Hi everyone, its been a while (5 years!). Its about time I replace my aging computer, and realized that I am completly ignorant on the status of today's hardware. So, of course, I am asking for your help
!
I want to build a best-bang-for-the-buck computer that can drive 3 monitors at 1920 x 1200 each and play some modern games at a respectable graphics level. What i mean by best bang for the buck (Ignoring the monitors): Instead of spending $2000 on a tower and trying to make it last 5 years, I'd rather spend $1000 now and build another $1000 tower 2.5 years later. Or something along those lines.
Before I get too indepth, I'll start off with the nifty fill-in-the-blank form and try to elaborate further down:
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, Internet, 1080 flash videos (youtube)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget is fairly flexible. I am aiming for a $1500 - $2000 system, including monitors. I do not want to spend anything over $2500.
3) Where do you live?
Dallas, Tx (driving distance to both a Fry's and a Microcenter)
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, Motherboard, Ram, a PSU if my current one is not enough (see below), Video Card, would like to have harddrives and a SSD but not absolutly necessary, and maybe a bluray drive
EDIT: oh, and any alternate suggestions for monitors would also be welcome!
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
If I can cannabalize any parts from my old computer, I will:
Case: Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Video Card Cooler: ZALMAN VF900 – CU 2 Ball VGA Cooler
CPU Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU 120mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER
PSU: PC Power and Cooling S61EPS 610W;
DVD Burner: SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
Hard drives: a 160Gb and two 500Gb drives
6) Will you be overclocking?
yes, eventually
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
three 27" LCD monitors at 1920 x 1200 each
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I would like to buy the parts as soon as possible, but am willing to wait a few weeks if better deals are over the horizon.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
I am not 100% sure. I'm guessing Raid 5, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, sandwich maker...
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
yes, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
I do have a few questions:
How will today's best-bang-for-the-buck computer fare with upcoming games such as BF3, Skyrim, etc on triple monitors? If it cant play them at a respectable level (say 70%-80% of max graphics using 3 monitors) im willing to go higher on the price range aslong as it stays below my $2500 cap.
What is better: the onboard sound on today's mobo's or a 6 year old dedicated sound card (Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER)?
What is better: Stock cooler on today's video card, or the ZALMAN VF900 – CU 2 Ball VGA Cooler (will it even fit todays video cards)? Same question for the CPU cooler.
As for the "would like to have but not critical" hardware, I was thinking of having a SSD for the OS and three 2Tb drives in raid 5 for general storage. I might also use my existing 500Gb drives in Raid 0 for program files and the like.
Here's a partial wishlist (like i previously mentioned, the harddrives and optical drives are "would like to have, but do not absolutly need"):
1 - OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $134
3 - Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $79.99 each, $239.97 total
3 - Hanns-G HZ281HPB 27.5'' 3ms Full HD 1080P HDMI WideScreen LCD Monitor 400cd/m2 X-Contrast 15,000:1(800:1)Built-in Speakers $269.99 each, $809.97 total
1 - SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-/+R 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model SH-B123L/RSBP LightScribe Support (Retail) $64.99
Subtotal: $1,249.92
Of course, everything is up for change and review. Even fundemental stuff like having 3 monitors if there is a good enough reason for it.
I want to build a best-bang-for-the-buck computer that can drive 3 monitors at 1920 x 1200 each and play some modern games at a respectable graphics level. What i mean by best bang for the buck (Ignoring the monitors): Instead of spending $2000 on a tower and trying to make it last 5 years, I'd rather spend $1000 now and build another $1000 tower 2.5 years later. Or something along those lines.
Before I get too indepth, I'll start off with the nifty fill-in-the-blank form and try to elaborate further down:
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, Internet, 1080 flash videos (youtube)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget is fairly flexible. I am aiming for a $1500 - $2000 system, including monitors. I do not want to spend anything over $2500.
3) Where do you live?
Dallas, Tx (driving distance to both a Fry's and a Microcenter)
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, Motherboard, Ram, a PSU if my current one is not enough (see below), Video Card, would like to have harddrives and a SSD but not absolutly necessary, and maybe a bluray drive
EDIT: oh, and any alternate suggestions for monitors would also be welcome!
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
If I can cannabalize any parts from my old computer, I will:
Case: Antec P182 Gun Metal Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Video Card Cooler: ZALMAN VF900 – CU 2 Ball VGA Cooler
CPU Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU 120mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER
PSU: PC Power and Cooling S61EPS 610W;
DVD Burner: SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
Hard drives: a 160Gb and two 500Gb drives
6) Will you be overclocking?
yes, eventually
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
three 27" LCD monitors at 1920 x 1200 each
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I would like to buy the parts as soon as possible, but am willing to wait a few weeks if better deals are over the horizon.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
I am not 100% sure. I'm guessing Raid 5, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, sandwich maker...
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
yes, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
I do have a few questions:
How will today's best-bang-for-the-buck computer fare with upcoming games such as BF3, Skyrim, etc on triple monitors? If it cant play them at a respectable level (say 70%-80% of max graphics using 3 monitors) im willing to go higher on the price range aslong as it stays below my $2500 cap.
What is better: the onboard sound on today's mobo's or a 6 year old dedicated sound card (Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER)?
What is better: Stock cooler on today's video card, or the ZALMAN VF900 – CU 2 Ball VGA Cooler (will it even fit todays video cards)? Same question for the CPU cooler.
As for the "would like to have but not critical" hardware, I was thinking of having a SSD for the OS and three 2Tb drives in raid 5 for general storage. I might also use my existing 500Gb drives in Raid 0 for program files and the like.
Here's a partial wishlist (like i previously mentioned, the harddrives and optical drives are "would like to have, but do not absolutly need"):
1 - OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $134
3 - Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $79.99 each, $239.97 total
3 - Hanns-G HZ281HPB 27.5'' 3ms Full HD 1080P HDMI WideScreen LCD Monitor 400cd/m2 X-Contrast 15,000:1(800:1)Built-in Speakers $269.99 each, $809.97 total
1 - SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-/+R 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model SH-B123L/RSBP LightScribe Support (Retail) $64.99
Subtotal: $1,249.92
Of course, everything is up for change and review. Even fundemental stuff like having 3 monitors if there is a good enough reason for it.
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