 4870 X2, but then what was the point of releasing the 4870 X2? If the difference isn't great then I might as well buy the 4850 X2 because it's over $100 cheaper.

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

I think the motherboard will probably take care of the sound, in which case I can hold off on buying a sound card for a while.

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
OR
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
OR
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Again, I don't know if 32MB of Cache is that much better than 16MB of Cache. It's only $10 more for 32MB, though. Also, should I use a RAID setup? I understand that I'll have to buy two HDDs and the space efficiency will be cut in half.

Disk Drive
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD Burner - OEM

This seems good enough, and I may upgrade to a Blu-Ray drive/burner in the future.

Wi-Fi
D-Link DWA-556 IEEE 802.11n (draft) IEEE 802.11g IEEE 802.11b PCI Express Xtreme Desktop Adapter Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA, WPA2) - Retail

This seems good, but I'll probably look at some other brands before buying.

Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
OR
Corsair CMPSU-1000HX ATX12V &EPS12V Power Supply - CMPSU-1000HX
OR
PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

I think 750W is enough. Should I get one with a fan? I may buy a case that has fans, though.

Cooling
I don't know if I should get additional cooling if the case comes with fans. What do you guys suggest?

Case
There are so many cases to choose from. I'm going to look at more, but I'll probably settle on a large one with fans.

_______________________________________

I hope everything is compatible. If there is something wrong with what I have here, please let me know. Also, is this everything the computer needs? I wouldn't know if I'm missing a vital component.

Shadow703793, I will probably use a very high resolution (such as 1920 x 1080). I'll be playing resource-intense games, and I'd like to play at the highest settings.

Thanks again, everyone.
 
Shadow703793

Shadow703793

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Feb 3, 2007
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^ Yes. Use RAID if possible. Imo, don't get that D-Link. Get a Netgear or Linksys. $80 for a WiFi? You can Ethernet your house for that $.

As for case may I suggest the Antec 1200 or 900?

If OCing you'll need a cooler. I recommend waiting for OCing till there are more LGA1366 bolt in kits.
 
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