$1500-2000 rendering/gaming computer (Again)

[RWACU]

I was here on this site a while ago to figure out what components to buy for a rendering computer for my Media Arts course at college. However I couldn't come up with the cash then, and it landed by the wayside. Now I am going to have the money to buy the parts, so pretty much I am asking about parts again, just incase things have changed and theres better/cheaper parts out there now.

Here is what I put on my old thread (with some updates):
Approximate Purchase Date: Next Month (September)

Budget Range: $1500-2000 Before Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Non-3D Video editing and rendering (full HD), after effects rendering, Good quality gaming

Parts Not Required: Everything outside of the tower (moniters and junk, the tower case is needed)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Where ever parts are cheaper, I'm ok with anything

Country: Canada, so preferably Canadian sites as Duty from crossing the border is a pain.

Parts Preferences: Completely up for grabs here

Overclocking: Maybe... I am new to building computers and I've run into the topic of overclocking a lot, although I don't know how to do it, I was going to look into it some more. (links to articles or whatever could help)

SLI or Crossfire: I'm not sure of the differences, whatever fits my needs better.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 preferably 2 monitor output, however if 3 can be thrown in, I could use it.

Additional Comments: I don't care for anything not needed, Ex. a simple case would suit me. Also I am new to building like I said before, but I do understand how most parts of a computer work. Thank you for any help you can offer.


Here is the suggested parts from my last thread (From Silvune):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz ($299.79 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Ninja 3 SCNJ-3000 ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ($177.79 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 CAS9 1.5V F3-1333C9D-16GAO ($98.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM ($109.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Hard Drive: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 120GB 2.5" ($179.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC ($559.99 @ Canada Computers)
Case: Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ04B-E (Black) ($159.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair HX 750W 80Plus Silver/Gold Modular ($129.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($105.92 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Total: $1857.43
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-06 16:05 EDT-0400)

I don't know what you mean by simple case, but I thought that maybe you meant simple looking and I thought if you've got a substantial budget then you should spend a lot on the case. But if the TJ04-E isn't simple enough you could 'downgrade' to the Antec Three Hundred Two or Cooler Master CM 690 II or anything else you like.

The Nvidia GTX 680 supports three monitors, you have to use the HDMI, Displayport and one of the DVI ports.
With AMD 7000 series GPUs you have the option of four monitors if you use both mini-Displayport ports as well as the HDMI and DVI ports. You will also have the option to run six monitors off one card when MST hubs show up.

The motherboard and PSU support SLI/CF, so you have the option to add a second graphics in the future if you want, you could probably save some money in these areas if you don't want this option.

I have included a CPU cooler to keep temps and noise down. If you decide against overclocking then you could do away with this. Also if you decide against overclocking then you could just get the non-K i7 (i7-2600 or i7-3770).

You could get an Ivy Bridge i7-3770K, but I'm not sure if it's worth ~$50 more than the i7-2600K and there are problems with overheating when overclocking the i7-3770K.

Thank you for any help you can provide. Have a nice day!

 

[jmsellars1]

I wouldn't go as far as to say the i7-3770k has heat problems when overclocking. It just runs slightly hotter than Sandy Bridge when overclocking, meaning that at stock IB is better but SB overclocks better so when they are overclocked, they're about the same in terms of CPU power. IB gives a few more features though, like native DDR3 1600Mhz and PCI 3.0 support, among other things.

 

[raytseng]

if you don't want to jump into the deep end of the swimming pool of overclock, you can get the non-k version and save $30 or so (3770k vs 3770).
If the k and non-k are same price, of course get the k.

You can still overclock the non-k processors 4bins so you get a bit of extra value for your $, without the psychological worry that you have wasted money or are missing out on higher speeds.
Anyone who says you can't overclock non-k search on "intel limited unlock" and get educated.
If you are overclocking less than +4 then you have wasted your money getting a k processor.

As far as any additional suggestions.

for cpu cooler at least looking at 212evo (it's the popular choice, perhaps for good reason) unless you had specific reason why you picked the scythe.

The intel SSD is expensive for what you get. You may want to consider a different drive if you want to save money (crucial m4, samsung 830 for example)

memory: not sure why you picked out a 1333 memory. Most people would pick the 1600 memory as it costs about the same. That being said, benchmarks show that the difference in speeds result in barely any real-world changes, but might as well get the step up for the same price (or within a dollar or two)

 

[aqualipt]

I was here on this site a while ago to figure out what components to buy for a rendering computer for my Media Arts course at college. However I couldn't come up with the cash then, and it landed by the wayside. Now I am going to have the money to buy the parts, so pretty much I am asking about parts again, just incase things have changed and theres better/cheaper parts out there now.

Here is what I put on my old thread (with some updates):
Approximate Purchase Date: Next Month (September)

Budget Range: $1500-2000 Before Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Non-3D Video editing and rendering (full HD), after effects rendering, Good quality gaming

Parts Not Required: Everything outside of the tower (moniters and junk, the tower case is needed)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Where ever parts are cheaper, I'm ok with anything

Country: Canada, so preferably Canadian sites as Duty from crossing the border is a pain.

Parts Preferences: Completely up for grabs here

Overclocking: Maybe... I am new to building computers and I've run into the topic of overclocking a lot, although I don't know how to do it, I was going to look into it some more. (links to articles or whatever could help)

SLI or Crossfire: I'm not sure of the differences, whatever fits my needs better.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 preferably 2 monitor output, however if 3 can be thrown in, I could use it.

Additional Comments: I don't care for anything not needed, Ex. a simple case would suit me. Also I am new to building like I said before, but I do understand how most parts of a computer work. Thank you for any help you can offer.


Here is the suggested parts from my last thread (From Silvune):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz ($299.79 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Ninja 3 SCNJ-3000 ($34.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H ($177.79 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 CAS9 1.5V F3-1333C9D-16GAO ($98.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM ($109.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Hard Drive: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 120GB 2.5" ($179.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC ($559.99 @ Canada Computers)
Case: Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ04B-E (Black) ($159.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair HX 750W 80Plus Silver/Gold Modular ($129.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($105.92 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Total: $1857.43
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-06 16:05 EDT-0400)

I don't know what you mean by simple case, but I thought that maybe you meant simple looking and I thought if you've got a substantial budget then you should spend a lot on the case. But if the TJ04-E isn't simple enough you could 'downgrade' to the Antec Three Hundred Two or Cooler Master CM 690 II or anything else you like.

The Nvidia GTX 680 supports three monitors, you have to use the HDMI, Displayport and one of the DVI ports.
With AMD 7000 series GPUs you have the option of four monitors if you use both mini-Displayport ports as well as the HDMI and DVI ports. You will also have the option to run six monitors off one card when MST hubs show up.

The motherboard and PSU support SLI/CF, so you have the option to add a second graphics in the future if you want, you could probably save some money in these areas if you don't want this option.

I have included a CPU cooler to keep temps and noise down. If you decide against overclocking then you could do away with this. Also if you decide against overclocking then you could just get the non-K i7 (i7-2600 or i7-3770).

You could get an Ivy Bridge i7-3770K, but I'm not sure if it's worth ~$50 more than the i7-2600K and there are problems with overheating when overclocking the i7-3770K.

Thank you for any help you can provide. Have a nice day!

no no no... first of all, Read your messages immediately

for 2000$ buy this:

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme 81.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($112.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme6 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($86.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($114.98 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($427.55 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($427.55 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White/Red) ATX Full Tower Case ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1998.00

*This PC will handle 5760x1080 gaming amazingly and the 7970 is BLAZING FAST for rendering, it even has the double precision floating point processing unlocked that are only unlocked in professional cards!!

*You might want to buy a single 7970 for normal 1080p gaming and when you get the other 2 monitor you can buy a second 7970.

*renember...read your messages.

 

[TheBigTroll]

dude, hes in canada.

http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/p/eUmE

what i would get. you can get your system built at ncix for 50 bucks and it comes with windows. cheaper than buying windows. if you are a neat freak, pay 25 dollars more and you get better cabling (pretty neat already with 50$ package), some free anti-virus, and 24-48 hr burn in

just price match everything at ncix. take in consideration that this site doesnt always update itself properly. look through ncix sale banner and other banners