[HELP] $2000 Gaming PC

[razorasadsid]

Approximate Purchase Date: In the next few months

Budget Range: $2000 before rebates but can take some after

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Battlefield 3 maxing on ultra preset 64 player conquest map overlooking all the mayham and remaining 100+ fps >.>

Parts Not Required: OS, Moniter

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:Newegg

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Want the most powerful GPU setup possible in $2000. Want to use the Rosewill Thor v2 White case.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Must use Thor v2 white case by rosewill, must MAX BF3 by my standards (64 player conquest looking over all the mayham 100+ fps) and last a bloody long time.

Honestly im not really going for a ton of overclocking, i listed the 1000w PSU is because i might upgrade to a 3 or 4 card sli/crossfire config LATER when the PC is sort of out of shape. I want it to last long and future proof itself. I also need to include the accessories listed there for it. (definitely BF3, kb / mouse (wireless) and headset (wireless) and an extra 120mm case fan (blue), I also don't need an SSD because I have like 10 of them

This is what ive chosen so far:

 

[azeem40]

Drop the TIM. The Cooler comes with paste tube of MX-4.

 

[Houseboratheon]

i5 3570k http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504&Tpk=i5%203570k Gtx 670x2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130782 hyper 212 evo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 crucial 128gb ssd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148448 asrock z77 extreme 6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157295 Seagate 1tb 7200rpm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697 ocz 750w http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049 Your total should be around $1600

 

[Bones2525]

Just go with two 680s and that would put you at around 1900 if you use the rest of HouseBoratheon's build... the i5 3570k is amazing and the 680s will blow you away. If you want to spend more cash you could also do the Corsair AX 850 PSU.

 

[cuecuemore]

What House^ said. The most important thing to note if BF3 domination is your goal is that 2x 670 will trash 2x 7970 for $200 less.

 

[Houseboratheon]

Just go with two 680s and that would put you at around 1900 if you use the rest of HouseBoratheon's build... the i5 3570k is amazing and the 680s will blow you away. If you want to spend more cash you could also do the Corsair AX 850 PSU.

I agree 2x680>2x670 but A. 670s are easier to obtain and B. 2x680s on a 1920x1080 is just a waist IMO. if the op will do a multi monitor setup in the future I would support the 680s though

 

[PCgamer81]

I pretty much disagree with most that has been said thus far.

I have two 6970s that are approximately 40%-50% weaker than two 670s (depending on the game and various scaling) and 50%-60% weaker than two 680s. I game on a single 1080p monitor and deeply regret spending the money on a second 6970.

The 670/680 SLi solution is significantly faster than the 6970 crossfire, and unless you have a 120Hz monitor and/or plan on using 3D Vision or even 3D surround, a dual 680/670 solution at this point and time would be incredibly foolish.

Such foolishness is compounded further once you consider that the 2GB framebuffer will likely provide a nasty bottleneck long before the card's architecture becomes dated.

I recommend putting your money into a nice 80+ Platinum PSU (something that you can build around for years), a couple of SSDs in raid, a nifty case with plenty of room, and other goodies. Pick yourself up a couple of 7870s and enjoy the best of 1080p gaming for the next few years.

 

[Houseboratheon]

I pretty much disagree with most that has been said thus far.

I have two 6970s that are approximately 40%-50% weaker than two 670s (depending on the game and various scaling) and 50%-60% weaker than two 680s. I game on a single 1080p monitor and deeply regret spending the money on a second 6970.

The 670/680 SLi solution is significantly faster than the 6970 crossfire, and unless you have a 120Hz monitor and/or plan on using 3D Vision or even 3D surround, a dual 680/670 solution at this point and time would be incredibly foolish.

Such foolishness is compounded further once you consider that the 2GB framebuffer will likely provide a nasty bottleneck long before the card's architecture becomes dated.

I recommend putting your money into a nice 80+ Platinum PSU (something that you can build around for years), a couple of SSDs in raid, a nifty case with plenty of room, and other goodies. Pick yourself up a couple of 7870s and enjoy the best of 1080p gaming for the next few years.

well 2x 670s are only $80 more expensive than 2x 7870 and are better so I do not see any logic here. Also if you worried about bottleneck than get the 680 4gb ftw single http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=04G-P4-3687-KR&family=GeForce 600 Series Family&sw=

 

[cuecuemore]

well 2x 670s are only $80 more expensive than 2x 7870 and are better so I do not see any logic here.

Don't worry, there was no logic to be seen. OP wanted to destroy BF3, and any thinking person knows that SLI 670s are the prescription for that fever.

 

[Bones2525]

He said he wanted the best graphics setup and stay in the 2000 dollar budget... so that's what i did :I

 

[cuecuemore]

He said he wanted the best graphics setup and stay in the 2000 dollar budget... so that's what i did :I

Oh, you're great, was just saying that AMD (especially second tier stuff) doesn't fit the bill.

 

[PCgamer81]

Don't worry, there was no logic to be seen. OP wanted to destroy BF3, and any thinking person knows that SLI 670s are the prescription for that fever.

There is logic for the logical.

To be blunt, "destroying Battlefield 3" is a particularly base and childish way for you to look at it, born of an endeavor that indicates ignorance and immaturity in the light of actual facts and hardware statistics. Considering the performance level of dual 7870s, which meet or exceed the OP's stated goal of 100fps in BF3, spending considerably more for a graphics solution that would not only be extreme overkill for 1080p, but would likely provide a VRAM bottleneck long before the architecture is dated (a bottleneck that would be exposed in a dual card configuration), would be incredibly stupid.

Not to mention that 100fps is a goal I call into question once you consider that the OP made absolutely no reference to the 1080p monitor's refresh rate, whereas anything over 60fps (without a 120Hz monitor) would merely result in screen tearing and unnecessary taxation of hardware resources, while yielding virtually no visual improvement whatsoever.

Two 670s/680s are simply the wrong choice considering the OP's desired specifications provided in the above descriptions. It is a fact that is self-evident (for the informed PC enthusiast) to the point that I will no longer grant your insanity credibility by debating with you further.

 

[Houseboratheon]

He said he wanted the best graphics setup and stay in the 2000 dollar budget... so that's what i did :I

Yea I Totally support your build I don't personally know whether he wants the keyboard and mouse and games included in that budget though, so I just went with the 670s to give him more headroom for accessories. But if he wants them separated then yes I support the 680 decision

 

[Houseboratheon]

There is logic for the logical.

To be blunt, "destroying Battlefield 3" is a particularly base and childish way for you to look at it, born of an endeavor that indicates ignorance and immaturity in the light of actual facts and hardware statistics. Considering the performance level of dual 7870s, which meet or exceed the OP's stated goal of 100fps in BF3, spending considerably more for a graphics solution that would not only be extreme overkill for 1080p, but would likely provide a VRAM bottleneck long before the architecture is dated (a bottleneck that would be exposed in a dual card configuration), would be incredibly stupid.

Not to mention that 100fps is a goal I call into question once you consider that the OP made absolutely no reference to the 1080p monitor's refresh rate, whereas anything over 60fps (without a 120Hz monitor) would merely result in screen tearing and unnecessary taxation of hardware resources, while yielding virtually no visual improvement whatsoever.

Two 670s/680s are simply the wrong choice considering the OP's desired specifications provided in the above descriptions. It is a fact that is self-evident (for the informed PC enthusiast) to the point that I will no longer grant your insanity credibility by debating with you further.

and I said that if you want to take in to account the possibility of a 2gb VRAM bottleneck in the future then just to go with a 680 4gb ftw which is about $100 cheaper than dual 7870s.

 

[cuecuemore]

TLDR, but no, there isn't, not for anyone who's seen BF3 benchies on 670/680 vs AMD.

 

[PCgamer81]

I would also like to point out that the OP is asking for advice on a gaming PC. The emphasis of this build is not on graphics cards alone. Loyalty to Nvidia and/or "the particular graphics card you have" yields the OP no logical advice whatsoever.

There are plenty of other facets of a gaming machine that are relevant to this thread. Building a balanced gaming machine in light of the OP's stated aspirations and budget should be the primary goal of any helpful poster in this thread.

OP: I would recommend that you go with your current choices with a few changes.

Drop the i7 2600k (which provides no real advantage in gaming) in favor of the i5 2500k.

Drop the double 7970 in favor of two 7870s.

Drop the Hyper 212+.

Use the extra money on a better CPU cooler (perhaps a water cooling system) for better and more stable overclocking to meet the demands of two high end cards. Choose a better motherboard (if possible with dual x16 PCI-E slots). And grab yourself an an SSD for your OS.

Not only will you be able to experience BF3 at an exceptionally high framerate, but such a build is balanced well and will afford you an overall better gaming experience for your situation and price range.

 

[azeem40]

At $350, the 7870 is not good price/performance. He'd be better off with CF 7850 and OCing them.

 

[Houseboratheon]

I would also like to point out that the OP is asking for advice on a gaming PC. The emphasis of this build is not on graphics cards alone. Loyalty to Nvidia and/or "the particular graphics card you have" yields the OP no logical advice whatsoever.

There are plenty of other facets of a gaming machine that are relevant to this thread. Building a balanced gaming machine in light of the OP's stated aspirations and budget should be the goal of any helpful poster in this thread.

OP:I would recommend that you go with your current choices with a few changes.

Drop the i7 2600k (which provides no real advantage in gaming) in favor of the i5 2500k.

Drop the double 7970 in favor of two 7870s.

Drop the Hyper 212+.

Use the extra money on a better CPU cooler (perhaps a water cooling system) for better and more stable overclocking to meet the demands of two high end cards. Choose a better motherboard (if possible with dual x16 PCI-E slots). And grab yourself an an SSD for your OS.

Not only will you be able to experience BF3 at an exceptionally high framerate, but such a build is balanced well and will afford you an overall better gaming experience for your situation and price range.

Lol I'm not pointing out gpu alone. I gave him my advice on a well balanced build several posts ago.

 

[PCgamer81]

At $350, the 7870 is not good price/performance. He'd be better off with CF 7850 and OCing them.

Normally, I would agree.

But I have to take into account his desired goal of "100fps or more" in BF3. As such, the 7870 crossfire is the best solution for his particular situation in light of his budget.

 

[azeem40]

I missed that part about running at 100+ fps. Ignore my comment then lol.

 

[PCgamer81]

I missed that part about running at 100+ fps. Ignore my comment then lol.

It happens to me a lot, too.

 

[PCgamer81]

Lol I'm not pointing out gpu alone. I gave him my advice on a well balanced build several posts ago.

Balanced?

A $2000 build with a CPU that runs hotter than a Sandy Bridge and cannot be overclocked as well, a second rate cooler, an overpriced motherboard with dual x8 PCI-E slots, and a PSU that barely cuts the mustard.

Balanced?

No. You fanboi'd that one in, that's what you did. You "made room".

That's a no no when it comes to good advice on Tom's Hardware, especially when you take into account crossfire scaling of 7870s, which when paired will cost about $150 less while yielding performance comparable to dual 670s. Not to mention that the day is fast approaching when the 2GB framebuffer will stick out like a sore thumb on SLi'd 670s, while the 4GB version just isn't logical considering it's price hike.

You need to go to bed, and when you wake up in the morning, pack a lunch before you come at me with anymore of that nonsense.

 

[azeem40]

I disagree with you on your first point. From reviews, you can see that Ib only needs 4.2 Ghz OC to match 4.5 GHz on SB.

 

[Houseboratheon]

Balanced?

A $2000 build with a CPU that runs hotter than a Sandy Bridge and cannot be overclocked as well, a second rate cooler, an overpriced motherboard with dual x8 PCI-E slots, and a PSU that barely cuts the mustard.

Balanced?

No. You fanboi'd that one in, that's what you did. You "made room".

That is a no no when it comes to good advice on Tom's Hardware, especially when you take into account crossfire scaling of 7870s, which when paired will cost about $150 less while yielding performance comparable to dual 670s. Not to mention that the day is fast approaching when the 2GB framebuffer will stick out like a sore thumb on SLi'd 670s, while the 4GB version just isn't logical considering it's price hike.

My build was $1600 but nice try, and if you think that you cannot OC a i5 3570k to 4.2ghz with a hyper 212 evo and remain in cool temps than you are reallllly screwed up.

 

[PCgamer81]

I disagree with you on your first point. From reviews, you can see that Ib only needs 4.2 Ghz OC to match 4.5 GHz on SB.

With good cooling the SB can approach clocks the IB simply cannot. There isn't any doubt which microarch' is superior when it comes to gaming.