2000ish First Time Gaming Build

[Fansandman]

Approximate Purchase Date: October


Budget Range:1800-2300$


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming. Battlefield 3, Diablo 2, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft


Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard,Headset


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg


Country of Origin: US


Parts Preferences: Would like to use a HAF X case


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Not sure i originally wanted to crossfire but read a lot about microstutter


Monitor Resolution: 1900x1200 on a 37 inch HD screen would like to use max settings in games.


Additional Comments: This will be my first time building a computer so would like to use a bios that is pretty easy to OC. i am not sure which motherboard to get. Nothing in this build is set in stone except maybe the case. Thank you in advance for taking your time to look at my build.


Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225


Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard $334.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131760


CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072


Video Card:MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity X2 $599.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127575


Power Supply: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RSA00-80GAD3-US 1000W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171056


SSD: ADATA S511 Series AS511S3-240GM-C 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $427.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211552


RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL $51.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428


Hard Drive:Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148506


CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065


OS:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716

 

[abekl]

That is a monster build. I don't see any issues other than the MB you chose just being too plain expensive for what you want to do. You can go for a Gigabyte board that overclocks just as easily, and save yourself a bunch of money http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128494

 

[Fansandman]

That is a monster build. I don't see any issues other than the MB you chose just being too plain expensive for what you want to do. You can go for a Gigabyte board that overclocks just as easily, and save yourself a bunch of money http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128494

Thanks for the reply, yea the motherboard and the videocards are the two things i was not sure of. I was also looking at ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264. Also i was thinking of going maybe to a single card gtx 590 or 580 but i am not sure if it could handle a max settings on a 37 inch screen at 1900x1200 resolution.

 

[abekl]

The size of the screen doesn't matter, only the 1900X1200 resolution that you'll be running at. Gigabyte, Asus, Asrock all have quality boards in the 150-180 price range that do everything you want. The only reason the board you selected costs so much is because it does Quad SLI - something you obviously don't want or need.

 

[Why_Me]

If your going to drop two bills on a psu...don't do it on a Cooler Master psu not to mention a solid 750w psu will easily push that build. Also make sure to take advantage of combo's to save a few bucks...albeit the combo's will have changed for the most part by the time you buy. Also keep in mind AMD has those new generation cards estimated to come out this November.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.721539 $349.98 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.722409.11-119-225 $284.98 FREE SHIPPING
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103072 $16.68 FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AR-GP 200mm Red LED Case Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139029 $149.99 - $134.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850M 850W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular High Performance Power Supply

This board is new on the market and it's bad to the bone. It has that NF200 Bridge which allows dual cards in SLI to run @ x16 & x16 instead of the typical x8 & x8 and it's ready for Ivy Bridge and it comes with everything and then some.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269 $279.99 $10 off w/ promo code EMCKAKA32, ends 9/15
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme7%20Gen3 <---- A better look at that board

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/PCIe3/ <----- PCI-E 3.0 supported by the new 22nm Ivy Bridge cpu's due out in April/May

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/IntelZ68/index.asp <----- Z68 Features

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4272/asrock_z68_extreme7_gen3_intel_z68_motherboard_review/index1.html <--- Full review of that board with benchmarks

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html <----- Review done here on Toms a few weeks ago showing that boards with the NF200 Bridge reduce micro stutter.

 

[inzone]

Not sure about the 37" monitor unless you were thinking 27" and miss typed.
You can save your self $90 by going for the 64 bit home premium , you are going to use the 64bit anyway to use all the ram.
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM $99.99 and free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $599.99 and a free game and it has 3 gb of video ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127589

Take the $90 and put it towards this ;

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9Q-16GBXL $149.99 and free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231456

OCZ RevoDrive 3 series RVD3-FHPX4-120G PCI-E 120GB PCI-Express 2.0 x4 MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $399.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227745

Now a lot of people are afraid of these things but I have been using them since they came out and I currently have the 240 gb X2 version and am thinking of getting the X3 soon. They are insanely fast and the only reason I am recomending it is because in your listed components you have a $427 240 gb SSD. You also have a 2 tb hdd so you don't need a 240gb SSD you only need one big enough to hold the OS and the current game you are playing. If you don't want to get the Revo then get this ;
OCZ Vertex 3 Series – MAX IOPS Edition VTX3MI-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $269.99 and free shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227714
This will save you $150

Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $139.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792

Antec High Current Pro HCP-850 850W TX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $199.99 and a $30 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371053

Do you have a monitor? Are you really going with a 37" ?
LG W2753VC-PF 27" 2ms Full HD Tilt & Swivel Adjustable WideScreen LCD Monitor300 cd/m2 50000:1 $339.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005161

I actually have this one and I love it , its big and it gives an outstanding picture and did I say it's big ?

 

[Fansandman]

@abekl- Oh ok thank you did not know that thought both mattered


@why_me- Thank you i had orginally gone with an 850w power supply but after much reading i thought i would be pushing the powersupply too hard, i have switched mobo with the one you suggested and changed to a lower power supply.

@Inzone No, i dont have a monitor but i was going to use my HD TV i have as my monitor like i do with my current computer. Question about the 580gtx would it run better then the crossfire 6950s? Only reason i chose that SSD was beacuse of the recent SSD article and it came first and i thought if im building a new computer might as well get the best one. Thank you for your reply

 

[splatman213]

well, you might want to wait for amds bull dozer. the cpu does play a part just not as much as a gpu and andy bridge only has 16 pcie lanes so thats either 1 card @x16 or 2 cards @ x8. amds 990 fx has up to 42 pcie lanes (depending on which mobo u get) this will benefit u in terms of fps and upgradabiilty . and bulldozer seems pretty promising. its down to you. btw intel is gonna release their sandybridge-e cpus in the near future, which also has around 42 pcie lanes. wait for that plus the lga 2011 mobos. only problem i can see is that the cpus are 6 core, gaming uses a max of 4 but if uvideo render and so it will be good. also idk how much a unlocked sandy bridge e will cost . but the best thing is to wait many new things are coming in the next few months. anyway amd is going to announce the radeon 7000 series in a few months, the time of the 6000 series is coming to an end. when radeon 7000 does get released, ur 6950 price will drop so like i said its best to wait

 

[Why_Me]

well, you might want to wait for amds bull dozer. the cpu does play a part just not as much as a gpu and andy bridge only has 16 pcie lanes so thats either 1 card @x16 or 2 cards @ x8. amds 990 fx has up to 42 pcie lanes (depending on which mobo u get) this will benefit u in terms of fps and upgradabiilty . and bulldozer seems pretty promising. its down to you. btw intel is gonna release their sandybridge-e cpus in the near future, which also has around 42 pcie lanes. wait for that plus the lga 2011 mobos. only problem i can see is that the cpus are 6 core, gaming uses a max of 4 but if uvideo render and so it will be good. also idk how much a unlocked sandy bridge e will cost . but the best thing is to wait many new things are coming in the next few months. anyway amd is going to announce the radeon 7000 series in a few months, the time of the 6000 series is coming to an end. when radeon 7000 does get released, ur 6950 price will drop so like i said its best to wait

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/PCIe3/overview.html <----- Then maybe you can explain this seeing how there's a few SB boards that run dual cards @ x16 & x16 with an NF200 Bridge including that Asus board in the OP and that Asrock board I posted.

 

[Fansandman]

Honestly ive saved up this much money i dont know if i can wait =/. i am just hoping that the parts i get can just slowly be upgraded as new stuff comes out so i can keep up. Thank you for all the helpful replies.

 

[Why_Me]

Honestly ive saved up this much money i dont know if i can wait =/. i am just hoping that the parts i get can just slowly be upgraded as new stuff comes out so i can keep up. Thank you for all the helpful replies.

You have a heck of a build. I'm guessing that build is going to rip through games like BF3.

 

[Fansandman]

Best answer selected by Fansandman.