~$2000 gaming/game development pc

[pixelmuncher]

Hi all,

first time posting here. I'm looking to build my first computer. My brother-in-law is going to help me assemble the computer (he's experienced) but he's leaving the purchasing to me. Mainly I'm worried about compatibility issues but I would also like some suggestions. Input is definitely welcome and greatly appreciated!

Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime this week (tomorrow preferably)
Budget Range: $1500 - $2000
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Game development (UDK currently), gaming, surfing, standard computing needs
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com or tigerdirect.com
Country of Origin: USA
Overclocking: Yes
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe*
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

*In all honesty SLI will probably be something I talk about doing and then never actually do. :/

Additional comments:
-I currently have a LCD monitor and I plan to use a dual monitor setup.

Here is what I have so far:

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)

MOBO: ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

MEMORY: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

GRAPHIC CARD: EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
*from my understanding the GTX 580 isn't worth it.

PSU: CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

HDD: Western Digital AV-GP WD15EURS 1.5TB 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

MONITOR: ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000:1 (1000:1) Built-in Speakers

Now for what I still need (suggestions definitely welcome):

Case: I don't really care for the wire mesh cases but other than that just something sleek, cool looking and well built. I would also like an internal media reader with USB 3.0 ports.

Cables: Honestly I don't really know what all cables I need that may not be included so help here will be greatly appreciated.
Optical drives: I should be fine here.

Cooling: I need a lot of help here because I just have no idea...
-Will the fans that come with a case be adequate or should I get more?
-Do I need liquid cooling?
-Do I need to purchase a fan that sits on top of the processor or does that come included?

Did I miss anything?


Thanks so much in advance!

 

[oxycontiin]

Hey. I just put together my own computer for the first time this weekend and it worked out great thanks to all the help I got from this site. If you're posting here, first thing I'd recommend is maybe holding off your purchase for a few days if you're unsure and see who responds. I've gotten some great answers. Anyways I'll share what I think of your build.

Number one thing. Check out www.microcenter.com man! I wish I lived in the states to get those deals. Amazingly cheap stuff there and I think you'll find all your components there are cheaper than tiger.

Next, I'm surprised you're not more interested in SLI. For gaming, it's not reeaaallllyy all that necessary, but for game development I could see it as an improvement. However, the nice thing about a computer is that you can upgrade whenever the hell you want so the option is always there.

From the looks of your build you've picked some quality stuff. If you haven't already, read reviews on every element of your computer until your eyes melt out of your head. There's so many opinions on the internet, that information is invaluable. Anyways, great stuff. The only things that stand out to me are that superclocked gpu. You're paying extra for that factory overclocking, but it doesn't sound like you care much what it costs so in that case it's probably easier that way. The other thing I saw was your hard drive. I don't know much about game dev, but I can imagine it'd be pretty intensive on your hard drive. If money isn't an issue I'd recommend finding a drive that uses SATA 6Gb/s since you're paying for a motherboard that supports it. Also, maybe look into a small SSD. Even if you only buy something that's big enough to hold your os, throwing Windows 7 on a lightning fast ssd and then having your huge collection of gaming crap on a nice terabyte drive would make a very noticeable difference. I guarantee that.

Since you're asking, I'll try and clear some stuff up for you. All the essential cables should come with the parts you're buying as long as everything's compatible. But I wouldn't worry about that, building computers seems pretty simple these days. As for the cooling, you are going to be running an oced gpu so water cooling, even just on your cpu, is a pretty affordable way to keep your whole system temps way down. I can't remember who makes it, but if you're looking on Tigerdirect you've probably already seen it. The H20 or H50 CPU water cooler. The H20 is only like 60 bucks and then instead of throwing big fancy fans that just move hot air around, you'll be pulling the heat straight out of the system, which is exactly what you want. But since you asked, your cpu will come with a fan and as long as you dont oc, it should work just fine.

I'm trying to think of what else I can tell you. lol don't plug in your front usb ports to the firewire output on your mobo. I fried four mice this weekend...

Oh and if you really want that USB 3.0 speed, you'll need cables specifically for it. As well as usb 3 ready devices to use on it.

Good Luck!

 

[pixelmuncher]

Thanks for the response!

As far as game development goes I'm primarily a programmer/scripter so I didn't feel the jump to SLI was really necessary. However it is still a possibility for the future.

The superclocked gpu was only ten more bucks so I figured I'd just save myself the time. As for the hard drive the 1TB drive is going to be my second HDD, I already own a 2TB drive and a 1TB external. I did however switch to a HDD that uses SATA 6Gb/s. I've been staring at the screen way too long now so I'm not surprised I didn't catch that.

So you're saying I should probably go with water cooling since I plan to overclock? In that case I found the CPU water cooler you were talking about. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[hammertime850]

you have a 1366 socket mobo, you need a 1155 to use the cpu you have selected btw

 

[pixelmuncher]

OK, here's an updated list. I think I'm ready to order I'd just like someone to look over it and verify compatibility and offer any input.

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)

MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

MEMORY: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

GRAPHIC CARD: EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

PSU: CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

MONITOR: ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000:1 (1000:1) Built-in Speakers

CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

Also, I'm kind of pushing my budget so if you spot something that is excessive or could be downgraded without decreasing performance then please let me know.

 

[oxycontiin]

The build looks good to me. But if you're looking to cut back, maybe check out the antec 300 instead? Less than half the price. As long as you font care about what it looks like. Also vengeance ram is awesome, but expensive. If you're looking on tiger there's usually rebates galore for every month. I'll bet you could find a deal on 8 gigs of ram that might not be as fancy but would do the trick and save you that pretty penny. Remember you can always upgrade!