Need assistance determining build

E

Ethari

n00b
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
13
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
-High end gaming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$3500 before tax and shipping

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Akron, OH

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.

Case
Watercooling Supplies including plates, hoses, clamps, blocks, and radiators
12+ GB RAM
Intel Quad Core
1200 W Modular PSU
2x Nvidia Graphics Cards
Motherboard
Wireless Card
2-3 TB worth of storage
1 Large SSD
3x Monitors
LED controller
Thermometer interface

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?
Would like to, but need to educate myself as to how

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Looking to buy new ones

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Plan to begin accumulating parts shortly

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Several USB Ports
SATA 6GB
Capacity for upgrade
Crossfire/SLI
Space for 2x Dual GPU cards possbly

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 64-bit

Looking to build a top-end gaming system with water cooling (two or three loops), so I will need a rather large case. I would be extremely appreciative of anyone who could inform me of what parts would give me the most bang for my buck. I'm not looking to have the PC be 3D capable. Thanks in advance.
 
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Why do you need/want 2-3 SSDs? RAID, or do you have some kind of storage philosophy you'll be following? Why not just get a single large SSD (256GB or so) and then spinning drives for storage?
 
Apologies, I was at work and trying to type outs this list rather quickly. I only mean to have one large SSD. My list has now been updated. Also, I would like to use Intel chip sets and Nvidia graphics :)
 
For Nvidia graphics, I recommend 2 GTX580 3GB cards since you want to do multiple monitors.
 
$220 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
$255 - Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard + Corsair Vengeance CML16GX3M4A1600C9B 4 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM Combo
$595 - 2 x MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580 3072MB PCI-E Video Card
$398 - Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SSD
$118 - Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$280 - Antec High Current Pro HCP-1200 1200W Modular PSU
$600 - 3 x Asus VE248H Black 24" Widescreen LED Monitor
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Total: $2466 plus tax and shipping

Choose your own case. I recommend these cases:
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$140 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$170 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

As for the water cooling portion, I recommend asking over in the water cooling subforum for more info.
 
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If you plan on multimonitor gaming, I'd think about going with a pair of 6970s instead of the 580s - significantly cheaper for performance in the same ballpark, and my impression is that Eyefinity works better than Nvidia Surround (although I could be wrong about that). Heck, for less than $1100 you can go 6990+6970. Great performance from SLI 580s, but I'm not sure it's worth the price.
 
What about a TJ11?

Also, I'm not sure about the ASUS monitors. I currently own a 22' ASUS monitor and 42" 1080P Samsung HDTV. When looking between the two it always feels as if the ASUS monitor colors are kind of washed out and not as vibrant.
 
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Ethari said:
What about a TJ11?

Also, I'm not sure about the ASUS monitors. I currently own a 22' ASUS monitor and 42" 1080P Samsung HDTV. When looking between the two it always feels as if the ASUS monitor colors are kind of washed out and not as vibrant.
Click to expand...

That's because the Asus monitors are TN (twisted nematic) panels that suffers from poor horizontal/vertical viewing angles vs the 1080P lcd/tv that you have which is either an S-PVA or IPS display panel.

Consider either 3 x HP ZR24W 24" displays or 3 x Dell U2412M 24" IPS monitors
 
Ethari said:
What about a TJ11?
Click to expand...
Good case but ridiculously overpriced, especially when it has certain deficiencies as well as similarties compared to significantly cheaper cases. So basically, I don't think the TJ11 is worth it, even if you want a water cooling monster.
Ethari said:
Also, I'm not sure about the ASUS monitors. I currently own a 22' ASUS monitor and 42" 1080P Samsung HDTV. When looking between the two it always feels as if the ASUS monitor colors are kind of washed out and not as vibrant.
Click to expand...
Fair point made by HG. Also the monitors that he recommended are often the same ones I saw recommended for Eyefinity. However I cheaped out on the monitors to save room for both the water cooling setup and case. With that said, your budget for a water cooling setup may be affect as your total with the HP or Dell monitors would be around $2900 to $3000. Then add the case and you would probably only have $200 to $300 left for the water cooling setup. I'm not an expert on water cooling but that does seem like too low of a budget for a water cooling setup. Well AFAIK anyway.
 
Thanks for the heads up on the monitors. I believe I'll probably be going with dell since I've always known them to be a solid brand for monitors. I may wait and add the water cooling setup at a later date.

What about temperature monitors and a switch to turn off any lights I put in the case. Are there any specific brands or models that you guys would suggest?

Something like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998038 with better lighting.
 
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