~$2000 gaming PC

[Boxomilk]

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within the next 2 weeks BUDGET RANGE: $1800-$2200

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Photo Editing, Multi-tasking

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com preferably but I will use any reputable site COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel CPU

OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This is going to be primarily a gaming machine. I play a little of everything, Starcraft II, Diablo 3, Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, BFBC:2, and Mass Effect 2 are all games that I play on my laptop currently or plan on getting when I get home. I would like to crank up the graphics on these games and also be able perform well with future games. I plan on getting a 24" LCD to go with the system to run with an older 22" LCD I already have. It's a Westinghouse but I don't know the resolution off the top of my head. I'll also be doing the normal internet and word processing stuff, and my wife will be using it to manage her digital photography hobby.

My budget is around $2000, though I could probably talk my wife into as high as $2500, and these are the components I've selected so far. The second monitor will be a late Christmas gift from my wife and won't count towards this budget.
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COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $159.98
For the tower I'm looking for something with a lot of room. This is my first serious build. I doubt I'll be able to do much with the cables and the more room and airflow the better.

ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $309.99
I don't know much about motherboards so I could use a lot of help here. I picked this one based on customer reviews but I'm open to suggestions. I plan on overclocking on air cooling and I know the mobo can affect that, other than that I don't know of anything special I need on one. One thing I am looking for is something that will be upgradeable in case my wife lets me spend some more on it in the next few years.

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80601930 - Retail $294.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long ... - Retail $34.99
I plan on over clocking the processor but I don't plan on going too high. A solid air cooler is all I want.

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D - Retail $229.99 - $20 MIR

XFX HD-587X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail $419.99

SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support - OEM $26.99

Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M080G2XXX 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - OEM $219.95

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $119.99

Thermaltake Toughpower XT W0230RU 850W ATX 12V 2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $216.49

Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader w/ USB port / Extra silver face plate - Retail $14.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $104.99

Total = $2,153.33

 

[Silvune]

Nice build.
Consider the HAF 922 as it is barely any smaller and cheaper.
That motherboard is a solid choice.
With Dominators you are basically just paying for the name. This is much better, because it has lower latency, lower voltage and a lower price: G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI 7-8-7-24 1.5V $180
I haven't read a review of that power supply. It probably is a good one, however there are cheaper ones that are very good power supplies. Here's two of them:
XFX Black Edition XPS-850W-BES 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC $185 ($5.99 shipping)
Antec TPQ-850 850W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC $150 ($5.99 shipping)

 

[obsidian86]

this is probably the best 850 watt psu currently out

CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX $189.99

 

[Boxomilk]

Thanks for the responses. The reviews for the Corsair CMPSU-850HX are great, unfortunately newegg doesn't have any in stock but I'm definitely going to look around and see if I can find one anywhere else.

For the RAM, the G.SKILL PI Series looks really good, I'm just a little worried about the tall heatsinks. The reviews are saying it probably won't fit a larger CPU cooler, but that shouldn't be a problem for the Coolermaster Hyper 212 I plan on using right?

 

[astrodudepsu]

Well that PSU is really really overkill. The 58xx series GPU's are very power friendly. With one 5870 I'd recommend a nice 650W unit, Corsair's 650HX is great.

If you plan to add another 5870, I'd go with a 750W unit.

Either way 850W is overkill.

 

[Silvune]

Well that PSU is really really overkill. The 58xx series GPU's are very power friendly. With one 5870 I'd recommend a nice 650W unit, Corsair's 650HX is great.

If you plan to add another 5870, I'd go with a 750W unit.

Either way 850W is overkill.

I would have said this if I had a little more time to write my response, so thanks for catching it.

For the RAM, the G.SKILL PI Series looks really good, I'm just a little worried about the tall heatsinks. The reviews are saying it probably won't fit a larger CPU cooler, but that shouldn't be a problem for the Coolermaster Hyper 212 I plan on using right?

Yea, you're right. The Coolermaster doesn't intrude into the DIMM space very much at all, alternatively I'm sure it's possible to find another set with just as good specs that don't have tall heatspreaders. And aren't as expensive as the Dominators.

 

[a4mula]

When you start getting into the 2k range of gaming rigs it's a travesty to exclude Eyefinity. Triple monitor gaming is nothing short of amazing. Personally I'd drop down to a i5-750, forget the overpriced RAM as it's been shown time and again that it provides no benefit and squeeze 3x IPS or PVA monitors into the build.

 

[Jinnistacia]

more PSU choices:

Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W 80+ $100 after $10 rebate
OCZ OCZZ850M Z Series Gold 850W 80+ Gold $170 after $30 rebate

and,
i7-930 and Asus P6X58D Premium $580

--Jinni

 

[Boxomilk]

Thanks for the heads up on that CPU/Motherboard deal Jinni. I took the power supply recommendations into consideration and I think I'm going to go with a 750W PSU in hopes that my wife will let me get a second video card.

I was wondering though, what are the drawbacks to having too big of a PSU? Is it just extra power you're drawing from the wall, or is there a performance decrease that happens. Thanks.

 

[Silvune]

Mostly it's paying for something you won't use. You can get very good 750W PSUs for around $100-$130.
Also, if your system uses below 20% of the unit's rated power, then it's possible for efficiency to decrease badly, so in a way you lose electrical performance. The 80plus program tests the efficiency of PSUs at various loads, the starting point being 20%. So the PSU makers don't have to put any effort into making sure that they stay efficient below this point.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Only item I'd comment on is the PSU. It scores an 8.5 which is a fairly good number but why pay $216 for an 8.5 when you can get 10's as low as much a shalf the price. (Note the CP-850 which BTW is the quietest of the bunch, would require an Antec 1200 Case)

HAF 932 w/ XFX 850 watter $345

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

Antec 1200 w/ CP-850 $244
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.345233

For comparison purposes , the list below contains performance ratings (10 scale) at jonnyguru.com / prices as per newegg on 02/21/2010 and ones w/ double asterisks (**) made it onto silentpcreview.com's Editor's Choice List meaning they excelled at both electronic and acoustic performance:


Antec SG-850 - 10.0 ($220) **
Antec CP-850 - 10.0 ($110) **
XFX 850W Black Edition 10.0 ($185)
Corsair HX850 850W - 10.0 ($180)

Antec TruePower Quattro (TPQ-850) - 9.5 ($150)
Corsair TX850 - 9.5 ($140)
Seasonic M12D 850W - 9.5 (NLA) **
NorthQ Giant Connector 850W - 9.5 (NFS)
Etasis ET850 - 9.5 (NLA)
Silverstone Zeus ST85ZF - 9.5 (NLA)

Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W - 9.0 ($250)

Thrmaltake Toughpower XT 850W - 8.5 ($216)
OCZ Z Series 850W - 8.5 ($200)

NorthQ Black Magic Flex 850W - 8.0 (NFS)
Coolmax CTG-850 - 8.0 (NFS)

SilverStone Decathlon DA850 - 7.5 ($230)
Enermax Galaxy DXX 850W EGX850EWL - 7.5 (NFS)

SilverStone Strider ST85F - 7.0

Silverstone Element ST85EF 850W - 6.0


NFS - Not For Sale / NLA = No Longer Available

As others have said, the 850 watters are overkill for a single GPU.....a 650 watter would be finbe with the build as listed. However, with twin GPU's and serious OC's, however, I wouldn't go lower if you want to keep your future GPU options open.

 

[builderbobftw]

Well that PSU is really really overkill. The 58xx series GPU's are very power friendly. With one 5870 I'd recommend a nice 650W unit, Corsair's 650HX is great.

If you plan to add another 5870, I'd go with a 750W unit.

Either way 850W is overkill.

I recomend a 850W in case he wants something called an upgrade path.

 

[astrodudepsu]

C'mon man, really? Don't sell me that. A 750W Corsair provides PLENTY of headroom for 1 5870 and moderate headroom for 2.

Unless this guy wants a pair of GTX480's he's just fine. People always go nuts on PSU recommendations on this forum. I understand being safe, but at some point wasted money is wasted money.

 

[builderbobftw]

It's like 2 dolars more, and he's fine no matter what card setup he needs....

What if he wants a 6890 Quadfire?

How's a 750W psu gonna do there?

Always buy overkill PSUs so you can take then to you're next build.....

 

[astrodudepsu]

It's like 2 dolars more, and he's fine no matter what card setup he needs....

What if he wants a 6890 Quadfire?

How's a 750W psu gonna do there?

Always buy overkill PSUs so you can take then to you're next build.....

PSU's lose efficiency over time man. And do you REALLY think a guy goes from 1 5870 to 4 Northern Island GPU's (assuming the 6890 is a single GPU)? It's just wasteful.

With ATi's power supply trends I would bet that a good 750W until will crossfire with ease, and maybe even Tri-fire.

You're quadfire example is reductio ad absurdum and isn't needed here.

 

[builderbobftw]

PSU's lose efficiency over time man. And do you REALLY think a guy goes from 1 5870 to 4 Northern Island GPU's (assuming the 6890 is a single GPU)? It's just wasteful.

With ATi's power supply trends I would bet that a good 750W until will crossfire with ease, and maybe even Tri-fire.

You're quadfire example is reductio ad absurdum and isn't needed here.

Assuming the 6890 is dual GPU, a 6870 X2.

And they are each 400$.

That's 800$, and It would be chaper than a new build if he wanted a majot upgrade.

And what if he wanted a 5970 to trifire with his 5870?

 

[astrodudepsu]

Assuming the 6890 is dual GPU, a 6870 X2.

And they are each 400$.

That's 800$, and It would be chaper than a new build if he wanted a majot upgrade.

And what if he wanted a 5970 to trifire with his 5870?

On a 1080p monitor? Did Crysis 6 come out and nobody told me?

 

[Silvune]

Always buy overkill PSUs so you can take then to you're next build.....

That is one school of thought. The other is to buy what you know you will use, what you need now and if it's still good enough to use in the next build then bonus.

 

[obsidian86]

who says he might stick to ati in future

 

[astrodudepsu]

who says he might stick to ati in future

Even if he doesn't, the Green team has to cut down on the power. If that isn't priority number 1 for Fermi 2 then they need to re-examine their priorities.

 

[Silvune]

Who said that he was going to run two cards? From what the OP has said he 'might' get another card. For all any of us know by the time a single 5870 isn't powerful enough it would make more sense to him to just replace it with another high end single card.

 

[builderbobftw]

Who said that he was going to run two cards? From what the OP has said he 'might' get another card. For all any of us know by the time a single 5870 isn't powerful enough it would make more sense to him to just replace it with another high end single card.

And that "High end ... card" might be a 300W 6870X2 or a 600W 6870X2 quadfire or a 600W GTX 495.

And what if he wants to OC the 600W GTX 495?

That will require like 700W.

 

[Silvune]

Nice selective quoting there.
A single card can't use more than 300W at the moment, so a 750W PSU will be fine for that scenario.

 

[builderbobftw]

Have you heard of the plans for a GTX 495?

Boom, Like 800W+ for an overclocked one in Furmark.

 

[astrodudepsu]

Have you heard of the plans for a GTX 495?

Boom, Like 800W+ for an overclocked one in Furmark.

And only an NV fanboy would use it!!!! There will be no dual-chip on one PCB with the temps they are running. They need to cut power/temps before they try a 495.