A good friend of mine recommended getting the opinions of the collected lurkers around here, so I thought I would submit the build I'm intending to create, and let ya'll poke and prod at it, and point out any glaring flaws, ludicrously over-priced selections I've made, or areas for improvement overall.
I'm basically looking to build a pretty monsterous gaming machine, able to easily handle anything that I throw at it with flying colors, without melting down horrifyingly before my eyes. I know little to nothing about safely overclocking, but I'm open to the idea if it won't fry anything, and it will save me some dollars. Upgradability in the future is also of interest to me, considering I'm unlikely to purchase something this expensive for quite a few years, so being able to upgrade a piece at a time would be amazing.
So, yeah. Have at it, as ya'll are clearly much more adept than I am at this. I've included links for everything for easy glancing at detailed specs, if that helps.
Computer Case:
Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower Black Case
$139.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&Sku=C283-1187
Motherboard:
Intel Desktop Board DP55KG Motherboard - LGA1156, Intel P55, DDR3, Intel DMI, SLI, CrossFireX, RAID
$179.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4914879&CatId=4724
CPU:
Intel Core i5 750 BX80605I5750 Processor - 2.66GHz, LGA 1156, 8MB L3 Cache, Quad-Core, Lynnfield, Retail
$199.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959973&pagenumber=3&RSort=1&csid=ITD&recordsPerPage=5&body=#ReviewStart
CPU Cooling:
Corsair CWCH50-1 Hydro H50 CPU Liquid Cooler - 120mm Fan, Copper Cold Plate, Aluminum Radiator, LGA775, LGA1366, LGA1156, AM2/AM3
$79.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5267687&pagenumber=5&RSort=1&csid=ITD&recordsPerPage=5&body=#ReviewStart
Graphics Card:
EVGA 768-P3-1260-TR GeForce GTX 460 Video Card - 768MB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI, Mini HDMI, SLI, DirectX 11, Fermi
$144.99 x 2 (I'd prefer SLI as I've been an nVidia fan for ages, but I'm open to argument for ATI.)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6488427&CatId=3670
RAM:
Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9AG 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 RAM - - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096 (2x2048MB), 240 Pin, Dual-Channel
$87.99 x 2 (8 GB enough for this beast?)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4837614&Sku=C13-8220
Power Supply:
Cooler Master RSA00-AMBAJ3-US Silent Pro M 1000W Power Supply - ATX, Modular, 1000 Watt, 80+ Bronze Certified, SLI, 135mm Ultra Silent Fan
$179.99 (Always go higher. Have several HDDs lying around I'm plugging in as well.)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5309347&CatId=2535
Sound Card:
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE
$29.99 (Onboard sound sufficient? Not a huge audiophile, but I'd like it to sound nice.)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4459743&Sku=C44-3400
Speakers:
Logitech X-540 5.1 Speaker System with Surround Sound, 70 Watts (RMS) and 5 1/4-inch Subwoofer
$94.99 (Just to annoy the neighbors)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2507686&Sku=L23-7250
Monitors:
ViewSonic VA2231x-LED 21.5" Widescreen HD LED Monitor - 1080p, 1920x1080, 16:9, 1000:1 Native, 10000000:1 Dynamic, 5ms, VGA, DVI, Anti-Glare
$149.99 x 3 (Three identical monitors, or one big and two smaller?)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6659864&CatId=5469
Operating System:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English
$99.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213932&CatId=4622
1919.86 + Shipping (Yar.)
Enjoy picking apart my amateur selections, folks. Will check back daily.
~Eric
I'm basically looking to build a pretty monsterous gaming machine, able to easily handle anything that I throw at it with flying colors, without melting down horrifyingly before my eyes. I know little to nothing about safely overclocking, but I'm open to the idea if it won't fry anything, and it will save me some dollars. Upgradability in the future is also of interest to me, considering I'm unlikely to purchase something this expensive for quite a few years, so being able to upgrade a piece at a time would be amazing.
So, yeah. Have at it, as ya'll are clearly much more adept than I am at this. I've included links for everything for easy glancing at detailed specs, if that helps.
Computer Case:
Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower Black Case
$139.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&Sku=C283-1187
Motherboard:
Intel Desktop Board DP55KG Motherboard - LGA1156, Intel P55, DDR3, Intel DMI, SLI, CrossFireX, RAID
$179.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4914879&CatId=4724
CPU:
Intel Core i5 750 BX80605I5750 Processor - 2.66GHz, LGA 1156, 8MB L3 Cache, Quad-Core, Lynnfield, Retail
$199.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959973&pagenumber=3&RSort=1&csid=ITD&recordsPerPage=5&body=#ReviewStart
CPU Cooling:
Corsair CWCH50-1 Hydro H50 CPU Liquid Cooler - 120mm Fan, Copper Cold Plate, Aluminum Radiator, LGA775, LGA1366, LGA1156, AM2/AM3
$79.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5267687&pagenumber=5&RSort=1&csid=ITD&recordsPerPage=5&body=#ReviewStart
Graphics Card:
EVGA 768-P3-1260-TR GeForce GTX 460 Video Card - 768MB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI, Mini HDMI, SLI, DirectX 11, Fermi
$144.99 x 2 (I'd prefer SLI as I've been an nVidia fan for ages, but I'm open to argument for ATI.)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6488427&CatId=3670
RAM:
Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9AG 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 RAM - - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096 (2x2048MB), 240 Pin, Dual-Channel
$87.99 x 2 (8 GB enough for this beast?)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4837614&Sku=C13-8220
Power Supply:
Cooler Master RSA00-AMBAJ3-US Silent Pro M 1000W Power Supply - ATX, Modular, 1000 Watt, 80+ Bronze Certified, SLI, 135mm Ultra Silent Fan
$179.99 (Always go higher. Have several HDDs lying around I'm plugging in as well.)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5309347&CatId=2535
Sound Card:
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE
$29.99 (Onboard sound sufficient? Not a huge audiophile, but I'd like it to sound nice.)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4459743&Sku=C44-3400
Speakers:
Logitech X-540 5.1 Speaker System with Surround Sound, 70 Watts (RMS) and 5 1/4-inch Subwoofer
$94.99 (Just to annoy the neighbors)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2507686&Sku=L23-7250
Monitors:
ViewSonic VA2231x-LED 21.5" Widescreen HD LED Monitor - 1080p, 1920x1080, 16:9, 1000:1 Native, 10000000:1 Dynamic, 5ms, VGA, DVI, Anti-Glare
$149.99 x 3 (Three identical monitors, or one big and two smaller?)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6659864&CatId=5469
Operating System:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT Operating System Software - OEM DVD, English
$99.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5213932&CatId=4622
1919.86 + Shipping (Yar.)
Enjoy picking apart my amateur selections, folks. Will check back daily.
~Eric