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$1200-1500 Gaming i5 2500k Build

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I haven't built a computer in 3-4 years and need help picking out a couple of parts I'm less familiar with.

Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as parts are in stock/build is finalized.


Budget Range: 1200-1500 but willing to spend more to help futureproof the rig a bit.


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Pretty much only gaming/streaming.


Parts Not Required: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse/Mice, Speakers, OS.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference.

Country of Origin: Canada


Parts Preferences: I've always owned AMD CPU/Nvidia GPU but have no allegiance to either.


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Single GPU please~


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

The parts I'm looking at right now are:

Intel Core i5-2500K
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1683...

Samsung Spinpoint 1 TB
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...
What's the difference between these two?

Mobo: Honestly this is the part i know the least about, Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

GPU: I'm stuck between Radeon HD 6950 2 GB and unlocking it to 6970 or NVIDIA 570 GTX from EVGA, I've never bought an AMD gpu before so not sure which vendor is the best. Willing to dump a considerable amount of money into my GPU so alternatives are welcomed.

G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB (2 x 4GB) There's a ton of different kits in this range based off timing/sdram/pc3 clocking so unsure what to do here is it worth getting the 14900?

SSD: I'm really torn on getting another 64GB for OS/everyday apps/games or getting OCZ Vertex 3 120GB http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

Opticial: Anything generic will work.

Case: Anything that all of this actually fit into and allow decent airflow for overclocking, I don't mind having to spend extra for something like a HAF.

PSU: From what I've read the i5 uses very low voltage and alot of people recommend 650w but with overclocking and trying to leave headroom for upgrades I am unsure what to go with here.












More about : 1200 1500 gaming 2500k build

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Best solution

This is all FREE SHIPPING

dual 560's = 750w psu

dual 570's = 800+w psu

dual 580's = 900w psu

This build gives you the option to add another one of those 570's later on for SLI.

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10370AC3991&v... $148.43
Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Full Tower Gaming Case ATX 12 Drive Bay No PS Top USB3.0 USB Audio

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15180AC7384&v... $104.44
XFX 850W PRO850W Core Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 70A 24PIN ATX Power Supply 80PLUS Bronze

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD0300&v... $178.70
Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 ATX LGA1155 P67 DDR3 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681... $219.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11130AC8843&v... $24.69
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD5211&v... $87.07
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=25350DR0783&v... $82.69
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11610BD0290&v... $337.84
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Fermi 732MHZ 1280MB GDDR5 2XDVI Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530DR5213&v... $21.32
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

Total: $1,205.17 CAD

The Samsung "R" version of their drive has extra error checking and better engineering presumably to make a drive used in a raid configuration more reliable. The latency is 4.14 instead of 4.17 which would make them a tiny bit faster in a benchmark test. The warranty is 2 years longer, but warranty on an OEM Samsung product is iffy at best - they do not like to support these products. It does not matter (at least to me) because either of these drives gives excellent performance and price/perfomance ratio.

The Radeon HD 6950 2 GB is just a great buy right now, considering the fact you can mod it to almost a 6970. Check the feedback to make sure the model you purchase has been sucessfully unlocked.

Have a couple of questions for the motherboard: How serious are you about overclocking? Are you going to upgrade to a multiple card configuration? If so, AMD or NVIDIA? In any case, you are looking at a P67, LGA 1155, like this middle of the road ASUS P8P67 for $177. Note that this board does not SLI for NVIDIA cards, but will Crossfire for AMD. SLI usually costs more.

Don't spend a lot of extra money on RAM, because added performance does not justify the extra cost - 1333 is a fine speed, and you can pick up these G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB for $92 including shipping.

SSD: Get the 64 GB - it holds your OS and some programs. SSD space is expensive, so look to upgrade it when cost comes down. That is just my opinion.

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 is on sale for $90 after rebate. Good size, nice airflow right out of the carton, great cable management. downside: no window, and red fans, unless red is a nice color to you.

PSU: Depends on your video card selection now and your upgrade path later.

Thanks for the list why_me I'll definitely use the majority of those links.

As for eloric, I'm not going to do anything to crazy with regardless to overclocking but will push it to 4.2-4.4 depending on temps, I really don't want to use sli or crossfire right now but have no problems picking up another card later to extend the lifespan of the rig.

Why_Me helped me narrow down a good amount of my issues, I'm still left very torn between going the 570 or 6950 route if anyone has any insight i would appreciate it.

And the last thing being the SSD, Is there no good 3rd gen 64gb ssd? I see a ton of good 120+ ones but obviously the price spikes quite remarkably. Do i have to go back to a C300 64GB if i don't get a vertex 3?.
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