$2,000.00 New Build

P

Pressure

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Messages
67
Hi everyone, hoping you can help me out a little bit with my build.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming (Stalker addict)- Converting movies - Web browsing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$2,000.00 or lower
3) Where do you live?
Pennsylvania
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything (See below) except keyboard, mouse, soundcard and OS
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Keyboard, mouse, and soundcard
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I have a 22" but have been looking at 25" for this build.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Possibly crossfire in future
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit



The build so far:

-COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

-CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

-Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz LGA 1366 Quad-Core Desktop Processor

-Thermalright CoGage True Spirit 4-Heatpipe Core i7 CPU Cooler

-Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R) USB 3.0 Motherboard

-G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM

-SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

-ASUS VW266H Black 25.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1) Built in Speakers w/ component connector - Retail

-LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Writer LightScribe Support




$1,412.25 now. Only thing im debating on is a video card. I know the i5 route is cheaper but I really want to stay with the i7 1366 platform for the future.I haven't ordered anything yet and wont for another week or two. Any suggestions would be appreciated and thank you in advance.
 
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As of this date, there is no date or general time period when the prices for the HD 5970 will drop.

You can easily fit the HD 5970 if you drop the PSU down to the 850TX, the mobo down to a $210 mobo (Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R), and the RAM to this:
$165 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
 
You have a similar build to the one I just bought If I were you I'd wait until Fermi comes out on the 28th, see the performance of that card vs 5970. If nothing else it could lower the price of the 5970 and 5870. I am waiting to upgrade my card. 275GTX
 
Fermi will not make AMD lower its prices, don't make any purchasing decisions based on that idea
 
Danny's got the right idea about squeezing some GPU muscle in your budget... The i7 920 would also save a few bucks, and it's a great overclocker.
I'd suggest two 5850s. They kick ass in benchmarks, would cost less than a single 5970 - if you can even find one, ya know. Either that or get a 5870 and somewhere down the road add a second one for crossfire.
 
First off thanks for all the replies, i really appreciate it. gwarren007 i'm about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh, and thank god the snow is finally melting lol.



Picked the corsair 850hx cause of the modular cables, but im sure the 850tx suggested would be fine, and also save some money there. Would a 750tx be enough for a 5970? If so i could save little money there too.

Went with asus because i had really good luck with them. But the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R is $100.00 cheaper with usb 3.0, so i will give that a try.

I want to stay with the ati cards because they always seemed to have more of a crisper picture, compared to nvidia that looked washed out. Not saying their bad cards, just my personal preference.



With the price cuts Danny Bui suggested, that leaves me with $587.75 for a video card, and I'm all for squeezing that 5970 in there somehow.
 
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if you can make it (cheaply) to the microcenter at:
St. Davids Square, 550 East Lancaster Avenue, St. Davids, PA 19087

they have the 920 for 199+ tax
 
Pressure said:
Picked the corsair 850hx cause of the modular cables, but im sure the 850tx suggested would be fine, and also save some money there. Would a 750tx be enough for a 5970? If so i could save little money there too.
.
Click to expand...

Already a bit cutting it close with the 850TX and the HD5970. Would not recommend going any lower than an 850W PSU with 70A on the +12V rail.
 
@ gwarren007 Unfortunately that's 4 hours away and there is really nothing closer.
 
Danny Bui said:
Already a bit cutting it close with the 850TX and the HD5970. Would not recommend going any lower than an 850W PSU with 70A on the +12V rail.
Click to expand...
Ok so i should be alright with a 850tx right? I don't wont to be skimpy with the PSU.
 
get the hx instead of the tx...modular...it's worth it. Also why the hell would you want a 25" screen? get a 24" screen and save money...they're both likely gonna be crappy TN panels with the same resolution anyway...also ditch the shitty haf 922...and get something like the lian li a70f or PC-P50WB...get a single 5870...will be plenty for a 1920 x 1200 res
 
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Omerta said:
Also why the hell would you want a 25" screen? get a 24" screen and save money...
Click to expand...

The Asus LCD he listed is cheaper than the 24" monitors at that resolution, and has faster response time.
True a 5870 would be great at that resolution, and it fits in his budget. Also your mobo supports crossfire so you could add a second one in the future.
 
stephen0983 said:
The Asus LCD he listed is cheaper than the 24" monitors at that resolution, and has faster response time.
True a 5870 would be great at that resolution, and it fits in his budget. Also your mobo supports crossfire so you could add a second one in the future.
Click to expand...

don't get suckered in by that response time bullshit...they're all TN panels at that price range...AKA they all suck...but if it's cheaper, I guess he could go with it
 
Omerta said:
get the hx instead of the tx...modular...it's worth it. Also why the hell would you want a 25" screen? get a 24" screen and save money...they're both likely gonna be crappy TN panels with the same resolution anyway...also ditch the shitty haf 922...and get something like the lian li a70f or PC-P50WB...get a single 5870...will be plenty for a 1920 x 1200 res
Click to expand...
I'm still debating over the PSU, I might go modular yet. Like stephen0983 said the asus is cheaper with a good response time. The cases you mentioned look sweet but are like $200.00. The coolermaster haf 922 at $90.00 is still a decent case.
 
Pressure said:
I'm still debating over the PSU, I might go modular yet. Like stephen0983 said the asus is cheaper with a good response time. The cases you mentioned look sweet but are like $200.00. The coolermaster haf 922 at $90.00 is still a decent case.
Click to expand...

do yourself a favor and not judge monitors by response times....that's what noobs do
take a look at this thread for an LCD guide (it's at anandtech though): http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=1944

Also...you don't want to cheap out on the case...but if you want the haf 922...go ahead...and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112250&cm_re=lian_li-_-11-112-250-_-Product

it's only $30 more...but will have MUCH better build quality than the haf 922 and it also looks much better.
 
Add an SSD, even if it's a cheap one and use it for the OS. Building a beast like that and doing otherwise would just be silly. ;)
 
You may not be wanting to water cool this rig now, but later on you just might. With that said, a bigger case may come in handy. Just my .02 : ).
 
Assuming that you're going to keep the HD5970, here are some ways to cut costs:

Find a cheaper ATX tower case. The HAF 922 is a good choice, but there are some cheaper tower cases available. But since cases are as much about personal tastes as they are interior features, I recommend finding something that you could live with, per se.

Omit the SSD for now. Yes, an SSD is comparatively faster than any SATA HDD, but it's still very expensive, in comparison. Plus, today's HDDs are faster that those that you've used in the fast; the ones that we often recommend can compete with (and, on certain benchmarks, even beat) the Western Digital VelociRaptor. Dropping the SSD (or two, for a RAID 0 configuration) would give you at least over $100 more to work with.

Get a non-modular PSU. Having removable cables is a plus, but you pay for the privilege. If you really need to cut corners, get a non-modular PSU. The majority of the high-powered models (generating at least 750 watts) have long cables designed to reach all but the tallest tower cases. Likewise, you could try to find a sale on an 80 Plus-rated PSU with at least 70A running on all of its 12V rails. (Look elsewhere, as NewEgg rarely has the best deals on power supplies.)

Go with a Socket 1156 board and processor. While I understand that you don't want to go that route, with a dual-GPU video card, you don't really need to worry about CrossFire (that much), and thus, you don't really need a Socket 1366-based setup.
 
gwarren007 said:
930/ gigabyte $480
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.355680

3gb kingston 1333 $82
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134853

New TP-750 $90 ($20 off w/ promo code EMCYPYR26, ends 3/10, $20 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

Cooler Master 690 $80 ($10 mir)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

Samsung 1tb $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
Click to expand...
Like that i7 930 combo deal and the antec PSU. I have the coolermaster 690 for my wifes build and it is a nice case, but just want something a little different is all. $612.75 towards a card now
 
Pressure said:
Like that i7 930 combo deal and the antec PSU. I have the coolermaster 690 for my wifes build and it is a nice case, but just want something a little different is all. $612.75 towards a card now
Click to expand...

putting a 5970 in a cheap coolahmastaH 1337 case is blasphemy...i do have a case fetish though
 
Omerta said:
putting a 5970 in a cheap coolahmastaH 1337 case is blasphemy...i do have a case fetish though
Click to expand...
Lol it doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside, what counts is whats inside the case. Lol, j/k. I should make my own case cause i do weld for a living and have access to machinery . I might even try to make my own water cooler, cant be that hard.
 
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I thought the title read $2,000,000 (two million) until I looked closer at the last two digits.
 
Omerta said:
don't get suckered in by that response time bullshit...they're all TN panels at that price range...AKA they all suck...but if it's cheaper, I guess he could go with it
Click to expand...

speak for yourself, i switched from an 8ms display to a 2ms and it's def noticable
 
stephen0983 said:
speak for yourself, i switched from an 8ms display to a 2ms and it's def noticable
Click to expand...

Ok stephen...the thing that annoys me (and I've noticed this) is when people primarily look at the response time and bullshit contrast ratios that the manufacturers exaggerate when determining what is a good monitor...

Great example...20" Apple Cinema Display...has a 16ms response time...but will blow any crappy 2MS response time TN panel out of the water when it comes to viewing angles, color reproduction/accuracy, picture quality, ETC..but your average 1337 fata1ty-tard gamer will look at its specs and go "HAHAHAH 16MS MONITOR FOR $500 DOLLARS...APPLE IS A RIP OFF...I CAN GET a 2MS 20 inch monitor for $130 hahaha." What they don't know is that the ACD is actually a ton better and actually contains an IPS panel...which is why it is priced so much higher than the average monitor you'll find at best buy. This is what I mean when I say judging a monitor by its response time is quite silly...
 
yeah it's the one and only advantage to having a TN panel. i'm not denying it. you get what you pay for and not everybody can afford a high resolution IPS display.
 
Thank you for all the help guys, really appreciate it, and i learned some stuff along the way. Gonna go ahead and order most of the parts i need to get this build going.
 
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