Need help picking parts for a friend

[Slipperss]

My friend has asked me to build him a PC that would be able to run Battlefield 3 in mid-high settings.

His budget is 1000 pounds or 1650 dollars.

CPU : I was thinking, either a sandy bridge i7-2600k (or better for almost the same price if possible) or wait for the bulldozer and see how much that one costs.

GPU : I can't decide here, I would like to avoid crossfire as it burns extremely hot without watercooling.

Motherboard : Not decided yet.

RAM : Not decided yet.

PSU : Not Decided yet.

Hard Drive : Think ill take a Samsung SpinPoint.

CD/DVD Drive : There's probably some cheap one out there.

Case : Something that can house his build and is cheap.

 

[gonemtbiking123]

If it is just for gaming I would go for a i5-2500k instead of the 2600k. They will perform equal in a gaming environment, the 2600k will shine more when doing rendering. So that will give you more money for your gpu.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 $220

MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506 $180

Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 $60

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028 $115 (AMIR)

HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=spinpoint%20f3 $60

GPU: 2X http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130621 ($615)

that is $1250 so you have $400 for a dvd drive, case, heatsink (for some overclocking), and ssd if you want one.

 

[g-unit1111]

CPU / Motherboard: If you're waiting for Bulldozer, go for an AMD 990FX-based board and drop an X6-1100T in there, flash the BIOS once Bulldozer is available, and just drop the new CPU in, you'll be set.

GPU: You don't really need Crossfire since if you decide to go with a 2GB 6800 or 6900 series, that's plenty powerful and will last you a long time, but you could go with a low-power GeForce 550 or 560 SLI setup if you're concerned about heat generation.

RAM: Pretty much determined by what motherboard you use, you need to match the speed but at this point Dual Channel 1333 or 1600 is universal.

PSU: Once again I highly recommend Corsair, I have two TX-750s and they're great PSUs. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Hard Drive: Spinpoint is a good choice, so is the Western Digital Caviar Black. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136794

DVD: Yeah just a cheapo optical drive will do, but avoid Asus like the plague (I got one from Newegg that nearly exploded on me), get an LG or Lite-On, those will run you about $20. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

Case: If you want something inexpensive, this is where Cooler Master makes some great products. I have the Centurion 5 and used the HAF 912 in a friend's build, both are solid cases that don't cost more than $50. The Antec 300 is a good choice in this area too. Check some of these out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119106

 

[Silvune]

Intel i5-2500K £161
http://www.ebuyer.com/251596-intel-core-i5-2500k-3-3ghz-socket-1155-6mb-cache-retail-boxed-processor-bx80623i52500k

MSI P67A-G45 £104
http://www.ebuyer.com/262648-msi-p67a-g45-b3-p67-socket-1155-8-channel-audio-atx-motherboard-p67a-g45-b3-
OR
Asus P8P67-M Pro £108
http://www.ebuyer.com/261052-asus-p8p67-m-pro-r3-p67-socket-1155-8-channel-audio-matx-motherboard-p8p67-m-pro-r3-0
OR
Asus Maximus IV Gene Z68 £140
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-maximus-iv-gene-z-intel-z68-1155-pci-e-20-(x16)-ddr3-1866-2200-sata-6gb-s-raid-matx
If he's not going to run more than one graphics then I don't see what's wrong with going with an mATX motherboard.

Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CAS9 1.5V £45
http://www.ebuyer.com/274035-corsair-8gb-2x4gb-ddr3-1600mhz-low-profile-vengeance-memory-kit-cl9-cml8gx3m2a1600c9

MSI GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 N570GTX-M2D12D5 £240
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1280mb-msi-gtx-570-40nm-3800mhz-gddr5-gpu-732mhz-shader-1464mhz-480-cores-dl-dvi-mhdmi

Gelid Icy Vision Rev.2 £33
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gelid-solutions-icy-vision-rev2-vga-cooler-for-high-end-ati-and-nvidia

Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus £65
http://www.ebuyer.com/239757-coolermaster-haf-912-plus-case-rc-912p-kkn1

Corsair HX650 80Plus Bronze/Silver Modular £88
http://www.ebuyer.com/173104-corsair-650w-hx-modular-psu-cmpsu-650hxuk

Thermalright Archon £45
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/thermalright-archon-120-140mm-intel-775-1155-1156-1366-and-am2-3-cpu-heatsink-with-one-ty14-pwm-fan

Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB £42

Total: £823/859

Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium £72
http://www.ebuyer.com/259863-microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-w-sp1-licence-and-media-1-gfc-02050

Total: £895/931

 

[Slipperss]

I appreciate all the suggestions you are giving me, and will take them all in consideration.

I'm still a little worried about which graphic card(s) to take, I obviously want most performance for the least amount of money. Something that can kick ass for the next couple of years and perhaps take most games on max settings, yet stay within the budget or lower.

Some of you suggested crossfire/SLI, its probably the best choice to take 2 decent and cheap graphic cards and slap them together to get the best performance for the least amount of money. If you take 2 ATI cards and put them in crossfire, the one at the bottom can't get air and gets extremely hot. How do you avoid the card at the bottom catching fire?