$2000 Black Friday Build

Approximate Purchase Date: By the end of the Month

Budget Range: $2000 after Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: Monitor (I will be purchasing the HP ZR30W, not part of this budget).

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, I live close to a Fry's and Microcenter

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel

Overclocking: Yes, safe 4.5GHZ OC

SLI or Crossfire: Yes, later

Monitor Resolution: 2560x1600

Additional Comments: I have already purchased the parts below and they are on their way, please help me choose the final parts (MOBO, SSD Tom's Hardware prefers ADATA ssd this month, GPU)

PSU: Cooler Master Silent PRO 1200w http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817171055 A bit over kill I know, I'm just future proofing.
Hard Drive: $140 WD Cavalier 1TB @ Best Buy
CPU: I5 2500k $150 @ Microcenter
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103065 This one got great reviews.
DVD Burner: Samsung 22x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827151243
RAM: Great sale on this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231416
OS: MS Win7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986
Case: Antec DF-85 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129087
Mouse and Keyboard: G500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6826104318 MS Sidewinder x4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823109191
MOBO: ???
GPU: ???Leaning towards EVGA GTX 580 (3gb version) from FRY's for $590
SSD: Leaning towards ADADA 120gig since Tom's last review (most recent)

The links above will not show accurate prices b/c of black friday deals and special combos and coupons.

Thus far I have spent $897.90 (Does not inlcude MIR) So that leaves me about $1100-$1200 left for the MOBO, SSD, and GPU.
Remember, this will be a 2560x1600 build so I'll need a powerfull GPU, I am willing to purchase the GTX 580 (3GB) now and wait until the price of it drops some more to get a second one later. I will be playing SWTOR and I think the GPU can handle that game for now at the high resolution (completely maxed out).

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Message edited by mensurb on 11-27-2011 at 04:37:35 PM

Reply to mensurb

1.5gb would be plenty. 3's not helpful even at 2560x1600.
Most would go 2600K for 580 SLI, but you should survive.
Check out the MSI Z68A-GD80. If you stay away from 3xSLI (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68a-gd80-p8z68-deluxe-z68xp-ud5,3025-8.html) you'll do great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130610

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to kajabla

Are you sure about the 3gb cards? I read somewhere that at high resolutions VRAM does sometimes max out with some games. That board is compatible with the ram I purchased, right?

Why did you say if I stay away from 3xSli? I may want that sometimes in the future. Does that board not support 3xSLI?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to mensurb

No, it doesn't really. Putting a card in the third slot messes up some of its other PCI-based features (read the review). For 3xSLI, maybe the Z68 Extreme7 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269&Tpk=z68%20extreme7).
3x580 is a crazy build, though, and it may max even a 1200W PSU. 1500W or multiple PSUs may be necessary. Maybe an 800W for two of the cards and a 650W for the third and the rest of the system.
You should decide now whether 3x580 SLI is in the cards, as it'll have a huge impact on the rest of the build.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by kajabla on 11-27-2011 at 05:11:32 PM

Reply to kajabla

No, I think 3xGTX580 may be a bit overkill. I stick with 2xSLI.

Okay...reading this article...http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/06/06/msi_n580gtx_lightning_xe_3gb_video_card_review/10

They're talking about the Radeon HD 6970 and how it produces similar results but at a cheaper price. What do you think? People seem to prefer NVIDIA a bit more here on Tom's.

Message edited by mensurb on 11-27-2011 at 05:20:55 PM

Reply to mensurb

Huh. That's a bit surprising. I'd agree that it's not worth dropping money on something like the Lightning, but you might want to consider 6970 SLI.

Reply to kajabla

Damn...all this makes it just the harder...I've been googling all afternoon and found some more articles favoring the 3gb version of the Gtx 580 for future proofing (@2560x1600 resolution). I'll just wait until tomorrow and make my decision just in case some cyber monday deal comes around. Thank you for your help kajabla.

Anyone here have any personal experience with 1.5gb vs. 3gb cards at higher resolutions?

Reply to mensurb

kajabla wrote :

1.5gb would be plenty. 3's not helpful even at 2560x1600.
Most would go 2600K for 580 SLI, but you should survive.
Check out the MSI Z68A-GD80. If you stay away from 3xSLI (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68a-gd80-p8z68-deluxe-z68xp-ud5,3025-8.html) you'll do great. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130610

2600k would add absolutely zero gaming performance if the 2500k is overclocked to the same speed. just because there is 3 cards doesnt mean a game would use more cores.

mensurb wrote :

Are you sure about the 3gb cards? I read somewhere that at high resolutions VRAM does sometimes max out with some games. That board is compatible with the ram I purchased, right?

Why did you say if I stay away from 3xSli? I may want that sometimes in the future. Does that board not support 3xSLI?

you are correct to a degree but if you got the money buy what you want

keep in mind that sandy bridge only has 16 pci lanes

kajabla wrote :

No, it doesn't really. Putting a card in the third slot messes up some of its other PCI-based features (read the review). For 3xSLI, maybe the Z68 Extreme7 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269&Tpk=z68%20extreme7).
3x580 is a crazy build, though, and it may max even a 1200W PSU. 1500W or multiple PSUs may be necessary. Maybe an 800W for two of the cards and a 650W for the third and the rest of the system.
You should decide now whether 3x580 SLI is in the cards, as it'll have a huge impact on the rest of the build.

no way would he need a 1500w power supply, nvidia specs the gpu at 244w per and a 600w for one card and system so a 1200w psu would be plenty.

It's been a while since I built a computer but do I need a NIC with this card? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813130610
I don't want to finish ordering everything and then not being able to go online hehe.

Reply to mensurb

i put together a 3x580 rig. I really only wanted two. It's only been a few days up on water. Games like skyrim look a lot better on a single 580, due to weird sli issues, and you invest time in tweaking the ini files to try to clean it up. Initially, I ran 2 580s on air, with a gap between them. I couldn't imagine the temps or the NOISE of three butted up against each other on air.

The benefits of 1, 2, or 3 cards will be most dependent on the games you play. If you have particular tastes, investigate the games, their game engines, and see if they scale well up to 3 cards.

I'm using Corsair's 1200w psu and its plenty of juice. I've ran prime95 small ffts while simultaneously running 3DMark 11 Extreme bench... its gtg supporting the 2600k at 4.6ghz, 580s at 850mhz, 2 pumps, 12 fans, ssd, hdd, and blu-ray.

Every game varies on how much vram it utilizes. I've seen up to 2GB in use so far, so 3GB is a premium price but its one of those "what if" questions that may never be answered. It's your money. If the price feels right to you, go for it. I love computers and looking at the rig is pure nerd pr0n. It makes me happy.

Reply to Clonazepam

Thank you as well cbrunnem and clonazepam. I'll get the board that supports 2xSLI, 3x580 is just not in my price range (I'm still debating the hp zr30w but that thing will last me for years I hope). The fact that there are games today that do go above 1.5gb of VRAM makes me want to buy the 3gb card. Who knows what will happen a year from now and what kind of games will come out.

So I guess I'll start with one GTX 580 (3gb) and the Mobo from above that kajabla suggested. Any input on the SSD guys/gals?
Tom's Hardware suggests the ADATA SSD and people on the forums the Crucial M4. I can afford either one. ADATA has better technical specs (faster) but Crucial has better (newegg) reviews.

Message edited by mensurb on 11-27-2011 at 10:42:08 PM

Reply to mensurb

I use this for wattage, and it puts them at 360W each. 1200W would work, apparently. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/g [...] 0-review/8
I still support 1.5gb, but get the 3gb if you want to drop the cash.
I'd go for the M4. Performance differences between SSDs are very small, and if the M4 is more reliable/has fewer issues, it's the better choice.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by kajabla on 11-28-2011 at 03:09:47 AM

Reply to kajabla

kajabla wrote :

I use this for wattage, and it puts them at 360W each. 1200W would work, apparently. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/g [...] 0-review/8
I still support 1.5gb, but get the 3gb if you want to drop the cash.
I'd go for the M4. Performance differences between SSDs are very small, and if the M4 is more reliable/has fewer issues, it's the better choice.

thats at the wall power consumption ie the whole computers consumption

Wait it is
you have no idea how long I've been giving recommendations based on that chart's representing the card alone
LOL
ok

Message edited by kajabla on 11-28-2011 at 04:30:05 AM

Reply to kajabla

I'd change out the harddrive for this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185
Extremely cheap right now, and one of the best you can get.

------------------------------

Reply to farsuka

Ah sold out

Reply to kajabla

Ah...missed it too...that's ok. I went with this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820226225 SSD btw if anyone was interested

Reply to mensurb

Forum Systems : Homebuilt $2000 Black Friday Build

Homebuilt

New Build

Prebuilt

CyberPower