Please Check My First $2,000 Gaming Rig Build

[Alyus]

Approximate Purchase Date: 2-3 weeks.

Budget Range: $2,000-100 total.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Internet, and movies.

Parts Not Required: Monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Cheapest.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type Intel i5 2500k

Overclocking: Perhaps

SLI or Crossfire: Likely in the near future.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Please check my first build for compatibility; if you have any other recommendations, I would really appreciate them as this is my first build.

1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139005 CORSAIR 600T
2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790 Asus ZP868-V PRO/GEN3
3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 i5 2500k
4. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 CM 212 EVO
5. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147133 Samsung 830 SSD 64GB
6. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102961 Sapphire HD 7970
7. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116983 Windows 7 Home Premium
8. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186 Corsair Vengeance 8GB
9. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151110 SeaSonic X-1050
10. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 Asus 24X DVD Burner
11. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840 Seagate Barracuda 1 TB

Total = $2032.01 including tax and shipping.

 

[azeem40]

Looks good! If you can drop the case to the HAF 912, you can get a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD.

 

[Alyus]

Looks good! If you can drop the case to the HAF 912, you can get a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD.

Okay, thanks, I'll remove Samsung 830 and replace it with Crucial M4 SSD 128; there are so many of them with similar prices. I'll have to do some research on SSD. I assume I can just use the extra space for games. I think Windows 7 only uses about 60 GB.

 

[azeem40]

Windows 7 will use much less than 60GB. 15GB max.

 

[Alyus]

Windows 7 will use much less than 60GB. 15GB max.

Looks like I'll be loading tons of games on this 128 GB SSD then. Looks like I have a lot of read but no comments; perhaps all my research is complete! I was able to shop for better prices and dropped the price from $2,030 to $1744. The total cost!

 

[diellur]

How are you going to use your SSD...dedicated boot drive or as a cache drive for your 1TB HDD? If it's as a boot drive, then you want a minimum of 90GB, and ideally 120GB. If it's as a cache drive, then the maximum supported HDD size is 60GB.

 

[willard]

Windows 7 x64 is 20-30 GB. You can get that down some, but not too much. I'd say 128 GB is pretty much the perfect point for a gaming rig. Enough space so you're not swapping games in and out every day, but not so much you're paying an arm and a leg for it.

Personally, I'd hold off on building for a while. We're looking at launches of two major product lines in the very near future, Ivy Bridge and Kepler. Even if you don't need the power IVB provides, the launch will be accompanied by a price drop on the Sandy Bridge line. Similarly, Kepler will probably drive prices down on the 7970s, because right now they're more than a little overpriced due to the lack of competition.

 

[Alyus]

Windows 7 x64 is 20-30 GB. You can get that down some, but not too much. I'd say 128 GB is pretty much the perfect point for a gaming rig. Enough space so you're not swapping games in and out every day, but not so much you're paying an arm and a leg for it.

Personally, I'd hold off on building for a while. We're looking at launches of two major product lines in the very near future, Ivy Bridge and Kepler. Even if you don't need the power IVB provides, the launch will be accompanied by a price drop on the Sandy Bridge line. Similarly, Kepler will probably drive prices down on the 7970s, because right now they're more than a little overpriced due to the lack of competition.

Good idea. I'll just buy the items that are on sale now, excluding CPU, HD 7970. Who knows, Nvidia may bring out even a better card then 7970. Besides HD 7990 will be cheaper than cross-firing HD 7970. Only 2 more months away from Ivy Bridge i5 3750k, the approx equivalent of i5 2500k I think. Please inform me if I am wrong.

 

[of the way]

You may also want to look here and make sure that that's the power supply you really want.

 

[azeem40]

You may also want to look here and make sure that that's the power supply you really want.

Too bad it doesn't have the 7000 series of AMD.

 

[Alyus]

You may also want to look here and make sure that that's the power supply you really want.

I think the SeaSonic X-1050 Gold is great; it's modular and who knows how many Sli(s) or Crosses I would want in the near future.

 

[of the way]

Too bad it doesn't have the 7000 series of AMD.

True, but it can give you a good enough idea.


And Alyus, if you're happy with it, that's all that matters. Just making sure.

 

[Alyus]

True, but it can give you a good enough idea.


And Alyus, if you're happy with it, that's all that matters. Just making sure.

Definitely. I wouldn't shy away from buying the heart of the system with some extra cash. SeaSonic is a top brand, it's Gold, modular; can't ask for more. I will most definitely purchase two GPUs.

 

[Alyus]

I was wondering since I've made up my mind to wait for Ivy Bridge and for the HD 7970 prices to drop that I should just postpone everything else as well and hope that all prices of computer components will decrease in the next few months? I have no experience as this is my first build. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Alyus]

Best answer selected by Alyus.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey