3000$ budget gaming rig / suggestions

[adam873873]

Im building a rig with a 3000$ budget and im wondering if you guys have any builds i should consider or any suggestions overall .... heres what my build that ive been studying and contemplating over the alst couple weeks should be ..


-crossfire hd 5870 1gb gfx
-AMD phenom II x4 965 ( 3.4ghz and i can
overclock due to liquid cooling)
-HAF 932 fulltower case
-1000 watt psu or 1200
-8gb 1866 mhz ddr3 ram
-windows 7 professional 64 bit
-gigabyte 790fxda-ud5 mobo

 

[MadAdmiral]

Don't Crossfire 5870s right away. Spend $150 less and get the HD 5970. It's two 5870 GPUs on one card, just they have been downclocked slightly. It can be undone with literally 3 clicks of the mouse.

Definitely shouldn't build a $3,000 PC on AMD. Get the i7-920 and an Asus P6X58D Premium for a total of $599.

Get the HAF 922. It's big enough and a good $60-70 cheaper.

A 1000W PSU is overkill by a lot. You could Trifire 5970s (6 GPUs) with that. An 850W would be good enough. Get at least an 80+ Silver or 80+ Gold unit.

8 GB is overkill for gaming. As is 1866 mhz sticks. Even with overclocking the X4 965, you won't need faster than 1600 mhz sticks. Since I'm recommending the i7-920, pick up some Mushkin Enhanced Redline 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 6 sticks.

And a note on liquid cooling: it's not actually better than air. It's just as loud and often runs hotter. Grab a quality HSF like the Coolermaster Hyper 212 or Prolimatech Megahalems.

Here's the build with links:

CPU: i7-920 $289
Mobo: Asus P6X58D Premium $310
HSF: Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B $65. Add two 120mm fans to that, so add about $20.
RAM: Mushkin Enahnced Redline 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 6 $250
GPU: HD 5970 $650
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $90
SSD: 128 GB $375
Case: HAF 922 $90 after rebate
PSU: OCZ Z Series 850W 80+ Gold $200
OS: Win 7 Pro $140

Total: $2,479. Tack on $25 for a basic DVD burner or $100ish for a BluRay reader or $150-200 for a BR burner.

 

[adam873873]

Alright thanks ill consider that

ive slightly edited what i want to build and heres what im thinking...


-crossfire hd 5870 1gb gfx
-AMD phenom II x4 965 ( 3.4ghz and i can
overclock due to liquid cooling)
-HAF 922 fulltower case
-1000 watt psu or 1200
-8gb 1866 mhz ddr3 ram
-windows 7 ultimate 64 bit
-gigabyte 790fxda-ud5 mobo

i changed the case as i heard a 922 would be adequate for crossfire hd5870???
also im buying from ibuypower and they stated that the asetek liquid cooling system would be acceptable for my graphic cards etc and wouldnt require maintenance ... and will my mobo support my graphic cards without any problems?

 

[1898]

3000$ and no one mentioned Ares?

 

[adam873873]

@1898 is ares a brand of mobo? ive never heard of it

 

[adam873873]

also i forgot to read MadAdmirals post , yes the HAF 922 will fit my graphics cards

 

[dan4patriots]

wait for then new 6 core gulftown with that kind of budget

 

[1898]

Nope, Ares is a 5970 on roids.
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/14350/asus_rog_ares_specs_and_image_show_up_hd_5970_on_steroids/

 

[adam873873]

@1898 ahahahahahha that thing is nuts and @dan4patriots id be fine with the build ive selected

 

[blackhawk1928]

For your budget, getting an AMD phenom is like a multi-millionare buying a honda or toyota instead of a BMW, mercedes, porshe, or something better.

I'd highly recommend getting an i7 build. However first explain the uses of the build and the kind of OS, software...etc you will be running.

 

[adam873873]

well its pretty much solely for gaming , yeah im gunna be using it for school work etc but even a low end pc can handle that .... i was thinking of a 965 because the i7920 only has 2.66ghz and the 965 has 3.4 ... can anyone correct me on why that would be unwise please? as i do not see the benifit of an i7

 

[blackhawk1928]

lol, clock speed isn't the most important, the i7 with its tiny 2.66ghz can crush the 965 any day

Back to the car comparison, imagine cylinders are clock rates...if you have a V6 engine at 1000horsepower and a V12 engine at 600Horsepower....the V6 is still more power as in this case, many other things affect speed other then clock rate.

 

[dan4patriots]

even if you want the amd rig , its not worth it- get the 955 and oc

 

[Aloid]

Ok so my choices for the main components would probably be

Case

Antec 1200

159.99
or

Cooler Master HAF 932

139.99

Motherboard

Asus P6TD Deluxe

289.99

Or

Asus P6X58D

299.99
For 10$ more you get usb 3.0 and Sata 6Gb/s

CPU

i7 920 D0

346.39
Costs a bit extra but over clocks better
Is Available at NCIXUS.com

Heat Sink

Thermalright Venomous

75.99

Prolimatech Megahalem Rev. B

69.99

Video Cards

3xXFX 5850

929.97

or

XFX 5970

669.99

or

2xXFX 5870

809.98

RAM

Corsair XMS3 CL 7-7-7

179.99

or

Mushkin Redline CL 7-6-7

239.99

PSU

If you go with the Antec 1200 get the CP-850 for sure

139.99

Otherwise

Corsair HX-850

179.99

Hard Drive

I still like two of these in Raid 0 they offer great performance
Samsung Spinpoint F3

2x54.99

Maybe a Solid state like the Intel x25m g2 for a boot drive and one of those Spinpoints if you want to go that route






Total cost: Around $2400

If you shop around I’m sure you'll find better prices and NCIXUS matches anyone

Those are my recommendations

This is a bit of a copy and paste, with a few modifications, from a post of mine in another thread I hope it helps

A bit of extra info

The i7 920 is older, more tried and true, and better for Crossfire SLI setups still the best choice for high performance rigs

The i7 860 is newer and performs better at stock but I would recommend a i5 750 if you want to go the socket 1156 route

The Intel cpu's are definitely the way to go at this budget, although the AMD's are clocked higher they are outperformed by the intels at stock and even more when over clocked

No links sorry but you can search them on newegg.com and ncix.com for the CPU

 

[snakej]

well its pretty much solely for gaming , yeah im gunna be using it for school work etc but even a low end pc can handle that .... i was thinking of a 965 because the i7920 only has 2.66ghz and the 965 has 3.4 ... can anyone correct me on why that would be unwise please? as i do not see the benifit of an i7

I think is better if you do some more H/W, you need to learn a few stuff, before spending that kind of money.

First of a i7 920 clocked to 2.66 will definably win against the 3.4 Phenom II flagship 965, AMD has nothing to compete against Intel at this level. here is an article, got read it! ( http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-x4-965,2389-7.html )

Now, I dont know when are you pulling the trigger to buy, give us a date to see if its better to wait, there are some important release being made now March - April, the release of the Nvidia Geforece 400 series suppose to be release, giving you the choice to buy the best performance card, it will also affect prices in the market, as ATI should price corresponding to its Nvidia matcher, might end up in 5870 lower prices making it more appealing to crossfire setups. http://www.guru3d.com/article/nvidia-geforce-470-480/ read!

If must buy now this is what i recommend:

CPU & Motherboard: 1. GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R: $209.99
2. Intel BX80601920: $288.99
Combo Discount: -$20.00
Combo Price: $478.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.324969

Heat-sink & Fans: 1. Prolimatech Mega Shadow: $89.99
2. Noctua NF-P12: $22.29
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242004
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608004
You want to get 2 of those fans, so you can do a push/pull configuration

RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Redline 6GB (3 x 2GB)
$239.99
($229.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate )
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226121

GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R587UD-1GD Radeon HD 5870
$409.99
$7.56 Std. Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125316
I think 1 card is enough, I mean this card gets 80+FPS" on all Directx10.1 games, and about 60+ on Directx11, so I dont see this card scaling well in Crossfire until Dx11 becomes mainstream in a few months/years, then you can get a better card, or CrossFireX, also by them cheaper.

SSD: Corsair P128 CMFSSD-128GBG2D 2.5" 128GB
$375.00
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233087
With this budget this can the be the smarter choice to speed up your pc, to a point that you can actually notice

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB
Original Price: $109.99
You Save: $10.00
$99.99
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
you definably need a larger HDD for your programs

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W
Original Price: $199.99
You Save: $20.00
$179.99
$11.83 Std. Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

CASE: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D
$299.99
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139001
I think this is the best choice for a case, it has nice asthetics, its big, has exellent airflow and its easy to build around, with the budget you have a say go for it

DVD: PLEXTOR Black 24X DVD
Original Price: $49.99
You Save: $3.00
$46.99
($31.99 after $15.00 Mail-In Rebate )
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827249051

OS: Microsoft Windows 7
$104.99
Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accessories:
Monitor: Hanns·G HH-281HPB Black 28
Original Price: $339.99
You Save: $10.00
$329.99
$11.75 Std. Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254043

Fan Controller: ZALMAN MFC1 Plus-B Black 6
$37.99
$5.99 Std. Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999171
That case can take a few fans, so it also smart to have control over the noise when your not gaming

Thermal Paste: OCZ OCZTFRZTC Freeze Extreme Thermal Conductivity Compound
$5.99
$2.99 Std. Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835202006

Grand Total: $2,774.67

 

[adam873873]

yeah I want the amd rig , so should i just buy a 955 and overclock?? because of what ive read it uses less power ( 125 watts opposed to 140 ) and is there the same headroom for overclocking?? , and how hard/easy is overclocking as ive never done it ... and with crossfire 5870's will an asetek watercooling system do? or would a air cooling be fine ... i dont need a NUTS cooling system do I ? as im buying the HAF 922 or MAYBE the 922

 

[dan4patriots]

AMD @ this budget isnt the way to go- intel is

but since you want AMD go 955 not 965 as all the 965 is a 955 oc'ed 200mhz

yes overclocking is easy and you should be able to find guides here or elsewhere to assist- just make sure to buy a good cpu cooler like the hyper 212+ or megahalems, watercooling isnt necessary and aircooling will be fine as long as you have good airflow which the 922/932 have

 

[snakej]

the fact that you want to go AMD, I'll take it that saving money is a concern, for an AMD build 3000 is way to much, and you not even buying an expensive case, 922/932 are more entry level, although they offer excellent airflow and quality, so, DO go for the 965, I think it will overclock better, never like a i7 920 though, I hear so many people say how easy is to overclock a 955 to 4ghz, it is not, at least not mine, 3.7 is as much as i can without reaching hot temps, this is one of the hottest chips i ever work wit, and by hot i dont mean cool, i mean burning hot, hopefully the 965 will overclock better, get the asus mobo, MSI 790fx and the asus one are the best amd got to offer, and a 5870, no ssd i guess, so get the1tb samsung f3, all in all it all ended up around 1300 - 1500

 

[adam873873]

well before i realized , im ordering off ibuypower and the shipping is 100$ ... so the limit IS 3000 but the monitor will cost 300 so i guess for the tower its gunna be 2600 ... so im going to take your advice into consideration , because i dont know how to overclock and even with stock settings id be entirely fine with it ... and yeah it is a saving money issue because i want crossifre 5870's and the i7 is an extra like 200 then the 965 so i dont want it cutting into anything :\

my specs are again
-crossfire hd 5870 1gb
-AMD phenom II x4 965
-HAF 922 fulltower case
-1000 watt psu or 1200 (corsair 1000hx)
-8gb 1866 mhz ddr3 ram (corsair)
-windows 7 professional 64 bit
-gigabyte 790fxda-ud5 mobo i heard this is a pretty good mobo so i think im gunna stick with it as i see ibuypower doesnt offer that mobo you stated ( ill check again though ) thanks again snake thanks for taking the time to answer that , ill be sure to make your response the best answer

 

[adam873873]

to add to my previous statement my old computer was complete *** so i mean im not looking for a godlike computer as im not a computer veteran and only have maybe more knowledge about computers then the average person does but , to me this setup seems extremely satisfying , it could run crysis or crysis warhead full settings with 8x AA right?

 

[adam873873]

Best answer selected by adam873873.

 

[snakej]

to add to my previous statement my old computer was complete *** so i mean im not looking for a godlike computer as im not a computer veteran and only have maybe more knowledge about computers then the average person does but , to me this setup seems extremely satisfying , it could run crysis or crysis warhead full settings with 8x AA right?

that would depend on the resolution, what monitor did u get?

 

[adam873873]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001335

1920 x 1080

 

[snakej]

yes ofcourse, 2 5870 should definably pull it off

 

[adam873873]

alright thanks alot