Request $2000 System Build - Gaming

[phx08]

Approximate Purchase Date: ~ 2 Weeks

Budget Range: $2000-$2500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming  Photo Editing  Personal Video Editing

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: N/A

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Please note that if you're using an OEM license of Windows, you will need a new one when buying a new motherboard.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com

Location: King Of Prussia, PA

Parts Preferences: No Preference, but would like reputable parts

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: I would like a quiet PC, which has a lot of power to run the latest top end games on “ultra settings”. Water cooling is compulsory as I will be overclocking. I would like to maintain around 10C Delta-T in my loop. I am not sure how much thermal design power will be being produced yet however that will be easy to obtain after I get a parts list. **CAVEAT** Overclocking will be done after I build the PC to see if I even want to do it...the stock speed may be enough for my liking. This is why I haven't included any price for watercooling items.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: My system is an old Dell that is over 6 year’s old running on a 2.6ghz CPU that cannot keep up.



What I thought would go well together from my research:
Motherboard: GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard ($249.00)
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W BX80637I73770K ($329.00)
GPU: No idea, I was thinking EVGA GTX 690 but that is hovering around $1000
Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case ($249.99)
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) ($109)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) ($124.99)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" $139.99)
PSU CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD ($159.99)


That's it for now...of course i'll be needing more components. Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[darkspartenwarrior]

You don't need 16GB, you might as well get 8GB of higher quality RAM like Dominator GT or Platinum. 8GB will give you dual channel as well.

GTX690 is a waste, if you want to spend that much a Titan is a better choice because the GTX690 has 2GB of memory and is louder/hotter than a titan.

You don't need 850 watts, an HX750 or even HX650 if you won't overclock is fine.

Get a WD, they're generally more reliable, especially after the Thailand floods, also, the OCZ Vertex 3 is old, at least a Vertex 4, if not Vector or 840 Pro.

With this much money you might want to go with X79, it has more Lanes so using multiGPU or using add on SATA ports won't destroy your USB/PCI/SATA bandwidth. Also, the CPU is more powerful, with my 3930k I can max games I couldn't hope to max with LGA1155.

 

[phx08]

Thank you for your reply!

Is the 3930K overkill for gaming?

What GPU do you suggest?

 

[TheBigTroll]

-no need for a i7 if you arent doing a lot of video editing. basic video editing (family movies etc) like once every 2 weeks to a month does not require a i7
-id stick with high end air. the extra 200-400mhz you can get out of WC wont really affect performance. ivy bridge tends to get extremely hot even for watercooling after 1.35v
-there is literally no reason to go more than 2 way for modern gaming (unless you have 3 monitors, which is a waste of money for most)
-690s are a waste. 2 670s will perform the same for cheaper. and will look better if you want to watercool, but i dont see too much reason for that given the 600 series dont overclock that well even with water since you are limited by the 1.175v max voltage. therefore i dont really recommend watercooling. temps are already good enough with most aftermarket coolers (60c for my 670 at max overclock running folding@home for a month straight)
-x79 is useless for gaming. a i5 3570k performs better
-WD is not really more reliable in my case. they failed me unlike seagate.
-quietness can be achieved by a fractal define series case. they are dead silent
-850w wont be necessary. 750 should be more than enough. the rosewell capstone is made by superflower, a company on level to seasonic

so id get this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/G0pK

ram. 16gb is nice to have.
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=78420&promoid=1026

Case. black and white theme acheieved in my build will be matched with a silent case
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=75047&vpn=FD-CA-DEF-R4-WH-W&manufacture=Fractal%20Design&promoid=1302

 

[g-unit1111]

You don't need 16GB, you might as well get 8GB of higher quality RAM like Dominator GT or Platinum. 8GB will give you dual channel as well.

GTX690 is a waste, if you want to spend that much a Titan is a better choice because the GTX690 has 2GB of memory and is louder/hotter than a titan.

Actually the Titan's GK110 performs about the same as the dual GK109s on the GTX 690 but NVIDIA is charging a huge premium for the card right now because it's a single chip as opposed to a dual. I generally pick dual GTX 670 because it performs within a couple of frames per second of the 690 for significantly less money while using the same power.

Get a WD, they're generally more reliable, especially after the Thailand floods, also, the OCZ Vertex 3 is old, at least a Vertex 4, if not Vector or 840 Pro.

Really? Where does it say that? Although I guess I haven't bought a HD since the floods.

With this much money you might want to go with X79, it has more Lanes so using multiGPU or using add on SATA ports won't destroy your USB/PCI/SATA bandwidth. Also, the CPU is more powerful, with my 3930k I can max games I couldn't hope to max with LGA1155.

Not for gaming. You don't really need X79 or Xeon in this case. Here's what I would get on this budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($55.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($148.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($144.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($145.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1878.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-25 20:07 EST-0500)

 

[TheBigTroll]

@g-unit: id rather get a phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK at that price. better cooling and looks nicer

 

[phx08]

The reason I went for an i7 was because I wanted to have atleast some "future proofing". I have an i5 on my 2011 iMac and it runs fine, but I wanted something more for my custom build.


Thank you, guys for putting those lists together for me. It seems like the GTX 670 is the way to go on my budget.

 

[TheBigTroll]

there is literally no difference in speed.

 

[phx08]

Thanks big, that would save me a significant amount of money that could be spent elsewhere. Would doing a single GTX 680 be better performance wise vs 670's in SLI?

 

[TheBigTroll]

670s perform within 4-5fps of a 680. 680s are terrible in value

 

[phx08]

So after the changes...How is this?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/G1OG

 

[TheBigTroll]

the parts on pcpartpicker are the same, just that they cost way more.

the 800D is unecessarily large. i wouldnt waste my money