Building my first gaming Pc, $2000 budget, 1080p, 75+ on max settings

[RaisingTheBarHD]

Hey everybody i've pretty much been a console gamer all my life but i want to make the jump to a Pc for many reasons. What im looking for is a good gaming Pc capable of 1080p resolution while maintaining a 75+fps on games at all times. In addition to this im going to be editing/streaming videos.

Overall I'm just looking for some help on where to get started in building my pc and what parts I could get for this kind of money to make an awesome gaming rig. I was just wondering if anyone could help me figure out all the parts I could get for this much or how much I actually need to spend.

Any help is better than none!



What are you planning to do with this compuer?
Best gaming performance w/video editing

What is your budget?
Around $2000 if possible $2500 could be done if needed, not sure how much things cost.

Does this include a copy of Windows? no i would need either 7 or 8

Does this include peripherals (a keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, etc.)?
No, i have a 27" monitor but i would like some recommendations for a keyboard and mouse.

Are you from the United States or a different country? Are you ordering from your own country or from across borders? Yes I am from the United States so I would get all the parts I need here.

If you are from the United States, do you live nearby a Microcenter?
No the closest store would be a best buy, looking for a online site to buy off of.

Do you have any specific requests with the build?
i7-3770k and at least gtx 680/670 i want 75+fps on max.

Do you plan on overclocking? If yes, do you have a specific goal in mind?
I would like to get to 4.5Ghz if possible, what are the pros/cons of OC

Would you prefer the build to be particularly small?
Not worried about space

Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet?
I dont want it to be super loud, but i do want it to be pretty quiet.

In general, do you prefer this to be a computer that you can spend money on now and let it rest, or a box built for continuous upgrading?
I'm not really sure what is the best option for this

Do you ever plan on utilizing NVIDIA's SLI or AMD's CrossfireX technologies? These features, with a compatible motherboard, allow a user to link multiple identical graphic cards together for added performance. In real world terms, this lets you buy a second identical graphics card down the line as a relatively cheap and easy way to gain a fairly large boost in performance. However, this requires buying a SLI/CFX compatible motherboard and PSU now, which may result in slightly higher initial cost.
Wouldnt mind doing an SLI or CrossfireX

Sorry i dont know much about gaming PCs but i do know about the parts.

 

[bigshootr8]

My build is quite a bit under your budget so it does give you room to move about I went with a SLi configuration. AMD has been suffering some pretty messy latency troubles which essentially means that when your computer processes your frames per second you are perceiving less smooth graphics due to the delay and that has been a large bi product of late from there crossfire offerings. So I went with two 670's I went with the the best valued card I could find to enable you to have more breathing room in your budget I currently own 1 of those cards.
That power supply will be more then sufficient for two of those cards which do not draw much heat.
Also, I went with a Fractal Design Define R4 because its a silent pc with a ton of power it has sound dampening padding the dampen the noise within your case it also has 2 stealth ssd mounts in the back of the case (you need to mount the drive prior to the motherboard install) now with that you may possibly want to pick up Corsair AF140's for example or the equivalent from Cougar, or Noctua and put a fan on the front from what I recall you only get 2 fans with the R4.

In terms of peripherals I have really enjoyed my Logitech G710+ its a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX browns. I like it because Mechanical keyboards are build with long lasting in mind as well as they are a joy to type on. They are a little louder then your normal keyboard but in my opinion much better. yes they are more expensive then normal keyboards but far worth it in my humble opinion.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/logitech-keyboard-920003887
For my mouse I use a razer naga epic I like it because of the buttons on the side its nice to have the full use of my left hand and not have to use shift modifiers. Logitech makes a similar mouse the G600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104674 which is a solid mouse. The only complaint with the naga is that you would need to clean it a bit more. Also if you aren't looking for a mmo or moba style mouse you could also go for something like the g500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104318 just what I would recommend personally.
Also I would maybe take a gander at this mouse mat it extends the full length of your mouse and keyboard and gives you a ton of room to move around I use one and its amazing.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826999089

I'll post a image of my build so you can see it I have the graphics card I listed as well as the same case.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.19 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Arctic White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1764.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-08 18:26 EDT-0400)

 

[RaisingTheBarHD]

Thanks for the post. So with a gtx 670 sli would allow me to make a 75+ on crysis max? And I was liking the corsair 650d case for the sleek look.

About the CPU. Would the i5 be able to handle Sony vegas pro, photoshop, cinema 4D?

Is 8gb or RAM enough or would 16gb suit it better?

Is your liquid cooling a maintainence free? I don't want to have I risk any leaks or me spilling the fluid when having to refill?

 

[bigshootr8]

Hmm, if you are doing more editing type work then you may want to go with the 3770k however the i5 is more then capable yes. And if anything I would move up the ram certainly to 16 gigabytes Yes my water cooling is maintenance free however I suggested a Air Cooler because of the pump noise that bugs me with the closed systems.

With the case and memory changes you are pretty close to your budget. As the case is a bit more and the memory is a bit more as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($67.19 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case ($166.49 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.94 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1891.53
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-08 18:51 EDT-0400)

 

[bigshootr8]

Also with Crysis 3 you shouldn't have any issues with getting that frame rate at 1080p in sli. Here is someone playing the game with maxed out settings although to be fair use TXAA its nvidia only and is less brutal on your hardware.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpkIpWQuDoA

 

[Marcopolo123]

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r7950twinfrozr3gd5oc
Get 2 msi hd7950 twin frozer, its faster then a gtx670 , when overclocked it is faster then a gtx680, stay cool,quiet and cost only 310$

For case also good
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-casw810b1
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-600tsilver
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-case-rc922xmkkn1


Huge rabate
http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=57590&vpn=BFC%2DSRV%2D300%2DKKX1%2DRP&manufacture=BitFenix&promoid=1202

For psu,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703038&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[khaledegy200]

what about waiting for the new pc hardware coming after few months?

it will bring a good improvements as the gtx780 will perform a bit slower than titan and for half price.

if u get 780 sli u may get 120+ fps on crysis3 at 1080p but it will be a little more expensive as it will cost u around $400 more.

keep everything in bigshootr8's build and just replace the 2 670 cards for 2x780 for around $400 more or for 2x770 for the same price.

if u choose the 2x770 it will perform like 2x680 today.

 

[bigshootr8]

It's a bit hard to really know how well the newer cards will turn out until they come out and are reviewed.

 

[marshallbradley]

bigshootr8's build is fantastic and that's the one I would go for. The only thing I would slightly change is with your budget you can easily afford a modular power supply (something like the AX 760) which is always nice to have, and both gives you a cleaner build and can improve your airflow.

@khaledegy200 I agree with bigshootr8, it's very hard to judge a graphics card that hasn't even been released and reviewed yet. If you always want to wait for the latest hardware though, you're going to be waiting a long time, because there's always new stuff on the horizon. If you're going to wait for GTX 700 series, why not wait for HD 9000 series or even GTX 800 series? I think it's always best to recommend current hardware. The performance difference between the 600 and 700 series is going to be very small in my mind anyway.

@Marcopolo123 I really wouldn't recommend going with 2 7950s with the current state of CrossFire's frame latency... They also don't perform better than a GTX 670 (at least at stock). AMD may be winning the GPU race in single card configurations, but when you start to have multiple GPUs I think nVidia is definitely king.

@OP Go with whatever quality case suits your fancy. I myself have a 650D and am very happy with it, so I can definitely recommend it. bigshootr8 hasn't recommended a liquid cooler though (and neither do I). I think the picture is a little bit irrelevant. The Noctua-DH14 is an amazing air cooler that's won tons of awards. I'd stay away from liquid cooling, unless it's a custom loop you build yourself. It's more expensive, performs only slightly better and is much noisier.

M

 

[bigshootr8]

Yea he could go with a AX750 certainly if he was wants a power supply with a little more quality behind it. Even the new HX750's are good because they are semi modular they have the 24 pin that isn't modular and the 8 pin 12v power connection that isn't as well but other then that you are golden.

My only complaint with the 650D is that its quite a bit more expensive then say for example the Fractal offering which offers the same stuff for a fraction of the price still quality cases either way. And It is truly a personal choice cases you'll have to stare at it for a long time so its best to get it right