Under $2000 gaming build

December 31, 2011 11:00:55 PM

I'm looking to build myself a new gaming rig. I built one around August 2010 but didn't research it very well and ended up getting an entry-level mobo (GA-P55A-UD3). I would just upgrade, but I have an i7 1156, so not only would I need to buy a new mobo, but a new CPU as well, so I might as well just build a new rig. My boyfriend is a TV hog, so I'd like to move the majority of my gaming to a PC anyway, so I want a pretty fierce beast. I don't want to make the same mistakes I did on my first build, so any help is appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date: February 2012-ish

Budget Range: I'd like to keep it under $2000 but willing to go over if necessary

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, internet (I use a LOT of tabs and windows open at once)

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon almost exclusively. I have no-interest financing available.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Full tower case. I have a Coolmaster 690II and I'd like a little more room for better cable management. I don't mind paying more for a reliable brand.

Overclocking: I'd like to figure it out, but won't try it immediately.

SLI or Crossfire: Preferably yes

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, but looking to add a second 22" monitor

Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D (I know this one's not full tower, but it's reeeeeeally pretty)
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Obsidian-Aluminum-Enthusi...

OR

Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra (not available on Amazon but also really nice)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Mobo: ASRock Z68 EXTREME7 GEN3
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-Gen3-Intel-Z68-Motherboard...

OR

ASUS Maximus IV Extreme -Z
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Maximus-IV-Extreme-Motherboa...

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-BOX80623I52500K-Core-i5-250...

CPU Cooler: Corsair H80
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Performance-Liquid-Cooler...

PSU: Corsair Enthusiat 850W
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Enthusiast-Certified-Comp...

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB
http://www.amazon.com/G-skill-Ripjaws-240-pin-Desktop-F...

SSD: Corsair Force 120GB
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Force-2-5-Inch-Solid-CSSD...

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-D...

GPU: I'm still a little iffy on this...
2x XFX Radeon HD 6950
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-Mini-Displayport-PCI-E...

OR

EVGA Geforce GTX580
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Mini-HDMI-Lifetime-Warranty-...

I'm not 100% sold on anything right now and am open to any suggestions! I want this computer to last and to actually be able to upgrade it in the future, so any help is very appreciated.

More about : 2000 gaming build

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steadywaters

January 1, 2012 1:32:38 AM

Are you entirely set on February? New Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs and nVidia/AMD GPUs are expected to arrive March-April.

Something to consider.

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Emelth

Gaming Expert

January 1, 2012 1:37:37 AM

Yep plus with the new GPUs coming out

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JackNaylorPE

Gaming Expert

January 1, 2012 1:51:26 AM

Quote:

What About Ivy?

By the time the 3820 is available for purchase early next year, Ivy Bridge will be just about a quarter away. For desktop users Ivy Bridge is really only going to bring lower power consumption and a better integrated GPU. If you're seriously considering anything in the SNB-E family, the latter isn't going to matter and the former will be of arguable value.

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chickenhound

January 1, 2012 5:09:33 PM

Thanks for the replies. I don't think that I will wait for Ivy Bridge if the performance jump isn't going to be that massive.

Thanks for the build JackNaylor, but I do have some questions...
Did you mean to link that i7 2600k? From what I've read around the forums, the i5 2500k is good enough for gaming.

Since you suggested 8GB instead of 16, I changed the RAM to the Corsair Vengeance, 1866mHz instead of 1600. Looks good?
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC3-15000-1866m...

Are the 560s as powerful as the two 6950s or the one 580? Since the 7970 comes out soon, should I wait for that instead, since I won't be picking up this rig until February anyway? I'd also be interested, in the future, in buying a single 7970 and buying a second later on. Same with the 580. I will also probably buy a second of my current monitor (http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VX2250WM-LED-21-5-Inch-...) and dual screen. If I did that, should I stick with the Maximus IV or some other powerful mobo? I'm really unsure about which mobo would be the best choice, if the Maximus IV is overkill or not.

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JackNaylorPE

Gaming Expert

January 1, 2012 5:22:57 PM

My bad, slapped wrong link in there

Those twin 560's score 862 fps in Guru3D's game test suite .... the MSI Twin Frozr 6950's score 759 fps.

After the 560 /6950, the cost per frame skyrockets

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$ 220.00 6950 (479/751) $ 0.46 - $ 0.59
$ 240.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.50 - $ 0.63
$ 205.00 560 Ti (455/792) $ 0.45 - $ 0.52
$ 320.00 6970 (526/825) $ 0.61 - $ 0.78
$ 215.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.43 - $ 0.50
$ 340.00 570 (524/873) $ 0.65 - $ 0.78
$ 500.00 580 (616/953) $ 0.81 - $ 1.05

Twin 580's give ya just 10% more fps than the twin 580's for an extra $570 (not counting what it costs for the bigger PSU.

One MoBo ina given generation is not "more powerful" than another. When ya spend more money, ya get more features. Those features might includes extra PCI-E slots, extra LAN ports, Firewire, USB, overclocking features, improved multi phase power regulation, NF200 chip (allows wider PCI bandwidth), etc

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chickenhound

January 1, 2012 5:39:10 PM

Okay, I will go with the dual 560s then!

What I meant by more powerful is that, if I did decide to upgrade to 2 7970s or whatever other GPU may come out in the future, if the mobo would be able to handle that. Or if I wanted to add a third GPU, would there be enough slots, that kind of thing.

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cbrunnem

January 1, 2012 6:22:45 PM

there is ABSOLUTELY no reason why you should get anything less the sli'ed 570's or cf'ed 6970. with a budget of 2 grand anything less would just be silly. if you want to cut the budget as small as possible maybe i can see that but if you want to spend 2 grand you should spend at least a grand on gpu's alone.

also you dont need to spend a large sum on a motherboard unless your doing extreme overclocking. a 150 dollar motherboard will do. same with the cpu cooler. no need for a liquid cooling setup unless doing high overclocks.

motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

cooler(mid lined)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

commenting on above build.

why 2 560tis? really, what do you do when 2 560tis arent enough for the games? thats why its better to sli/cf two high end cards if your going to sli/cf when first building. with her budget 570/6970 should be used

A 60 dollar cd drive? come on man

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chickenhound

January 1, 2012 7:59:53 PM

Okay, so if nixed the 2 560s, what else would you suggest?

2 570s? Or should I jump to 2 580s? If I did 2 580s, would the 2500k and the mobo you suggested be enough?

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dish_moose

January 1, 2012 8:04:16 PM

I think waiting for the HD7970 was a good idea - one great card is better than 2 good cards IMHO. It will be out soon and you can sort out GPU options then.
-Bruce

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cbrunnem

January 1, 2012 8:13:16 PM

dish_moose said:

I think waiting for the HD7970 was a good idea - one great card is better than 2 good cards IMHO. It will be out soon and you can sort out GPU options then.
-Bruce

yes very wise words. if you need more power later you can buy one when you need it.

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chickenhound

January 1, 2012 8:40:05 PM

So forget the 560 and 580 and just get the 7970? I'm not buying anything until February so waiting is not a problem, I'd just like to have it all sorted out buy the time I'm ready to make the purchase.

Is the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 a good choice for that then?

What about the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4? I've been research that one a little as well.

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cbrunnem

January 1, 2012 8:59:42 PM

chickenhound said:

So forget the 560 and 580 and just get the 7970? I'm not buying anything until February so waiting is not a problem, I'd just like to have it all sorted out buy the time I'm ready to make the purchase.

Is the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 a good choice for that then?

What about the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4? I've been research that one a little as well.

that gigabyte board doesnt have pcie 3.0 support like the Asrock i suggested. so if you ever decided to drop an ivy bridge cpu in there you wouldnt have that upgraded pci slot.

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chickenhound

January 2, 2012 12:21:50 AM

Okay, I will definitely go for that Asrock board and the 7970 when it comes out. Do you have any other suggestions for the other parts I posted. You've been really helpful so far.

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cbrunnem

January 2, 2012 12:42:09 AM

air cooling instead of water cooling. you might loose 1-2 degrees with a top end air cooler but without the hassle of water cooling.

id recommend the noctua nh-d14. its about 35*c cooler then stock and just about equal with your h80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
if you can find that one in stock somewhere this one just has one less fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

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chickenhound

January 2, 2012 3:09:08 AM

I actually have a Hyper 212+ in my current computer and part of the reason I'm leaning towards the H80 is for how much less space it takes up.

AFAIK, the HX0 series is a "set it and forget it" type of water cooling like with air cooler, so there's no hassle there, unless I'm not getting how they work? I got my boyfriend the H60 and no where could we find any kind of instruction on maintenance or installation beyond installing it like a regular air cooler.

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cbrunnem

January 2, 2012 5:13:09 AM

yeah i guess i was more talking about the setup of it and getting it mounted and making sure that the air flow was getting out of the case and the fans werent causing any bad harmonics or anything like that. but for that money the h80 and the noctua are about the same.

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chickenhound

January 2, 2012 2:30:17 PM

Hmm... I actually went and looking at some pictures of the H80 in a case and it looks like it may take up just as much space as a regular cooler. Anyway, this is what I've more or less or settled on at this point.

Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D - will be filled with red case fans and cold cathodes - $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Mobo: ASRock MB-P67E4G3 - $150
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-MB-P67E4G3-Intel-P67-Mothe...

CPU: Intel i2500K - $230
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-BOX80623I52500K-Core-i5-250...

CPU Cooler: Corsair H80 $95
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Performance-Liquid-Cooler...
Also considering Coolermaster V6GT - $45
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-V6GT-220-Watt-RR-V6...

PSU: Corsair Professional 850W - $175
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Professional-850-Watt-Cer...

GPU: Radeon 7970 - $550

RAM: Corsair 8GB Vengeance 1866mHz - $80
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC3-15000-1866m...

SDD (Boot Drive and games): Corsair Force 120GB - $195
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Force-2-5-Inch-Solid-CSSD...

HDD: Western Digital 1TB SATA3 7200RPM - $156
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-D...

$1821, not including shipping since I have Amazon Prime.

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JrFreak

January 2, 2012 3:31:33 PM

JackNaylorPE said:

Quote:

What About Ivy?

By the time the 3820 is available for purchase early next year, Ivy Bridge will be just about a quarter away. For desktop users Ivy Bridge is really only going to bring lower power consumption and a better integrated GPU. If you're seriously considering anything in the SNB-E family, the latter isn't going to matter and the former will be of arguable value.

Until he adds another 580 in SLI

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cbrunnem

January 2, 2012 5:08:30 PM

chickenhound said:

Hmm... I actually went and looking at some pictures of the H80 in a case and it looks like it may take up just as much space as a regular cooler. Anyway, this is what I've more or less or settled on at this point.

Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D - will be filled with red case fans and cold cathodes - $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Mobo: ASRock MB-P67E4G3 - $150
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-MB-P67E4G3-Intel-P67-Mothe...

CPU: Intel i2500K - $230
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-BOX80623I52500K-Core-i5-250...

CPU Cooler: Corsair H80 $95
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Performance-Liquid-Cooler...
Also considering Coolermaster V6GT - $45
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-V6GT-220-Watt-RR-V6...

PSU: Corsair Professional 850W - $175
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Professional-850-Watt-Cer...

GPU: Radeon 7970 - $550

RAM: Corsair 8GB Vengeance 1866mHz - $80
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC3-15000-1866m...

SDD (Boot Drive and games): Corsair Force 120GB - $195
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Force-2-5-Inch-Solid-CSSD...

HDD: Western Digital 1TB SATA3 7200RPM - $156
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-D...

$1821, not including shipping since I have Amazon Prime.

i would try to get a z68 chipset board for one reason. you can use integrated graphics if something goes wrong with your gpu. the motherboard i linked earlier is a good one.