$2000 Gaming Computer Build

Just wanted to say everything said above me is incoherent crap and should not be taken into account I will post some suggestions in just a bit.

That setup is a good start as it will last a long time. I would recommend getting slightly faster RAM if you are planning on overclocking.

@thor220: $2000 is quite alot already and allows high end components to be used such as the i7 2600K. We also aren't focusing on the IGP of the CPU and are choosing it because of the high processing power of the CPU. Also, try and think positively and read the first post by OP and realize that OP wanted to have an Nvidia Video Card.

okay let me suggest the best build for zis budget, dominionz isn't really balanced well

CPU- i7 2600K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product good choice
CPU cooler- scmg 2100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] cmg%202100 better than the 212+ significantly for this budget this is a necessity
TIM- shin etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product best out there, proper TIM can drop temps 7 C
Mobo- Asrock extreme4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] eme4%20p67 cheaper and with same features and performance
RAM- mushkin silverline http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product has heat spreaders for same price after promo
GPU- gtx 570 evga http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product overclock it yourself superclocked is only necessary for lazys and people who need the $20 more better binning (for moderate overclocking you don't)
HDD- samsung spinpoint f3 1tb good choice
SSD- wait for the next-gen to hit the stores in a couple months they'll be so much faster
PSU- dual 570s will run fine on a 750w I recommend an 850w though just to err on the safe side http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 20xfx%20be
Blu-Ray- buy the one you chose but don't buy the ODD the blu-ray does it all
Case- HAF X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product the corsair is only needed for water cooling if you don't like the looks of this case I'll give you some other options
Mouse- same

From what I am seeing, the original build and suggested builds cover everything from very expensive to "budget brands". I think we need more $2k build components:

Case / PSU - A $2k build deserves a roughly $300 case / PSU combo. With the 570, all ya need is an 850 watter to power both of those. So...that in mind offering two choices:

$160 Antec DF-85 w/ CP-850 provides a fantastic case w/ a superlative PSU.....performance equal to the Corsair HX series or XFX Black Edition but quieter and cooler than the competition due to its CPU form factor.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ [...] 6811129087
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835209013

$310 HAF-X w/ XFX Black Edition 850 - Almost as good a case as the DF-85 and the PSU is a performance match for the CP-850 or Corsair HX850.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817207001

MoBo / CPU - Get the combo and save $60 while also getting the SB MoBo THG listed as the best overclocker.

$495 for Asus P8P67 pro w/ Intel i7-2600k and Civilization V game

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.575880

RAM - Based upon dealings with both vendors, I'd be more comfortable with the Mushkin label than GSkill for the same price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820226095

SSD - If it's just reads ya concerned about, the C300 is the one to buy. However if write performance is of any concern for page file or scratch disk usage, the C300 has pitiful write speeds (140MB/sec). Id get a Vertex 2 w/ 275 MB/s write speeds for $200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227551

Cooler - The Hyper 212 was a great cooler in its day and still shows up testing high on some websites that base performance on the LGA 775 chipset. But looking at sites where tests are performed using 1155/1156/1366 chipsets, the 212 has dropped outta the top 25.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index. [...] &Itemid=62

In a $2k system, I'm using the Prolimatech Megahalems

$62 - Prolimatech Megahalems http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835242001
$5 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835150080
$11 - Scythe SY1225SL12LM-P http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] 36c365s936
$11 - Same
$8 - Akasa PWM AK-CB002 PWM SPlitter Cable http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] CB002.html

or the Scythe Mugen 2 SCMG 2100, again w/ 1st place finisher Shin Etsu

$40 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835185142

GFX - You're cool there

HD - You're cool there

Optical - Consider a Blue Ray Reader / DVD Writer as BR media is ridiculously expensive
$50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135220

Keyboard - Consider the Logitech G510 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823126034

Mouse - Consider the Ligitech G500 if ya don't like the feel of the G9x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6826104318

Asrock kicking a$$ since it got it's new bios update. The Asrock Fatal1ty just got it's bios update today. 5.1Ghz without breaking a sweat...and all on a $150 board.

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/ [...] d-Review/1

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revi [...] turbo.html

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revi [...] cking.html <--- Recent yet not so in depth review of that same board.

tbh I never gave Asrock a second look...I always that they were low budget junk...that's until they came out with that 1366 X58 Extreme board. A few years ago everyone and their brother was wanting an i7 build with that 920 w/triple channel memory. And the cost of those builds were crazy, but those chips rocked like nothing else. So I used a few of them on my builds on here to make the budget so to say, and I ended up buying one...like crazy low budget..that board, an oem 920, etc... and it rocks...I still use it today. Same with the G.Skill. It wasn't that popular until a few years ago but it was cheap, solid, and it was low voltage RAM like the Mushkin. When OCZ and Corsair users were having to volt the dog crap out of their memory to get running with the promised timings. OCZ ram is pure junk imo. The only thing that helped sell that crap was those ridiculous heat spreaders that everybody thought was cool looking.

Well so far Why_Me's build is kicking a$$. How come he's always the only one telling people to get good graphics for the same price? Seriously, if you spend $2K on a build it should have dual GTX 580's. Also, if you're spending $2K on a build, you should be using a 28" 1920x1200 monitor IMO.

And 1333MHz CL9 RAM? Why not 2000MHz CL9 RAM? It can run CL5 at 1333 or better. And I believe it was December's SBM $2000 build that ran into RAM limiting situations. If you're spending $1875, you may as well spend $1905 and make sure you're not limiting yourself unnecessarily.

Alright, I made some changes:

Case: I decided to go with the HAF X. This was my original choice, but I kept seeing a lot of people who disliked it and recommended the 800D. I think the savings will definitely be worth it. https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph [...] Case-Black Cost: $193.99

Motherboard: I have gone back and forth so many times as far as which motherboard I really want. Asus, MSI, ASRock all seem great. The ASRock seems to be the best of the bunch, but that one year warranty is the only thing I hesitate on, but for now that is what I am going with. I just hope I don't regret it after a year. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157217 Cost: $155.98

Video Card: I was going to consider getting 2 GTX 560s, but I decided to just go with one GTX 570 and then I will get another one when the price drops significantly. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product Cost: $349.99

SATA Mechanical Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Cost: $64.99

SSD: Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Cost: $242.99

Blu-Ray Burner/Player: LG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support - OEM Cost: $104.98

DVD/CD Burner: Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black) Cost: $25.99

Power Supply & CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K & Corsair 1000HX C-C-C-Combo Price: $529.98

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH Cost: $162.99

Cooling: Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler Cost: $59.99

MASSCOOL G751 Shin-Etsu Cost: $6.98

Scythe Slip Stream 120mm x 25mm PWM Mid Speed Fan - (SY1225SL12LM-P) x2 Cost: $15.00

Akasa PWM Splitter - Smart Fan Cable (AK-CB002) Cost: $3.95 (Shipping: $7.17)

Mouse: Logitech G9X Cost: 68.64

Total: $1993.61

EDIT: Found somethings cheaper on SuperBiiz and saved $31.02 off my original total.

EDIT#2: Sidewinder Computers has those fans and PWM Splitter at a cheaper price. This saving me an additional $13.63. Since I was able to knock $45.65 off my price so far, I decided to upgrade to the G.Skill 1600MHz CL7 RAM.

+1 for the 922. I put that HAF X in the build only because it seemed like the OP wanted something gigantic.

Does anyone have any thoughts on ASRock P67 Extreme4 vs ASUS P8P67 Pro? Like I said the only disadvantage the ASRock is that warranty.

If the ASRock is the one I choose, would it be worth it to just get the $19.99 1 year extended warranty through Newegg?

That combo doesn't really do anything for me. The only thing I am getting from that is $20 and Civilization V for free and I really don't care for the genre. I was able to combine the i7-2600K and the Corsair 1000HX PSU.

Another thing that I just started wondering about is a good UPS. Any recommendations?

The problem is that I live in Florida and a UPS is a sort of must have. On top of that, the home I am renting was built in the 70s and I am not sure how great the wiring is.

I like your System Why Me... but the total is coming to $2,157 and not 1,894.91!! Otherwise I will jump on it

Either wat you go, Gtx 580 or 570 they both will be super fast, I believe duel 570s will for sure be able to play metro 2033 maxed out. I am impressed by Why_Me's budget builds, you have a knack for meeting peoples budget needs and giving them the best options, I salute you on that.

My only question is why the i7-2600k? Is the hyper threading the selling point for you on it? Or the extra 100mz and 2mb added to the L3 cache? Either way it should not effect your gaming speed in the least. I might suggest going with the i5-2500k which can overclock to be faster then the extreme edition i7 in gaming. Take that extra 100$ you save and dump it into your gpu fund.

I love that people are finally recognizing G.skill and AsRock. First off from sales numbers I have seen G.skill is blowing the competition away with their current Ripjaw series, honestly their sales manager is a genius. AsRock is putting out good products from what I have seen as well. Also if I can add one quick member to the party it would be Rosewill for psu. I would still choose antec or kingwin if money didnt matter, but Rosewill is really stepping up their game in labeling and putting out quality psu for budget builders. (1000W psu for 100$!?) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817182188

Any way back on topic. I think right now is the best time to build a new computer. The gpu companies are in a competitive position along with the cpu companies. AMD is gonna be forced to slash prices if they are gonna try to compete with sandy bridges architecture and pricing. Intel has always been known as the more expensive cpu company that you only jumped up to for intense application and video editing software and AMD has been a budget builders dream. But Intel has now come to AMD's door step and slapped them in the face with a fish.

I would snatch up the build Why_Me posted its awesome and I would build the whole thing the same (except maybe the tower I dislike flashy towers, Liaan li all the way) Only thing you need added into the mix is some good thermal paste which I suggest getting from a local computer store, not newegg, just because it will be cheaper there.

Best of luck man on you new build