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Non-Overclocked System Build

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Hello,

I haven't built a computer since I joined the Navy (going on six years now) and my current laptop is on its last legs, so I'm looking for advice on building my own system. I'm not so presumptive as to ask a forum-goer to hand walk me through every choice, and I'll gladly read any links posted and thank you, but I'll outline some of my requirements and questions.

The system is intended primarily for gaming, with some basic Microsoft Office (or OpenOffice) work for when I have to bring work home.
Budget is roughly 2,000, plus or minus a few hundred. I'd rather spend money now and have it last me three or four years than chintz on it and be replacing gear when the next big game comes out.
I want to stay away from overclocking, because reliability is a prime concern for me and I'm honestly not proficient enough to feel comfortable monkeying around with clock settings and temperatures. I have enough stress worrying that the new headers and pipes I put on my Dodge Magnum are going to explode on any given drive that I don't want to add to my worries with a hot-rod PC. If this means I have to spend more to get a system that runs upcoming games like Mass Effect 3 well, so be it.
Finally, have the ins-and-outs of PC building changed that much in the past 5 years? I was there for the transition from IDE to SATA, and I know that SSDs are the new rage, but its still a job that can be done with a phillips head, some Arctic Silver and about a day's worth of work, right?

Thanks in advance for your response.

V/r,
IS1(SW/AW) David C Peters
II Marine Expeditionary Force, 2nd Intel BN

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DengarDave said:
I want to stay away from overclocking, If this means I have to spend more to get a system that runs upcoming games like Mass Effect 3 well, so be it.
Actually, you've to spend much less on a system if you don't want to overclock. Do you want to have the SLI option available in the future? If not, you'll save another $350 odd on this system as well. Yes, that's not a typo.

If you don't want to add a 2nd gfx card to this system, you'll end up saving exactly that much on the power supply and motherboard.

I'm giving you both the board and PSU options, you can decide the rest for yourself. Actually, I'm having trouble getting upto $2000 if all you want is a great performing gaming PC, that'll destroy all recent games right outta the box and are not interested in tweaking it.
DengarDave said:
Finally, have the ins-and-outs of PC building changed that much in the past 5 years? I was there for the transition from IDE to SATA, and I know that SSDs are the new rage, but its still a job that can be done with a phillips head, some Arctic Silver and about a day's worth of work, right?
Sorry Dave, things have changed since your last time. These days, you need not even use a screw driver to install your components. And you certainly don't need Arctic Silver unless you OC.

For my build in here, you'll not need any tools to the best of my belief.

CPU: $370 Intel Core i7-2700K

$300 Intel Core i7-2600 <--- Non OC option.

Motherboard: $200 ASUS P8Z68-V PRO

Non-SLI/Xfire non OC board: $80 ASUS P8H67-M LX (REV 3.0)

RAM: $100 CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB <--- 4GB is actually enough, but since you said you don't want to change things every year, just a bit of future proofing doesn't hurt. You can get 8GB though if you want to. If you want the 2nd board option though, get cheaper 1333Mhz RAM, as the board will run your RAM at that speed anyways.

GPU: $480 EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 580

HDD: $70 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB

SSD: $240 Crucial 2.5" 128GB SATA III SSD

ODD: $70 LG Black SATA Blue Ray burner Super Multi with LightScribe Support - OEM

PSU: $85 CORSAIR TX650 V2

or PSU: $280 CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200<--- if you want to keep the 580 SLI option open.

Case: $100 Corsair Carbide Series 400R

You can also get a 6950 Xfire system if you're happy with that straight outta the box. It'll give you more frames, but personally, unless somebody is sure of what he/she's doing I advise my clients to keep their options open and go with a single GPU set-up, first up. In any case, the fastest single GPU card in the world today (GTX 580) should be more than enough for anything you can throw at it for some time to come, methinks :) 

But for the XFire option straight up, keep the $200 board and get

GPU: 2X $225 SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 1GB

PSU: $125 CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850 V2

EDIT: I hope you won't get confused with all the varying options. I had to work doubly hard on this thread 'coz you didn't post according to the following thread. Would have been a whole lot easier that way - How To Ask For New Build Advice
 
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