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$2400 Gaming Build, Need Help

P

PaleRider101

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
82
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming mostly, Some 3D design just for fun (Blender, MeshLab) and some Photoshop
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Somewhere around $2400 not including tax/shipping
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US, OK
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.
complete air cooled, Intel i7 build (No AMD)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Im not reusing any parts. Completely new build.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No (with this build I should need to, at least for a couple of years)
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
120hz LCD is a must. I plan on using Nvidia 3D products
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
anytime (Im in no hurry, but I'd like to build it in the next couple of months)
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.
SLI (No ATI)
x2 SSD in Raid 0 (optional)
+16GB RAM
USB Gaming Circumaural 5.1 Gaming Headset /w Mic
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I need a copy of W7 Ultimate 64bit
 
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Are you reusing any parts from your sig rig?

The 2400 dollars includes money allocated for a 3d monitor, i'm assuming?

How large of a monitor do you want?
24" or 27"
How many 3d vision glasses do you require?

Do you feel that you would benifit from having a hex core processor?
 
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Are you willing to wait for Intel's Ivy Bridge or Nvidia's Kepler to arrive (within the next few months, April/May at the earliest)?

As a follow up to avddreamr, how many monitors do you want? Do you already have a particular monitor in mind?
 
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SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV02-BW Matte black 0.8mm Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811163154
-$30.00 Instant
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$199.99
$169.99


Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148834
$129.99


ASUS VG Series VG278H Black 27" 2 ms (Gray to gray) HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824236206
-$40.00 Instant
$699.99
$659.99


SAPPHIRE 21197-00-40G Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814102961
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$549.99


XFX Core Edition PRO750W (P1-750S-NLB9) 750W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified ...
Item #: N82E16817207015
-$20.00 Instant
$119.99
$99.99


G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9Q-16GAB
Item #: N82E16820231547
$89.99


ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131771
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate Card
$179.99


Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 ...
Item #: N82E16819115070
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
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$324.99


COOLER MASTER RR-H612-20PK-R1 120mm Sleeve Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835103103
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$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
$49.99


Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2BAA 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820148526
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$60.00 Instant
$374.99
$314.99
Subtotal: $2,569.90

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You can save 25 dollars buy purchasing the SSD from tiger direct, there are always some deals going on where you can get a 256 gb ssd.

Replace the 7970 with gtx680, should launch at the same price, and give you greater performance.

If you switch to a 23/24" you will hit your budget, however this ASUS 27" seems to be the best 3d monitor at the moment. I could be wrong, I'm not exactly an expert at that department.
 
Are you reusing any parts from your sig rig?
No
The 2400 dollars includes money allocated for a 3d monitor, i'm assuming?
Yes, this should include the monitor, 2400 is a rough number. Im willing to pay a little more
How large of a monitor do you want?
27"
How many 3d vision glasses do you require?
1 pair
Do you feel that you would benifit from having a hex core processor?
not sure
 
Are you willing to wait for Intel's Ivy Bridge or Nvidia's Kepler to arrive (within the next few months, April/May at the earliest)?
Yes, Im willing to wait (although I dont like buying hardware that just hit the market.)
As a follow up to avddreamr, how many monitors do you want? Do you already have a particular monitor in mind?
I wouldn't mind having the 3D surround. But I can wait to buy the 2 extra monitors
 
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I think invariably that you should wait, a bit longer.
When ivy bridge comes out, that means that there will be 2600k's available for less money
You will probably want kepler, you'll need a 650-750w psu if you intend to sli in the future, you maybe be able to make due with less.

I remember reading that LG, was coming out with an IPS 27" 3d 120hz lcd, with an ultra thin bezel something like 2mm. So you may want to research that.

The Silverstone Raven, Fortress Series of cases, seem to do very well when air cooling video cards.
There are other cases available, that will do the job for less money, but won't cool as well with a relatively low level of noise.

IF you elect to go hex core, you are looking at 300 more for the cpu, and at least 60 dollars for the motherboard. Although you may benefit when you are rendering something.... you won't benefit all that much when you are gaming.

In the mean time, pick up an ssd and image over your installation... so you can deal with the upgradeitus for the next 2 months. The ssds may come down in price but nothing revolutionary will come out in that time frame, and you may spend at most 30 dollars more now.
 
avddreamr said:
I think invariably that you should wait, a bit longer.
When ivy bridge comes out, that means that there will be 2600k's available for less money
You will probably want kepler, you'll need a 650-750w psu if you intend to sli in the future, you maybe be able to make due with less.
Click to expand...

That's not true. Historically, Intel normally prices its newer processors similar to, if not lower than its older models. Intel's priority will be to convince people to buy Ivy Bridge, not Sandy Bridge.

The price drops for the older components likely won't come until they've reached end-of-life status.

avddreamr said:
IF you elect to go hex core, you are looking at 300 more for the cpu, and at least 60 dollars for the motherboard. Although you may benefit when you are rendering something.... you won't benefit all that much when you are gaming.
Click to expand...

If you want a hex-core with Intel, you're locking at the Socket 2011 platform. The extra costs not only include the hex-core processor, but also an X79 motherboard and a quad-channel set of RAM (e.g., a 4x4GB set, though it's cheaper to go with eight 4GB sticks of RAM than four 8GB sticks).

If gaming is the priority (of what you'll do at least 60% of your time on the computer), then I recommend sticking with the Socket 1155 platform. For your rendering, however, I would also recommend a 4x4GB quad-channel set (you can use a RAMdisk to convert some of your memory into a super-fast swap disk).
 
Combo deals.... newegg will often temporarily create very attractive combo deals on last gen tech once the launch happens.
Alternatively if the price is the same for ivy bridge and he elects not to go hex core...
then he should get ivy bridge.

tiraides said:
That's not true. Historically, Intel normally prices its newer processors similar to, if not lower than its older models. Intel's priority will be to convince people to buy Ivy Bridge, not Sandy Bridge.

The price drops for the older components likely won't come until they've reached end-of-life status.



If you want a hex-core with Intel, you're locking at the Socket 2011 platform. The extra costs not only include the hex-core processor, but also an X79 motherboard and a quad-channel set of RAM (e.g., a 4x4GB set, though it's cheaper to go with eight 4GB sticks of RAM than four 8GB sticks).

If gaming is the priority (of what you'll do at least 60% of your time on the computer), then I recommend sticking with the Socket 1155 platform. For your rendering, however, I would also recommend a 4x4GB quad-channel set (you can use a RAMdisk to convert some of your memory into a super-fast swap disk).
Click to expand...

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Again,
Hex core 2011, 600 dollars ,or about 300 more than a 2600k, motherboards start at 219 or so for x79, where as he can get an sli 1155 for 150 or less.
Minimum price for going x79 is going to be 350-380 more, if the gtx 680 launches at 500 that's a significant percentage to go sli.

If it were me, I would go socket 2011, one could eventually go tri-sli if he intends to do surround gaming in 3d. That would probably require getting a beefier psu at first.

However that will basically double his budget, another 1000 for the pair of sli cards, 1200 for the matching monitors, and at least 100 for a beefier psu.

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However if you never plan to go tri-sli, and rendering is not that much of a priority, then get a 2600k + the prettiest sli mobo that has features that you might actually use.
 
If you have a friend that lives near a microcenter they have a facebook coupon where you get the I7 2600k for $250, but you have to buy it in store. Normal price for them is $280 so still worth it compared to the Egg if you end up going that route.

I would probably go with a nice Z68 motherboard so you can bump up to Ivy when it comes out rather than wait for a brand new chip, you can get a 2600k now and then upgrade later when IB is stable and proven (not saying it won't be on release, but frankly their release schedule is very unstable).

As for RAM and the like if you have the time I would wait for the deals to show up on Newegg or anywhere and buy when they are on sale, its a good way to get everything you want at a reasonable price.

And if you want SLI I would def wait until Kepler comes out because that (should) be very good and it will push down the 580 in price so you can save some more there if you aren't really impressed with Kepler.
 
Noticed you listed 2x SSD Raid O. Read up on Trim as it is (unless it has changed in a new driver) Trim doesn't work in a Raid configuration. Without that, drive performance degrades quickly, meaning in a month or two your performance could be slower then a single drive.

Till that changes as far as I know the consensus is to get a drive that is the capacity you want instead looking to Raid them. Also as you scale higher, write performance goes up. It doesn't scale perfectly and it stops for most series at the 512GB size.
 
Thanks everyone.. There are a lot of good ideas here. I've decided to wait for Intel's and Nvidia's new releases...

And I wont do 2 SSD's in Raid 0
 
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