$1000 - $1500 Gaming System

[pedxs]

$1000-$1500 gaming PC

This is my first time posting here, and also my first time building a system from scratch. I am practically a total noob, so advice of any kind will be appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP. Playing SC2 in low graphic mode is killing my soul.
Budget Range: $1000-1500 after Rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: The system will be used for gaming (mostly starcraft II), and also for my work. The programs I use for work are along the line of Stata, Matlab, Mathematica, ArcGIS. I am an E[/url]conomics PhD student so most of my work involves cleaning/manipulating data, and graphing/mapping data. My thought is that more RAM is useful here, but please correct me if I am wrong.

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Parts Preferences: Here is my tentative thought. Total comes to $1225

CASE: Antec Six Hundred Black --- $65
CPU: Intel i7 2600k --- $499 (with MOBO)
MOBO: ASUS P8P67 Pro
PSU: XFX Black Edition 850W --- $110
DVD: LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW --- $16
GFX: MSI GTX 480 --- $300
RAM: 16 GB (4X4) Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1333 9-9-9-24 --- $140
HSF: COOLER MASTER Hyper N ---$35
HDD: Western Digital 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache ---$60

Overclocking: Do not know how at the moment, but want to try when I have the time.

SLI or Crossfire: I cannot afford one now, but I want to add the same card for SLI in a year or so.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

 

[batuchka]

Hmm think u best catch up with this article and 2500k is better value than 2600k

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: January 2011
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i5-2500k-amd-e350,2843.html

Past the Point of Reason:

CPUs priced over $225 offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to game performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-2500K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor can be overclocked to great effect if more performance is desired.

For GPU $300 and under GTX 570, HD 6950 2/1GB and GTX 560 are better option that GTX 480

 

[Why_Me]

Hmm think u best catch up with this article and 2500k is better value than 2600k

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: January 2011
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i5-2500k-amd-e350,2843.html

Past the Point of Reason:

CPUs priced over $225 offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to game performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-2500K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor can be overclocked to great effect if more performance is desired.

For GPU $300 and under GTX 570, HD 6950 2/1GB and GTX 560 are better option that GTX 480

+1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.575884 Combo Price: $394.98
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565 $249.99
MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002G1YPH0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0D3V8NSRT5DYWXSHSP6A&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846 $28.46 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plu

 

[pedxs]

Thank you so much for your replies. A couple follow up questions. Can you recommend which GTX 570 to get (so that I can compare with the 560).

Also I reason I initially chose 480 was that according to http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html it has better mark. Can you give some insights into why this is not true.

Thanks

 

[Why_Me]

Thank you so much for your replies. A couple follow up questions. Can you recommend which GTX 570 to get (so that I can compare with the 560).

Also I reason I initially chose 480 was that according to http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html it has better mark. Can you give some insights into why this is not true.

Thanks

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_560_ti_soc,5.html