$1000 Gaming Rig

[DRMZX]

Approximate Purchase Date: Early July

Budget Range: Approximately $1000 before rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Heavy-Internet Browsing, Music, Movies

Parts Not Required: Monitor, Keyboard & Mouse, Case, Heatsink (Cooler Master Hyper 212+)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or Amazon

Country of Origin: US

Parts Preferences: Intel Sandy Bridge CPU and Asus Board

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Later

Monitor Resolution: 1680 x 1050

Additional Comments: Would like to run games at or near max with current resolution with the option of SLI down the line for a larger monitor. Oh, and the SSD is a must.


Here's what I've got so far after a lot of research.


Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

OCZ Solid 3 SLD3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227728

ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
and
ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.653970

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
and
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.644341

 

[jasonw223]

Looks like a real nice build to me. Honestly, I wouldn't really change anything in there if I were you, except maybe your PSU. Go for this one instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020&Tpk=650%20tx

It's the newer version, more efficient, nicer looking. I might even be tempted to go for the modular HX 650w, but that's just if you have some extra money to toss in. But yeah, your system will give you more than enough performance to max pretty much anything our at 1680x1050 as well, so you should be good to go!

 

[raptorjesus]

If you ever upgrade to 1920x1280 two 560 Ti's will be more than adequate to keep the graphics nice and tasty. I love the board, it works great for me, and the UEFI BIOS is so much easier than keyboarding through.

 

[cmadrid]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
maybe a 750w psu

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441
another SSD option

 

[jasonw223]

Keep the SSD you originally had... that M4 is way slower. And as for your PSU, a 650w Corsair is plenty. Those 560 Ti's only draw a max of 170w each.

 

[DRMZX]

Thanks for the responses. I spent a good deal of last week researching and that's how I came up with this build. I just wanted to see if there was anything I missed.

Anyways, I managed to find some good deals on Newegg, now I just have to save up the money. Hopefully there'll be some price drops by July and I can save some more.

And yes, I do intend to upgrade to a 1080 monitor eventually, I was thinking of an Asus 27" (This one specifically http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236103 ). I have a 24" right now, and I want to swap up to something larger. If anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it.

 

[jasonw223]

I just did some monitor upgrading myself... I have to say, I enjoy a 24" 120hz monitor more than a 27" 60hz one. I don't use the 3D stuff much, but the refresh rate really makes a big difference to me.

 

[DRMZX]

I was considering getting a 120 mhz monitor, but I don't know if it'd be worth the tradeoff of the extra screen real estate. I like to do a lot of multitasking with a lot of windows open. I guess I'll just have to go look at one in person to see if I prefer it.

 

[cmadrid]

use your old monitor for multitasking on with a dual screen setup

 

[jasonw223]

120hz is a bit nicer for normal stuff, but a lot nicer in games (if your video card can handle 120fps). I was super close to buying that identical Asus 27" monitor (or the 276Q), but once I tried one of these out I couldn't go back. I actually have two 120hz screens now... lol.

The resolution on a 24" 120hz or a 27" screen would also be the same, so for the most part it will give you a similar amount of real estate as well. Dual monitors = the way to go for multitasking, so +1 to cmadrids comment there.

 

[DRMZX]

Good idea on the dual monitor setup, I'll definitely consider it. As far as screen real estate is concenered, I understand both a 24 and 27 are going to have the same resolution, but I just find myself longing for a larger display in general. What I really want is a Dell u2711 but at 850 on the low end, that's a lot to shell out. So like I said, I'll shop around, see if I can find one of the 120hz in person to compare. The monitor is not a priority, I just wanted to gauge the market.

Thanks again guys.