Building a long lasting gaming rig

[phamhlam]

Approximate Purchase Date: TBD

Budget Range: ~2,000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (BF3) and some AutoCAD work.

Parts Not Required: Speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg and Amazon

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Only up to 4.6ish on the 2500k

SLI or Crossfire: Definitely

Monitor Resolution: 3x1920x1080

Additional Comments: I plan on using this system for atleast 3 years until I leave college and maybe even longer. I also perfer a blue color scheme over red.

So far I have picked the following parts:

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz

Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (P8P67 seems to be hit and miss)

Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO

Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB

Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850M

Graphics Card: SLI 2x MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III PE/OC

Boot Drive: OCZ Vertex 3

Storage Drive: WD Blue

Disc Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner

Monitor: 3x Dell E2211H (I might go with ASUS VS228H but Dell looks nicer)

Keyboard: Logitech G110

Mouse: Razr Deathadder

Current Price Estimate: $~2200

If I stuck to 1 GPU and 1 monitor, I would save about $700 but I am a hardcore BF3 player so it is preferred.

 

[9_breaker]

if you want it to be long lasting get a gen 3 mobo.like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264

 

[9_breaker]

otherwise everything else is good .

2 monitors could save you some money for better parts or getting 3 cheaper ones. however the parts you chose are good .

 

[koogco]

the TX850 will probably be near its limit here, but that can be a good thing, since it will be more efficient at idle then.
If the things you write fits your budget, I'd say go for it.
Only thing is to pick a gen 3 motherboard (asrock extreme3 gen3 for instance)
I would actually consider putting the OS on the HDD and then putting your favorite games on the SSD.
1st of all, the size of a game is somewhat fixed. The OS will grow larger as you use it, and per default, documents and downloads will go on the same drive.
2nd, As a gamer you often care more about loading times in the game than how fast your computer turns on. Your call of cause.

 

[phamhlam]

What is the difference in a gen 3 mobo? I thought that PCI E 3.0 doesn't matter since nothing can use it or support it. Is it going to support next year CPU or something?

I think the idea of a game on the SSD is good.

 

[9_breaker]

gen 3 mobos are for future gpu's. the bulldozers are out but im curious about there performance it varies by far across diffrent websites.

 

[phamhlam]

Bulldozer is a snoozer. Intel is killing and I am pretty sure Ivy Bridge would be the best. Intel just needs to produce more CPU like the i5 2500k and i7 2600k to stay on top.

 

[9_breaker]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8150-zambezi-bulldozer-990fx,3043.html
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1741/14/
http://lenzfire.com/2011/09/amd-bulldozer-fx-processors-benchmark-results-vs-core-i7-2600k-70406/4/
those are a few reviews an there's a lot more there all different so you cant really tell how good it is. most people just look at the worst or the best . I think you should just check how it goes for about a week before you buy your i5

 

[Why_Me]

BD is a power hungry heat producing flop.

 

[phamhlam]

Best answer selected by phamhlam.