High-end Gaming computer

[Lapez89]

Approximate Purchase Date: Feb-march

Budget Range: $1800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Blu-ray movie watching

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg

Country of Origin: U.S.

Parts Preferences: No Preferance

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: SLI

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: This will be a build for a friend of mine, who wants a high-end gaming computer that can rival and preferably surpass more expensive premade rigs. Basically i just want some opinions on what parts would be best. Aim is to be able to play basically any game at highest settings with a high frame rate.

 

[steelbeast]

Check out my build I am almost finished working on that has 3 25in. monitors (eyefinity) that will tear apart games.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/320186-31-build-monitors

Total: $2,309/AR with monitors
Total: $1,620/AR w/o monitors

 

[Lapez89]

Case: Antec Lanboy air Blue Black / Blue ATX Mid Tower $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129093

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z LGA 1155 Intel Z68 $179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131759

GPU: XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB x2 $549.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150530

PSU: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171049

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K $219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G $199.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

RAM: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

CPU Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS11X Extreme V-Shaped $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118091

$1,689.90

Basically the same as yours... i didn't need a 3tb Hard drive, and we had already decided on that case and motherboard... i'm sure he'll be really happy with the results of this. Oh and if anyone has anything they think they'd replace i'd love to hear your thoughts. Like i said budget is $1800, but doesn't have to hit that... basically he's giving me $2000 and letting me keep whatever is left over, so i'd like to give him as good a computer as i can.

 

[cmcghee358]

I'd go with a Noctua NH-D14 over the Zalman HSF.

Also the OCZ SSDs seem to be REALLY hit or miss with reliability. Either it's a 5 star, or a 1 star. And the feedback on their customer service seems sketchy. I'd look into another brand of SSD personally. The capacity is a bit on the high side, but I can understand why so that's personal preference. For the record I have Win7 64 bit, MS Office 2007, Starcraft 2, HAWX and 1 other game on my 80GB Intel X-25V RAID 0 setup. And I have about 12GB free.

Also I'd go with this Seasonic PSU rather than the Cooler Master one. It will generally have better quality construction, has higher efficiency and costs $40 less.

Also for me, I usually present my customers with a few case choices. Because frankly the case is usually about style. I just ensure that the case meets all the functionality needs they may have. Therefore they are only presented with good quality cases to choose from.

Also I'd get these Corsair RAM modules for the same price. But they are CAS 8 latency so will be a tad faster(although not noticably, but hey for the same price why not right?)

 

[Lapez89]

I'd go with a Noctua NH-D14 over the Zalman HSF.

Also the OCZ SSDs seem to be REALLY hit or miss with reliability. Either it's a 5 star, or a 1 star. And the feedback on their customer service seems sketchy. I'd look into another brand of SSD personally. The capacity is a bit on the high side, but I can understand why so that's personal preference. For the record I have Win7 64 bit, MS Office 2007, Starcraft 2, HAWX and 1 other game on my 80GB Intel X-25V RAID 0 setup. And I have about 12GB free.

Also I'd go with this Seasonic PSU rather than the Cooler Master one. It will generally have better quality construction, has higher efficiency and costs $40 less.

Also for me, I usually present my customers with a few case choices. Because frankly the case is usually about style. I just ensure that the case meets all the functionality needs they may have. Therefore they are only presented with good quality cases to choose from.

Also I'd get these Corsair RAM modules for the same price. But they are CAS 8 latency so will be a tad faster(although not noticably, but hey for the same price why not right?)

Is there a significant cooling difference between those 2 cpu coolers? and as for the case, i went through all the cases with him and he chose that one. He liked the look of it, and the ability to put some many fans in the case, even though that's a little overkill lol.

Edit: oh and that PSU is $365... the PSU i posted was $160
how's this for a SSD? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233161

 

[cmcghee358]

Ha that was the wrong cut and paste, sorry was advising 2 threads 1 sec.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151100

is what I meant

 

[inzone]

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K. $314.99 and free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9Q-16GBXL. $89.99 and free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231441

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1502FAEX 1.5TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive. $99.99 and free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136793

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS. $209.99 and free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730

Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply. $99.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049

COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP Black Steel, ABS Plastic, Mesh bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case. $149.99 with a $15 rebate $134.99 and free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119194

LG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model UH12LS28 OEM LightScribe Support - OEM. $69.99 and free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136232

EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card. $319.99 X2 =$639.98

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613

Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F60GBGT-BK 2.5" 60GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $134.99 and free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233193

COOLER MASTER V6 GT RR-V6GT-22PK-R1 120mm DynaLoop CPU Cooler w/ Universal bracket & Dual Fan . $46.99 and free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103089.

Most of the items have free shipping and I went with the 2600k that has a high mhz to begin with so you don't have to over clock and the two GTX 570's will alow you to play any game maxed out , total is $1841.89.... POWER GAMING RIG !!!!

 

[cmcghee358]

I think that SSD is pretty good. Corsair is a better company than OCZ imo, and it's a good capacity in my opinion.

And as for the case, if your customer picked it it will be fine. I just didn't know if he/she had input yet. If it's made by Antec it'll be of good build quality too.

Lemmie find some charts on the CPU coolers. Well I couldn't find your specific cooler, but I did find the top ten CPU coolers on frostytech. I'd say ANY of there top 10s would be better than the Zalman you have.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

 

[Lapez89]

I think that SSD is pretty good. Corsair is a better company than OCZ imo, and it's a good capacity in my opinion.

And as for the case, if your customer picked it it will be fine. I just didn't know if he/she had input yet. If it's made by Antec it'll be of good build quality too.

Lemmie find some charts on the CPU coolers. Well I couldn't find your specific cooler, but I did find the top ten CPU coolers on frostytech. I'd say ANY of there top 10s would be better than the Zalman you have.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

Awesome, thanks for the advice, it's helped a lot... i think he'll be very happy with this build, plus it's kept it well within budget... which means more money i can put into my own build lol

 

[Why_Me]

That board down below has a NF200 Bridge allowing dual cards to run @ x16 & x16 instead of the usual x8 & x8. This build includes Windows 7, and is set up to add another one of those gtx 580's in SLI.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Graphite-Mid-Tower-Computer-CC600TM/dp/B004X63JWS/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1315697882&sr=1-5 $159.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Graphite Series 600T Mid-Tower Gaming Computer Case with Mesh Side Panel CC600TM

or that same case in black...

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Graphite-Mid-Tower-Computer-CC600TM/dp/B004X63JWS/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1315770382&sr=1-5 $159.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Graphite Series 600T Mid-Tower Gaming Computer Case with Mesh Side Panel CC600TM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028 $149.99 - $129.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING 10% off with promo code PCPowerSep1, ends 9/15
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269 $279.99 $10 off w/ promo code EMCKAKA32, ends 9/15
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.723046 $304.98 FREE SHIPPING
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=3049 $49.99
Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186 $52.99 FREE SHIPPING
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.696136 $72.48
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233206 $179.99 - $149.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING
Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590 $484.99 - $464.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING
EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1582-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Total: $1,735.39 *not including shipping, rebates, and promo codes

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme7%20Gen3 <---- A better look at that board

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4272/asrock_z68_extreme7_gen3_intel_z68_motherboard_review/index1.html <--- Full review of that board with benchmarks

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/PCIe3/ <----- PCI-E 3.0 supported by the new 22nm Ivy Bridge cpu's due out in April/May

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/IntelZ68/index.asp <----- Z68 Features

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html <----- Review done here on Toms a few weeks ago showing that board with the NF200 Bridge reduce micro stutter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139005 <----- A better look at that case

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&source=hp&q=cooler+master+hyper+612+pwm+review&oq=cooler+master+hyper+612+pwm+rev&aq=2&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=c&gs_upl=203588l204827l4l207543l4l4l3l1l4l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=ad22561d38e22c32&biw=1440&bih=775 <----- Reviews and benchmarks of that new Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM cpu cooler

http://www.tcmagazine.com/tcm/news/hardware/40011/cooler-master-hyper-612-pwm-debuts-north-america?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tcmagazine+%28Techconnect+Magazine%29 <---- that cpu cooler is due out within the next two weeks.