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$2000 budget build advice needed

I

icecold9487

n00b
Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
6
Hey guys I haven't built a computer in at least ten years and I need some help picking out the parts. My budget is around $2000 and I need pretty much everything.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly FPS gaming but also web browsing, movies, a little photoshop, and homework.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
About 2000 but I have a little room to wiggle.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Newark, Delaware
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Display, CPU, GPU, Case, PS, CPU cooler, RAM, mobo, keyboard, SSD, DVD burner, HD, Mouse
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
None
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Depends on what I get. Currently looking at 1920x1080.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next week unless there is a good reason to wait longer.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
I would like the opportunity to upgrade to dual graphics cards in the future. I'm not sure what the other terms mean.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I plan on buying Windows 7 64 bit. Not included in budget.


So far the parts I'm thinking about are:


Display - Asus VG236HE
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VG236HE-...HXJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328760380&sr=8-1

Case - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite

Mouse - Logitech g400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104577&Tpk=g400 mouse

Keyboard - Steelseries 6Gv2
http://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-6...4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1335743183&sr=1-4
 
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icecold9487 said:
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next week unless there is a good reason to wait longer.
Click to expand...
I'd wait another month or two for a few reasons:
1) Intel is releasing their new Ivy Bridge CPUs and Z77 motherboards in about a month from now. They'll be faster than current Intel CPUs.
2) It'll take that long for Nvidia's GTX 680 cards to fully enter the market and for their prices to normalize. Considering your budget, that's probably the card for you to get.
3) AMD might drop the price on their HD 7970 and/or HD 7950 cards to better compete against the GTX 680.

So please come back in a month and bump up this thread then. In the mean time, go ahead and pick out your case and monitor. I recommend these cases:
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$118 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$130 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$125 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$166 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$170 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
 
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There are usually Steelseries sales every now and then. I think I got 30% off my 6GV2 and 40% off my Sensei. Just keep checking slickdeals.net or the hotdeals forum here regularly.
 
You mean you already have that keyboard and mouse or you looking at picking them up? They are not the best buys, mx518 is a $30 mouse, and you can get a better mechanical keyboard for the price.

Grab the g400 instead(same mouse) and look at a filco/leopold/coolermaster/deck/etc mechanical keyboard
 
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Danny Bui said:
I'd wait another month or two for a few reasons:
1) Intel is releasing their new Ivy Bridge CPUs and Z77 motherboards in about a month from now. They'll be faster than current Intel CPUs.
2) It'll take that long for Nvidia's GTX 680 cards to fully enter the market and for their prices to normalize. Considering your budget, that's probably the card for you to get.
3) AMD might drop the price on their HD 7970 and/or HD 7950 cards to better compete against the GTX 680.

So please come back in a month and bump up this thread then. In the mean time, go ahead and pick out your case and monitor. I recommend these cases:
Click to expand...

Hey I'm bumping this thread to see if anyone can point me in the right direction on which parts I should purchase. Unfortunately my laptop broke so I'm forced to buy a computer within the next week.
I like the following case:
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case

And I'm changing the mouse to this as advised:
$40 - G400 Logitech mouse
 
$390 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU + Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
$76 - 2 x G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$400 - Gigabyte GV-R795WF3-3GD HD 7950 3GB PCI-E Video Card
$125 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
$120 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$17 - LG GH22NS90B DVD Burner
$105 - Corsair 750TX V2 750W PSU
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
----
Total: $1393 shipped.

Notes:
- That combo deal ends on May 1st or 2nd.
- Get that SSD today as that's a limited time sale price. It's an awesome deal so it might run out in a week.
- can't help you with the monitor or KB/M
 
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For the price most definitely, I've heard good things about that keyboard. You could also get a steelseries 6g if you don't need the features that the 7g offers and you really want black switches. It's quite a bit less expensive than the 7g and the same keyboard. The steelseries key printing wears extremely fast and has an odd enter key, other than that I've heard they're solid, I just don't think the 7g is worth $150 unless you need usb/audio ports.

For more info. on keyboards see geekhack.org

Danny I think the cpu/mobo combo you linked is broken.
 
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Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
Get that and RAID 0 and you got some serious fast everything!!


If you were going to watercool and wanted it to be a bit more spacious in your rig, I personally would go for a NZXT 810 case or a HAF X. As I predicted, SB would be the best choice to go for a new rig at the moment even with the IBs release. IBs really only have a marginal increase in performance so I say just stick with SBs as it would cut down some cash.
 
thanks guys. danny that first combo link isn't working and i wasn't able to find the combo by searching. do you think it's still available?

do you guys think water cooling is worth the effort and time for my situation? also, how much more difficult would it be than adding a heat sink? i'm not really sure where to begin because i've only overclocked one pc about 10 years ago.
 
icecold9487 said:
thanks guys. danny that first combo link isn't working and i wasn't able to find the combo by searching. do you think it's still available?

do you guys think water cooling is worth the effort and time for my situation? also, how much more difficult would it be than adding a heat sink? i'm not really sure where to begin because i've only overclocked one pc about 10 years ago.
Click to expand...

Just remember that you will have to maintain your watercooling from time to time. That part is probably the part I hate most. However, on the upside, watercooling does indeed do a better job in cooling your GPU, CPU, RAM, etc.. It's your choice really. Especially if you choose the route to overclock your CPU & GPU at high volts. If you choose to overclock moderately, a regular aftermarket cooler will do the job, but keep in mind, if you do play GPU intensive games your GPU will definitely heat up even the 7970. Just buy large fans to exhuast the heat.
 
icecold9487 said:
thanks guys. danny that first combo link isn't working and i wasn't able to find the combo by searching. do you think it's still available?
Click to expand...

It's still available. I added an extra h by mistake. Click the link again.

icecold9487 said:
do you guys think water cooling is worth the effort and time for my situation? also, how much more difficult would it be than adding a heat sink? i'm not really sure where to begin because i've only overclocked one pc about 10 years ago.
Click to expand...
Not really. A lot more difficult. And it costs a lot more money ($300 or to start IIRC).
 
happyboy said:
Just remember that you will have to maintain your watercooling from time to time. That part is probably the part I hate most. However, on the upside, watercooling does indeed do a better job in cooling your GPU, CPU, RAM, etc.. It's your choice really. Especially if you choose the route to overclock your CPU & GPU at high volts. If you choose to overclock moderately, a regular aftermarket cooler will do the job, but keep in mind, if you do play GPU intensive games your GPU will definitely heat up even the 7970. Just buy large fans to exhuast the heat.
Click to expand...

It sounds like air cooling is the best choice for me. It looks like the fantom casr already comes with fans. Do you think i should grab some more and if so where should they be placed?
 
No need to add more fan. The included fan setup is relatively fine.
 
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