Gaming PC Inquiry - $1300~$2000

[jojomexi]

Hey guys! You all helped me out on parts when i was building my PC, so i figured Id have you guys help my friend out with his! I will list my specs, as he wants it to be similar to mine, i just dont know if there are any better deals or updated hardware out there since i built mine (even though it was in november lol).

1 x GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128546

2 x G.SKILL Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3- - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231461

1 x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834

1 x Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics ... - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

1 x Antec TPQ-1200 1200W Continuous Power with PowerCache Technology SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS SILVER - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371032

1 x OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-256G 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227792

1 x COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest ... - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

1 x Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Unbeatable Gaming Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129100

1 x SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100351VXSR Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX ... - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202001

1 x ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

1 x ASUS USB-N53 Black Diamond Dual Band (2.4GHz 300Mbps/5GHz 300Mbps) Wireless-N USB Adapter, Graphical Easy - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320089



Keep in mind my friend is also looking for a monitor to be included in his price range! Thanks!

Approximate Purchase Date: Would like to start purchasing parts Saturday March 2nd 2013 if possible

Budget Range: 1300-2000 preferably nothing above 2000 even with shipping included.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing Internet, Movies, Work purposes if needed

Are you buying a monitor: Yes, Does not have to be too incredibly high end. Preferably supports 1080p.

Parts to Upgrade: Completely Building the PC from scratch

Do you need to buy OS: No
Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Bestbuy. Though I will take recommendations from any other good sites people know of.

Location: West Des Moines, Iowa. USA

Parts Preferences: Intel, Graphics AMD or NVIDIA

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Doesn’t have to look to snazzy, Doesn’t need to be to quiet, as long as it doesn’t sound like an army is marching through my room I will be fine.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I am building because I currently only have a gaming laptop, and I feel a gaming PC would be much more adequate when I am at home. Building for upcoming PC games FFXIV and Elder Scrolls Online. Would like to capably run them at max settings smoothly, Wouldn’t mind being able to run games like Witcher 2 smoothly for once.


Thanks guys!

 

[DarkSable]

1200w is pointless and a waste of money - buy a reliable 550w power supply if you don't want to upgrade to a dual video card solution in the future - 750w if you do.

Grab either the z77x-UD3H or the AsRock z77 Extreme 4 as your motherboard.

You don't need 16GB of ram - even with photoshop, battlefield 3, and 50 tabs in chrome all open at once you won't use more than 8GB.

I personally wouldn't spend that much on a case - my budget for a case is usually between $80-100. After that you suffer from diminishing returns. Also consider that that case is going to be very large.

Don't get a wifi dongle like that. First of all, gaming on wifi is a horrible prospect - it's slow and unreliable. (I have a portable desktop that I use wifi on when not at home base, and I can't stand it for anything even remotely competitive.)

Second, if you do want wifi, don't get a USB dongle - you want an actual PCI wifi card, as it'll perform a lot better. Not amazing, but better.

 

[jojomexi]

1200w is pointless and a waste of money - buy a reliable 550w power supply if you don't want to upgrade to a dual video card solution in the future - 750w if you do.

Grab either the z77x-UD3H or the AsRock z77 Extreme 4 as your motherboard.

You don't need 16GB of ram - even with photoshop, battlefield 3, and 50 tabs in chrome all open at once you won't use more than 8GB.

I personally wouldn't spend that much on a case - my budget for a case is usually between $80-100. After that you suffer from diminishing returns. Also consider that that case is going to be very large.

Don't get a wifi dongle like that. First of all, gaming on wifi is a horrible prospect - it's slow and unreliable. (I have a portable desktop that I use wifi on when not at home base, and I can't stand it for anything even remotely competitive.)

Second, if you do want wifi, don't get a USB dongle - you want an actual PCI wifi card, as it'll perform a lot better. Not amazing, but better.

Thanks for such a quick reply! I do understand i overcompensated for many things in my setup. I forgot to mention i got most of my setup during black friday, so thats part reason why i got the 1200w supply, as it was discounted heavily. 16GB definitely is overkill, but i wanted it, lol. i also only recommended him 8GB as well!

The case was also discounted a lot, and it unfortunately came with blue LED's integrated that you cannot turn them all off with. a mid size case will still house a 212 EVO cooler, but i like the bigger size. better ventilation, and my abundance of fans installed haha.

As far as wifi, when i had done research, many people preferred dongles over cards. are there cards that wont take up the 2nd PCI-e slot? In case he wants to SLI/CF later? Also, the dongle has been doing wonderful for me, we run it on the 5GHz frequency, and its matching the 56mbps speeds that we get when tethered, as well as matching pings (30-50ms) with tethering. Im in no way saying you are wrong, as tethering is always optimal, though with our apartment setup i just want to see what is going to be best for wifi abilities! Thank you again for your assistance and criticism .