$2500-$3000 multimedia PC suggestions

[trawgdor]

Hi, I'm building a gaming/video editing computer for my sister and her boyfriend. The budget is $2500-3000.

So far I have:

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core
MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi)(x2)
Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW300G310 2.5" 300GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Acer S201HLbd Black 20" 5ms LED-Backlight LCD monitor(x2)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1502FAEX 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Logitech C615 HD WebCam
Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Logitech MK550 Black USB RF Wireless Ergonomic Wave Combo (K350 + M510)

I have a relative at Intel, so prices are 50% off Intel items, thus the 300GB SSD. This is around 2000 dollars already. I just need help picking a motherboard and a good water cooling system.

Also, if they're asking for it to glow blue, should I get blue LED fans as well as UV LED's and blacklight glowing fluid/tubes?

Thank you!

 

[hellfire24]

good choice.plz fill this so that i can help you better.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice

 

[trawgdor]

Approximate Purchase Date: In a month, give or take a week.

Budget Range: 3000 is max, without rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Primarily photo and video editing, with gaming thrown in. Must be futureproof.

Parts Not Required: n/a

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com is best, although for cheaper prices, I wouldn't mind shopping at different sites.

Country: US

Parts Preferences: I prefer Nvidia, Corsair, Intel, and WD.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: Watercooling, blue LED fans, possibly UV LED strips, for blacklight water tubes. Also, should I wait a month for harddrive prices to fall? EDIT: Also runs quiet!

 

[boiler1990]

If you want a faster SSD, I'd go for the Crucial M4. However, it'll cost more (retail) and the 320 series is quite reliable.

Putting that much hardware in the PC with only a 20" display is...well...stupid, TBH. Since they have some extra money, you could easily bump up the display as well as the keyboard/mouse. I'd recommend a Dell Professional series monitor (P2412 or the like), as I have the P2411H (last year's model) and it's spectacular. It has a great design, has vibrant colors, a slightly matted display, and the stand is fully adjustable (even does 90 degree rotation from landscape to portrait).

Mouse and keyboard are personal preference, but if they type a lot a mechanical keyboard might be a good investment. Cherry MX Blue switches tend to be the best for typists, but are also present in a lot of gaming keyboards. As for a mouse, Logitech makes good stuff, but my personal favorite is the Cyborg RAT 7. It's fully customizeable and extremely comfortable.

Unless they are going to watercool (which takes a bit of know-how), you don't need to spend that much on a case. You could get similar performance from a Cooler Master HAF 932/942 or looks from a lower-priced Corsair/Antec/NZXT.

As for hard drives, you could wait if you wanted and just run everything off of the SSD for now. I'd imagine the 1.5TB will be mostly for data storage.

 

[trawgdor]

I have a relative at Intel, so I'm getting the 320gb SSD for only about 200~.

My sister is a professional photographer, her boyfriend does a lot of video shooting for weddings, personal events, etc, so they require a lot of hdd space.

He specified that he only wanted 20" displays.

I might check out the Cherry MX Blue for one of my builds...

Yes, they want it watercooled (don't worry, I know how to do it) I just need advice on which parts to get, as I've never done watercooling on a high-end computer.

 

[boiler1990]

My sister is a professional photographer, her boyfriend does a lot of video shooting for weddings, personal events, etc, so they require a lot of hdd space.

Well I guess you can't really afford to wait a month then, huh?

He specified that he only wanted 20" displays.

Seems very small, especially if they're doing video/photo work; having a larger display really is a huge benefit for that kind of stuff. Take a look at Dell's Ultrasharp series - the IPS display has great colors, and I don't think its response time makes it too slow for gaming. Otherwise, I'd still recommend the Professional series.

Yes, they want it watercooled (don't worry, I know how to do it) I just need advice on which parts to get, as I've never done watercooling on a high-end computer.

I think watercooling their computer would be highly impractical, unless it's mostly for looks. Any reason as to why they (I'm assuming he) wants to?

 

[trawgdor]

Well, my sister told me she'd need the computer in around a month and a half's time, her current computer isn't too bad, but one month from now is just the projected buying time. (Waiting for HDD prices to go down..)

I'll ask him if he wants to upgrade to larger screens.

Well, the reasoning for the watercooling is 50/50 on practicality and looks. They want me to overclock their CPU to at least 4.7ghz, as he'll probably be editing video in one screen, and editing photos in the other.

And yes, you were correct with that assumption. It's just that my current build is watercooled (albeit old, probably around 2008?), he wants the look that I have going on right now, so I told him I'd do it for him, haha.

 

[nick3232]

i'd go with one 7970 or dual 7970's instead of two gtx 560 ti's