New Box $2000-$3000

[Infusion77]

Hey,

I am looking at building a new box that will be mostly for gaming use currently and may also see some video rendering as well.

Case - Cooler Master HAF X Tower Case - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX29254(ME).aspx?curtab=0

Processor - Intel Core™ i7 Processor 950 3.06GHz w/ 8MB Cache - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24672(ME).aspx

Motherboard - Asus Rampage III Extreme w/ TripleDDR3 1600, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E, CrossFireX / SLI - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX28667(ME).aspx

Memory - Kingston HyperX 6GB PC3-12800 Triple Channel DDR3 Kit (3 x 2GB) w/ Intel XMP - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX25617(ME).aspx

Main HD - Kingston SSDNow V-Series 2.5in SATA II Solid State Drive, 128GB - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX29747(ME).aspx

Storage HD - Western Digital 2TB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA II w/ 64MB Cache - http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX26555(ME).aspx

Video Card - eVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX30252(ME).aspx - ( Or the 460 with EE not sure which would suit me better ) - Will be running Dual SLI with this card


Any tips or suggestions are much appreciated as I am looking at building this system in the near future.

Thanks,

 

[Mr Pizza]

Can I say.. waste?

Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665&cm_re=saberooth_x58-_-13-131-665-_-Product

Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231304&cm_re=6gb_g.skill-_-20-231-304-_-Product

SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231377&cm_re=g.skill_60gb-_-20-231-377-_-Product

Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=spinpoint_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

GTX 470 (Why? Because they can do Tri-SLI)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121372&cm_re=GTX_470-_-14-121-372-_-Product

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007&Tpk=hx1000

Do you need OS?

Optical Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

 

[jeroly]

For this kind of money you probably want some future-proofing built in.

- put in 4GB memory cards so you can ramp up to 24GB eventually
- use a 480 GPU so when you SLI you can get a very highend graphics subsystem
- consider 4x1TB drives in RAID1 instead of 1x2TB drive
- consider faster memory for if/when you overclock the system.
- get at least an 80GB ssd - I'm using one without running any games or media on it, and am using around 50GB on it with OS's, etc. alone.
- consider if eventually you want a 3-monitor system - if so you may want to use ATI instead for your GPU

 

[Infusion77]

Thanks for the replies, sorry was in a rush earlier and did not realize what all I had left out.

Purchase date - Will be within next 2 days.
Parts Not Required - Keyboard / mouse / speakers / OS
Preferred Website(s) - Memoryexpress.ca / Newegg.ca
Country - Canada
Parts Preferences - Want to stick with Intel processor - Also wanted USB 3.0 to help in terms of future proofing.
Overclocking - Future
SLI - Yes

In response to the above posts, yeah I would like to stick with a bigger SSD for sure, my 80GB is up to nearly 67GB already. The Storage drive would be mostly for media etc would it be worth it to run 4x1TB as opposed to just having the 1x2TB in there ?

In terms of ram I figured 12GB may already nearing on overkill so I hadn't really thought of gearing towards 24GB

The 480's seemed a bit overpriced for the benchmarking results in comparison with doing SLI with the 460 but is something I will keep in mind.

 

[Somebody_007]

The build in your post looks good exept the motherboard is completely overkill. And the case is darn ugly IMO(also becomes dust infested in a matter of days making it look horrid).

I'd also get a faster ssd because in the end you get one for speed so to then chicken out and get an average one is kind of lame.

Personally I'd get 3 24" screens, a silverstone FT02 or corsair 700d(Look universes better IMO and have exeptional build quality) and 2 460 EEs in sli. (If you pair the EE GPUs with a good air cooler like an nh-d14 and the silverstone FT02 you'll have the best possible air cooling.

If you want to seriously get in to overclocking get what I mentioned above and a high end mobo maybe the rampage III extreme if you want to go very high.

 

[Somebody_007]

oohh and don't bother going with 4gb modules. As you said 12 is overkill enough and 4gb modules are expensive and slow.

 

[Infusion77]

Yea I had a feeling the Mobo was overkill, I was going to go with the EVGA X-58 FTW but just figured i'd throw in the extra $100 and go with the Rampage. Agree for sure on the 3 24" screens, right now I am still running dual 22" but will be grabbing some new ones in the next month or two.

I didn't realize that was much slower of a SSD - Main reason I had chosen that SSD was cost & size combo.

Also good to know that I should do the EE wasn't sure if it was worth the difference or not. Yea I figured 12GB ram would take care of it.

Thanks,

 

[mortonww]

For $2000 - $3000?

CPU: Core i7 950 ($300)
RAM: G.Skill Pi Series 6 GB (3 x 2 GB), 1600 MHz, CAS 7, 1.5 Volts ($160)
MOBO: Gigabyte UD3R ($210), or ASUS P6X58D-E ($230), or ASUS Sabertooth listed above ($200)
GPU: 2 x GTX 470 ($600)
PSU: Corsair HX 1000 ($210 after rebate)
CASE: HAF 922 ($90)
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB ($75)
SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 120 GB ($205 after rebate)

That's $1840 with the Sabertooth.

 

[Somebody_007]

Yea I had a feeling the Mobo was overkill, I was going to go with the EVGA X-58 FTW but just figured i'd throw in the extra $100 and go with the Rampage. Agree for sure on the 3 24" screens, right now I am still running dual 22" but will be grabbing some new ones in the next month or two.

I didn't realize that was much slower of a SSD - Main reason I had chosen that SSD was cost & size combo.

Also good to know that I should do the EE wasn't sure if it was worth the difference or not. Yea I figured 12GB ram would take care of it.

Thanks,

I would opt for something like that FTW board. The boards mortonww mentioned are all you need really, but I think it's nice to have some great features and good OC performance.

Well OCZ, intel and crucial are generally at the top of the SSD speed chart. leaving kingston somewhere in the middle.

Well about the EE card. It depends on whether it compliments or disputes the case airflow. In the case of the silverstone(the FT02 I mentioned) a huge amount of air goes from the bottom up that's it. The GPUs(aswell as the mobo obviously) are rotated 90degrees meaning an EE card will also blow air from the bottom up and so does the natural hor air rises airflow. Meaning in that case EE cards will cool extremely well(card as well as the rest of the case). When you move to a 700d and install the top and bottom fans you also get a top to bottom airflow, but your GPU's are mounted horizontally meaning a regular card will compliment this case air flow where as an EE will just bypass it(bypassing it is better, but EE cards cool worse in general) so in case you go with a 700d this card for example would be a better option(better cooling, and better stock overclock) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-130-575&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=5&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=(keywords)#scrollFullInfo

 

[Infusion77]

Agreed on the features and OC performance for the mobo. May end up going with an Intel SSD then as I have had problems with an OCZ SSD in the past.

Hadn't really thought of it in the FT02 with the mobo being turned but that is a good point and it would help to compliment the cooling.

Thanks again

 

[Infusion77]

Best answer selected by Infusion77.