Hi, I've never built a computer before (though I've installed a few components here and there e.g. video cards, disc drives) but need to get a new PC soon (for non-gaming reasons) and don't have the time to learn to build it this time around.
I've searched around a bit and seems like the best website to order from looking at price and reseller ratings seems to be computerlx.com especially since I won't get charged tax (Live in California). They don't quite have all the specifics I'd like on each component on their site but I don't see a good alternative without having to pay tax (approaching 10% here).
I'm looking for a $2000 +/- ~$200 range gaming PC that will last me for approx 4-5 years without any need for major upgrades. Mainly looking to play FPS and games like Starcraft II/Civ 5 but I play games from pretty much every genre (Witcher 2, etc). Not sure what my bottleneck will be on the system I propose below. Also not sure if I'll really get much benefit from doing 2 great vid cards in SLI vs. 1 top of the line card given my situation and accordingly how strong of a power supply I'll need. I think I would want PhysX/Cuda for games so my understanding is ATI is out.
Mainly looking to install the OS (win 7 64-bit) to a SSD and maybe 1-2 games to it and having a 1.5-2 TB conventional HD.
Approximate Purchase Date: this week
Budget Range: $2300 before rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming >>> Surfing > Watching Movies (don't do photoshop, Auto-CAD, etc)
Parts Not Required: Have a Acer H233H monitor (up to 1920 x 1080p), speakers, good mouse and keyboard, headset, router, cable modem, 2 external 1 TB HDs
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Again, plan to purchase from a website (probably computerlx.com or may possibly have local place construct it for me due to time constraints on my part). Notably, Newegg charges tax for me.
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences:
# Processor - Intel Core i5 2500K
# Cooling - Corsair HYDRO H60 ENCLOSED WATER COOLING SYSTEM
# Mobo - Asus SABERTOOTH P67 Socket 1155 Rev 3.0
# RAM - 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600MHz (Unclear brand on site)
# Primary HD - Crucial/Plextor 64GB Solid State Drive SATA III
# Secondary HD - Hitachi 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB CACHE SATA 6.0Gb/s
# DVD Drive - 10X Blu-ray/DVD-RW combo (unclear brand)
# Video cards - (2X) nVidia GeForce GTX570
# Sound - REALTEK 8-CHANNEL DIGITAL SOUND ONBOARD
# Network - REALTEK 10/100/1000 Gigabit Network Card (onboard)
# Case - CoolerMaster HAF 932
# Extra fans - (3X) THERMALTAKE/ANTEC CASE FAN
# Power supply - Antec 1000W (unclear model#)
# OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (I play old games sometimes but I'm not sure if the Win XP mode is really needed or not just be on the safe side)
Not sure if anything else they offer on the site is worth it (I'm guessing no) such as special thermal paste, professional wiring, hard drive coolers, case exhaust fans
Overclocking: Prob not
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe SLI
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080p
Additional Comments: Kinda like shiny lights but not necessity. Also wondering about a display/control panel on the front of the case.
Thanks a ton!
I've searched around a bit and seems like the best website to order from looking at price and reseller ratings seems to be computerlx.com especially since I won't get charged tax (Live in California). They don't quite have all the specifics I'd like on each component on their site but I don't see a good alternative without having to pay tax (approaching 10% here).
I'm looking for a $2000 +/- ~$200 range gaming PC that will last me for approx 4-5 years without any need for major upgrades. Mainly looking to play FPS and games like Starcraft II/Civ 5 but I play games from pretty much every genre (Witcher 2, etc). Not sure what my bottleneck will be on the system I propose below. Also not sure if I'll really get much benefit from doing 2 great vid cards in SLI vs. 1 top of the line card given my situation and accordingly how strong of a power supply I'll need. I think I would want PhysX/Cuda for games so my understanding is ATI is out.
Mainly looking to install the OS (win 7 64-bit) to a SSD and maybe 1-2 games to it and having a 1.5-2 TB conventional HD.
Approximate Purchase Date: this week
Budget Range: $2300 before rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming >>> Surfing > Watching Movies (don't do photoshop, Auto-CAD, etc)
Parts Not Required: Have a Acer H233H monitor (up to 1920 x 1080p), speakers, good mouse and keyboard, headset, router, cable modem, 2 external 1 TB HDs
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Again, plan to purchase from a website (probably computerlx.com or may possibly have local place construct it for me due to time constraints on my part). Notably, Newegg charges tax for me.
Country of Origin: USA
Parts Preferences:
# Processor - Intel Core i5 2500K
# Cooling - Corsair HYDRO H60 ENCLOSED WATER COOLING SYSTEM
# Mobo - Asus SABERTOOTH P67 Socket 1155 Rev 3.0
# RAM - 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600MHz (Unclear brand on site)
# Primary HD - Crucial/Plextor 64GB Solid State Drive SATA III
# Secondary HD - Hitachi 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB CACHE SATA 6.0Gb/s
# DVD Drive - 10X Blu-ray/DVD-RW combo (unclear brand)
# Video cards - (2X) nVidia GeForce GTX570
# Sound - REALTEK 8-CHANNEL DIGITAL SOUND ONBOARD
# Network - REALTEK 10/100/1000 Gigabit Network Card (onboard)
# Case - CoolerMaster HAF 932
# Extra fans - (3X) THERMALTAKE/ANTEC CASE FAN
# Power supply - Antec 1000W (unclear model#)
# OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (I play old games sometimes but I'm not sure if the Win XP mode is really needed or not just be on the safe side)
Not sure if anything else they offer on the site is worth it (I'm guessing no) such as special thermal paste, professional wiring, hard drive coolers, case exhaust fans
Overclocking: Prob not
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe SLI
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080p
Additional Comments: Kinda like shiny lights but not necessity. Also wondering about a display/control panel on the front of the case.
Thanks a ton!