My next gaming build

[blizter]

I made this build on a budget of 2000$. I want the pc to last for a long time, be able to play games at high setting for at least 2 years. I will use the computer for video editing too.

I want to know if you had any bad experience with those components and what are your suggestions to make the system better or cheaper.

First of all, I am going with the basic case :
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 120$

For the processor, I chose to go Intel, because they have better motherboards supporting it. And because they have the nice I7 and I read they are better than the phenoms.
Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX8060196 300$

To cool off the cpu, I almost went for a h50 or h70, but choose the ZALMAN 9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler because it is popular with very very good reviews. 50$

For my motherboard, I wanted support for usb 3.0 and sata 6g. After checking for quite a bit, I chose the ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard good reviews, support for 3-way sli and crossfire if I ever need it. But most of all, it also supports ddr 1600. 320$

So for the memory, 2x CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C8D total 260$ For a total of 12GB memory, that for the video editing. And for gaming too. Beside, 130$ for 6gb was cheap.

I chose to cool off the memory but it may be overkill. I figured 6 memory slots memory must heat a lot. So I'm going to use 2x CORSAIR CMXAF2 Fan & Heatsinks

Now for the video card, I heard gtx 470 was good. I chose EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card But the reviews say that the stock fans are cheap, noisy, and card can heat up to 100C. 260$

So i'm going to use ZALMAN VF3000F(GTX470/465) VGA Cooler with dual 92mm fans, Fan Mate 2, Super Thermal Grease, IHD technology, Nvidia Fermi GTX470 and GTX 465 Apparently, it makes no noise and reduce heat to 65C on heavy load. 80$

Now for the hard drives.
SSD for operating system (I'm new to ssd): Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) 140$
And 2x (in raid0) : Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive 2x 75$

And a standard hdmi 200$ monitor. Probably a VH236H. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059

I already own a 1000W modular psu that I am going to use for this computer.


Please note that I will only buy this computer in 6 months, so the price might be lower.

 

[bastage]

Please note that I will only buy this computer in 6 months, so the price might be lower.

Ask again in 5.5 month then so we can help with a build list.

That aside the build list is not good at all. Horrible bang for buck Lower performance then you could get with a i7-2600

 

[blizter]

I see, it seems sandy bridge is much cheaper and better, and Sata III is probably overrated. And Sandy bridge is gonna be a much better option in 6 months. I see what you mean.

 

[Dangman]

My notes:
- Even now that Antec 900 case is a piss poor choice for a case considering that there are significantly roomier cases with better cablemanagement for around the same price right now.

- If it says Dominator in the name, 95% likely it's overpriced. $130 for 6GB is not cheap at all considering that $80 to $85 will get you 8GB of DDR3 RAM. In addition, with the Sandy Bridge CPUs, you do not need DDR3 1600 RAM whatsoever, even if you're planning on overclocking.

- The GTX 470 is an overpriced card these days. 6 months from now there will be a faster card for the same price or a similiar performing card for a lower price. Hell that's the case right now with the HD 6870 1GB and HD 6950 1GB cards and the GTX 470.

- The C300 SSD is a good SSD right now. But in a few months it will be replaced by the C400 series and Intel's G3 SSDs are due out then

All in all, your best bet for the most up-to-date advice would be to ask about 2-3 weeks before your actual buy/build date. Otherwise, you're screwing yourself over by doing all this early research.

 

[Ammothief41]

For the prices that you quoted for the 470 and aftermarket cooler, you'd be within $50 or less of getting a 570. And the 560 ti is a nice card that comes in at the same price bracket as the 470.

 

[blizter]

My notes:
- Even now that Antec 900 case is a piss poor choice for a case considering that there are significantly roomier cases with better cablemanagement for around the same price right now.

- If it says Dominator in the name, 95% likely it's overpriced. $130 for 6GB is not cheap at all considering that $80 to $85 will get you 8GB of DDR3 RAM. In addition, with the Sandy Bridge CPUs, you do not need DDR3 1600 RAM whatsoever, even if you're planning on overclocking.

- The GTX 470 is an overpriced card these days. 6 months from now there will be a faster card for the same price or a similiar performing card for a lower price. Hell that's the case right now with the HD 6870 1GB and HD 6950 1GB cards and the GTX 470.

- The C300 SSD is a good SSD right now. But in a few months it will be replaced by the C400 series and Intel's G3 SSDs are due out then

All in all, your best bet for the most up-to-date advice would be to ask about 2-3 weeks before your actual buy/build date. Otherwise, you're screwing yourself over by doing all this early research.

Nice post, thank you. I stand corrected, most popular is not necessarily the best.

 

[Dangman]

Nice post, thank you. I stand corrected, most popular is not necessarily the best.

Exactly.

See you in 5 1/2 months from now.