$2000 budget for a gaming PC for a friend, help me build :)

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Griever114

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Oct 12, 2011
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Approximate Purchase Date: within 3 weeks

Budget Range: $ 2000 total

System Usage from Most to Least Important: serious gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: New build

Do you need to buy OS: Maybe

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Location: New york, NY

Parts Preferences: AMD GPU or Nvidia

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: My friend is a graphics snob that wants to run games like Empire Total War and CS:GO at 100-150 FPS... anyways... he will need a great processor, CPU, etc. He should be keeping his monitor and he may have my extra Nvidia EVGA 570 which he may run in sli or a amd 7950 which he may buy an additional. We are working it out.

Thanks!
 
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g-unit1111
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mjmjpfaff

mjmjpfaff

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So he has a monitor already, if so what is it? Or does he want a new one?
 
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boulbox

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and why would you go for last generations CPU and mobo on a $2000 build. and it looks like you just tried to go uber cheap on almost everything just trying to fit inside a tri CFX. like hyper 212 plus with patriot Ram. those DIMMs wont fit under the hyper 212 and going for the 7970 for the extra $50 is way more worth it than a 7950 not to mention the 7950 OC keeps up to a 7870 OC. and unless you are going with watercooling the third 7950 will just get in the way of the bottom plugs of the mobo, the heat it will produce will be enormous(airflow restriction) and going with a cheap ass $50 case to fit this all in is way to stupid for anyone. the crucial V4 is way to old and performs less than its M4 counter part. Also win8 is not even worth it just stick with Win7

also 100-150 FPS will just be capped at 60 FPS if he just has a 60Hz monitor.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($409.66 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF XM (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($107.16 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Samsung S23A700D 120Hz 23.0" Monitor ($379.99 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($89.99 @ CompUSA)
Total: $1759.72
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-11 12:52 EST-0500)

leaves room for a GPU upgrade in the future if needed(CS:GO doesnt even use that much power so getting to 120 FPS is easy as breathing air for the 7970 GHz) i put inside a 120Hz monitor to get up to 120 FPS. leaves room if you want to upgrade things like CPU cooler. i recommend a Noctua D-14 or C-14. Also if you have enough room to fit a full tower inside your house get a Cooler Master Storm Styker
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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and why would you go for last generations CPU and mobo on a $2000 build. and it looks like you just tried to go uber cheap on almost everything just trying to fit inside a tri CFX. like hyper 212 plus with patriot Ram. those DIMMs wont fit under the hyper 212 and going for the 7970 for the extra $50 is way more worth it than a 7950 not to mention the 7950 OC keeps up to a 7870 OC. and unless you are going with watercooling the third 7950 will just get in the way of the bottom plugs of the mobo, the heat it will produce will be enormous(airflow restriction) and going with a cheap ass $50 case to fit this all in is way to stupid for anyone. the crucial V4 is way to old and performs less than its M4 counter part. Also win8 is not even worth it just stick with Win7
Click to expand...

I definitely agree about cheaping out on the case - that's a bad idea. Especially on a $2K build. You don't want to trust $2K worth of components to some crappy case like a Zalman Z9. And why would you pay for last years' components only to get a GPU setup that doesn't make sense? Get a case that shows off your system.

Although I'll disagree on Windows 8 vs. 7 - yeah Metro sucks but I've been using Windows 8 since it was first released and I've had zero problems with it, it's a bit of a learning curve if you're used to 7 or XP but it's not that bad once you get used to it.

That build you posted is most of the same stuff I recommended but I wouldn't pay that much money for a 1080p monitor, I'd get one of those Korean imports you see on eBay for that price.

I'd try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($54.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($192.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($444.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Switch 810 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1507.73
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-11 14:58 EST-0500)
 
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Griever114

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Made some tweaks to the build.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ot4k

CPU Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor $219.99 FREE $219.99 ($50.00 more than Microcenter) Buy
CPU Cooler Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler - -
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard $179.99 FREE $179.99 Buy
Memory G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory - -
G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory - -
Storage Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive - -
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk $199.99 FREE $199.99 Buy
Video Card Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card - -
Case NZXT Switch 810 (White) ATX Full Tower Case $169.99 FREE $169.99 Buy
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $109.62 FREE $109.62 ($9.63 more than Newegg) Buy
Optical Drive Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer - -
Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer $56.23 FREE $56.23 ($1.50 more than NCIX US) Buy
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) $91.99 FREE $91.99



G-unit, can you take a look? I added more ram (why not its dirt cheap!!!), changed out for windows 7 b/c well... 8 can die in a fire, added a blu-ray player and uped the SSD.

Thoughts?
 
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mjmjpfaff

mjmjpfaff

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Looks good. I usually recommend at least 850w for those power hungry 7970 GHZ. If you CF in the future you would be working that PSU hard. Keeping loads down help keep your PSU quiet and running nice and cool. There is a 950w version of that PSU for about 10$ more than the price you have listed above and it is a steal.
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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You don't need the extra RAM but otherwise everything else looks good.
 
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