$2000 Gaming PC Feedback and Suggestions

DRMZX

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May 22, 2011
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So I've been pricing and speccing out new components for my PC. My power supply fried so I figure it's time for a new system.


Approximate Purchase Date: Within the month. Probably next week.

Budget Range: Around $1800-$2000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming primarily but I like to multitask. I.E. image editing, music, and internet.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Case, Monitor*

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon.com

Country of Origin: U.S.

Parts Preferences: I'm partial to Intel for CPUs and nVidia for GPUs. I've also had luck with Asus boards but I'm open to suggestions.

Overclocking: Definitely

SLI or Crossfire: Not immediately but later on down the line.

Monitor Resolution: 1680 x 1050 to start with the option of upgrading to 2560 x 1440

Additional Comments: I'd like to get good enough parts that I won't have to worry about upgrading anything but the monitor and maybe slapping another video card in anytime soon.

*I've been debating whether or not to spend the money on a moderate PC and use the leftover to get a very nice monitor (Dell U2711) or to hold off on the monitor and just get a really good PC now that will hopefully last me a lot longer.


So with that as my baseline here's what I've come up with so far.


Crucial Technology 128 GB Crucial RealSSD C300 Series Solid State Drive CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039SM0AS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Corsair Professional Series Gold High Performance 850-Watt Power Supply CMPSU-850AX
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PJ6QW4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Western Digital 2 TB Caviar Black SATA 6GB/s 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD2002FAEX
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CSIG1G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Intel Core i7 Processor i7-2600K 3.4GHz 8MB LGA1155 CPU BX80623I72600K
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EBUXSA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=AZ8ZZL30AH7DI

G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600MHz PC3-12800 240-Pin Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KY719A/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=A1YAK8U7QV5H1E

ASUS LGA 1155 SATA 6Gbps USB 3.0 Supported Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2400 Motherboards P8Z68-V PRO
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00503EA80/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&m=A2JUPN4BTA3CZV

ASUS ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD5 - Graphics adapter - GF GTX 580 - PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 1.5 GB GDDR5 - DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004MN3HBK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&m=A2JUPN4BTA3CZV


Anyways, I'd love everyone's feedback. Comments, suggestions, whether or not there's anything I missed, or if it looks okay.

Thanks in advance.
 

fall0ut3

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Apr 22, 2011
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Nice nice! i like the way you chose your CPU(if u go for OC so its a good choice!) the Sandy-Bridge is excellent for gaming and OC! it runs every thing smooth!
i really reccomend u to use the HD6XXX series because of eyefinity!
bottom line,
awesome choice! ohh and can u tell me the name of ur case?
 
The monitor choice is key ..... as a U2711 is a $1000 investment. But unless you are a photo enthusiast, the one I'd get would be this 120 MHz unit:

ASUS VG236HE Black 23" 1920X1080 2ms Height, Full HD 3D Widescreen, 400 cd/m2 100,000:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236104

As for the 2k build ....this is $1995

Case - $155 - Antec DF-85 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087
Case Fans - $15 - Antec Red 120 mm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209013
PSU - $120 - Antec CP-850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024
MoBo - $465 - ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.642533
CPU - incl - Intel Core i5-2600K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Cooler - $40 - Scythe SCMG 2100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
TIM - $5 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
RAM - $130 - (2 x 4GB) Mushkin CAS 7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226178
GFX - $220 - EVGA GTX 560 (900MHz) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130651
GFX - $220 - Same
HD - $65 - Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200 rpm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
SSD - $300 - OCZ Vertex 3 2.5" 120GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706
DVD Writer - $70 - Asus 24X DRW-24B3L w/ LS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135247
Card Reader $50 55 in 1 Card Reader http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820314001
OS - $140 - Win 7-64 Home Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

GFX - I went w/ twin 560's as they are $60 cheaper than a single 580 and outperform a single 580 by 40%. Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$220.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $0.44 - $0.51
$500.00 580 (616/953) $0.81 - $1.05

Of course, if money doesn't matter all that much, you should get one 580 now and another later, that's 10% faster than the twin 560's .... but at cost that's 227% of the 900 MHz 560's....you'd also have to upgrade to the CP-1000 PSU.

Case / PSU - This is my fav combo.....the PSU is the quietest I have ever used and delivers extreme performance ... enough to earn a 10.0 performnce rating from jonnyguru. Nothing in its price range comes close. Most builds Im using either the HAF-X or DF-85, the DF is the easier build and I like the feature set better. Only thing I don't like is the gates on the 5.25" drives . The HAF w/ the Corsair AX / HX series PSU's, XFX Black Edition or Seasoniuc X series are good alternates.

The MoBo provides x16 x16 GFX lanes whereas anything cheaper limits you to x8 x8. Why it matters

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910.html

Why this board

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3795/asus_p8p67_ws_revolution_intel_p67_express_motherboard/index.html

If ya want the Z68, (I'm waiting for x16 x16 on Z68 myself) its a lot cheaper on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730

RAM - I'd use CAS 7 in a lower budget build but you have the cash so why not. Since your GFX subsystem won't be the bottleneck, this will increase your minimum frame rates.

Cooler / TIM - There are better coolers but they are wasted on SB. The TIM has highest thermal transfer rate measured as yet.

SSD - price shud drop to $225ish as soon as Corsair Force3 hits the shelves. The C300 is 355 MBps .... the Vertex and Force 3 are 550 Mbps