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New Rig for $3000

J

JamesLister

n00b
Joined
Apr 23, 2013
Messages
21
Time to retire my trusty old Athlon 64 with IDE drives & running XP Pro has become a BSOD nightmare.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Web browsing, PaintShop, Gaming (FPS), Rip DVD & light video clipping.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Trying to keep under $3000
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Connecticut, USA
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, Mobo, RAM (?16GB), case, fans, video card
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Current system is pretty ancient Athlon 64 3500 in MSI K8N Neo2, 1 GB, ATI X800, SB X-Fi Fatality, so doubt any worth keeping. Samsung SyncMaster XL2370 (1920x1080) still works
6) Will you be overclocking?
mildly
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
23" 1920 x 1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
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.
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?
Have XP Pro but plan on buying Win 7 Pro


Have built 3 rigs in the old days of HL1/2, TFC, CS, Battlefield, Farcry...but none since 2005. No idea of current technology, but used Falcon NW to give me an idea with what I think would work with this setup:

Talon box with performance fan
PS-SilverStone 1000W
Mobo-Asus P8Z77-V Standard
CPU-Intel i7 3770K 3.5GHz
CPU Asetek Liquid Cooling
RAM-1866MHz 2 x 8GB matched (? Brand)
Video-GeForce GTX 660Ti 2GB
On Board Audio with existing M-Audio 5.1 speakers
HD-WD Black 2TB & 2nd Black 4TB​
 
$3000 machine to be viewed through an old 1080p Samsung? NO! I would consider a 2550x1440 27" in your budget. Or maybe a few months later when you have some more money to spedn.
 
Yeah, that's a very good point, and will likely do that monitor upgrade later this year.

First I have to figure out best selection of components. Would like to be able to run cutting edge FPS games, but that's only going to be 25% of use. Kind of wondering if I should go with one of the complete build vendors since it takes so long to evaluate, price, and choose each component.
 
Wow - buying a Falcon Northwest machine (assumption based on Talon case) for $3000 with no SSD, a pointless 1KW PSU and a lackluster 660TI. have fun with that.
 
Whether or not to go with a vendor like Puget Systems, Maingear, or Velocity Micro to build your PC is largely dependent on how you value your time and your technical expertise. You will be paying a higher priced for the PC (generally $400 to $500 with the abvoe vendors) but you get support and 99% chance of a solid well built PC. If you have any issues, you can easily call up the vendor you chose and get the support you need as well as handling of any returns or RMAs.

So before we set you up with a build list, you first need to figure out whether or not you want to do a prebuilt PC or a DIY PC. No I don't recommend Falcon NW, Alienware, CyberpowerPC, or iBuypowerPC. The vendors don't all have the same parts available so we will have to tailor the build to what's available to the vendor.
 
There's really no reason to put that much into a PC. Certainly not for any of the uses you outlined. It would be foolish; you can have a very high end system for half of that. Add $3-400 if you want to upgrade to a Korean 1440p (LG or Samsung panels).
 
This is what you really need. No, really:

$220 - Intel Core i5-3570K
$29 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
$135 - Asus P8Z77-V LK
$115 - Corsair Vengeance LP 2x8GB DDR3 1600
$21 - LG GH24NS95B SATA DVD burner
$250 - Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD
$135 - Seagate Barracuda 3TB HDD
$310 - MSI GTX 660 Ti 3GB
$115 - Corsair HX750 750W modular PSU
=====
$1330 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Even with a decent case and the operating system, you'd spend roughly half of your budget. As for the parts I chose:

- You said nothing that suggested that you need the Hyper Threading support from the i7-3770K. The i5-3570K is otherwise only 200MHz slower (yet easily overclockable).
- The $30 Hyper 212 CPU cooler would perform about as well as the Asetek liquid cooler for a fraction of the cost. For a mild CPU overclock, you don't need anything more than that.
- You'll see no performance benefit from RAM faster than DDR3 1600.
- The Samsung 840 Pro SSD is a much faster primary drive than the WD Black. You have more than enough room in your budget to grab one of the best SSDs around.
- There are better deals right now for 3TB hard drives than 4TB drives. Plus, the 3TB drives generally perform better.
- The power requirement of this generation of video cards is considerably lower than previous generations. The Corsair HX750 has more than enough juice for a dual-GPU setup.

So, as Danny Bui mentioned earlier, do you prefer to build your own system or buy one from a third party?
 
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tiraides said:
- You said nothing that suggested that you need the Hyper Threading support from the i7-3770K. The i5-3570K is otherwise only 200MHz slower (yet easily overclockable).
Click to expand...
OP did mention DVD ripping and video clipping (implied video editing), both of which benefits from hyperthreading.
3770k is better for him in this case.
 
Video editing is a mixed bag... if the OP is using professional-level software, then sure, go with the i7-3770K. But if he's going with the cheaper consumer-level software, then he doesn't really need it.

I'll concede the DVD ripping point when I hear an answer to this: How often do you rip DVDs?
 
Given that ~$3000 budget, if OP wants to take it to the next level, he can easily go for a 2x GTX 680 SLI setup with a 120hz monitor, with the old monitor serving as a side panel. I built my latest system with a similar budget.
 
Only thing I would do differently if I had $3k to burn on a single system is go with a more powerful GPU, 512GB version of the SSD, bigger screen (1440P) and one hell of a sound system to back up the visuals. I would also go with a BD burner as well; but I'd get a drive that comes with PowerDVD to watch Blurays on the PC if I so desired.

Then again, I got close to $3k between my three systems.
 
This is exactly the kind of feedback I'd hoped for. I don't need to waste money, but was guessing on a price for a better system, knowing that FNW was always the most overpriced. I don't want to just scrimp by with the bare minimum

I would rather build my own as I have done with 3 rigs in the past....but I've been out of the loop for >8 years, so was embarassed how much I don't know the latest technologies. I quoted the list from FNW's Talon so I didn't sound like a total wad. Remember I'm using an old Athlon 64 3500, 1 GB Ram, ATI X800 in AGP slot, old IDE HD's, XP Pro. No Sata, No PCI express, no Ram drivesXP Pro

Video ripping/editing is low key (2-4 per week) consumer level with simple (non-professional) programs. Would like to watch BR, but doesn't make sense to try and burn to BR.

Back in the old days you needed wayyyy more power than you ever thought you might, so I likely overstated that too. Sounds like I should be more in the $1500-2,000 range?
 
Well, some of us would recommend getting a 30" monitor as well, so you could use the ~$1000 you have left on a Dell U3011. 1600p will be a quality resolution for a while yet.
 
JamesLister said:
Sounds like I should be more in the $1500-2,000 range?
Click to expand...
Yup. Tiraides' build is a great place to start from.

Here's a list of cases to choose from:
$70 - Corsair Carbide Series 300R ATX Case
$98 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$92 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$110 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Arctic White ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7HX Black Aluminum ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002GR Black Finish w/Green Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White ATX Case
$126 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Black Pearl ATX Case
$135 - Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey ATX Case
$136 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$165 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$168 - Silverstone TJ04B-EW ATX Case
$167 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case
$240 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case
$245 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW ATX Case
 
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Last edited:
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1tb SSD seems really overkill imo

You don't really need stuff like movies/clips/pictures/music on an ssd, which takes up the most of the space, so you're left with games, OS and some basic programs, who really uses up that much space for those things?

I mean if you feel like you can make a use for that, go for it, but I just don't find a reason to pointlessly throw money down the drain
 
Magix said:
1tb SSD seems really overkill imo

You don't really need stuff like movies/clips/pictures/music on an ssd, which takes up the most of the space, so you're left with games, OS and some basic programs, who really uses up that much space for those things?

I mean if you feel like you can make a use for that, go for it, but I just don't find a reason to pointlessly throw money down the drain
Click to expand...

Oh it's completely overkill.
I was just trying to demonstrate what 2k will get you.

Save $400 and get a smaller one, that's what I'd do.
 
Zangmonkey said:
Motherboard: Maximus Gene V $190
CPU: i7 3770K $310
Case: Silverstone TJ08e $95
GPU: ASUS GTX670 DCU $414
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 16GB low-voltage $152
PSU: Seasonic Platinum fanless 520W (still overkill for single GPU setup) $150
SSD: Crucial M4 960GB (your choice on size, cheaper for smaller...) $600

Cool and quiet.
Add a quiet and performant aftermarket CPU cooler of your choice and you're still under $2000
Click to expand...

That's similar to my build! :)

I agree with the cool & quiet focus, and have a few addendum/suggestions to go along with that.

65W Core i7-3770S: $305
Heatsink-only CPU cooler: $66

While I love the Silverstone TJ08, with the flexibility his needs allow he could go even smaller with an ITX build with something like a Bitfenix Prodigy case.
 
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Starting with tiraides earlier suggestion.

Thinking of some small bump ups to have a better performance with latest FPS games (FarCry3, Chrysis3, Battlefield, Left4Dead, etc.) like going to:

Asus P8Z77-V LGA1155 (Not sure why the different mobo Zangmonkey's Maximus Gene V)
Intel 3.5GHz Core i7-3770K

I can't figure out all the differences of these Asus P8Z77-V mobos when I get this search at Amazon. I know I don't need the deluxe/Pro ones, but was trying to figure out what features the others have that are all under $200. Was hoping to get a better quality on board sound for watching BR movies and playing games.

Any difference between tiraides recommended ASUS GTX670 DCU $414 & the MSI GTX670 PE model I saw in the MaximumPC Best of the Best list & reviewed here?

Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD sounds like a good OS choice, but not sure how that compares to Zangmonkey's Crucial M4 240GB SSD.

The 3TB Seagate drives looks good.
1600 RAM Corsair (tiraides) vs. Crucial (Zangmonkey) is confusing as to which is a better choice.
Corsair HX750 750W modular PSU cause I might add more components.

Thanks for all the help here.
 
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JamesLister said:
Thinking of some small bump ups to have a better performance with latest FPS games (FarCry3, Chrysis3, Battlefield, Left4Dead, etc.) like going to:

Asus P8Z77-V LGA1155 (Not sure why the different mobo Zangmonkey's Maximus Gene V)
Click to expand...
The Maximus Gene V is technically a higher quality mobo than the Asus P8Z77-V. Plus it'll fit inside the mATX case Zangmonkey recommended as the P8Z77-LK is an ATX mobo. I generally only recommend the Gene V for mATX setups, not ATX setups.

JamesLister said:
Intel 3.5GHz Core i7-3770K
Click to expand...
In terms of gaming performance, the difference is not enough to justify the extra $100. What will justify that extra $100 is if you're doing a ton of high-end video editing, virtualization, 3D editing, audio editing, etc. Since you haven't mentioned doing any of that, no reason to go with the 3770K.

JamesLister said:
I can't figure out all the differences of these Asus P8Z77-V mobos when I get this search at Amazon. I know I don't need the deluxe/Pro ones, but was trying to figure out what features the others have that are all under $200. Was hoping to get a better quality on board sound for watching BR movies and playing games.
Click to expand...
You can see the differences for yourself here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...$$$$$$$;13-131-823:$$$$$$$;13-131-820:$$$$$$$

In terms of audio though, all of those mobos have virtually the same audio. You're better off buying a seperate sound card than to find a mobo with good integrated sound since it'll be more cost-effective and you won't have to replace the mobo should the sound go out.
JamesLister said:
Any difference between tiraides recommended ASUS GTX670 DCU $414 & the MSI GTX670 PE model I saw in the MaximumPC Best of the Best list & reviewed here?
Click to expand...
Both are solid cards. It comes down to which company you trust the most and which is the cheapest.

JamesLister said:
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD sounds like a good OS choice, but not sure how that compares to Zangmonkey's Crucial M4 240GB SSD.
Click to expand...
Well he listed the wrong SSD: he linked the Crucial M500, not the M4. In any case, I'd recommend the Samsung 840 Pro since it has higher performance from what I can tell and it's been on the market longer so most of the major bugs should be fixed.

JamesLister said:
1600 RAM Corsair (tiraides) vs. Crucial (Zangmonkey) is confusing as to which is a better choice.
Click to expand...
Tiraides for sure since Zango's choice is ridiculously overpriced for what it is.
 
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Danny Bui said:
The Maximus Gene V is technically a higher quality mobo than the Asus P8Z77-V. Plus it'll fit inside the mATX case Zangmonkey recommended as the P8Z77-LK is an ATX mobo. I generally only recommend the Gene V for mATX setups, not ATX setups.
Click to expand...

I got the impression the OP wasn't very cost-sensitive.
The Gene V is one of the best motherboards on the market today regardless of form factor. Plus, I've been biased towards the TJ08-e for my last few builds.

Both are solid cards. It comes down to which company you trust the most and which is the cheapest.
Click to expand...

The Asus card is quieter, according to SPCR.

Tiraides for sure since Zango's choice is ridiculously overpriced for what it is.
Click to expand...

I just searched for 1.35v, low latency ram. I didn't spend too much time comparing because I was just trying to demonstrate that premium is available well under OP's price point.
 
So you're giving him unreasonably expensive components just because it's below his price point?

Tell ya what, put together a cost efficient system and put a link to donate the rest to charity
 
Magix said:
So you're giving him unreasonably expensive components just because it's below his price point?

Tell ya what, put together a cost efficient system and put a link to donate the rest to charity
Click to expand...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148658

$129 at NewEgg. (I clicked the NewZon link and pasted it here)
So hardly "unreasonably expensive", especially compared to the corsair ram which was also proposed.

Not to mention the lower voltage and lower latency than the 1.5v, CAS9 memory.

Go ahead and find 1.35v RAM in CAS8 for cheaper.

Does he need 1.35v? Does he need CAS8? Probably not.
Does he need 16GB? Probably not.
Does he need a GTX670? Probably not.

A rig is speculated from budget and use request. Given the budget, I'll take higher-quality, quieter and more power-efficient equipment every time.

OP didn't ask "how much computer do I need?"
 
I'm getting pretty settled on cloning Tiraides earlier post, except I think I'm gonna splurge for the 3770 CPU even if it's not absolutely necessary. In part, I might be doing more video, but then I also saw this post for the BF3 game I know I will be playing where there was a difference in actual performance..

Also leaning towards the Asus GeForce GTX 670-DC2

Now I just need to settle on a case--I'm planning on needing 4-5 of the 3 TB drives (have a crapload of music and video files), and a nice BR that hopefully is packaged with PowerDVD.
 
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Zangmonkey said:
The Gene V is one of the best motherboards on the market today regardless of form factor.
Click to expand...
I'd have to disagree simply because I dislike the fact that it's a $200 mobo yet is only a mATX. Makes sense to me for a mATX build. Doesn't make sense for an ATX build to me since I'd rather have the extra space.
JamesLister said:
The Asus card is quieter, according to SPCR.
Click to expand...
Ahh, I did not know that.
JamesLister said:
I'm getting pretty settled on cloning Tiraides earlier post, except I think I'm gonna splurge for the 3770 CPU even if it's not absolutely necessary. In part, I might be doing more video, but then I also saw this post for the BF3 game I know I will be playing where there was a difference in actual performance..
Click to expand...
The poster didn't provide any proof of the results of his upgrade. And that's only a single forum post. So for gaming, jury is still out on that until you can find actual proof. But for video editing/rendering, yeahh go for the 3770K if you're actually going to be doing a ton of it. Otherwise, you could use that $100 on a larger/faster SSD or faster video card or better case or more hard drives.
 
Yeah I'm not buying 25+ FPS gain going from an i5 3570k to an i7 3770k, much less averaging 30+ with the switch.

However, if it were me and given your budget, you have the money to spend on an i7 3770k, I would go for it. I splurged for an i7 setup with my rig with half your budget when I originally put mine together and it really comes in handy when I'm converting video files, to test settings and what not. Once I get what I want, I just toss the load over to my NAS.
 
I agree on not wanting the mATX. I like the extra space too.

Danny Bui said:
The poster didn't provide any proof of the results of his upgrade. And that's only a single forum post. So for gaming, jury is still out on that until you can find actual proof. But for video editing/rendering, yeahh go for the 3770K if you're actually going to be doing a ton of it. Otherwise, you could use that $100 on a larger/faster SSD or faster video card or better case or more hard drives.
Click to expand...

I appreciate you continuing to hold the line to make this point. I have not bought my parts yet, but have them in my Amazon Prime cart, and I am going to switch to the 3750. I was mostly leaning towards the 3770 because I saw it on the Falcon & MaximumPC lists, rather than using your rational approach. I don't know why it seems easy to talk yourself into wasting money sometimes. :eek:

I did do a google on "Battlefield 3 multithreading" and several better sources, including this 2011 Guru3D review, and a System Build Guide at this site also from 2011 indicate it does use multithreading. I think there are very few games that use multi-threading, and since Battlefield3 is 2 years old, it would still perform extremely well with the 3750 you recommended.

Any suggestions on a good case with room for a bunch of HD's?

I didn't find any BR that come with PowerDVD, so that's another software upgrade.

Do you guys recommend Win7 Pro?
 
JamesLister said:
Why do you say that?
Click to expand...

You have the money so why not. ;)

Plus you'll actually notice a difference between them unlike the 3570K vs the 3770K. I actually regret getting my 2600K over the 2500K. Probably could of hit 5GHz with a 2500K. :(
 
Danny Bui said:
Did you not see the giant list of cases I posted two days ago in post #15? All of those cases are good.


If you're going to be using more than 16GB of RAM, yes. If not, no.
Click to expand...

16 GB also includes vRAM so I would deffinatky go pro because if the OP wants 16 GB of ram in the future he will need a new OS because 16+4 equals 20 gb.
 
Danny Bui said:
Did you not see the giant list of cases I posted two days ago in post #15? All of those cases are good.
Click to expand...

Yes, I just thought maybe you had a few favorites out of that list with more HD capacity. It's kind of hard to see if some are more functional beyond cosmetic appeal. I do appreciate your list though.
 
Those cases are selected not only from a cosmetic stand point, but also from a quality stand point as well. Those cases all provide adequate cooling out the box for modern systems, solid construction, and most do have room for a good bit of hard drives. In fact, I am pretty sure the "smallest" case on that list has room for like 6 3.5" HDDs, not counting the 300R which I think houses 4.

If you really need a lot of room and don't want to spend a lot of money, may I suggest the NZXT Source 210 Elite case... has room for 8 drives and is cheaper than all the cases in that list.

What's your idea of "a bunch" of hard drives?
 
Skillz said:
Those cases are selected not only from a cosmetic stand point, but also from a quality stand point as well. Those cases all provide adequate cooling out the box for modern systems, solid construction, and most do have room for a good bit of hard drives. In fact, I am pretty sure the "smallest" case on that list has room for like 6 3.5" HDDs, not counting the 300R which I think houses 4.

If you really need a lot of room and don't want to spend a lot of money, may I suggest the NZXT Source 210 Elite case... has room for 8 drives and is cheaper than all the cases in that list.

What's your idea of "a bunch" of hard drives?
Click to expand...

OK, good to know those are all great cases. I would like enough room for 6 HD's plus BR reader & SSD
 
JamesLister said:
Yes, I just thought maybe you had a few favorites out of that list with more HD capacity. It's kind of hard to see if some are more functional beyond cosmetic appeal. I do appreciate your list though.
Click to expand...

To expand a little on what Skillz said: Every single one of those cases are my "favorite". Otherwise I would not recommend them. While case look does account for like 90% of the reason why I recommend a case, I do factor everything else that Skillz said in the remaining 10%.

Also, are you planning on waiting until you move or what?
 
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