Approximate Purchase Date: Sooner the better, but no specific rush
Budget Range: $1500-$2000 (Would rather stay on the cheaper side of this)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and web browsing mostly. Also a bit of Photoshop and Flash. Nothing professional though, and not a high priority.
I do a lot of multi-tasking. Multiple tabs in multiple windows and multiple programs running at once.
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, other peripherals (mic, webcam, etc), hard drive.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca
Country: Canada
Parts Preferences: I'm more familiar with NVidia GPU's and have had good customer support experiences with them in the past. I've heard very mixed opinions about ATI/AMD, and I'm not feeling too adventurous to try something new and see for myself.
Overclocking: Probably
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future...
Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050 (Currently) There is a very high probability that I will run a second monitor eventually.
Additional Comments:
Here's a rough parts-list I threw together myself when planning out my budget.
CPU:
i5 2500K
Mobo:
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL
GPU:
MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III PE/OC GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Or
ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Cooling:
ZALMAN CNPS12X 120mm Long Life Bearing High Performance Triple Fan CPU Cooler
PSU:
Undecided. I'm expecting to buy somewhere around the 1000W field and expecting to drop around $200 for it.
Other:
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR60GB-DX 2.5" 60GB SATA III Synchronous MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
AZZA Solano 1000 Black/Black Japanese SECC Steel/Metal mesh in front ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Grand Total Approx. $1639.92
With this list in mind, I have a few points that I would specifically like input on...
- The motherboard seems like a waste of money for me. As far as I can tell I would just be paying for additional PCI-e and USB slots that I wont be using. Thinking instead of spending $340 on the board I could go with the $150 Extreme3 Gen3 with no real difference or sacrifice.
- I'm torn between the two GPU's... Leaning slightly towards the ASUS since it seems like it's the cooler and quieter of the two, and it's a little cheaper. From the research I've done, the MSI seems like it would be better suited for SLI, almost purely because it's smaller, but it doesn't seem like it would handle overclocking as well as the ASUS due to cooling limitations. My philosophy has usually been "less parts, less headaches", but any argument for me to go with a card more suited for SLI than a card more suited for overclocking? Any other useful input or considerations?
- I have a bit of future-proofing anxiety when it comes to building new computers. The next technology is always just around the corner, I don't keep up-to-date with new technology, and I always feel like I'm going to wish I'd waited just a few more months. I guess this time I'm lucky that the boards are already designed to support ivy bridge and PCI-e 3.0 in advance... It did occur to me that I might be safer to settle with a cheaper GPU for now, and invest into 2011 socket with plans to upgrade the GPU once PCI-e 3.0 GPU's start coming out. Or is this just a bad idea, and thinking way ahead of things?
Many thanks for your time and help.
Budget Range: $1500-$2000 (Would rather stay on the cheaper side of this)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and web browsing mostly. Also a bit of Photoshop and Flash. Nothing professional though, and not a high priority.
I do a lot of multi-tasking. Multiple tabs in multiple windows and multiple programs running at once.
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, other peripherals (mic, webcam, etc), hard drive.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca
Country: Canada
Parts Preferences: I'm more familiar with NVidia GPU's and have had good customer support experiences with them in the past. I've heard very mixed opinions about ATI/AMD, and I'm not feeling too adventurous to try something new and see for myself.
Overclocking: Probably
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future...
Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050 (Currently) There is a very high probability that I will run a second monitor eventually.
Additional Comments:
Here's a rough parts-list I threw together myself when planning out my budget.
CPU:
i5 2500K
Mobo:
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL
GPU:
MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III PE/OC GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Or
ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Cooling:
ZALMAN CNPS12X 120mm Long Life Bearing High Performance Triple Fan CPU Cooler
PSU:
Undecided. I'm expecting to buy somewhere around the 1000W field and expecting to drop around $200 for it.
Other:
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR60GB-DX 2.5" 60GB SATA III Synchronous MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
AZZA Solano 1000 Black/Black Japanese SECC Steel/Metal mesh in front ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Grand Total Approx. $1639.92
With this list in mind, I have a few points that I would specifically like input on...
- The motherboard seems like a waste of money for me. As far as I can tell I would just be paying for additional PCI-e and USB slots that I wont be using. Thinking instead of spending $340 on the board I could go with the $150 Extreme3 Gen3 with no real difference or sacrifice.
- I'm torn between the two GPU's... Leaning slightly towards the ASUS since it seems like it's the cooler and quieter of the two, and it's a little cheaper. From the research I've done, the MSI seems like it would be better suited for SLI, almost purely because it's smaller, but it doesn't seem like it would handle overclocking as well as the ASUS due to cooling limitations. My philosophy has usually been "less parts, less headaches", but any argument for me to go with a card more suited for SLI than a card more suited for overclocking? Any other useful input or considerations?
- I have a bit of future-proofing anxiety when it comes to building new computers. The next technology is always just around the corner, I don't keep up-to-date with new technology, and I always feel like I'm going to wish I'd waited just a few more months. I guess this time I'm lucky that the boards are already designed to support ivy bridge and PCI-e 3.0 in advance... It did occur to me that I might be safer to settle with a cheaper GPU for now, and invest into 2011 socket with plans to upgrade the GPU once PCI-e 3.0 GPU's start coming out. Or is this just a bad idea, and thinking way ahead of things?
Many thanks for your time and help.
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