$2000-$2500 new build

[kozakcon]

Approximate Purchase Date: Within a couple weeks

Budget Range: roughly $2000-$2500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, video editing, solidworks

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca, ncix.com, canadacomputers.com

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: Intel, ATI but if Nvidia is better then that's the way to go

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes in future

Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050

Additional Comments:

CPU:
I am mainly going to be gaming but am also going to be designing in solidworks and some video editing.
If i keep this for a few years, compared to the i5 2500k, is the extra 100 dollars for the i7 2700k going to pay off?
I dont think hyperthreading will benifit gaming or solidworks, but the video encoding it will so for now i will leave it at i7 2600k.

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

CPU COOLER:

Next would the cooler for it. I will be willing to spend up to 75 on a good cooler because i plan on overclocking.

COOLER MASTER RR-H612-20PK-R1 120mm Sleeve Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103103

After a little bit of looking i was pointed to this http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm
Some of them are not avaliable on newegg.ca

Any suggestions?

MOBO:
I dont know where to start. I like Asus with previous owned models but that doesnt mean its the best.
Something that will have the option to expand to SLI or CS. Z68 chipset?

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

RAM:
These have good timing and i figured just go for 16gb because its not that much more expensive
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7Q-16GBXH
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231442

VIDEO CARD:
Currently the 7970 is really good but it is also $600.

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595

IS IceQ Turbo H697QT2G2M Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161382

SSD:
The reason i think it should be 250gb is because steam alone will eat up 100gb with all my games. Now that may be a bit careless but even if it was only 50gb which is nothing with the size of games these days, then tack on windows, solidworks, any other software you use all the time and that space disappears quickly.

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR240GB-DX 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226226&Tpk=Mushkin%20Chronos%20Deluxe%20240%20GB.

Maybe its better to go with 1/2 the size and just be smart about what i put on it?

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR120GB-DX 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226225&Tpk=Mushkin%20Chronos%20Deluxe%20120%20GB

CASE:
This case seems to be popular but i am not to keen on it having the hard drive bay mounted in line rather than sideways because with one or two video cards in there, it is not fun to work on if you have to mess around with hard drives. My current PC has many HDD problems and it is a huge pain to work on so i don't know if i want to go the same route. Another thing i would prefer to have a case with dust filters and obviously a really good cool case because i will be running air cooling on the CPU.

Option with in line HDD mounting:

Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

Option with sideways

I feel like this case will collect some dust because dust filters are only at the front of the case and there is only 1 intake fan and 2 exhaust.
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

PSU
Modular would be nice to keep it clean but its not a necessity .
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Will 750W be enough for CS or SLI, about 4 HHDS and 1SSD?

Alternatively,
Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W Continuous@40°C, 80Plus Bronze Certified,Modular Cable Design,ATX12V v2.3/ EPS12V,SLI Ready,CrossFire Ready,Active PFC"Compatible with Core i7, i5" Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182188

DRIVE:
LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335

That brings me to roughly $2200.

Please give me some input, greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[hellfire24]

good choice brother!
my suggestion-
go with i7 2600k-you are going to use hyper threading otherwise 2500k is amarter choice.don't consider i5 a weak cpu,it can do anything ATM.
good mobo.
good RAM.
i guess you can easily adjust a gtx 580 in your budget.MSi is my favorite.it's going to be a bit of overkill for your mentioned resolution.i would suggest 6970 2gb.it has enough VRAM fir AA/MSAA and ultra settings of modern games at an affordable price.
crucial m4 128 is a really good SSD.use it for OS and your 'main' games and programs.grab a caviar black or spinpoint f3 1TB for other stuff.
both cases are good.grab the cheaper one
750w will do with 6970 CF but xfx pro 850w is cheap and receives high ratings on johnnyguru.go with it.
i hope this is under $2500.i will see you soon.

 

[hitechgowthaman]

use asus website and check how much psu u r wanted ,BUY 1200W collermaster it give1440W not need to upgrade after crosswire or sli , trancend axe ram 2000+mhz 8gb $119 with lifetime warenty , u said 1333Mhz 16gb dont give speed to u,

 

[hitechgowthaman]

Dont spend high cost in dvd drive for blueray ,hp dvd writer is only$30,

 

[hitechgowthaman]

hp dvd supports dual layer dvd write speed 24x cd 48x .Why spend more money and get 4core processor try amd and get world record 8core at same price u spend for processor

 

[azeem40]

The 7970 hands down. It will easily fit your budget.

 

[Delirious788]

OK so I have no clue what Hitechgowthaman is saying...
Anyways, a few suggestions...
How badly do you need this upgraded awesome new pc? Ivy Bridge is right around the corner, April 8th, supposedly with new chipsets, Z77 or something. Anyways, I just bring this up because you are making a solid 2K investment, and the CPU is about to a gen old.
RAM, I would get 1600 MHz 16GB 4x4GB, though it probably isnt that big of a speed boost, and there really isnt any reason to go with the oc'ed RAM(>1600MHz)
I would look into getting a better monitor as part of the budget, since you do have the room for it in the budget. I think you will be quite pleased with a 22-24in monitor and your 1680x1050 can be secondary, which allows for some great multitasking.
Go for the i7-2600K.
I'd probably go with the 6970 over the 570.
Crucial m4 is a fast SSD, Corsair Force and OCZ Vertex are other solid SSD choices. Check out http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/49706-corsair-performance-pro-256gb-ssd-review.html
The cooler is ok. There are a lot of big fat coolers like that. I think one that has 2 fans with a fan in the middle is a better deal, instead of 2 fans on the outside.
750w PSU should be enough, but if you want to be safe get a 850, but no more. Again I think 750 will be fine. The Corsair is good, if you have room in your budget, get a modular one.
Theres a lot of good cases out there. I would get sideways HDD mounting but a different case. Something around $100-$120 at the most. Cases are a huge personal preference, but I will look and give you some other good options.
MOBO is good. If you need to save money, you could get a MOBO around $150-$170 and still be excellent.

Check out http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/ for reviews on stuff especially cases. They have decent video case reviews.

 

[Lowlyworm]

If you plan on crossfiring such a high-leveled card may I suggest the Asrock extreme 7 gen 3, it allows two pcie cards to run at 16x/16x.Its only really usefull if your GPU can saturate a x8 lane

 

[hellfire24]

hello brothers,kozakcon is going to use 1680x1050 monitor.any thing above a 6970 or 570 is going to be a super overkill and waste of money.even 6970 and 570 are a bit of overkill.i would suggest 6970 cause it has 2GB VRAM and that is going to do well when maxed out AA/MSAA.7970 is OVERKILL!!!!!!!AND OF COURSE WASTE!

 

[kozakcon]

Thanks for all the input everyone.

I currently have two 22inch 1680x1050 monitors and am going to buy a larger one in the near future at im hoping 1920x1200 but may just be a 1920x1080.
This is why i want to go with an overkill video card to support the larger res once i get it, and to continue to support games at max for a while.
After one video card cant keep up with games then i would buy another one and CS or SLI.

PSU:
Going with a n 850W is likely not enough, i looked on the asus power calculator and they said 1100W for SLI of 580's, http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine calculator says 870W.. so maybe goign with the 850w isnt good enough.

CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139034&Tpk=HX1050

MOBO:
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269
So no cards are PEI-E3 so is it really worth extra $200 to go two cards at PCI-E 2.0 x16 rather than x8?
I remember reading a while back that two cars at 8x didn't really affect its performance but things may have changed since then.
Lowlyworm, you said "Its only really usefull if your GPU can saturate a x8 lane"
How do i know? That being said below i describe how i think im going with 7970.


VIDEO CARD:
I did a quick comparison with a dollar value compared to benchmarks (using anandtech)
From what i found, the performace per dollar is very similar between Radeon 6970 and GTX 570, but overall the 570 is slightly better.
The 7970 is the most of course and the 580 is between the 7970 and 570.
So like always the newest has the worst $/performace ratio.
Down the road in a year or two, should i be concerned that CS or SLI of a 570 or 6970 wont be good enough?
I think im just going to go for 7970.

MSI R7970-2PMD3GD5 Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127645

RAM:
I completely missed that it was 1333 ram and not 1600. I am definitely going to get 1600 or potentially OC'd ram.
It looks like going OC'd ram is not worth the price to performance but i may still go in that direction.

OC'd (around $160)

G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZH
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231503

Or the 1600 (around $95)

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233143

SSD:
going with the bigger SSD is defintely more money but i am ok with putting up that money so overall my pc is faster.
200 bucks extra over a few years for no worry in what games are installed where + wait times IMO is worth it.
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443

I am still struggling to find a full case that i like a lot.
Blue LEDs are what im looking for, dust filters and sideways mounting hdds, any suggestions?

 

[hellfire24]

that is a beat psu but expensive.this will do fine-
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703022
8GB RAM is more than enough IMO.
for GFX.a single 7970 will crack almost every games at max settings.add another when you have more money.

 

[kozakcon]

After reading some more, it seems like ivy bridge isnt anything spectacular other than it being a small step forward from the SB.
I dont really see the point in waiting then, especially considering i'll have to deal with my laptop till then which is a good W500 lenovo but cant keep up to any new games.

So i have changed my mind to go back to 16gb ram non OC'd at 1600.
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233143

I finally found a case that i like, but it is quite expensive.
COOLER MASTER HAF X Blue Edition RC-942-KKN3 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case with Black Interior and Four Blue LED Fans-1x 140mm rear fan, 1x 200mm top fan, 1x 200mm side fan, and 1x 230mm front fan
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119239

I also decided to go to the 6970 because its much better price to performance.
SAPPHIRE 100311-3SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102957

I will get a monitor soon but just not with this purchase.
Whats a good 1920x1200 monitor?