$2000 Gaming Rig

[Dovienya0]

I know there are a few other threads like this but I think what I am looking for is a little different. Mainly, I really don't like multimonitor setups at all. I currently have a somewhat aging 1900 x 1200 monitor that I plan on replacing later this year with a 30 inch 2560 x 1600. I would like to go ahead and build my gaming rig now and just use it with my old monitor until I get the new one.

So what are your suggestions for a $2000 build that would get the best possible performance in games on a single 30 inch 2560 x 1600 monitor? I only care about gaming performance since I use my work laptop for any other applications.

I already have a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and OS (windows 7) so no need to include those.

Thanks for any help and wisdom.

Edit: Here is the breakdown:

I just noticed the guidelines post so here is an easier to read breakdown of what I am looking for:

Approximate Purchase Date: sooner the better

Budget Range: $2000 after rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming

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

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: N/A

Country of Origin: US

Parts Preferences: Nothing in particular (you all know better than I do)

Overclocking: Probably

SLI or Crossfire: Yes
Monitor Resolution: 1 2560 x 1600

Additional Comments: N/A

 

[Dovienya0]

I forgot one thing. I do care a little about having a nice case.

 

[chacol]

Case: http://www.buyxg.com/store/cat.aspx?key=CASE

 

[Why_Me]

This build is set up to add another one of those cards later on for SLI. That Gigabyte board down below is a 16 phase board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.676270 $189.99 save: $21.99 $10.00 Mail In Rebates
COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AR-GP 200mm Red LED Case Fan
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103091 $9.99
COOLER MASTER SickleFlow 120 R4-L2R-20AR-R1 120mm Silent operation Red LED case fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.689155 $244.98 save: $30.00
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.691419 $339.98 save: $30.00 $20.00 Mail In Rebates FREE SHIPPING
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply
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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233087 $64.99 FREE SHIPPING'
XIGMATEK Aegir SD128264 Mega Killer Double HDT 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler Dual Fan I7 i5 775 1155 1156 and AMD compatible

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039 $18.99 FREE SHIPPING
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697 $59.99 FREE SHIPPING
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443 $414.99 FREE SHIPPING
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127589 $599.00
MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Total: $1,943.89 *not including shipping and mail in rebates

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2988 <----- more pics, specs, and professional reviews of that Cooler Master HAF X

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3849#ov <----- GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/06/06/msi_n580gtx_lightning_xe_3gb_video_card_review/ <----- review of that card

http://www.hardwarezone.com/product-guide/view/180243 <----- review of that card

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm <----- that Xigmatek Aegir is #8 on that list

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2572 <----- review of that Xigmatek cpu h/s

 

[z_4]

Here's my recommendation :

CPU & Power Supply: $325- i5 2500K & ThermalTake Black Widow 850 (80plus bronze certified, modular, has 10% off with promo )

Motherboard & RAM: $225-Gigabyte GA Z68X UD4 & Gskill RipjawX (2X 4GB)

Case & HDD: $205- Corsair Graphite 600T & Samsung Spinpoint 1TB

SSD: $200- OCZ Agility 3 120GB

BluRay Burner: $80- LG

Cooler: $52- Xigmatek Dark Knight(Will give you the headroom to overclock the CPU to 4.5 GHz)

Graphic Card: $700(2X $350) -Sapphire Radeon 6970(Crossfire Performance)
or
$650(2X $325)- EVGA GTX 570(SLI Performance

Total (Excluding Rebates): 1808 USD

Rebates: 60 USD

 

[Why_Me]

Here's my recommendation :

CPU & Power Supply: $325- i5 2500K & ThermalTake Black Widow 850 (80plus bronze certified, modular, has 10% off with promo )

Motherboard & RAM: $225-Gigabyte GA Z68X UD4 & Gskill RipjawX (2X 4GB)

Case & HDD: $205- Corsair Graphite 600T & Samsung Spinpoint 1TB

SSD: $200- OCZ Agility 3 120GB

BluRay Burner: $80- LG

Cooler: $52- Xigmatek Dark Knight(Will give you the headroom to overclock the CPU to 4.5 GHz)

Graphic Card: $700(2X $350) -Sapphire Radeon 6970(Crossfire Performance)
or
$650(2X $325)- EVGA GTX 570(SLI Performance

Total (Excluding Rebates): 1808 USD

Rebates: 60 USD

I know that Thermaltake psu is manufactured by HEC, but I was wondering if there's been any reviews done on that psu? HEC wasn't always known for their quality psu's in the past.

 

[z_4]

I know that Thermaltake psu is manufactured by HEC, but I was wondering if there's been any reviews done on that psu? HEC wasn't always known for their quality psu's in the past.

I realize it now. I was looking for modular one and found it had decent specs . so went after it along with the combo .

Correcting it here are two of them at the same price:

Antec CP850 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024

Xclio 850: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024

$150 - Silverstone 850 Watts 80plus Silver

 

[Why_Me]

I realize it now. I was looking for modular one and found it had decent specs . so went after it along with the combo .

Correcting it here are two of them at the same price:

Antec CP850 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024

Xclio 850: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024

$150 - Silverstone 850 Watts 80plus Silver

That Antec is a good one, but it's made exclusivly for four different Antec cases...it's not an ATX psu, but a "CP" psu made to fit the Antec 1200, DF-85...and I think the P183.

The Silverstone is decent, but that Xclio is junk.

Your best bets for psu's are..and in no certain order : Seasonic, XFX, upper tier Corsair, Antec, Enermax, Silverstone, PC Power & Cooling.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/How-to-Discover-Your-Power-Supplys-Real-Manufacturer/370/1 <----- If your ever curious as to who manufactured your psu check this link out.

 

[z_4]

Small Correction to my original build :

CPU & PSU : $364- i5-2500K & Corsair Professional Series HX850 80plus silver certified modular(Will push up the budget by $40)

 

[Dovienya0]

Best answer selected by Dovienya0.