Help me build an iRacing box

[TechLarry]

It's time to build a new, dedicated box for iRacing. It will be used for iRacing and nothing else.

The last machine I built was my X58 920 system. I'm completely out of date/touch with what's out there these days.

I have no desire to overclock.

Here is what I am after:

System Board:

Total reliability. Does not have to have every bell and whistle. Good selection of reliable SATA ports and USB ports, as well as top notch power regulation are what I'm after.

RAM:

6-12 GB RAM to fully utilize the performance of chosen motherboard without having to tweak voltages, etc... Plug & Play is what I want.

Processor:

Whatever the current "Sweet Spot" processor is for the chosen motherboard. Maybe 1 notch higher. I want as fast as possible without buying the Intel CEO a new boat for Christmas


Power Supply

I figure 700 to 1000 watts should do it. I want a single-rail supply.

Sound Card:

Will go with the top Creative PCIe based card unless there are others to consider.

Hard Drive:

I figure a WD 2GB Black should suffice. I'd like to go solid state, but the pricing on those ain't right yet.

Monitor/Graphics Card:

I want an ATI card. A 6970 with at least 3 DisplayPort ports. I don't really want to get into multiple cards. The fastest single-processor ATI iwth at least 3 Display Ports is what I want.

THREE monitors. Either 24 or 27" depending on the pricing. Must have DisplayPort.

Case:

This is probably the toughest one of all.

I'm tired of big honking cases. I have a Cooler Master ACTS 840 in front of me, and I constantly ask myself why. I don't want that for this machine.

I want a small of a case as possible. However it must have more than sufficient cooling for the Graphics Card, Processor and Hard Drive.

I will not be installing a CD/DVD drive. I will use an external USB to install the OS, then it goes back in the closet.

I also want effective filtration that works. Filters are no good if the case leaks like a siv and air is coming in from all over the place. I HATE that about the ACTS 840. It has so many leaks, the filters are useless. I've really come to hate this case.

So in short small, tight, good airflow/cooling and enough room for the big video card.

NIC:

If the onboard NIC is good enough, fine. If not I'll probably go with an Intel Gigabit PCIe.

UPS:

I think one of the new CyberPower 1350's with sine-wave output would do fine for this.

Keyboard/Mouse:

Probably go for the tried & true Logitech illuminated keyboard and MX-518 mouse.

Ok, go for it. Help me build a box

Thanks!

 

[luluthemonk]

Budget?

And answering the questions in this format from this sticky would be helpful

 

[TechLarry]

Budget isn't really important, within reason.

 

[tonytnnt]

THREE monitors. Either 24 or 27" depending on the pricing.

I want as fast as possible without buying the Intel CEO a new boat for Christmas

Budget isn't really important, within reason.

I suggest you rethink not having a budget lest you want to help the Newegg CEO buy a new boat for Christmas. Based on you what you said, I'd (facetiously) say get a dual Xeon system and redundant power supplies for that extra stability. Oh and use SSDs in RAID-1. Also, since you're worried about dust, you should probably just go the immersion route for cooling. Or you could just buy one of these.

If you want my serious answer, seriously answer the sticky. It helps us figure out what you want a lot more efficiently. I'm going to ballpark that your available budget will be well over $2000 (maybe even $3000) if you're already upgrading from a Core i7 920 to the parts you listed, but there's no reason that you have to spend whatever you set as your upper budgetary bound. So if you'd like it to be closer to one number, but can spend up to a certain number, give us a range.

 

[luluthemonk]

What's within reason for one, is unreasonable for another =/

i5 2500 $210
Hyper 212+ $20 AR
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $80
GIGABYTE GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 $140
XFX HD 6970 2GB $335 AR
Corsair Force 120GB $210
Samsung F3 1TB $65
Samsung DVD Burner $19
XFX 750W $100 AR
Fractal Design R3 $100

Total: $1279 with a SSD, subtract $210 if you really don't want it.

HP ZR24W $400 x 3 = $1200

By 3 display ports, did you mean you want the card to output to at least 3 separate monitors? The card I recommended has 2 DP, but can output to 4 monitors.
Otherwise, here is a single card options:
ASUS Radeon HD 6950 1GB 4 DP + 2 DVI

 

[TechLarry]

Very nice list and it gets me started great. Thanks!

 

[RobAGD]

Nice list of Bits,

I too am looking at a rig for iRacing

I am working with a slim budget atm as well. My old box hasn't even been turned on in years ( 3.0Ghz 478 chip if I am remembering correctly ) Nothing really usable in that box any more.

-Robert

 

[Dangman]

Nice list of Bits,

I too am looking at a rig for iRacing

I am working with a slim budget atm as well. My old box hasn't even been turned on in years ( 3.0Ghz 478 chip if I am remembering correctly ) Nothing really usable in that box any more.

-Robert

Then I recommend making your own thread with the answers to the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better.

 

[RobAGD]

Danny - When it gets to the point where I start shopping for Part I will

Thanks

-R