1500$+ gaming computer

[wgb_sangwoo]

Hello,
I'm looking to replace my hp pavil a1520 with a new gaming computer, however, I've never built my own computer before. I've been researching for parts and guides for building computers, but to be honest it seems pretty daunting. Yes, I am new but I am completely open to criticism and want only to learn more.

Ill be purchasing parts from now till December after doing some time researching and asking around.

I really want a computer that I wont have to replace for a couple of years. I'm even thinking of putting a substantial amount into this rig 2~3K.

It'll be used primarily for gaming. Others include watching movies, Photoshop and Painter, and surfing the web.

I will need a moniter, keyboard and mouse. I have set my sights on the i5 2500k for my cpu so could any suggestions revolve around that. I have looked around and been told that a good gpu would be either a gtx 690, or either two HD7970GHz in CF or two gtx 680s. I still need suggestions for the mobo, Ram, hdd, cooling unit and psu and a case.

I have been using Windows XP for quite some time now but I guess it's time to move on now. Windows Vista or 7 is what I'll be looking for.

I am new so any suggested websites for parts would be helpful. I can browse and see their selection on my own.

Southern California, Orange County, USA. There is a Fry's nearby but that is all I know.

I don't really have any preferences for brand types just as long as the parts themselves have good customer ratings and perform as they should. However, just for the gpu, I am leaning more for Nvida cards than any other brand.

I have never oc'd my old computer but I think I might try it with this one. I probably will sli in the near future.

Honestly, just suggest the best monitor and I will look at it myself and decide.(but most likely 1920x1200)

I would, in the end, like to be able to run most games on full settings without any stuttering. Also a quiet computer would be nice.

I need this rig to replace my ~10 year old computer.

 

[TheBigTroll]

for 500, id seriously doubt you can put a decent video card for gaming if you have a 200 dollar CPU

 

[obsama1]

If you can salvage your HDD and optical drive, you just saved $100. If you have a Microcenter nearby, this build will be more feasible.

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

for 500, id seriously doubt you can put a decent video card for gaming if you have a 200 dollar CPU

I'm sorry. I should have been more specific for the budget prices for certain parts. I am willing to put in quite a substantial amount of money into my graphics card, since that is, for me, the second most important component in my new rig.

I have looked around and been told that a good gpu would be either a gtx 690, or either two HD7970GHz in CF or two gtx 680s. I'm wondering if one of these combinations would be compatible with the i5.

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

If you can salvage your HDD and optical drive, you just saved $100. If you have a Microcenter nearby, this build will be more feasible.

Well here are the specs from my hp pavil a1520n. Could you tell me which other parts I could salvage. (These are pretty old stuff. Laugh if you want )
Asus A8N-LA Nagami2-GL8E Motherboard
250g SATA harddrive
1g DDR system memory
16x DL Lightscribe Drive
Integrated 10/100 Base-T networking interface
GeForce 6150 LE gpu
Athlon 64 X2 (T) 3800+ 2.0 GHz
Memory Card Reader

 

[obsama1]

Save the hard drive and optical drive.

 

[obsama1]

Also, are you serious? A 690 and crossfire 7970's? A 690 alone is twice your budget. They're amazing for gaming, but you can get by with a 7770. Also, ANY GPU, Nvidia, AMD, doesn't matter, is compatible with the i5. I suggest you read the sticky and edit your post so we can help you better. I don't mean to sound rude, but it really helps.

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

Also, are you serious? A 690 and crossfire 7970's? A 690 alone is twice your budget. They're amazing for gaming, but you can get by with a 7770. Also, ANY GPU, Nvidia, AMD, doesn't matter, is compatible with the i5. I suggest you read the sticky and edit your post so we can help you better. I don't mean to sound rude, but it really helps.

Sorry. This is my first post in the "new build" section and i posted without reading the rules. I'll try editing my posts as much as I can.

 

[obsama1]

It's OK. I didn't mean to sound rude!

 

[TheBigTroll]

lol. your dvd drive better not be one of those proprietary things that only work in hp systems. if it uses ide cables, it doesnt work

as for the video card, you can get a gtx670 and it should be more than enough

 

[zulug]

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 )
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 )
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 )
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 )
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 )
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 )
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($399.36 )
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 )
Power Supply: $100 range
Optical Drive:$15 - $20 range
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.95 )
monitor: $200 range asus is pretty good
total: $1500 ish

 

[TheBigTroll]

1: id get the gigabyte z77x-ud3h board instead. more features and a full size board
2: i rather get a seagate 1tb 64mb for the same price
3:id pay 10 more dollars and get a samsung 830 128gb SSD. its a lot faster
4: make sure that you get the 3 fan version
5:id pay 10 more dollars for the define r4. more silence
6: for the power supply, id get a xfx xxx 750w if you are going to do SLI in the future. they sell for 99 dollars
7: id either get a asus vs228h-p monitor for 136.40 at amazon or i get the pa238q for 229.99 after MIR at us.ncix.com. i have used both

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

lol. your dvd drive better not be one of those proprietary things that only work in hp systems. if it uses ide cables, it doesnt work

as for the video card, you can get a gtx670 and it should be more than enough

Haha, unfortunately it does use IDE cables, so I guess that option is out.

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 )
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 )
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 )
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 )
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 )
Storage: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 )
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($399.36 )
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 )
Power Supply: $100 range
Optical Drive:$15 - $20 range
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.95 )
monitor: $200 range asus is pretty good
total: $1500 ish

Looks good. Would getting a geforce gtx 670 4gb a huge difference over the 2gb or no?

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

1: id get the gigabyte z77x-ud3h board instead. more features and a full size board
2: i rather get a seagate 1tb 64mb for the same price
3:id pay 10 more dollars and get a samsung 830 128gb SSD. its a lot faster
4: make sure that you get the 3 fan version
5:id pay 10 more dollars for the define r4. more silence
6: for the power supply, id get a xfx xxx 750w if you are going to do SLI in the future. they sell for 99 dollars
7: id either get a asus vs228h-p monitor for 136.40 at amazon or i get the pa238q for 229.99 after MIR at us.ncix.com. i have used both

Thanks for the advice. Which specific seagate should I get. Also, I know there is a price difference in the two, but which one do you feel had the better performance per dollar?

 

[zulug]

Looks good. Would getting a geforce gtx 670 4gb a huge difference over the 2gb or no?

4gb version is overkill save your money

 

[obsama1]

If you're playing at 1080p, stick with the 2GB.

 

[TheBigTroll]

Thanks for the advice. Which specific seagate should I get. Also, I know there is a price difference in the two, but which one do you feel had the better performance per dollar?

yeah. you go out and look for the specs i stated. it has 1tb of storage and a 64mb cache. no other seagate that is 1tb has 64mb except the newer ones which i am suggesting

as for the video card, getting 4gb is useless unless you run more monitors

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

Is there a real need for me to invest a lot into a good sound card? I don't really know much about them and would like some suggestions for what to buy.

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

If you're playing at 1080p, stick with the 2GB.

Would i have to if I decide to go for a Asus PA238Q 23.0" Monitor?

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

So I'm just putting up all the parts that i think I'm going to get. Can I get the okay on the build?

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($149.98)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99)
Storage: Seagate Constellation ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.98)
Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($429.99)
Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($429.99)
Sound Card: ? (still confused about this)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Arctic White) ATX Mid Tower Cases ($105.45)
Power Supply: XFX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99)
Optical Drive: ? (got any suggestions)
Monitor Asus PA238Q 23.0" Monitor ($259.98)
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.89)

Total: $2035 with the second gpu
$1605 without the second gpu

Still need optical drive and sound card recommendations.

 

[TheBigTroll]

the pa238q is a great monitor. if you think its too much, the vs228h-p monitor is also a great choice.

i personally would recommend the gigabyte 670 or the msi power edition 670. they have a slightly better cooling solution than asus

the constellation drive is a enterprise drive. its more reliable but i usually go with the regular barracuda

you dont really need a sound card. the onboard stuff is usually enough. try it out first. if it isnt good enough, then get something like a asus dx 7.1

for the optical drive, just get the cheapest regular 24x drives that you can find. nobody really uses them anymore

one video card is more than enough for current usage. no point of 2 right now

 

[obsama1]

At 1080p, two cards is superflous. SLI and Crossfire give you microstutter and some games refuse to work. Get one card.

 

[wgb_sangwoo]

So with all the advice you guys have made, I have changed some parts for my build.

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($149.98)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99)
Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($389.99)
Sound Card: (probably just won't get one)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Arctic White) ATX Mid Tower Cases ($105.45)
Power Supply: XFX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99)
Optical Drive:Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99)
Monitor Asus PA238Q 23.0" Monitor ($259.98)
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.89)
Total Price: $1602.36

 

[TheBigTroll]

sounds good.