$2000+ Gaming PC Build - SWTOR, Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3, etc.

[reshaydee]

Approximate Purchase Date: Late Feb - Late March

Budget Range: $2000-$2500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming - Web Browsing

Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers, Headphones

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://newegg.com & http://dynaquestpc.com

Country: Philippines

Parts Preferences: Intel processors & mobos and either AMD/Nvidia graphics cards

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Additional Comments: It would be a big plus if it ran cool and quiet, and could support 1080p on the highest graphics settings on most high-end games today with great FPS.

These are what I have in mind so far.

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131806

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

Graphics Card: EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

SSD: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

I still need help picking out a good Power Supply, Cooler, and Case for all these components to work well together. Including a monitor.
Also a decent soundcard that can support a 5.1 or 7.1 audio system or gaming headphones.

 

[sosofm]

For 60$ more ill recommend you to buy 7970.
To support a future SLI , Crossfire buy this Corsair PSU : CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850M 850W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139029
CPU COOLER : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
CASE : COOLER MASTER HAF 922 BLUE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119224
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
MONITOR : Hannspree By HannsG SL231DPB Glossy Black 23" 5ms Full HD LED BackLight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824262012
SOUND CARD : ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132006

 

[EzioAs]

Why not buy a 7950 or 7970? No need to go back to gtx580 which is price higher. If you're planning on overclocking, you'll need a better cooler than the 212 evo, such as the thermaltake frio. Corsair power supplies are great, go for em. 600W and above is enough

 

[vitornob]

- Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 is a nice motherboard, but you won't use all the motherboard features and it's mini mobo..
If you stick with SLI/Crossfire and won't have space for a soundcard. You should check for a bigger mobo.

- Sound-card: if you buying some gaming headphones, many of them have they own built-in audio processor, making the audio-card "useless". It would be wise to check which headphone you want to buy
Verify first what you gonna use as speakers, maybe the speakers wouldn't be good enough to saturate the motherboard audio and make the soundcard a good buy.

- Videocard: I'm a Nvidia fan, but performance-wise you should be better with 7950 or 7970.

- Cooler: For some OC in the 4.4ghz area you CAN stick with the 212, there's no problem with it.

- PSU: Check for modular PSU please, the TX850 replacement is the HX850. Totally worth it! It helps a lot to make a clean design inside the case, better inside airflow, and all other advantages related to less cables hanging inside.

 

[EzioAs]

There are a lot of good cases and it depends on your preference. I prefer the corsair 600t if you're in the $2000 budget. Have a look at it. Also, an HX750 is enough if you plan to do 2 7970s or 7950s since they're really power efficient cards

@vitornob: The hyper 212 is good, I know. I think the fact that he should have a better cooler is because he maybe wants to overclock the 2600k higher since he plans on getting the maximus IV gene z, a premium motherboard that can get the cpu to 5GHz. I'm against it though, since it's a micro atx board, expansion are limited.

 

[angaddev]

The Thermaltake Frio is beaten by the Hyper 212 in pretty much all cooling tests. YOu don't need a 2600K, get the 2500k. I agree with the others above, get a 7950 because it's cheaper, cooler, and uses less power that a 580. Also no need for ROG-Branded crud. The ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE will give you the same performance

 

[EzioAs]

The Thermaltake Frio is beaten by the Hyper 212 in pretty much all cooling tests. YOu don't need a 2600K, get the 2500k. I agree with the others above, get a 7950 because it's cheaper, cooler, and uses less power that a 580. Also no need for ROG-Branded crud. The ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE will give you the same performance

Can you prove that the hyper212 is better than the frio? It may be better in price to performance, but the frio is definitely better in performance alone

 

[vitornob]

As per some benchmarks:
Thermaltake Frio OCK is worse than Thermaltake Frio
Don't be fooled by the OCK in the name.. it's more expensive, and performs worse and it's noisier...

In my opinion this is some name options:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus - $29.99 ($19.99 after mail-in rebate), only couple degrees hotter than Thermaltake frio, but about 10 db quieter than Thermaltake Frio
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO - $34.99, basically a 212 Plus with more condensed heatpipes at the base, saying that it should be on par with Thermaltake Frio
Thermaltake Frio - $54.99
Noctua NH-D14 - $89.99, same temps but at full load is about 14 db quieter than Thermaltake Frio

Said that I would go (in case you consider the mail-in rebate)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
If don't like mail-in rebate go for:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Source:
Thermaltake FrioOCK Heatsink Review - Look here for Noctua and CoolerMaster references.
Thermaltake Frio Heatsink Review

 

[xtremegamer2da-max]

if your willing 2 buy a gtx 580 then save up an xtra 60$ and buy a 7970. 4 a psu get a corsair ax850. the best cpu cooler 4 u is the noctua nh-d14. and the best case is the cooler master haf x.

 

[vitornob]

For further improvement in noise and cooling consider this other Noctua:
Noctua NH-C14 140mm x 2 SSO CPU Cooler - $86.99

1~2 degrees cooler than NH-D14 AND 1~2 db quieter too. And it's cheaper.
It's a win-win-win

Reference:
Frostytech - Chart