2000$ Gaming PC

[daemaro]

Approximate Purchase Date: I will be buying this computer within the next month for sure.

Budget Range: Looking to spend 2000$ at the max. I want to get the most for my money.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: I'll be using the PC primarily for gaming, but of course watching shows and surfing the web also.

Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Headset, Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I CANNOT build my own PC so I've been looking at http://www.ibuypower.com and trying to customize a decent one. Im fully open to another site suggestion though, building my own just simply is not an option.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: I would like to use a i7 processor looking at a 2600k or 2700k, but am very open to suggestions.

Overclocking: I wouldn't want to risk breaking something so most likely not, but maybe.

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe, I need help deciding how useful this actually is.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 currently and happy with it.

Additional Comments: I really need your help! I have been reading day and night for the past two weeks trying to decide and I just don't know enough to make a really informed decision. I'm toying with the idea of a SSD but I'm not 100% sold on it. Same as SLI/Crossfire. I'm really open to all suggestions.

What I'm aiming for with my PC: I want a good gaming PC that will run current games on max and future games on high for at least the next 3-4 years.

My current setup from what the site offers looks like this:

Gamer Paladin E810
1 x Case ( NZXT Tempest EVO Gaming Case - Black )
0 x Case Lighting ( None )
0 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction ( None )
0 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion ( None )
1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7-2600K Processor (4x 3.40GHz/8MB L3 Cache) )
0 x iBUYPOWER PowerDrive ( None )
1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )
1 x Memory ( 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand )
1 x Video Card ( AMD Radeon HD 6950 - 2GB - HIS IceQ X Turbo - Core: 840MHz - CrossFire Mode (Dual Cards) )
1 x Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA )
1 x Free Stuff ( [Free Game Download] - Battlefield 3 - Free with purchase of Intel 2500K, 2600K, 2700K, 3930K, or 3960X processor )
1 x Free Stuff ( [Free Game Download] - Deus Ex - Free with purchase of AMD FX processor / Radeon HD 6850 or higher video card )
1 x Motherboard ( [SLI] ASUS P8Z68-V -- 3x PCI-E 2.0 x16, On-Board Bluetooth, Lucid Virtu Technology )
0 x Intel Smart Response Technology ( None )
1 x Power Supply ( 1000 Watt - Extreme Gaming Series )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 120 GB ADATA S510 SSD - Single Drive )
1 x Data Hard Drive ( 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive )
1 x Optical Drive ( 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black )
0 x 2nd Optical Drive ( None )
0 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( None )
0 x Meter Display ( None )
0 x USB Expansion ( None )
1 x Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
1 x Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) )
1 x Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit )
1 x Keyboard ( iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard )
1 x Mouse ( iBUYPOWER Internet Mouse )
0 x Monitor ( None )
0 x 2nd Monitor ( None )
0 x Speaker System ( None )
0 x Video Camera ( None )
0 x Case Engraving Service ( None )
1 x Warranty ( 3 Year Standard Warranty Service )
1 x Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) - No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )

Any advice is more than welcome, I have no real allegiance to any specific brands. My primary concerns are overheating the last thing I want is to ruin the system.

If someone could please help me out it would be much appreciated. Is SLI/Crossfire really worth it? How handy is a SSD?

Sorry if this is in the wrong section or I've messed this up somehow. I tried to follow the general guidelines and I hope I did. I'm really desperate for help.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to hopefully reading some of your opinions.

 

[a4mula]

SLI/Crossfire: Single card solutions are always optimal when available. For single monitor gaming there is little use for multiple gpus. For the cost of two 6950s you can probably pick up a single 7970 that is going to perform in the same neighborhood while producing less heat, noise, and using less energy. By the time you get ready to order the 7950 should also be available. For single monitor gaming it should be plenty enough horsepower for awhile.

SSD: I don't know that I'd want to go back to a system that doesn't have one. They make everything on the pc feel snappier. Now, keep in mind that this doesn't apply to games in the FPS sense, but you will see faster loading, faster boot times, faster application launches ect.

With that being said, they can be on the advanced side when it comes to getting them initially configured, and their limited space creates a dilemma every single time you install a new piece of software. Should you put it on the SSD or not? It gets to be something of a headache.

If you're looking for a nice blend of performance, but also something that's going to be maintenance and hassle free, you should consider SSD caching. This is where an SSD is installed, but you never install any software onto it. It acts as a buffer for your HDD increasing the performance of your most used applications. There are two routes to consider. One is Intel SRT which is supported by the Z68 chipset and can use any SSD (up to 64GB) as a cache. The second is standalone Cache SSDs like the OCZ Synapse.

If you end up going this route and choose the SRT option my suggestion would be to look at the Intel 311. It's only 20GB, but again you're not installing anything to it. The major advantage this drive has is that it uses SLC nands. These are much more resistant to write degradation over their MLC brethren.

The OCZ Synapse uses MLC nands but they attempt to get around write degradation by over provisioning the drive. It's a 64GB drive, however only 32GB is available (and visible) for caching. The other 32GB are kept in reserve to act as replacements when and if the nands fail.

A lot to think about, but hopefully if nothing else it's a few more things to research so that you can make an informed purchase. Best of luck!

 

[daemaro]

Thanks a4mula, that was pretty helpful.


Okay so I've been looking around and the general consensus is crossfire 6950's are ABOUT the same performance as a 7970. It's my understanding that a single card will run cooler though? I mean if I get one 7970 now, I can also get another and do crossfire in the future but if I get two HIS Radeon HD 6950 IceQ X Turbo 2GB 's I'm making a commitment that I probably can't afford to upgrade for many years. Then again as of right now no games really benefit from the PCIe 3 anymore than from the PCIe 2 accoridng to these comparisons:

Still torn about the SSD issue. It seems nice but I have no experience with one whatsoever, it sort of makes me want to just stick to a HDD or two. I can appreciate the response times I've seen from a SSD but if I'm going to have to constantly manage what goes on it that does seem like a pain although I could see it worth it, especially for just basic applications. I'm used to games taking ages to load with my current setup.

Anything I get at this point is going to be a MASSIVE upgrade to what I'm using now which is 6gb RAM, a GTS 450, and AMD Athlon II X2 235e 2.7GHz.


Anyone else have any opinions on what I should do?

 

[daemaro]

Best answer selected by daemaro.