$1800 Gaming Rig

[CarbonCopy]

Approximate Purchase Date: Looking at the next month or so

Budget Range: ~$1800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming will be the most taxing usage.

Parts Not Required: already have monitor (1920x1080) keyboard/mouse/etc. Just need case and contents.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Prefer newegg unless there is a compelling reason to buy somewhere else.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, no other preferences.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Showy cases are kind of a guilty pleasure


Current build:

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102961
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233254
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
Optical: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136240


My heart isn't set on any particular component. Also thinking of waiting for kepler and possibly ivy bridge, though I doubt the latter will affect game performance noticeably.

 

[hellfire24]

great choice man!you are one of the wisest asker i ever saw!only change i would suggest is that change the ram to a low profile version.heatsinks are useless.they cause cooler clearance issues.here's a good choice-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196
other things are great.ivy isn't a high boost.go with 1155.your build is great and enough to max out any game!

 

[CarbonCopy]

Is it worth dropping the cas latency from 7 to 9 to avoid possible issues with the cooler? Does cas latency really make much of a difference?

Also, will the PSU handle an additional high-end GPU if I decide to SLI/CF at some point or should I go bigger?

 

[hellfire24]

no,that ram is great.it will do well with 7870 CF but not 7970
guru3d recommends a quality 750w to run 7970 CF.

 

[serialkiller]

my suggestion



ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135204
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$19.99


COOLER MASTER CM Storm Series Trooper (SGC-5000-KKN1) Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119245
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$40.00 Instant
$189.99
$149.99


Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136284
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$129.99


SAPPHIRE 11197-01-40G Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card OC Version
Item #: N82E16814102982
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$579.99


SILVERSTONE Strider Gold ST85F-G 850W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified 100% Modular, Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817256067
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$15.00 Instant
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$169.99
$154.99


Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 997043
Item #: N82E16820226295
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
-$10.00 Instant
$64.99
$54.99


ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157264
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$10.00 Instant
$194.99
$184.99


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ...
Item #: N82E16819115072
Return Policy: Iron Egg Replacement-Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$219.99


COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel ...
Item #: N82E16835103099
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$34.99


Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820226236
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$70.00 Instant
$199.99
$129.99

total:$1,659.90

hope this helps

 

[phenom90]

a very nice build... but i'll swap several things and case is one of them... that case is roomy enough to fit in watercooling setup but if you aren't going to use it i suggest you taking other options because this case has no dust filter whatsoever and it will be a lot of pain for you to clean(trust me)...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139012
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D - $120 after rebate

and... if you won't be using exclusive features of z68 motherboard... actually this board is a very good deal for the price...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 - $150


also.. this cooler is very good as well... for less...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181011
CORSAIR CAFA70 - $25 after rebate

another suggestion for ram...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB Model 996995 - $40

ssd...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB - $130

a 80 plus gold certified psu for less money...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341044
OCZ ZX Series 850W Fully-Modular - $140 after rebate

 

[serialkiller]

I suggested that ram as it is of cas 8 and you suggested of cas9 which is slower

the psu i suggested is of one of the top psu maker. and it was fairly cheaper than seasonic , xfx , corsair. ocz is also good but silverstone is better

If you dont want a full tower then i would suggest

corsair carbide 600t white edition which is a beauty . but cases are personal preference so we would only suggest you and u can choose what to get or not.

 

[phenom90]

i knw but a cas 8 ram brings little difference in the real world performance.... and also yeah silverstone xfx corsiar all of them are top tier company... but ocz also has good review in jonnyguru...

 

[serialkiller]

no offence on that

 

[hellfire24]

let me ask you one thing serial kiiler,why you always put smiley in your post?

 

[serialkiller]

@ hellfire24 any problem dude

 

[hellfire24]

no just messin around

 

[serialkiller]

ok but you didnt post any build in my 4000$ build i need help hellfire24

 

[hellfire24]

okay i will!

 

[Hysteria]

Approximate Purchase Date: Looking at the next month or so

Budget Range: ~$1800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming will be the most taxing usage.

Parts Not Required: already have monitor (1920x1080) keyboard/mouse/etc. Just need case and contents.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Prefer newegg unless there is a compelling reason to buy somewhere else.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, no other preferences.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Showy cases are kind of a guilty pleasure


Current build:

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102961
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011
SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233254
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099
Optical: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136240


My heart isn't set on any particular component. Also thinking of waiting for kepler and possibly ivy bridge, though I doubt the latter will affect game performance noticeably.

With that budget you should hit up the 680 that just came out. Its $499, and it comes out ontop of the 7970 on most benchmarks, and its cooler

 

[hellfire24]

yeah you are absolutely right!

 

[azeem40]

Not to mention it has the same power consumption!