$2000 Work/Gaming PC. First Build.

samorf

Honorable
Jun 23, 2012
13
0
10,510
Approximate Purchase Date:
Within the next 2 weeks.
Budget Range:
Sub 2k.
System Usage from Most to Least Important:
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Gaming /w current and upcoming games. From StarCraft 2 to Battlefield 3 to the next graphic benchmark.
Parts Not Required:
Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Monitor.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts:
Amazon primarily. Would consider another place if it was worth it.
Country:
The States.
Parts Preferences:
Intel and Nvidia.
Overclocking:
Yes.
SLI or Crossfire:
No.
Monitor Resolution:
2560x1440.
Additional Comments:
Air cooling, noise level, and sound card are important to me.

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Chassis: - $335 - This is the one thing I want to splurge on.
Cooler Master Cosmos II Full Tower Case
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Cosmos-Full-Tower/dp/B006P88VNE/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I10RQPOP90IZQE

Motherboard: - $190
ASUS Intel Z77 ATX DDR3 2400 LGA 1155 Motherboard P8Z77-V
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Intel-DDR3-Motherboard-P8Z77-V/dp/B007G51UWY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I1ZCB18ZU1IHNW

Power Supply: - $130
Corsair AX650
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Professional-650-Watt-Certified-Performance/dp/B00539M628/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I1XLBEI2OF57G0

Processor: - $220
Intel Core i5 3570K Processor 3.4
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-3570K-Processor-BX80637I53570K/dp/B007SZ0E1K/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pdT1_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I49NQX736AJFH

CPU Cooler: - $85
Noctua 6 NH-D14
http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Heatpipe-Bearing-Cooler-NH-D14/dp/B002VKVZ1A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_piT1_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I16HKCE8SLGKJD

Graphics Card: - $420
EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW 2048MB GDDR5 256bit
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Dual-Link-DisplayPort-Graphics-02G-P4-2678-KR/dp/B0083Y6MV6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I2Q0278NF69HJY

Memory: - $98
Corsair 16 GB Vengeance Low Profile 1600mhz PC3-12800 240-pin Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit 16 Dual Channel Kit
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Profile-1600mhz-PC3-12800/dp/B0058J1QII/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I3NH59V2EIUXE7

Sound Card: - $198
Asus Sound Card Xonar Essence STX
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Sound-Essence-Headphone-Audiophiles/dp/B005OAP3WG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_piT1_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I2F6IYVMLBPY8F

SSD: - $120
Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT128M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKZI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I58TZRODF47BQ

HD: - $118
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_piT1_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=ISMVKAUEPIQ6O

Optical: - $17
Asus 24xDVD-RW
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I3URIDO5AJ822T

Total: - $1937
 
Solution

XavierTobin

Honorable
Jun 17, 2012
74
0
10,640
The i7 3770k is the way i think, the applications your going to use will benefit hugely from hyperthreading!

Seriously, don't splurge that much on the case, you can get a brilliant case for much cheaper, ill find a cheaper equivalent!
 

mjmjpfaff

Distinguished

No I find Amazon's return policy superior to Newegg's. And things are usually cheaper or the same price at Amazon, for example the case is over 10$ cheaper and the CPU is 10$ cheaper.

@OP an i7 3770k will help a lot in some of your applications and that is one thing that you need to set aside money for.

Corsair 600t White Edition- http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CC600TWM-WHT-Special-Graphite-Computer/dp/B004O0PAKW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340464076&sr=1-1&keywords=600t 167$

i7 3770k- http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-3770K-processor-BX80637I73770K/dp/B007SZ0EOW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340464214&sr=1-1&keywords=i7+3770k 340$

Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H- http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-CrossFireX-NVIDIA-Motherboard-GA-Z77X-UD5H/dp/B007R21JK4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340464139&sr=1-1&keywords=z77+ud5 190$

Corsair Vengeance LP 16gb 1600mhz- http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Profile-1600mhz-PC3-12800/dp/B0058J1QYC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340464511&sr=1-1&keywords=16gb+1600 93$

Rosewill Capstone 750-M- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182263 120$ This PSU is also Gold rated too but will be quite a bit cheaper after its promo code which will nock of 18$ and make it only about 100$. This PSU is also rated very well by JonnyGuru who is IMO the best PSU reviewer.

Asus DirectCU II GTX 670- http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-GTX-670-DC2-2GD5-GTX670-DC2-2GD5/dp/B0081IFO2C/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340464798&sr=1-2&keywords=asus+gtx+670 420$ This aftermarket heatsink does a brilliant job cooling and it is also much quieter than the reference cooler.

Is there any reason you need a sound card? What speakers do you have?

Crucial M4 256gb SSD- http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT256M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JL2A/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340464971&sr=1-1&keywords=256gb+ssd 204$

Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb- http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-3-5-Inch-Desktop-WDBAAZ0010HNC-NRSN/dp/B0046RE3M4/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340465168&sr=1-2&keywords=wd+black+1tb 119$

Asus DVD Burner- http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340465245&sr=1-1&keywords=dvd+burner 17$

Cooler Master Hyper 612- http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Aluminum-Copper-RR-H612-20PK-R3/dp/B005WCN3KK/ref=sr_1_42?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340465440&sr=1-42&keywords=cpu+cooler 48$ Since you are overclocking your CPU read this review- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-overclocking-core-i7-3770k,3198.html I strongly recommend you do not up the voltage any. A stable 4.2ghz overclock (which equals about a Sandy bridge 4.5ghz OC) can be reached by just simply upping the CPU multiplier up to 42x.

Total=1718$
 

samorf

Honorable
Jun 23, 2012
13
0
10,510
Thank you all very much for your advice. You triple research everything and it's still very easy to make mistakes. I found a couple tips I was really looking for.

The i7 3770k is the way i think, the applications your going to use will benefit hugely from hyperthreading!
This was a big question of mine. I was reading on Tom's about the i5 being fine and not seeing much improvement with the i7 but the hyperthreading makes a lot of sense. I have to read into that more. Thank you.

Seriously, don't splurge that much on the case, you can get a brilliant case for much cheaper, ill find a cheaper equivalent!
I knew I would catch some heat on the case choice. It definitely knocks my value points down. But, what can I say? It was love at first sight and the heart wants what the heart wants.

By the way, i would buy from Newegg, cheaper, more reliable and the specialise in computing, so if there is any issues they'll be solved easier!
I am a big Amazon fan. I buy everything that's not food there. Over the years I have purchased hundreds of items, returned and exchanged dozens, they never miss ship dates, and I rarely see lower prices. I am also a prime member.

mjmjpfaff wrote: Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H, Asus DirectCU II GTX 670, Is there any reason you need a sound card? What speakers do you have?
I definitely need motherboard help. I like Asus and my choice seems to be highly rated value/performance. May I ask what makes this a good/better choice?

That Asus GTX670 is very sexy. I like it a lot. I will definitely be updating my choice there.

I have Logitech z906 5.1 speakers but also a pair of high end Sennheiser headphones I use equally. I currently have an old creative championship sound card that performs well but I'd like to step it up. On that though, my choice was certainly overkill and have updated it so I may afford the better processor.

For the CPU cooler I have read time and again Noctua is the best and quietest. Also, the ugliest. I know the Hyper 612 is also very good but I don't mind spending the extra few bucks there.

Thank you for the article on IVY Bridge. I started reading it and it's helpful.

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Updates

Processor - $340
Intel Core i7 3770K
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-3770K-processor-BX80637I73770K/dp/B007SZ0EOW/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I2TK40HEXUWX81

Graphics Card - $430
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-GeForce-GTX-670-DC2T-2GD5-GTX670-DC2T-2GD5/dp/B0081IFO3G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I2VRLVXQXV65MGASUS GeForce GTX 670

Sound Card - $72
Asus Xonar DX
http://www.amazon.com/PCI-Express-Channel-XONAR_DX-XD-90-YAA060-1UAN00Z/dp/B0017DJXG6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=158TWUEEP7SO2&coliid=I21RXXXMNDG9NK

New Total - $1941
 

XavierTobin

Honorable
Jun 17, 2012
74
0
10,640
Yes, you've got it now, the i7, the better GTX 670, and your soundcard was way overkill (you could do without it really) and make sure you use that Corsair Case, its one of the best out thre and much cheaper!
 

XavierTobin

Honorable
Jun 17, 2012
74
0
10,640
Yes, you've got it now, the i7, the better GTX 670, and your soundcard was way overkill (you could do without it really) and make sure you use that Corsair Case, its one of the best out thre and much cheaper!
 

XavierTobin

Honorable
Jun 17, 2012
74
0
10,640
Yes, you've got it now, the i7, the better GTX 670, and your soundcard was way overkill (you could do without it really) and make sure you use that Corsair Case, its one of the best out thre and much cheaper!
 

mjmjpfaff

Distinguished


Yes those speakers and headphones definitely would benefit from a good soundcard and the one you picked looks great.

Get the Asus GTX 670 that I linked to and overclock it yourself. The factory OC'd version is not stable from the many customer reviews I have read.

You cannot go wrong with either board. They both have the same number of power phases but the Gigabyte board just has a few more goodies than the Asus board. What catches my eye the most is its dual LAN ports which when Ethernet cables are plugged into both, it actually speeds up your connection.
 
Solution

samorf

Honorable
Jun 23, 2012
13
0
10,510


I see what you mean about the Asus card. I will change that to the correct one. I don't know a lot about dual lan ports but that sounds quite nice. Thanks again!