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$2000 Gaming build

K

kaiweiler

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
314
I need help building a gaming rig and need everything except monitors.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, light multitasking (browsing, IM's, playing videos)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$2000 with a bit of flexibility either way
Shipping to Canada is necessary (newegg.ca is great or directcanada.com, ncix.ca, canadacomputers.com are a few others)

3) Where do you live?
Nova Scotia, Canada
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything except monitors, will be using dual 24" LCDs
So,
CPU: i7 920 maybe or a Core 2 Quad if it's good for gaming?

Motherboard: anything compatible (SLI/Crossfire capable if dual monitors can be supported) Would like to have LGA1366

GPU: Crossfire/SLI would be cool if it can support dual monitors, TVout would also be nice but not necessary. Anything have HDMI outputs?

RAM: 6GB+

HDD: 1TB storage, maybe SSD boot if its within budget

CD/DVD: DVD Burner
CASE: Simplistic looking, nothing flashy


Blu-ray: Not necessary

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Just Monitors

6) Will you be overclocking?
No, but open to suggestions.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2x24" at 1920x1200each

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In approx. 1 week.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Including addon cards:

- ~6+ USB ports, 2+ Firewire, Crossfire/SLI (If dual monitors are capable), 6+ DDR3 DIMM slots

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes

11) Anything Else?
- Card Reader
- Slick and minimalistic case. No lights or windows.
- Will be buying from newegg.ca, directcanada.com, canadacomputers.com amazon.ca


Any help is great!
Thanks
 
Here ya go, a bit over 2000 but you said either way :p. You don't get maximum gaming performance, but hey, you get an SSD ;) I would also recommend getting a Thermalright U120E, I think it runs what, 67 dollars?

3791757984_cb22574b83_o.jpg
 
If you have that much cash to spend, I'ld definitely get a SSD and put your OS on it. Use another Raid 0 SATA drive as storage. You only need about 6GB of ram for gaming. Anything more and its overkill. What kind of games do you run? Is gaming all you do primarily?
 
If you get a single SSD, get an Intel (they'll have a fw fix soon). If you get two SSDs, get lower capacity models so you can run them in RAID0, which would performance at a better cost of the same capacity of a single SSD.

http://www.alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/ocz_vertex.html

I'll check back later with more build suggestions.
 
Here is my take on this build. You still would need to find a 2.5"-3.5" adapter to mount the SSD.

Notes:
ATI cards can be substituted for nvidia (such as to 4870 or two 4890)
640 GB drive I list is much faster than most 1TB drives (almost as fast as a raptor) because of dual platter design... Need more space, get two.
May need to remove bottom middle case fan until you get the power supply in (not sure as I have the p180 and this case is newer)

All prices are from newegg.ca

Build.jpg
 
I'm not much of a fan of the P6T Deluxe, especially for that price. The Gigabyte UD5 can be had for the same or cheaper and comes with more SATA ports and an arguably better layout (if not color scheme.)
 
Markyip1 said:
I'm not much of a fan of the P6T Deluxe, especially for that price. The Gigabyte UD5 can be had for the same or cheaper and comes with more SATA ports and an arguably better layout (if not color scheme.)
Click to expand...

I believe the V2 addresses all those issues you listed I think.
 
I am sure other mobos are good too, I have the p6t deluxe v1 and like it for ease of use and stability. I am sure there are better boards out there, but I wouldn't recc something I didn't have experience with.

Also remember that those prices are canadian since I went to newegg.ca

Love my i7 rig
 
Here's my shot at it. All prices are Canadian and from Newegg.ca

$52.99 - PLEXTOR 24X DVD/CD Writer Black SATA Model PX-880SA LightScribe Support - Retail
$79.99 - COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
$114.99 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
$215.99 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
$199.99 - PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS910 910W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified ... - Retail
$124.99 - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ - Retail
$312.99 - GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$319.99 - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
$49.99 - XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
$239.99 - Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G1 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail

$1,711.40

Handling and Fees: (includes Canadian sales tax paid on your behalf) $223.70

Shipping: $56.15

Grand Total: $1,991.25

Here's a link to an adapter to mount the HD newegg shows they should be instock by 8/11/2009

$7.29 - iStarUSA DIY-RP-HDD2.5 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Mounting Bracket - Retail
 
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soulesschild said:
I believe the V2 addresses all those issues you listed I think.
Click to expand...

Actually my issues are with the V2. The V1 had eight SATA ports plus ESATA on the back plus 8 USB ports on the back (in addition to the two on board headers.) The issue with the V1 was that the 2 extra SATA ports were being powered by a SAS controller with serious issues, so it was removed for the V2 but never replaced. If they had replaced the SAS chip with a working part, or at least slapped on the non-SAS JMicron controller used in the P5Q Deluxe and other boards, that would've been great.

Since there is very little difference between mainstream X58 boards in stability or OC headroom, it really all comes down to ports, layout, bells, whistles, etc. With X58, I think the UD-5 gives you more for the money.
 
Markyip1 said:
Actually my issues are with the V2. The V1 had eight SATA ports plus ESATA on the back plus 8 USB ports on the back (in addition to the two on board headers.) The issue with the V1 was that the 2 extra SATA ports were being powered by a SAS controller with serious issues, so it was removed for the V2 but never replaced. If they had replaced the SAS chip with a working part, or at least slapped on the non-SAS JMicron controller used in the P5Q Deluxe and other boards, that would've been great.

Since there is very little difference between mainstream X58 boards in stability or OC headroom, it really all comes down to ports, layout, bells, whistles, etc. With X58, I think the UD-5 gives you more for the money.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected then :D
 
The UD-5 looks like a great board. I will look seriously at it when I upgrade my wife's PC from C2D to i7. Thanks!

1 question: is the bios as easy to work with as the P6T? I like things to be in a similar place when I go looking for them.
 
Let’s do a 2 vendor purchase on this build. Newegg.ca and NCIX.com

CASE – LIAN LI PC-61 for $119.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112025

RAM/CPU – OCZ Gold 6GB + Intel Core i7 920 for $412.98 ($10 MIR)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.231607

HEATSINK – Xigmatek Dark Knight for $49.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

SSD – Intel X25-M 80GB for $239.99/each w/free shipping
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167005

Total: $822.95


NCIX.com

MOBO – Gigabyte EX58-UD4P for $272.06 ($20 MIR)
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35757

PSU – Antec Earthwatts 650W for $99.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=30037

OPTICAL – Samsung SH-S223B 22X DVD Burner for $32.10
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=41501

VIDEO CARD – XFX Radeon HD 4890 1GB for $219.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=37430

DRIVE ADAPTER – Silverstone SDP08 2.5” to 3.5” for $12.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=37922

HDD – WD1001FALS for $89.99 when purchased with XFX Radeon HD 4890 1GB
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=31000

Total: $727.12


Total combined purchase: $1,552.07 before shipping/handling & taxes.

You can slap in another Intel X25-M 80GB SSD and set it in RAID 0 which comes out to $1,792.06 before shipping/handling & taxes.
 
Wow, great builds guys.
Thanks a lot.
So I'm convinced on the i7 920, and the gskill ram seems to be favored as well.
If the system is primarily a gaming rig, is the GTX285 going to be the stronger card compared to the 4890? It is probably worth the extra money, no?
The rest of the parts look great, but motherboard is still a gray area.
 
I'd say that the dark knight isn'ta great cooler for the i7 because of the placement of the heatpipes, if you look at

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=292&Itemid=62

they mention that the change in the placement of the cores affect how the hdt heatpipes perform.

So bottom line is, a 4 heatpipe hdt would do much better than the dark knight's 3, since the 4 heatpipe orientation would make direct contact with the cores.

This is not to knock the dark knight though, since I am running one of my e8400, and its really great.

A 285 gtx would definitely be better, but I don't know if its worth the amount more that it is. Though i guess in this case money isnt really a limiting factor.

Also at this budget you could probable look into a nice lian li case, since they basically epitomize what you are looking for.
 
HG is like a personal shopper at those bourgeois stores. :p except he saves you money, hehe.
 
For the motherboard, lets assume you don't need nor want 7 PCI-E x16 slots (which rules out the ASUS P6T6 and P6T7 Workstation boards,) and that you don't want to pay $350+ for an ultra enthusiast board (which rules out the ASUS Rampage II Extreme and the EVGA X58 Classified.)

Given this, you can expect all the remaining options discussed on [H] and XS to be more or less equal in terms of stability and performance, which is to say that they're all quite good. With the crop of mainstream X58 boards, I prefer Gigabyte's lineup (EX58-UD3, 4, and 5) to ASUS (P6T, Pro, Deluxe, etc.) but I would recommend you go on NewEgg and compare boards. You may also want to consider DFI's options and the FoxCon Bloodrange, but I haven't researched either of these. Anyway, look at layout, features, and ports (SATA/USB/FireWire/ESATA) offered. Simply choose the one that offers what you need and/or want for the best price. In addition to the ASUS and Gigabyte lineup, also take a look the vanilla EVGA X58 3-way SLI and the new LE model (the one that's all black.) As a last alternative, there are several micro-ATX X58 boards on the market, and some of the these (like the EVGA model and the ASUS Rampage II Gene) are quite well featured for their size. Again, simply spend some time on newegg looking at pictures, prices, and specifications.
 
Another build from BestDirect.ca

BestDirect.ca

Gigabyte EX58-UD4P ATX LGA1366 for $264.88 ($20 MIR)
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/206753/GA-EX58-UD4P/Gigabyte/

Cooler Master Elite 335 Black for $42.90
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/182300/RC-335-KKN1/COOLERMASTER/

XFX Radeon HD 4890 1GB for $222.04
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/214918/HD489AZDFC/XFX/

Intel X-25M 80GB 2.5IN SATA Solid State Hard Drive for $262.47
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/216870/SSDSA2MH080G1C1/Intel/

Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB for $99.87
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/177741/WD1001FALS/Western Digital/

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD Burner for $26.75
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/216554/SH-S222A/BEBE/Samsung/

G.SKILL F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 6GB DDR3 for $115.29
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/196506/F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ/G.SKILL/

Silverstone SDP08 2.5IN to 3.5IN Converter Drive Bay for $7.59
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/215196/SDP08/Silverstone Technology/

Xigmatek Dark Knight S1283V for $47.30
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/213736/Dark Knight-S1283V/Xigmatek/

Intel Core i7 920 Quad Core for $314.28
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/198010/BX80601920/Intel/

Antec Earthwatts 650W for $84.79
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/177363/EA650/ANTEC/


Total: $1,488.16
Free Ground Shipping
 
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Hardware Canucks has a nice "round up" (four seperate reviews but they use old data in the new pictures) of Intels SSD, the old CORE OCZ SSD, and the two new illidenx (torqX and Falcon) SSDs.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru.../19384-patriot-torqx-128gb-ssd-review-11.html
note the intels lack-luster write performance.

That said, if you guys are talking about the new 34nm drives, they arnt quite the same, but the difference performance difference measured there (almost 70%?) between the illidenX and the intel drives is probably more architectural, thus a simple shrink and faster clocks probably wont make a huge difference.

And yeah, I just bought a 64GB Gskill Falcon SSD and the performance difference is intresting. Its not dramatic, but it really is nice. Theres just no hard drive lag. the windows 7 boot-up doesnt quite get through the full loading animation (the four things form together to get the windows flag, and then just as its about to hit maximum brightness I'm at the logon screen). When I log on I cant catch messenger on the loading stage, steam is talking to its master akami server, and MIRC is connecting. L4D loads faster but not instantaneously...

the best part about these things, for me at least, is their scalabillity in raid, http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/07/06/ssd_raid_scaling_under_windows_7/. Even on old ICH10R, the performance is upward of 90% for up to 3 drives. Sounds good to me.

was it worth $240 CAD? in other words, would I have been happier spending the money on a Q9550, or perhalps a new graphics card? I think not... so yeah, I guess I'm happy with it, but not blown away. The start-up time is really nice.
 
something a little different :) but should net you a nice frame rate. Ram and hd is lower then what you asked for, but that could easily be changed.

3793935355_2c446393b6_b.jpg
 
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