Need Advice on Gaming PC - $2000

[Gorrister]

I haven't built a system in years and need some input.



Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range:$2000-$2200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, OS, Optical Drive

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:Newegg

Country of Origin: United States

Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, Nvidia GPU

Overclocking: Not at the moment

SLI or Crossfire: Not at the moment

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments:No overclocking or SLI right now, but would like the have the option to do so in the future

Made some changes and now looking at something like this:

ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115070

MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127589

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 997000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820226203

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148442

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1502FAEX 1.5TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136793

Fractal Design Arc Midi Black High Performance PC Computer Case w/ USB 3.0 and 3 x Fractal High Performance 140mm fans
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811352007

CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139010

 

[boeing114]

First off, you have triple channel memory (ram). Only lga1366 motherboards support that. LGA1155 supportset dual channel kits. 8GB (2x4gb) should be more than enough. This is the kit I just got last week:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170


That motherboard looks pretty legit 😉 If you would like to save $100, go with the Asus P8Z68-V Pro. I heard people have overclocked their i7-2600k cpus to 5.3ghz!

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

Also I really like the Corsair 600t (special edition). It looks pretty sweet. Here's a link to check it out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139005


Hope that helps!

 

[Gorrister]

Awesome, I wasn't at all aware of the mobo/ram conflict. That helps a lot.
And yes, that is a sweet looking case.

Thanks

 

[cmadrid]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007&Tpk=fractal%20design%20arc%20midi

another case option priced in the same range as the 922 HAF

 

[cmadrid]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

I'd go with this power supply (or something modular like HX or AX line) instead of the coolermaster psu

 

[Danger Kid]

i also cannot recommend the 600t enough. while i dont have one yet, i fell in love with it after seeing a buddies new build.

literally the only con that i can think of for that case is usb 3.0 mobo connector for the front panel usb. you have to route the cable around the rear mobo port. but its not that big of an issue

anyway if your main focus is gaming i would save yourself some money and get an i5 2500k over an i7. you wont gain anything worth the price increase with the i7 in gaming

also that video card is marginally useless at that resolution unless you have more than one monitor. i would go for this 570 instead its got 2.5 gigs of vram which is plenty and should future proof it for a while
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130687

that mobo is unnecessary to say the least. its nice but there is no need to shell out that much for the mobo unless you want say 3 way sli. save yourself some more money and opt for this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

anywho that frees up a bunch of cash and you can opt for fun stuff like a bigger ssd, which by the way go with crucial. they seem to be the only people who have reliability sorted away on the newer ssd's

 

[cmadrid]

Give the Fractal Design case a look too 😉

 

[Gorrister]

updated a few parts.

anyone have any comments on the revised build?

 

[mjmjpfaff]

the i7 2600k offers no improvement over the 2500k in gaming because games cannot take advantage of hyperthreading

i5 2500k & Scythe Mugen 3- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.710631 257$ the mugen 3 is all you will need since it can let you get up to 5.0ghz which will be more than enough

Asus P8Z68-V & Corsair 8gb 1600mhz- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.715129 223$

Corsair ax1200 & Corsair 600t- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.703184 405$

Crucial M4 128gb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442 212$

Samsung f3 1tb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=f3%201tb 60$

EVGA GTX 590- http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Classified-Graphics-03G-P3-1596-AR/dp/B005CQQLNM/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314077101&sr=1-2 750$

Cooler Master 120mm fan- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103061 9$x2=18$

 

[Why_Me]

That MSI Lighting is a great card, the 3GB version of that card is for peeps planning on using multiple monitors otherwise the 3GB of RAM actually hurts FPS. Also those cards dump air into the case instead of venting it out of the back of the case, so unless you have terrific cooling and airflow like a CM HAF case, your case ends up like an oven.

This Asrock board down below has the NF200 bride allowing for dual cards to run @ x16 & x16. It's new on the market (just came out a few days ago), and if it's anything like their other 1155 boards then it's a winner. This board also has the new PCI-E 3.0 slots for the new generation cards due out whenever.... lol.

The psu down below is manufactured by Enermax for LEPA and at that price it's a steal not to mention it gives you plenty of juice to push two of those cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194083 $179.99 - $129.99 after mail-in rebate card
LEPA G900-MA 900W SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269 $289.99
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.695316 $357.98 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233040 $48.99 - $28.99 after mail-in rebate FREE SHIPPING
XIGMATEK BALDER SD1283 120mm Long Life CPU Cooler I7 i5 775 1155 AMD compatible, w/ bracket ACK-I5361

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185 $59.99 FREE SHIPPING
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590 $489.99 - $469.99 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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442 $211.99 FREE SHIPPING
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

***I'm not sure if you already have a monitor or not, but these monitors down below have a 120hz refresh rate vs the standard 60hz which makes for way smoother gaming, not to mention they are 3D capable. They are spendy, but they are top the line gaming monitors.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001473 $579.99
SAMSUNG S23A950D Black 23" 2ms Full HD 3D LED BackLight LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 DCR 1,000,000:1 (1,000:1)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001474 $599.99
SAMSUNG S27A750D Black 27" 2ms Full HD 3D LED BackLight LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DCR 1,000,000:1 (1,000:1)

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

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?273907-**Official**-Asrock-Z68-Gen3-Extreme7-amp-Extreme4-thread

http://www.legitreviews.com/news/11080/

 

[Mitsukaixx]

If you want my opinion I would suggest getting the Antec DF-85 case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087
Its an amazing case, 7 fans included. both back and front fans are red with red LED's, the three front fans have a mesh filter to help keep dust and crap outta the computer, and it has easy hot swap for your hard drives, along with front panel openeings for easy HDD installing.

I bought this case about a month ago, and I'm loving it completly. The link your provided originally for your case seemes to be broken or something, I got a 404 error, so im not sure how much that case is, but someone posted another case saying supposedly in the range of your other case, and it was $10 more then the DF-85 so im thinking the DF-85 may be cheaper, not by much but maybe lol

 

[cmadrid]

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/fractal_designs_arc_midi_review/1

good review of a great case for ~$100