Approximate Purchase Date: By the end of the month
Budget Range: $1300 after rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming
Parts Not Required: Only need the tower. No optical drive.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or Amazon, but others are ok too
Country: USA
Overclocking: Yes
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080
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Trying to pick out my next build, and I've been entertaining a few different options. Here's what is winning in my head right now, and I'll toss out a few options. (Pricing from pcpartpicker for simplicity)
CPU: i5-3570K - $228.99
Cooler: CM Hyper 212 EVO - $29.90
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - $129.99
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR-1600 CL9 - $48.99
Boot Drive: Crucial M4 128 GB SSD - $109.99
Storage Drive: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200 RPM - $149.99
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB - $399.99
Case: Inwin BUC 101 - $89.99
PSU: Corsair 650W - $89.99 -$10.00 Rebate
Total: $1267.82
Some ideas:
1. I'm pretty interested in the ASUS Maximus V Gene and would like to put it in a smaller case like the Fractal Arc Mini. I don't think I would have any heat problems, even overclocked. Would bump me up about $80 though.
2. I've also considered sticking with the i5-2500K, since it seems to be the better overclocker. I think the performance would be pretty equal either way, and I could go with a cheaper Z68 mobo (which would have me looking at the GENE IV, which is significantly cheaper).
3. I considered using a pair of 1TB drives in a RAID 0 array. I'm not convinced the speed increase would be worth it though. The Seagate seems to have good reviews and is a speedy storage drive, and since it isn't a boot drive it won't have issues being over 2TB.
4. The GPU. Endless turmoil. I was originally planning on crossfiring a pair of 6850s. It's amazing performance for the cost. When the 7850s came out, I figured I could up the budget enough to fit a pair of them in. They run cool and don't seem to have any micro-stutter issues the 6850s could suffer from. The 670 seems pretty awesome though, and it's nice to be able to put in a single card solution that rocks and doesn't make me sacrifice somewhere else.
5. The case is something everyone seems to have a personal preference about, but unless you have some specific technical reasons to go with a specific case I'll stick with my choice. I'd actually like the Inwin Dragon Slayer if I go mATX and they update it with a more elegant USB 3.0 setup.
6. I'm aware there are combo deals and cheaper similar memory deals every other week. But the problem is they change every other week so I don't bother to count them when pricing options. Feel free to let me know if there's a good one though.
Thoughts? Opinions?
Budget Range: $1300 after rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming
Parts Not Required: Only need the tower. No optical drive.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or Amazon, but others are ok too
Country: USA
Overclocking: Yes
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trying to pick out my next build, and I've been entertaining a few different options. Here's what is winning in my head right now, and I'll toss out a few options. (Pricing from pcpartpicker for simplicity)
CPU: i5-3570K - $228.99
Cooler: CM Hyper 212 EVO - $29.90
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - $129.99
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR-1600 CL9 - $48.99
Boot Drive: Crucial M4 128 GB SSD - $109.99
Storage Drive: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200 RPM - $149.99
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB - $399.99
Case: Inwin BUC 101 - $89.99
PSU: Corsair 650W - $89.99 -$10.00 Rebate
Total: $1267.82
Some ideas:
1. I'm pretty interested in the ASUS Maximus V Gene and would like to put it in a smaller case like the Fractal Arc Mini. I don't think I would have any heat problems, even overclocked. Would bump me up about $80 though.
2. I've also considered sticking with the i5-2500K, since it seems to be the better overclocker. I think the performance would be pretty equal either way, and I could go with a cheaper Z68 mobo (which would have me looking at the GENE IV, which is significantly cheaper).
3. I considered using a pair of 1TB drives in a RAID 0 array. I'm not convinced the speed increase would be worth it though. The Seagate seems to have good reviews and is a speedy storage drive, and since it isn't a boot drive it won't have issues being over 2TB.
4. The GPU. Endless turmoil. I was originally planning on crossfiring a pair of 6850s. It's amazing performance for the cost. When the 7850s came out, I figured I could up the budget enough to fit a pair of them in. They run cool and don't seem to have any micro-stutter issues the 6850s could suffer from. The 670 seems pretty awesome though, and it's nice to be able to put in a single card solution that rocks and doesn't make me sacrifice somewhere else.
5. The case is something everyone seems to have a personal preference about, but unless you have some specific technical reasons to go with a specific case I'll stick with my choice. I'd actually like the Inwin Dragon Slayer if I go mATX and they update it with a more elegant USB 3.0 setup.
6. I'm aware there are combo deals and cheaper similar memory deals every other week. But the problem is they change every other week so I don't bother to count them when pricing options. Feel free to let me know if there's a good one though.
Thoughts? Opinions?