[Solved] ~New Build-$2k~

Approximate Purchase Date: May-August

Budget Range: $2000-2500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming is priority for sure, but I'll also be listening to music on headphones through an amp/dac, browsing the web.

Parts Not Required: Need everything. (Note: don't necessarily need a $150 "gaming" keyboard/"gaming" mouse unless they are absolutely amazing, but I do need those as well. Would like a mouse that has 4+ buttons for quick keybinds, though).

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg/Amazon, but as long as the seller is reliable with a good RMA, it doesn't matter.

Country: US

Parts Preferences: The only preferences I have are an Intel CPU and a top quality PSU (Would like a Seasonic here, I have terrible luck with these type things and I want to reduce the risk of frying everything as much as possible ).

Overclocking: Eventually (if not at first).

SLI or Crossfire: Likely not off the bat. Down the road, possibly. Would like to start off with a strong single GPU that can be upgraded to a better single down the road ideally, or crossfired/sli'd later.

Monitor Resolution: At least 1920x1080. Also would appreciate some input on potentially going with a double/triple monitor setup. I've always used a single monitor, but the setup interests me.

Additional Comments:

I had a build in mind (posted it in a thread on here about a week ago) but have decided that it would be worth waiting until the Summer-Fall for IB/Kepler (if for no other reason than the likely price drop on the 7xxx series when Nvidia releases their line). I know that if you keep waiting for the next best thing you will end up waiting forever, but it seems like the best time to build in the near future!

Basically, I want to have the most future-proof build possible in that price range (easily upgradable, a good 3+ years of running any game I throw at it on max settings with solid fps). For that reason I'm also thinking that I should maybe go with a 2011 build vs a 1155, but I'm not sure on that.

If needed I could go slightly over $2500 (realizing prices will likely drop on things such as SSD's/Sandy Bridge CPU's/7xxx GPU's/and especially HDD's by then, so 2500 now will likely be a decent bit less then=not a big deal to go over), but would like to stay as close to ~2k as possible.

Thanks!

Message edited by Yender on 01-31-2012 at 04:27:47 PM

Reply to Yender

MOBO : ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131792
CPU : Intel Core i5-2500K
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-BOX806 [...] 576&sr=8-1
RAM : CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820233186
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148767
SSD : Crucial M4 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148441
GPU : MSI R7970 Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127645
PSU : SeaSonic X Series X-850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151102
CPU COOLER : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103099
DVD-RW : ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204
CASE : Corsair Graphite Series 600T
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811139007
KEYBOARD : Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823109191
MOUSE : Logitech G9x Black USB Wired Laser 5700 dpi Gaming Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6826104261
MONITOR : Hannspree By HannsG Black 23" 5ms Full HD LED BackLight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824262012
OS : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986
TOTAL : 2027$ without rebates.
If you want 3 monitor setup you need another 300$ for the other two monitors.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by sosofm on 01-31-2012 at 04:53:17 PM

------------------------------ i7 2600 , AsRock P67 Extreme 6 ,2x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 , MSI 6950 2GB , HDD WD 640 AAKS , Corsair 620HX 620W , CPU cooler Zalman CNPS10X Performa , CoolerMaster 912, Philips Led 22"
Reply to sosofm

i had to go over 2500 for 3 monitors and 2 7970's . i think it would be best to do this in April because so many things will change by then .

here's my build http://www.diigo.com/item/image/203mi/8wp5

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to 9_Breaker

sosofm wrote :

MOBO : ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131792
CPU : Intel Core i5-2500K
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-BOX806 [...] 576&sr=8-1
RAM : CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820233186
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148767
SSD : Crucial M4 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148441
GPU : MSI R7970 Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127645
PSU : SeaSonic X Series X-850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151102
CPU COOLER : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103099
DVD-RW : ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204
CASE : Corsair Graphite Series 600T
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811139007
KEYBOARD : Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823109191
MOUSE : Logitech G9x Black USB Wired Laser 5700 dpi Gaming Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6826104261
MONITOR : Hannspree By HannsG Black 23" 5ms Full HD LED BackLight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824262012
OS : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986
TOTAL : 2027$ without rebates.
If you want 3 monitor setup you need another 300$ for the other two monitors.

So do you think it would be worth going for the 1155 board/Sandy Bridge 2500k CPU over something like ASRock X79 Extreme3 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard, or something similar, and an i5 3570k IB (which will be similarly priced to the 2500k now from what I've read, even though I'm sure the 2500 will drop by a decent amount by then) when the time comes?

Also, although I'm considering a triple-monitor setup, I could put the money into a better single monitor and a 120 GB+ SSD/1TB+ HDD and maybe add the other monitors later. Then again, I'm not sure I even like the idea of having thousands of ..."dead" pixels in between the l/m/r monitors, so I might just stick with one .

Reply to Yender

9_Breaker wrote :

i had to go over 2500 for 3 monitors and 2 7970's . i think it would be best to do this in April because so many things will change by then .

here's my build http://www.diigo.com/item/image/203mi/8wp5

Nice. I'd probably only want to change the PSU (just because, like I said, I have terrible luck haha) and the CPU to the k edition for potential OC'ing. That build would certainly be cheaper when I'm ready to buy, too and looks great.

Thanks for the replies!

Anybody else with some opinions as my situation is a bit unique waiting 4-6 months to buy/build, heh.

Also, what are some of the best LED/LCD monitors in the 300ish range? Would like one with a 6ms or lower response time, full 1080 at least, 23"+, and if it had an IPS panel that would be a huge plus. Not sure there is one like that in that range, though. Haha. I guess IPS isn't necessary.

Reply to Yender

Found ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms on newegg, $20 off and the deal ends tomorrow. I'm considering ordering it now as it seems to be one of the better reviewed monitors out there, especially in it's price range. Anybody have one of these that can comment on the picture?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Yender

i chose the 2500 becuase the 2500k was out of stock but im sure they will be back

Reply to 9_Breaker

Yender wrote :

Found ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms on newegg, $20 off and the deal ends tomorrow. I'm considering ordering it now as it seems to be one of the better reviewed monitors out there, especially in it's price range. Anybody have one of these that can comment on the picture?

Sorry, I do not have it but I can not help but ask "An LCD in this time & space?"
Checking on the very first feedback on the newegg link you posted, it was made December 2, 2008. So you are looking at a >3 years design.
Why don't you look at similarly priced LED monitors that were just out of the market like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236153

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to randomkid

I personally think that Z68 has an exceptionally limited future. For one Z77 is going to replace it when IB ships. Z77 is going to provide full pci-e 3.0 support, Intel USB 3.0 and more importantly Thunderbolt. We'll have to see how this plays out though considering it's still based on the 20 ondie pci-e lanes of 1155. If it boils down to opting for either a x8/x8 or a single x8 and a thunderbolt solution then it's a no-go in my book.

Now, why is thunderbolt so important? One reason, SATA 6Gb/s. We have SSD solutions available right now that can't use this because it's capped at 768MB/s. The Revo 3x2 is a SSD RAID pci-e solution that uses over twice that bandwidth. At some point this year we'll see consumer level drives that entirely saturate SATA 6Gb/s and then what? The only good solution is to move to pci-e solutions, or thunderbolt.

Z68 is screwed in both of those regards. Short of having some form of aftermarket add-on card, which is still going to eat not only a physical pci-e lane, but more importantly at least x4 from ondie.

If you can wait for Z77 it'll alleviate some of this, but it's still only a half-hearted attempt because it's still limited to 20 lanes.

LGA2011 on the other hand offers pci-e 3.0 and 40x lanes of ondie pci-e. While it does not currently support thunderbolt it does have the required lanes to set aside for I/O, while also supporting multiple gpus.

This really is another 775 vs 1366 situation. I know I've been hammering X79 alot recently but I honestly believe that it's a platform that will see the same kind of 3-4 year run that 1366 had. Meanwhile I think 1155 is going to quickly fade into the sunset a year from now, just like 1156 and 775 before it.

Phew, that was a mouthful.

Eyefinity/Surround: This is a tricky topic. It's wonderful and supremely frustrating at times. I love my portrait setup... when I'm playing a game that it works well with. Honestly most games are working with it now but there's still a few exceptions, past and future. D3 is a major release that has already stated they will not support this feature. Browsing and general work is also less than in portrait due to the bezels. These aren't bothersome while gaming as they really do melt away. Outside of gaming however is an entirely different story.

Personally I'm 90% certain at this point that I'll be going with a single 120hz screen this go-around, but keep in mind that it wasn't an easy choice. Eyefinity is amazing and going back is going to be tough, but I really wanted a headache-free build this time.

If you do decide to go this route I'd recommend IPS panels as TN panels have exceptionally bad color shift, not only in portrait but also in wider landscape, the outside monitors shift even when tilted inwards.

Gluck with it, and if you decide that you'd like to do an X79 Eyefinity build now, let me know as I have a 3820/7950/3xu2412m build that's right at $2500.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by a4mula on 02-01-2012 at 01:01:02 PM

------------------------------ CM Storm Scout || Gigabyte D3H || i5-2500K @ 4.55 || 8GB Patriot Sector 5 @ 1600 || Sapphire 6950 2GB OC || OCZ Vertex 3 SRT || Seagate 1.5 Green || Silverstone 700w || CM 212+ || Dell 2209wa
Reply to a4mula

randomkid wrote :

Sorry, I do not have it but I can not help but ask "An LCD in this time & space?"
Checking on the very first feedback on the newegg link you posted, it was made December 2, 2008. So you are looking at a >3 years design.
Why don't you look at similarly priced LED monitors that were just out of the market like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236153

Very true. I really don't know a lot about monitors at this time (haven't bought a new one in over 4 years, ha) but I should have known that just from my basic TV knowledge, even though I generally go plasma there.

I was looking for an LED with those specs but didn't see one that caught my eye at the time. Luckily I didn't order it. I'll look more into something in the 3-400 range to see if I can find anything better as I have room in my budget.

Thanks!

Reply to Yender

a4mula wrote :

I personally think that Z68 has an exceptionally limited future. For one Z77 is going to replace it when IB ships. Z77 is going to provide full pci-e 3.0 support, Intel USB 3.0 and more importantly Thunderbolt. We'll have to see how this plays out though considering it's still based on the 20 ondie pci-e lanes of 1155. If it boils down to opting for either a x8/x8 or a single x8 and a thunderbolt solution then it's a no-go in my book.

Now, why is thunderbolt so important? One reason, SATA 6Gb/s. We have SSD solutions available right now that can't use this because it's capped at 768MB/s. The Revo 3x2 is a SSD RAID pci-e solution that uses over twice that bandwidth. At some point this year we'll see consumer level drives that entirely saturate SATA 6Gb/s and then what? The only good solution is to move to pci-e solutions, or thunderbolt.

Z68 is screwed in both of those regards. Short of having some form of aftermarket add-on card, which is still going to eat not only a physical pci-e lane, but more importantly at least x4 from ondie.

If you can wait for Z77 it'll alleviate some of this, but it's still only a half-hearted attempt because it's still limited to 20 lanes.

LGA2011 on the other hand offers pci-e 3.0 and 40x lanes of ondie pci-e. While it does not currently support thunderbolt it does have the required lanes to set aside for I/O, while also supporting multiple gpus.

This really is another 775 vs 1366 situation. I know I've been hammering X79 alot recently but I honestly believe that it's a platform that will see the same kind of 3-4 year run that 1366 had. Meanwhile I think 1155 is going to quickly fade into the sunset a year from now, just like 1156 and 775 before it.

Phew, that was a mouthful.

Eyefinity/Surround: This is a tricky topic. It's wonderful and supremely frustrating at times. I love my portrait setup... when I'm playing a game that it works well with. Honestly most games are working with it now but there's still a few exceptions, past and future. D3 is a major release that has already stated they will not support this feature. Browsing and general work is also less than in portrait due to the bezels. These aren't bothersome while gaming as they really do melt away. Outside of gaming however is an entirely different story.

Personally I'm 90% certain at this point that I'll be going with a single 120hz screen this go-around, but keep in mind that it wasn't an easy choice. Eyefinity is amazing and going back is going to be tough, but I really wanted a headache-free build this time.

If you do decide to go this route I'd recommend IPS panels as TN panels have exceptionally bad color shift, not only in portrait but also in wider landscape, the outside monitors shift even when tilted inwards.

Gluck with it, and if you decide that you'd like to do an X79 Eyefinity build now, let me know as I have a 3820/7950/3xu2412m build that's right at $2500.

Wow, very, very helpful information! Exactly what I was looking for regarding 2011 vs 1155.

Like I said, while I'm very interested in an eyefinity setup, going with a good single monitor may be be the better option for me just to save as many headaches as possible, and in some cases being the superior option (*cough* D3 *cough*), not to mention I wouldn't really know what I'm missing, ha.

But... I'd really like to see that 2500 eyefinity build of yours, if you don't mind.

Really appreciate all of the info man, thanks!

Reply to Yender

Alright, been doing a little research on monitors and I have a question... 120 hz or IPS panel?

a4mula-I know you said you were pretty sure this time around you would be going for a single 120 hz monitor, but would a good IPS be better?

Viewing angles aren't as big of a deal on monitors as TV's since you sit basically directly in from of them I'd imagine, but IPS is definitely a decent quality upgrade over TN.

Reply to Yender

Best answer

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme3 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($222.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($79.24 @ Amazon)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Hard Drive: OCZ Synapse Cache 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($129.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($18.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 24.0" Monitor ($329.00 @ Dell)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 24.0" Monitor ($329.00 @ Dell)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 24.0" Monitor ($329.00 @ Dell)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2571.91
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-02-01 15:11 EST-0500)

This is based on the 3820, which will not ship for another 2 weeks. So, ignore the 2600K, it's used just as a similar priced place holder. The u2412m is a 24" 1920x1200 IPS screen.

Quote :

Alright, been doing a little research on monitors and I have a question... 120 hz or IPS panel?

a4mula-I know you said you were pretty sure this time around you would be going for a single 120 hz monitor, but would a good IPS be better?

Viewing angles aren't as big of a deal on monitors as TV's since you sit basically directly in from of them I'd imagine, but IPS is definitely a decent quality upgrade over TN.

Have I talked about 120hz yet in this thread? Heh.. can't remember. Ok quick summary. 120hz is the 3D standard. With that being said it has very real benefits in 2D also. It effectively doubles your viewable frames per second. This creates a smoother output that also has natural anti-aliasing properties by eliminating screen tear. If you haven't been in front of a 2D 120hz setup you owe it to yourself to get to a Bestbuy or similiar store and see it.

IPS... Really, it's the only way to go with Eyefinity especially if you ever plan on using a portrait setup. When TN screens are in pivot the color shift is on full blown display. You literally couldn't pay me to sit in front of 3x TN screens for any amount of time.

I can barely decide for myself if 1x120hz vs 3xIPS is the way to go, though as I've stated for myself personally I'm leaning towards 120hz. It's a very tough choice though and either way I see as an awesome setup.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ CM Storm Scout || Gigabyte D3H || i5-2500K @ 4.55 || 8GB Patriot Sector 5 @ 1600 || Sapphire 6950 2GB OC || OCZ Vertex 3 SRT || Seagate 1.5 Green || Silverstone 700w || CM 212+ || Dell 2209wa
Reply to a4mula

a4mula wrote :

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme3 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($222.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($79.24 @ Amazon)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Hard Drive: OCZ Synapse Cache 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($129.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($18.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 24.0" Monitor ($329.00 @ Dell)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 24.0" Monitor ($329.00 @ Dell)
Monitor: Dell U2412M 24.0" Monitor ($329.00 @ Dell)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2571.91
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-02-01 15:11 EST-0500)

This is based on the 3820, which will not ship for another 2 weeks. So, ignore the 2600K, it's used just as a similar priced place holder. The u2412m is a 24" 1920x1200 IPS screen.

Quote :

Alright, been doing a little research on monitors and I have a question... 120 hz or IPS panel?

a4mula-I know you said you were pretty sure this time around you would be going for a single 120 hz monitor, but would a good IPS be better?

Viewing angles aren't as big of a deal on monitors as TV's since you sit basically directly in from of them I'd imagine, but IPS is definitely a decent quality upgrade over TN.

Have I talked about 120hz yet in this thread? Heh.. can't remember. Ok quick summary. 120hz is the 3D standard. With that being said it has very real benefits in 2D also. It effectively doubles your viewable frames per second. This creates a smoother output that also has natural anti-aliasing properties by eliminating screen tear. If you haven't been in front of a 2D 120hz setup you owe it to yourself to get to a Bestbuy or similiar store and see it.

IPS... Really, it's the only way to go with Eyefinity especially if you ever plan on using a portrait setup. When TN screens are in pivot the color shift is on full blown display. You literally couldn't pay me to sit in front of 3x TN screens for any amount of time.

I can barely decide for myself if 1x120hz vs 3xIPS is the way to go, though as I've stated for myself personally I'm leaning towards 120hz. It's a very tough choice though and either way I see as an awesome setup.

Looks like I'll have some deciding to do myself on the 120hz single vs IPS eyefinity setup (the build you put together looks great by the way).

Thanks again!

Reply to Yender

Best answer selected by Yender.

Reply to Yender

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey

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Reply to Mousemonkey

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