$1400 to $1700 Gaming Build

[moogleslam]

I had this computer more or less planned out with a budget of $2200, but now my budget has dropped to somewhere between $1400 to $1700 (ideally closer to $1400). To get the build cost down, I dropped my SSD and I dropped my 2nd 6950. These will be added back in at a later date when I can afford it - probably about 3 months, but I don't want to wait to buy. I'll be ordering this from newegg on Wednesday the 12th at the latest.

This is primarily a gaming build, and I'll be overclocking it as far as I can on air. I'll be hooking this up to an ASUS VW266H 25" 1920x1200 monitor that I already have, and hope to run all games at max settings (once I get that Crossfire setup at least). I don't need keyboard/mouse/speakers either.

Here are the components I've selected:

Motherboard:
ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Intel Motherboard $239.99
This was the Pro in my last build design, but I've heard the Deluxe offers even better overclocking.

CPU:
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K $329.99

Memory:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-8GBRH $159.99

Power Supply:
CORSAIR Professional Series AX850 850W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $189.99
I bumped this down from the OCZ 1000W 80 Plus Gold PSU in my last build design to save some money. I knew that was overkill, but wanted some future proofing. I'll go with the 850W Corsair PSU for now as I had to make compromises somewhere.

Case:
SILVERSTONE Raven RV02B-EW Matte black reinforced plastic outer shell, 0.8mm Steel body ATX Full Tower Computer Case $189.99
This is an updated version of the RV02. I didn't want to just get a $50 case because I wanted to keep temperatures and noise down, as well as having a good case that would last through several builds. I'm actually tempted to bump this up to the Fortress 2.

Graphics Card:
ASUS EAH6950/2DI2S/2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $299.99
I'm going to flash the BIOS on this to essentially turn it into a 6970. The 2nd card for Crossfire will wait. Might end up getting the Sapphire as the ASUS is currently out of stock (and the Sapphire comes with a free 8GB USB Drive! )

SSD:
Waiting on this for about 3 months due to budgetary reasons, and will probably wait for Vertex 3 (or Revo 3). I know this build needs one; you don't have to tell me that

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $179.99

Optical Drive:
LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM $15.99

CPU Cooler:
Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler $89.99
Yeah, I know most people think the fans are ugly. I don't really care. Unless someone can show me benchmarks that show there's a better air cooler (without using insanely loud fans), I'm getting this.

Total comes to $1695.91 (after a few rebates)

So is there anywhere else I could save money (since I'm at the upper end of my price range), or would it weaken the build too much? Any other thoughts?

Thanks

 

[NeoElemental]

A few ideas to scale down. Note that these are suggestions to save money and ALL involve sacrificing some quality. I think that you've sort of hit the sweet spot with what you want to do (maximizing OCing, future addition of a second GPU).

1. Swap out your Corsair PSU for a XFX. Savings: $70

XFX Black Edition XPS-850W-BES 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001&Tpk=xfx%20850w

The XFX 850w is a great power supply. Check out this guru review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=165

This is the PSU I have in my build currently, and it's a champ. It will be able to take SLI 6950's and an OC'ed 2600K. FYI, it has a 5 year warranty compared to Corsair's 7 year.

2. Swap out your 2TB WD for 2 1TB drives, either the Samsung f3 or the WD 1TB. Savings: $60-70 (Spinpoint is $60 at amazon)

You'll have the SATA slots and if you really want them to work as one drive, you could just RAID them (if that's the case, I would get the spinpoints over the WD's because they're easier to RAID).

3. Swap out your Raven to a mid tower. Savings: $80-100

If you're only going to run 2-3 HD's and 1-2 3.5 drives, I'm very confident you could fit a SLI rig into a mid tower. It might even be better from an airflow perspective, since there will be less potential for dead spots. I know the Raven has a lot of features that are quite nice, but you could save $100 if you wait for the right deal on any of the usual suspects (Antec 900, HAF 922, Lancool PC-K62).

I don't think any of these changes weakens your build significantly, especially given that each of them can save you a solid amount of cash.

 

[moogleslam]

A few ideas to scale down. Note that these are suggestions to save money and ALL involve sacrificing some quality. I think that you've sort of hit the sweet spot with what you want to do (maximizing OCing, future addition of a second GPU).

1. Swap out your Corsair PSU for a XFX. Savings: $70

XFX Black Edition XPS-850W-BES 850W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001&Tpk=xfx%20850w

The XFX 850w is a great power supply. Check out this guru review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=165

This is the PSU I have in my build currently, and it's a champ. It will be able to take SLI 6950's and an OC'ed 2600K. FYI, it has a 5 year warranty compared to Corsair's 7 year.

2. Swap out your 2TB WD for 2 1TB drives, either the Samsung f3 or the WD 1TB. Savings: $60-70 (Spinpoint is $60 at amazon)

You'll have the SATA slots and if you really want them to work as one drive, you could just RAID them (if that's the case, I would get the spinpoints over the WD's because they're easier to RAID).

3. Swap out your Raven to a mid tower. Savings: $80-100

If you're only going to run 2-3 HD's and 1-2 3.5 drives, I'm very confident you could fit a SLI rig into a mid tower. It might even be better from an airflow perspective, since there will be less potential for dead spots. I know the Raven has a lot of features that are quite nice, but you could save $100 if you wait for the right deal on any of the usual suspects (Antec 900, HAF 922, Lancool PC-K62).

I don't think any of these changes weakens your build significantly, especially given that each of them can save you a solid amount of cash.

Really appreciate the reply. A few thoughts.

1. I really had my heart set on a 80 PLUS Gold PSU as that's going to run more efficiently, and in turn keep my electric bill lower, right? Can anyone explain what kind of impact the different 80 PLUS certifications have in terms of cost etc?

2. Yeah, I think I might have to bite the bullet on this one. This is really only going to be my storage drive anyway, as I'll be adding an SSD in a few months. Speed doesn't matter that much, not that the F3 is slow (just a little slower than the WD). That saves me approximately $110. Awesome!

3. I worry that settling for one of those cases will impact my cooling performance.... but I'll think about it (not the PC-K62 anyway - that thing is ugly!)

In other news, my memory just went out of stock so I'm looking for suggestions on alternatives.

 

[NeoElemental]

1. The efficiency measures how much power is lost. The difference between Gold and Silver is 2% at load levels. This means you're losing 17 watts of energy at 850w. Let's say you run your computer 24-7 for a year. That's a total of about 150 kilowatt-hours of power. A kilowatt hour of power costs about 10 cents. You've saved 15 dollars. Even over the life of the PSU (5-7 years), you're barely making up the cost premium.

Now, if the PSU is more reliable, that's a different issue, but the XFX 850's have great reliability and the best voltage regulation (their 12v rail gives exactly 12v's all the time, and doesn't have the spikes that even some of the other top tier PSU's do). The 17w's that's burned turns into heat, but it's pretty minimal on the scale of a desktop PC with OC'ed components.

3. My feelings are hurt because I own the PC-K62 Obviously cases are a hugely personal choice. I could see a case like the Raven going multiple builds, and if I had a bigger budget, I wouldn't be against paying up for it (as opposed to spending more on no additional features *cough lianli cough*).