Cyberpower (Update on buying a rig for 2k)

[Dragonamedrake]

OK I'm a little confused. I'm trying to purchase a new computer from CyberpowerPC but I have a ton of questions.

First this will be a Gaming Rig. Skyrim, BF3, Star Wars Old Republic, Rage, etc...
I already have two 22' screens so I don't need monitors.
I don't need a keyboard or mouse.

Case
I could care less... I would like it to be accessible and look nice. I am a fan of blue lights and flashy rigs.

Processor
Here I am completely lost. Cyberpower seems to offer two big choices. Intel® Core™ i7-2600K Processor or Intel® Core™ i7-960 3.20 GHz? Whats the difference? What will give me the best bang for my buck and have the best longevity?

Overclocking
While I work in the IT industry I work on switches and routers... not PCs. I would like to get overclocking but others on this site have said to skip it. Is it not a good idea. Why should I overclock myself? If I dont mind spending the 50 bucks is it a good idea?

Processor Cooling
Cyberpower offers their own cooling but others have said its a bad idea. Why? And what should I go with instead?

Memory
It seems the i7-2600K only offers 8 or 16 GB. The i7-960 offers 12GB ... what should I be shooting for?

Video Card
I am a fan of NVIDIA but other than that I am unclear what I should get. Should I go with 1 High End card, or 2 Mid-tier Cards? Does it matter that I have 2 monitors?

Motherboard
Again I just want a board that is a solid choice for now and in case I decide to upgrade in the future.

Power Supply
I would rather have too much but again what do I need?

Primary Hard Drive +Data Hard Drive
Alright here is another big question. Should I use a SSD and a Large storage drive? Or just use a Storage drive?

If I use the i7-2600K they have the Intel Smart Response Technology combines SSD and Standard HDDs into a single volume. Will this replace the SSD for my OS? Whats the best set up for gaming and response time?


I understand I have a ton of questions but honestly its been a few years since I bought my last system and I am behind. Any system builds would be awsome but honestly if you can just answer the questions above it would be a huge help.

I would like to purchase this next week. Im already frothing at the mouth to play Skyrim lol. Thanks again.

 

[vx53c]

Let's take things one at a time. Are you planning to use both those monitors at once?
Do they have a i5 2500k? If yes then good, you wont be needing the i7s.
The motherboard, well, Asrock extreme3 gen3. If you feel like you are going to have many usb3 devices and you plan on adding more than 2ssds then get the extreme4. If not, i don't see the point for the extra cash.
Graphics cards... i'd say 2x6950 2gb if you are planning on using both those monitors. Thing that brings us to a PSU of about 850 solid watts (by solid i mean corsair, enermax, antec, lepa, cougar, superflower, ocz)
8gb of ram will suffice. Low profile (no big heat spreaders) so that they fit under your cooler.
Cooler, yeah don't use OEM solutions. Corsair A70 is good, Xigmatek Aegir is better, truth be told even a 212hyper will do but you get what you pay for.
Should you overclock? Well, why not. It is made so easy that 13year olds do it. Up the multiplier, if it is stable and you are happy then leave it, if it is not stable up the vcore. Don't go over 1.45vcore or 65C at load to be safe. It is for free and safe and they even got overclocking a i5 2500k for dummies out there (probably not).
The ssd! Ssds are lovely, i simply can't think of a good reason why anybody would spend more than 1k$ and not include one. a 128gb crucial m4 is great. Don't use it as a mule, only install your OS and apps and games for all the rest, you got the HDD... Which is currently at outrageous prices so see if you can find one at a local store for a decent-ish price (it won't be 50$ that it used to be on newegg but it is not going to be the current almost 200$ either). Caviar Black/Seagate Barracuda 7200.12/Samsung F3 spinpoint. Don't ask about greens and blues

Make a list providing a site we can talk on prices. Give a budget limit and tell us what's gonna happen with those monitors.
(Btw the specs i just gave you are for a killer gaming rig that will last you 3 years playing everything at max, can be upgraded for a long time and cost you around 1500$)

 

[Dragonamedrake]

Let's take things one at a time. Are you planning to use both those monitors at once?
Do they have a i5 2500k? If yes then good, you wont be needing the i7s.
The motherboard, well, Asrock extreme3 gen3. If you feel like you are going to have many usb3 devices and you plan on adding more than 2ssds then get the extreme4. If not, i don't see the point for the extra cash.
Graphics cards... i'd say 2x6950 2gb if you are planning on using both those monitors. Thing that brings us to a PSU of about 850 solid watts (by solid i mean corsair, enermax, antec, lepa, cougar, superflower, ocz)
8gb of ram will suffice. Low profile (no big heat spreaders) so that they fit under your cooler.
Cooler, yeah don't use OEM solutions. Corsair A70 is good, Xigmatek Aegir is better, truth be told even a 212hyper will do but you get what you pay for.
Should you overclock? Well, why not. It is made so easy that 13year olds do it. Up the multiplier, if it is stable and you are happy then leave it, if it is not stable up the vcore. Don't go over 1.45vcore or 65C at load to be safe. It is for free and safe and they even got overclocking a i5 2500k for dummies out there (probably not).
The ssd! Ssds are lovely, i simply can't think of a good reason why anybody would spend more than 1k$ and not include one. a 128gb crucial m4 is great. Don't use it as a mule, only install your OS and apps and games for all the rest, you got the HDD... Which is currently at outrageous prices so see if you can find one at a local store for a decent-ish price (it won't be 50$ that it used to be on newegg but it is not going to be the current almost 200$ either). Caviar Black/Seagate Barracuda 7200.12/Samsung F3 spinpoint. Don't ask about greens and blues

Make a list providing a site we can talk on prices. Give a budget limit and tell us what's gonna happen with those monitors.
(Btw the specs i just gave you are for a killer gaming rig that will last you 3 years playing everything at max, can be upgraded for a long time and cost you around 1500$)

wow. First thanks for the quick response. Second alot of what you said coasted right over my head lol.

The monitors will both be used but I will be gaming on just one if that makes sense. I usually watch a movie or have Vent up on the second monitor. I wont be having the game displayed on both screens. Not sure if thats what your asking.

The Processors offered for most builds dont include the i5 option. It might be there but I honestly dont mind going with an i7 if its a boost in performance. Between the two processors I listed what would be the better one to use. I can probably post up a test build if I know that.

Graphics cards: I would like to stick to a NVIDIA card or cards. I have seen alot of builds with duel 570's but Im not sure if thats better then just one High end card.

The site I will purchase from will be Cyberpowerpc.com or Ibuypower.com. I have really good luck with both and have bought my systems from there for years.
My budget limit is 2 thousand. And that's just the PC and OS. I have the monitors and such.

 

[vx53c]

A ha! So practically one monitor with a little extra on a side. A single 570 will do fine, which means 650watts will be fine, let's make it 750 to be sure. Got cash to spend? Let's go for 2 of those. Of course you won't really need them for the 22inch monitors unless you are planning on playing the game on both of them.
Yes i7 will do fine, you wouldn't be able to notice the difference from the i5. Get the 2600k then.
With all this in mind make your list and we will fine tune it.

 

[Dragonamedrake]

A ha! So practically one monitor with a little extra on a side. A single 570 will do fine, which means 650watts will be fine, let's make it 750 to be sure. Got cash to spend? Let's go for 2 of those. Of course you won't really need them for the 22inch monitors unless you are planning on playing the game on both of them.
Yes i7 will do fine, you wouldn't be able to notice the difference from the i5. Get the 2600k then.
With all this in mind make your list and we will fine tune it.

Alright here is a test build from Cyberpowerpc.com. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1DMKF2

It came to $2043

Case: CoolerMaster Elite 430 Mid-Tower Gaming Case with Side Panel Window [-28]

Neon Light Upgrade: 12in Cold Cathode Neon Light [+10] (Blue Color)

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-2600K 3.40 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)

Venom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: Extreme OC (Extreme Overclock 20% or more) [+49]

Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Dual Enermax Enlobal Silent High

Performance 120MM Fans (Push-Pull) [+29])

Motherboard: [CrossFireX/SLI] Asus P8Z68-V Pro Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ BT GO! LucidLogix Virtu and Intel Smart Response Technology & 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 4x SATA-III RAID, 3 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI (All Venom OC Certified)

Intel Smart Response Technology for Z68: None

Memory: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Module [+27] (Corsair XMS Gaming Memory with Heat Spreader)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card [-30] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

Video Card 2: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+305] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

Power Supply Upgrade: 1,000 Watts - Raidmax RX-1000AE 80 Plus Gold Power Supply

Hard Drive: 120GB Corsair Force Series SATA-III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 550MB/s Read & 510MB/s Write [+17] (Single Drive)

Data Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache Power Saving 5900 RPM HDD [+195] (Single Drive)

Optical Drive: LG UH12LS28K 12X Blu-Ray Player & DVDRW Combo Drive (BLACK COLOR)

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)

Service: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

 

[Dragonamedrake]

Any Ideas?

 

[vx53c]

That is a horrible and so expensive setup. Do you have to buy from cyberpower?
It is uneven with things you won't need like the overkill OEM psu, the huge but slow hard drive the blue ray you don't need, SLI cards that you are better off without, high profile memory, an expensive board that isn't gen3, some watercooling i never heard of. For 2k we can build you such a gaming monster! This is not it.

 

[Dragonamedrake]

That is a horrible and so expensive setup. Do you have to buy from cyberpower?
It is uneven with things you won't need like the overkill OEM psu, the huge but slow hard drive the blue ray you don't need, SLI cards that you are better off without, high profile memory, an expensive board that isn't gen3, some watercooling i never heard of. For 2k we can build you such a gaming monster! This is not it.

Ack! ... See this is why I am lost.

No I am not set on Cyberpower but I have had great success with them in the past. I have a 2k limit and I'm open to any advice at this point.

I'm just ready to get my gaming beast for Skyrim and such! Help a newb! lol.

 

[zooted]

You work in the IT field, albeit networking. You will be able to build your own with ease there are many online tutorials that will guide you along. Its is rather simple once you give it a shot and you will be able to save money/better customize it to meet you needs.

 

[Dragonamedrake]

You work in the IT field, albeit networking. You will be able to build your own with ease there are many online tutorials that will guide you along. Its is rather simple once you give it a shot and you will be able to save money/better customize it to meet you needs.

O I have built several computers before. Thats not the issue. I know what goes where. I just haven't kept up with what are the best parts for my money. I put together a system and most the poster have told me I am way off. As for using Cyberpower. I enjoy having a warranty and usually in the past when I decided to build my own Cyberpower had the same system for only a few hundred more.

 

[Dragonamedrake]

Alright what about the following. Is there anything I can tweak. Im pretty sold on the i7-2600k. What about the Graphics Cards and the motherboard?

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1DMRYN

Its at $2268

Case: * CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced Mid-Tower Gaming Case [+54] (Black Color)

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-2600K 3.40 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified)

Venom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: Extreme OC (Extreme Overclock 20% or more) [+49]

Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Single Standard 120MM Fan)

Motherboard: [CrossFireX/SLI] ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 ATX Mainboard w/ Lucid Virtu, Intel SRT, UEFI & 7.1 THX TruStudio Audio, GbLAN, HDMI, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 3 Gen3 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI [+68]

Intel Smart Response Technology for Z68: None

Memory: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (Kingston HyperX [+53])

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+186] (MSI Twin Frozr II/OC Powered By NVIDIA [+37])

Video Card 2: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+342] (MSI Twin Frozr II/OC Powered By NVIDIA [+37])

Power Supply Upgrade: * 850 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-850TXV2 80 Plus Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready [+83]

Hard Drive: 120GB Corsair Force Series SATA-III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 550MB/s Read & 510MB/s Write [+86] (Single Drive)

Data Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+240] (Single Drive)

Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium [+104] (64-bit Edition)

 

[Dragonamedrake]

Shameless bump.