$2000 Gaming Build

[Matth512]

Approximate Purchase Date: About 2 months from now.

Budget Range: $1500-2500 (The wife would love it if it was closer to $2000)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Programming, *Would like to learn to do some audio editing*, Watching Blu-rays

Parts Not Required: Unfortunately, all parts are required. I am starting from nothing at the moment. *This will be my second build*
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any reliable sites really. I am most familiar with newegg and amazon.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Highest performance possible so preferably Intel.
Overclocking: Most likely not, and if so nothing extreme.

SLI or Crossfire: No preference.

Monitor Resolution: At least 1920x1080 anything after is a plus.

Additional Comments: Nothing too flashy, but aesthetics are an obvious plus.


As you can probably tell I am completely undecided about most of the parts as I haven't really kept up with everything new coming out and I understand this is a lot to ask everyone to come up with but I would greatly appreciate any help or advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[Why_Me]

Ivy Bridge cpu's are due out April 29th.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-680-overclock-guide/ <----- Overclocking the gtx 680 w/benchmarks

This build allows you to add another one of those cards later on in SLI.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Gaming-CC-9011012-WW/dp/B005E983JW/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1332866663&sr=1-3 $116.16 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid Tower Gaming Case CC-9011012-WW

This XFX psu down below is manufactured by Seasonic as are all XFX psu's and the mid and upper tier Corsair psu's.

http://www.amazon.com/XFX-ATX-850-Power-Supply/dp/B0050751YS/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1332866828&sr=1-1 $122.75 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
XFX PRO850W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80 Plus Silver Certified 850 Watt Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293 $139.99
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://pcper.com/news/Processors/Intel-Ivy-Bridge-Processors-Launch-March-23-2012 $225
Intel i5-3750K Ivy Bridge CPU 3.4Ghz

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=pd_cp_e_0 $34.29 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546 $44.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118049 $119.99 FREE SHIPPING
SONY Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 8X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BWU-500S

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW/ref=sr_1_8?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1334100651&sr=1-8 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236 $124.99 FREE SHIPPING
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121626 $499.99
ASUS GTX680-2GD5 GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

or....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130768 $499.99
EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_sim_pc_5 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059&cm_sp=Cat_Monitors-_-Hot_Deal-_-24-236-059 $169.99 - $149.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING $20 off w/ promo code EMCNFJN45, ends 4/16
ASUS VH236H Black 23" 2ms Full HD Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ Speakers 300 cd/m2 20000 :1 (ASCR)

Total: $1,798.17 *not including shipping and mail in rebates


http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-ST2000DM001-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal/dp/B005T3GRN2/ref=sr_1_2?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1334116153&sr=1-2 $119.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate ST2000DM001 Barracuda 7200RPM 2 TB SATA 6 GB/s NCQ 64 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231558 $114.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C10D-16GAO


http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/carbide-series-500r-mid-tower-case.html <---- a better look at that case

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z77%20Extreme4 <----- a better look at that board

 

[hellfire24]

wait for ivy bridge.they are coming on 29th april.

 

[Bones2525]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6HCF

That's a good build. I'm gonna get an Ivy Bridge when they come out, but you will only see a 10-15% performance gain. The build I said is quite good, but the case can be changed out for personal preference. I like the case because it is quite functional and easy to work with.

 

[azeem40]

The performance gain doesn't come from that. It comes from full utilization of PCIe 3.0.

 

[hellfire24]

^that's why i am liking IB

 

[Matth512]

Appreciate the quick responses and the great info... You all made my first forum post here a great experience. Thanks!

 

[hellfire24]

always welcome!