New build help $1400-1600

[McRackin]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming ie. BF3
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1400-1600 tax included
3) Where do you live?
Vancouver, BC
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.
CPU, Mainboard, RAM, HDD, SSD, Vid Card, Power Supply, Case, Blu-ray writer, gaming keyboard/mouse (prefer cordless mouse)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Will re-use Windows Vista 64 until new windows is released
6) Will you be overclocking?
Haven't decided, have no experience doing so
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Have a 24" 1920x1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
1-2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
usb 3.0
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
vista 64x


Note the SDD only needs to be large enough to accommodate windows and a few apps, maybe 1 game.
And IF all things (price/performance) equal, I prefer AMD/Radeon

 

[walwalka]

To be honest I would wait it out another month, or if you need a new rig now. I would buy an AM3+ board and an inexpensive CPU, the reason being is bulldozer. While we haven't seen any benchmarks, it should be a bit faster than Deneb and Thuban. I would like to say it's faster than Sandy Bridge, but we just don't know yet.

This would probably be the motherboard I would start with, It's the board I plan to purchase in a couple weeks.
Gigabyte GA-99XA-UD3

Xfx HD6870

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB

Noctua NH-D14

Corsair TX750M

Crucial M4 64GB

Seagate 2TB

Sony Blu-ray burner

As far as a case goes, that's really personal preference. I like the Fractal design Define R3 alot, I can't find the black one on newegg right now but here is the white one to just look.
Fractal Designs Define R3

Everyone will hate on me, but I like backlit keys.
Razer Black widow keyboard

Currently own this mouse and love it!
Logitech G700


For your CPU I would go with the FX-8150 or FX-8100 when they launch.

 

[McRackin]

Well to be honest I haven't read up on many hardware reviews for cpus. Assuming moderate benchmarks, is the i7 sandy bridge series ROUGHLY equivalent to the bulldozer series?

 

[xBanzai89]

In my opinion do not plan ahead like the poster above recommended for BD. We know the performance of the 2500K/2600K now and we know its the best on the market. Who knows if BD will be a flop or great at this point. You have the budget for a nice i5/i7 build, so go for that. Are you planning on doing any multi gpu? I will try and make something up depending on what the answer to that is.

 

[McRackin]

thanks
single gpu

 

[xBanzai89]

How much are you up for learning overclocking? Overclocking could not be more easier these days thanks to the unlock multiplier on the K series SB CPU and with such high overclocks I do believe it is worthwhile learning. Your budget allows for it as well. In my opinion just stick with the 2500K as the 2600K has no performance gains in game even with the HT and overclocks about the same as the 2500K. I have the 570 in there as its a place holder for the 6970 as their out of stock at Newegg >.>. You will want a CPU cooler if you want to overclock too like the Coolmaster Hyper 212+ is highly recommended here. I looked at the gaming keyboard/wireless mouses, but I have no idea what your preferences are on that and those are expensive, so I will let you choose that.

Fixed for the Newegg.CA

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $74.99
MSI R6970-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6970 - $326.49
Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W - $69.99
Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 - $43.49
LG BD-R - $86.99
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD - $209.99
Intel Core i5-2500K - $219.99
MSI P67A-C43 - $124.99


Total = $1,156.92 + $141.64 Tax + $23.38 Shipping = $1,321.94

Here is cases Danny_Bui recommends (Cases are on the US version of Newegg):

$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$127 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$143 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case

 

[walwalka]

I simple recommended on the rig he currently owns, it's better than what I'm using but I still plan to wait it out. If BD gets delayed again or it a flop, I'll be buying a 2500k. It's the simple fact as we don't know, I'm not in a big rush. BF3 doesn't come out till the end of October. Why not wait another week or two on top of your current week period? A week isn't as bad as, why the hell did I buy a sandy bridge when that cpu is 12x the performance and half the cost? It's totally your call though. I'm just stating how I'm handling the BD launch, I honestly really only buy AMD though. Just a personal preference.

 

[xBanzai89]

Last I knew there still isn't a hard launch date stated by AMD. Only rumor mill is saying September 19th, 2011, who knows if it maybe later. I do not understand your "buy a sandy bridge when that's 12x the performance and half the cost?" point either. Doesn't make any sense to me.