$3000 - $5000 Gaming System

arodriq · Mar 23, 2012

So, I just finished purchasing an engagement ring for my new fiance and now it's time for me to finally buy something for myself. Please help me out with my future build.

Approximate Purchase Date: 5-10-12

Budget Range: 3000 - 5000 Before Rebate. I'm fine with spending anywhere within that range, but I don't want to throw away money just for a very small performance upgrade.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Streaming Gaming, Software Development, Web Browsing

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Headset

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com (or whatever you guys think is the best site to use.)

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, Tri monitor setup

Overclocking: I've actually never overclocked anything. If you think it would be worth my while to learn and do so, by all means.

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1200

Additional Comments: Not concerned how the tower looks, what size it is, or how it sounds. Performance is all that matters to me. My internet averages 45 Mbps down / 35 Mbps up and I would like to stream any game of my choosing at the highest in game settings and highest streaming settings (if this is within my price range.)

Thank you very much for any advice anyone can share with me.

boiler1990 · Mar 23, 2012

Sorry, but assembling a build for you that you're not buying for 2 months isn't really worth anybody's time.

Expect Ivy Bridge to be out and maybe a few new GPUs. If you were building now, the GTX 680 would be the one to get, and you could easily run a triple monitor setup with a pair of those.

g-unit1111 · Mar 23, 2012

boiler1990 :

Especially on that budget. But I wouldn't go Ivy on a $3K+ budget - go X79 or IB-E.

boiler1990 · Mar 23, 2012

True, though I'd easily rack up $2Gs in 30" displays

g-unit1111 · Mar 23, 2012

boiler1990 :

I'd get a couple of NEC PA-301s - can go from widescreen to portrait mode - $2300 a piece. :lol:

boiler1990 · Mar 23, 2012

Those are the best - my 24" Dell does that, and it comes in handy when I need to read journal papers. I don't have to zoom in at all to see a full A4 page of text

@OP - rotating monitors are a good investment for a Surround setup, since you can run them as one big square rather than a stretched out rectangle. You get a much better viewing zone.

serialkiller · Mar 23, 2012

hello op

i didnt understand streaming gaming does it means gaming on internet multi player on bf3 or like that ?

i think you should go for x79 and gtx 680 or 2 of them , a full towerand 3 asus or dell monitors of 1080p or greater

this is my link to the build

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16660731

hope this helps :hello:

boiler1990 · Mar 23, 2012

^I'd personally go with a Crucial M4 SSD + WD/Samsung HDD for better reliability, and a different case due to personal taste, but overall I'd agree with that.

The AX1200 would also be a supreme choice for a PSU.

serialkiller · Mar 23, 2012

In some cases the crucial m4 and samsung 830 are way slower . i dont remember where i saw it i think in toms ssd benchies and charts.

Corsair make good ssd and the case is awesome but you could get a full tower lesser than carsair carbite 600 t white case.

If he is gonna tri sli then a 1200w will be a good choice but i think it will be an overkill but looking at its amps i think it would need it

phenom90 · Mar 23, 2012

boiler1990 · Mar 23, 2012

In some cases the crucial m4 and samsung 830 are way slower . i dont remember where i saw it i think in toms ssd benchies and charts.

But a slow drive is better than a dead drive. I'm not buying/recommending a Sandforce drive until they figure out what's going on and why they all keep failing so quickly. Crucial and Intel have had the consistently most reliable drives out there for the past ~3-5 years. Also, a "slow" SSD is still faster than a HDD.

If he is gonna tri sli then a 1200w will be a good choice but i think it will be an overkill but looking at its amps i think it would need it

The 680s only draw 225W max, so arguably you could run SLI on a good 850W.

serialkiller · Mar 23, 2012

Man i am pointing out 3-way sli and dont just blindly go with watts as amps are as important as wattage is.

Intel dont use micron controllers but crusial m4 do. intel uses sandfore controler which you think is faulty. the ocz were faulty some time ago so do other ssds and now things have changed and nearly all new ssds are been faulty less

mjmjpfaff · Mar 23, 2012

here is a complete build except for the gpu's. I would wait for the gtx 680 4gb with an aftermarket cooler which 2 would run from 1100$ to 1200$.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=18915412

Nim Chimpsky · Mar 23, 2012

Doesn't streaming gaming depend on the setup on the other end? He could play with a tablet and not see a difference. And how does a $2000 gap in his budget work? There's a whole high-end computer in there.

There are so many things wrong with this thread, I wouldn't be surprised if it's some kid asking for our daydreams.

mjmjpfaff · Mar 23, 2012

Nim Chimpsky :

I don't think a kid would talk about buying an engagement ring.

You are right about the streaming though. Maybe he just means online gaming. :??:

boiler1990 · Mar 23, 2012

Man i am pointing out 3-way sli and dont just blindly go with watts as amps are as important as wattage is.

Yes but current (amps) is directly related to power (watts). Of course there is some leeway in the numbers based on how the companies rate their PSUs (different conditions/measurements, max vs continuous wattage).

What is important about amps is the number of amps delivered on the number of rails. Most of the higher-end PSUs have only a single rail, so there's less to worry about.

Intel dont use micron controllers but crusial m4 do. intel uses sandfore controler which you think is faulty.

Except you're wrong - Intel's 320 uses a custom controller, and the 510 uses a Marvell controller.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4202/the-intel-ssd-510-review/2
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4244/intel-ssd-320-review
http://www.guru3d.com/article/intel-320-ssd-review/2

the ocz were faulty some time ago so do other ssds and now things have changed and nearly all new ssds are been faulty less

OCZ's drives are still quite faulty. Supposedly the next generation Sandforce controllers (SF-3000) will fix that, but that's also what they said about the SF-2000 controllers.

Doesn't streaming gaming depend on the setup on the other end? He could play with a tablet and not see a difference. And how does a $2000 gap in his budget work? There's a whole high-end computer in there.

Yeah, I'm quite confused about that as well...

arodriq · Mar 23, 2012

@boiler1990: Understandable response. How soon to 5-10-12 do you think I should start asking about this?

@g-unit1111: I'm not so much interested in having multiple monitors for viewing one big beautiful screen, I really just want them for multi-tasking. I tend to have a ton of applications open at once and it would be great to view them all without much ALT+Tabbing.

@serialkiller: Sorry for not explaining this. Streaming Gaming means to broadcast yourself playing a game to a live internet audience. Check out justin.tv for some examples.

@phenom90: Thank you for the recommendations. Do you feel that it would be worth while to drop more money into the CPU and mobo? I won't be building another PC for quite some time and would be willing to drop a few hundred extra one any components if it would significantly increase the relevant lifespan of my build.

@mjmjpfaff: I like this build A LOT, and it's on the low end of my price range. Thank you for taking the time to make this list for me. If you don't mind, what upgrades would you make if you had another $1500 to spend and do you feel it would make a significant difference?

@Nim Chimpsky: I can tell you from personal experience that streaming quality and performance has a lot to do with your own computers limits. I can run games fine on my current build, but if I try to stream while playing my CPU bottlenecks pretty hard, especially at higher settings.

As for the $2000 gap in my budget, forgive me for not explaining this in more detail. I am not adverse to paying $5000 for an ultimate build, but I'm leveled headed enough not to pay an extra $2000 just for 1 FPS more (exaggeration of course.) Then again, if that $2000 keeps my build relevant for twice as long...maybe it's worth it.

I was merely giving a broad spectrum as to ask, "If you had $5000 to spend on a build, what would you buy and how much would you spend WITHOUT going crazy with bells and whistles that wouldn't affect performance all that much?"

Hope that clears things up, and as boiler1990 explained, perhaps I'm asking this much too early, if so, just let me know. :ange:

JackNaylorPE · Mar 23, 2012

serialkiller :

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-review-benchmark,3139-6.html

Crucial is a bit down in the tiers but the 830 is right up there.

Tier 1 (240/256 GB)
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240 GB
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240 GB
Patriot WildFire 240 GB
Samsung 830 SSD 256 GB

Tier 3 (120/128 GB)
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 120 GB
OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120 GB
Patriot WildFire 120 GB
Samsung 830 SSD 128 GB

The M4's fall 21% behind in tier 3 for the 256 and tier 5 for the 128

g-unit1111 · Mar 23, 2012

OCZ's drives are still quite faulty. Supposedly the next generation Sandforce controllers (SF-3000) will fix that, but that's also what they said about the SF-2000 controllers.

Yeah I don't recommend Sandforce-based drives like the OCZ Agility or Corsair Force 3 for that reason - even with the cleaned up firmware there's still issues.

Try this build:

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II - $349.99
PSU: Seasonic X1050 Gold - $219.99
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 - $329.99
CPU: 3.20GHz Intel Core i7-3930K - $599.99
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 - $95.99
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz 1.5V Low Profile Quad Channel RAM - $149.99
SSD: 128GB Crucial M4 - $174.99
HD: Samsung Ecogreen F4 2TB - $149.99
Optical: LG BD-R Burner - $79.99
Video Card: 3 x EVGA Geforce GTX 680 - $499.99 each

Total: $3,635.89

I generally don't include monitors or peripherals in builds as that's entirely personal preference and what I recommend generally isn't always what the OP wants. So I leave that up to the OP.

JackNaylorPE · Mar 23, 2012

MoBo - Done build with the Rampage II, Rampage III and Rampage IV.....Other than the WS evolution, can't think of a board I have likes so much. Do you "need" LGA 2011 .... no, but THG doesn't call it the "ultimate gaming platform" for no reason. There are measurable differences between it and P67 / Z68 even iuf those advantages are dwarfed by the price differences.

RAM - Corsair equivalent is fine

Cooler - http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/phanteks_ph_tc14pe_cpu_cooler_review,11.html

TIM - Same thermal performance as AS5 w/o the danged 200 hours of themal cycling curing issue.
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=12

HD - http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=708&Itemid=60&limit=1&limitstart=10

SSD- http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4328/mushkin_chronos_deluxe_120gb_solid_state_drive_review/index13.html

Optical - No Blue Ray on a $3-5k build ? Can't be

Card Reader - you decide

Monitor(s) - you seem "betwixed" and between here. One work of advice.....max size I will use for 1920 x 1200/1080 is 23.6". The reason is the human eye can start to see see individual pixels at when the density is less then about 96 per inch about which image starts appearing
grainy". As you can see here....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_pitch

23.0 265 95.8
23.6 272 93.3
24.0 277 91.8
24.6 284 89.6
27.0 311 81.6

After 24" you are into the 80's. This is much more of an issue with still images than gaming so if that's the only usage, it might not bother you. In any case, I would definitely use a 120 Hz monitor w/ your budget.... whether 3 of em as shown above or a single 27" job

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236206

Personally I wasn't into the 3D thing based upon my experience w/ mo=vies but playing Batman Arkham City on my son's box I have toi say was a real kick.

phenom90 · Mar 23, 2012

2 months later and ivy bridge will be on the shelves... by that time i'll just swap the i5 2500k and z68 mobo with i5 3570k and z77 mobo... about dropping more money into cpu and mobo it'll depends on what you do... if you running applications that requires more than 4 processing threads and 3 video cards and above... then it'll make more sense to invest in x79 platform... on the other hand... if you just running typical consumer application that 4 processing threads is enough... and maybe running two video cards at some point... even a z68/77 platform will be adequate... a cheaper will have less sata ports and less beefy power phase and vrm circuitry for overclocking... but most boards with 8+4 power phase with 6 sata ports(regardless sata ii or iii)... support for 2-way sli/corssfire will be enough... and all of that falls within $130 - $180 price range....

g-unit1111 · Mar 23, 2012

JackNaylorPE :

Why include 3-D glasses? There's no games right now that take advantage of this technology - it's just an expensive gimmick until that happens.

2 months later and ivy bridge will be on the shelves... by that time i'll just swap the i5 2500k and z68 mobo with i5 3570k and z77 mobo... about dropping more money into cpu and mobo it'll depends on what you do...

Depending on how you clock it - SB-E will still be a better solution on a higher end build than any Sandy / Ivy bridge combo right now - after Ivy - Z68 and P67 are dead ends, LGA 2011 and X79 will be around a lot longer than that.

JackNaylorPE · Mar 23, 2012

pbkedyua :

Why include 3-D glasses? There's no games right now that take advantage of this technology - it's just an expensive gimmick until that happens.

1. Because he has the budget
2. Because your statement is completely inaccurate....there's 100 of games supported.

What did you base that statement on ? Personal experience or "something you read on the internet" ?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-games.html

I counted the games in the drop down, listed alphabetically, and I got to 86 games by the time I finished the ones that began with B. There were:

32 rated 3D Vision Ready
229 rated Excellent
279 rated Good
71 rated Fair
25 rated Poor
36 rated Not recommended

That's 540 games with "Good" or above ratings ... that's a helluva far cry from "none"

I just played Batman, Arkham City on my son's box I found the 3D and PhysX was a real kick, I enjoyed the 3D effects immensely and this from a guy who found the 3D in Avatar movie quite annoying.

Ever heard of World of Tanks, BF3, Aion, Batman Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Battlefield BC 2, Call of Duty Black OPs and Modern Warfare, Civ 5, Dead Rising, Duke NukemForever, World of Warcraft, Assassins Creed, Just Cause, Mafia II, Metro 2033, Resident Evil, Withcer 2, AVP2.....use the drop down on the link above to see all the games supported.

.

g-unit1111 · Mar 23, 2012

JackNaylorPE :

pbkedyua :

I've definitely found most 3-D movies incredibly annoying and I have to say I applauded Christopher Nolan's decision to go against WB's "release everything in 3D" marketing ploy with the Dark Knight Rises and film it in IMAX instead of 3-D. But we're getting off topic. :lol:

Arkham City is great and I imagine there could be a few instances in games where 3-D would add to the experience (Portal 2 would be awesome in 3D) but for the most part I find it's more of a distraction than improving the experience. I don't think Civ V would be good in 3-D, however.

JackNaylorPE · Mar 23, 2012

g-unit1111 :

I agree to an extent....it can be annoying as is anything not well implemented..... no one needs a Porsche when most of the time ya using it to commute to work on a straight as an arrow highway, are stuck in traffic or ona 3 mph speed limit road..... but those few times you do get to open it up on a mountain road, sure put a big frakin smile on ya face.

Same here ..... In BF3 there's some sections that are perty darn cool and other areas where it's not worth the weight on the bridge of ya nose. At 3% of the OP's budget limit, I feel quite comfortable that the overall gaming experience is worth 3%.

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