$2000-ish Gaming Computer

[Sooruj]

Approximate Purchase Date: May 19

Budget Range: $2000-$2500 (not including keyboard and mouse)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing internet intensively (40+ tabs open always), HTPC (going through receiver, but I am not too sure how to do this), video editing (minimal)

Parts Not Required: I need almost everything, I am just not including the keyboard and mouse in my budget. No SSD though, unless you can give me conclusive evidence that it is worthwhile. I would prefer to wait until it becomes cheaper to buy one.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Canadian websites preferably. Memory Express is my preferred site (local one near me)

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: More of an Intel kind of guy. I'm also leaning more toward Nvidia, but I'm flexible.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe (if and SLI set-up gives me better performance for the price I am willing to go with it)

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200

Additional Comments: Really debating the value of the 3930x/60x vs a 2600k. Also debating the value of higher peformance RAM such as Mushkin's Redline.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Um, can I ask why that many tabs? The internet is simply not that interesting.

You can use sound output from the mobo or sound card (if you get one) to the video card and it will be passed out HDMI to your A/V equipment.

Are you looking for a really quiet HTPC setup or just a normal case? How big a case are you looking for?

Do you want to get everything you can for $2K or want a really good setup and save money at the same time?

 

[Sooruj]

Looking for a full case.

How do I connect my sound card to the video card? I asked a guy at Memory Express and he said that the HDMI would only pass the video signal and audio signal from the video card, implying that a sound card is useless for a HTPC which didn't make sense to me.

I don't have the 2k burning a hole in my pocket, but 2.5k is my limit for spending. I did list gaming as my first priority which would require some power from the gpu.

I have no clue about the tabs, I just know that I can never have too much RAM. 16GB is the least I'll get, possibly up to 32GB if I can find reasonable priced cards. On second thought that might be overkill, but I will be doing some video editing.

 

[g-unit1111]

Um, can I ask why that many tabs? The internet is simply not that interesting.

I definitely agree there. :lol:

How do I connect my sound card to the video card? I asked a guy at Memory Express and he said that the HDMI would only pass the video signal and audio signal from the video card, implying that a sound card is useless for a HTPC which didn't make sense to me.

You don't. I don't know where he got that information from but the audio card and video card run completely separate from each other - one has nothing to do with the other.

Here you go:

Case: Corsair Carbide 500R - $139.99
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MKII 950W - $149.99
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 - $169.99
CPU: 3.4GHz Intel Core i5-3570K - $249.99
Cooler: Noctua D14 - $99.99
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 1600MHz 1.5V - $50.99
SSD: 128Gb Crucial M4 - $149.99
HD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 - $109.99
Optical: LG Blu Ray Burner - $79.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 - $399.99
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $99.99
Monitor: Asus 23.6" HD Monitor With Backlight - $189.99

Total: $1,945.91

I don't include peripherals (keyboard/mouse/speakers) as that's entirely personal preference and you can always get the expensive ones after you get the build up and running.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Modern video cards pass HD audio over the HDMI out so you only need one connection from the PC to the A/V. Some cards have digital in, but looks like newer ones can get it across the PCIe connection (haven't done this personally yet). Scroll down to the bottom of this for a how-to:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2132170

g-unit's build looks pretty nice

 

[Sooruj]

Um, can I ask why that many tabs? The internet is simply not that interesting.

I definitely agree there. :lol:

How do I connect my sound card to the video card? I asked a guy at Memory Express and he said that the HDMI would only pass the video signal and audio signal from the video card, implying that a sound card is useless for a HTPC which didn't make sense to me.

You don't. I don't know where he got that information from but the audio card and video card run completely separate from each other - one has nothing to do with the other.

Here you go:

Case: Corsair Carbide 500R - $139.99
PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer MKII 950W - $149.99
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 - $169.99
CPU: 3.4GHz Intel Core i5-3570K - $249.99
Cooler: Noctua D14 - $99.99
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 1600MHz 1.5V - $50.99
SSD: 128Gb Crucial M4 - $149.99
HD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 - $109.99
Optical: LG Blu Ray Burner - $79.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 - $399.99
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $99.99
Monitor: Asus 23.6" HD Monitor With Backlight - $189.99

Total: $1,945.91

I don't include peripherals (keyboard/mouse/speakers) as that's entirely personal preference and you can always get the expensive ones after you get the build up and running.

So you see a need for the SSD? Also, wouldn't video editing make use of the i7 processor if I upgraded?

 

[J_E_D_70]

SSDs rock. I'll never go without one again. Unless something faster comes along

 

[Why_Me]

FREE SHIPPING for this entire build. These two retailers down below are affiliated. Both offer free shipping and both ship out of the same warehouse in Richmond, BC.

http://www.directcanada.com

http://www.bestdirect.ca


If the gtx 680 is back in stock before you purchase, switch out that 7970 in this build with the gtx 680.


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC6196&vpn=CC-9011012-WW&manufacture=CORSAIR $113.56
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid-Tower Gaming Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS Black

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15180AC8651&vpn=P1850BNLG9&manufacture=XFX $135.65
XFX 850W PRO850W XXX Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 70A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 80PLUS Silver

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/241963/P8Z77-V%20Pro/ASUS/ $219.69
ASUS P8Z77-V Pro LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 SLI 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2PCI SATA3 DisplayPort USB3.0 Motherboard

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD0768&vpn=BX80637I53570K&manufacture=INTEL $244.40
Intel Core i5 3570K Unlocked Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB Retail

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/241787/RR-T812-24PK-R1/COOLERMASTER/ $63.25
Coolermaster Tpc 812 Direct Contact 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA775/1366/1155/1156/2011 120MM Fan

This fan down below snaps on to that CM cpu cooler up above for a "push - pull effect" bringing cpu temps down even more.

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232488/R4-BMBS-20PK-R0/COOLERMASTER/ $6.60
Coolermaster Blade Master 120 Black 120MM PWM Case Fan 600-2000RPM 21.2-76.8CFM

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/235051/F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL/G.SKILL/ $62.49
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-2133 CL11-11-11-30 1.5V Memory Kit

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530DR5213&vpn=DRW-24B1ST%20Bulk&manufacture=ASUS $16.89
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=14120DR5445&vpn=ST1000DM003&manufacture=SEAGATE $89.79
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950DR5419&vpn=SVP200S3/120G&manufacture=Others $133.39
Kingston SVP200S3/120G 120GB SSDNow V+200 SATA 3 2.5 Solid State Drive

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/239970/GV-R797OC-3GD/Gigabyte/ $529.41
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 OC 1000MHZ 3.0GB 5.5GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XDP PCI-E Video Card

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12850SW2113&vpn=GFC-02050&manufacture=MICROSOFT $97.79
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/238508/LS23A700DSZA/Samsung/ $391.60
Samsung S23A700D 23IN Widescreen LED LCD Montor 1920X1080 120HZ 3D 2MS DVI-D HDMI

Total: $2,134.21


http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z77V_PRO/ <----- a better look at that Asus board

http://www.guru3d.com/article/gigabyte-radeon-hd-7970-oc-windforce-review/ <---- review w/benchmarks of that Gigabyte 7970 in this build

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/carbide-series-500r-mid-tower-case.html <---- another look at that case

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1874/ <----- review of that Kingston 120GB SSD

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2654 <----- that's a review on that cpu h/s

 

[Sooruj]

Why is the Crucial m4 a recommended SSD when the write speeds are so slow as shown on
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1874/

Other than that, thank-you for the build suggestions. I'll look into it some more and just adjust it for my personal preferences.

 

[Why_Me]

Why is the Crucial m4 a recommended SSD when the write speeds are so slow as shown on
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1874/

Other than that, thank-you for the build suggestions. I'll look into it some more and just adjust it for my personal preferences.

The Crucial is a solid SSD.

For builds...that one I posted will mop the floor with that other build that was posted using newegg canada. Modular psu, better/faster/more powerful vid card, better cpu heat sink, faster RAM, and the monitor I posted is 5x the monitor as that Asus.

 

[g-unit1111]

Why is the Crucial m4 a recommended SSD when the write speeds are so slow as shown on
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1874/

Other than that, thank-you for the build suggestions. I'll look into it some more and just adjust it for my personal preferences.

The main thing is Marvell-based drives like the M4 and Samsung 830 are slower but far more stable than Sandforce drives. The Sandforce drives are indeed faster but you're far more likely to run into issues and errors with them.