Alright, so I am in the process of building my next gaming rig now that I have a few bucks to spend. First and foremost, I expect this to be an ongoing project, so I am looking for something that will be expandable and upgrade-able in the future. That said, for the time being I am looking at a budget of between $2,500 - $3,000 USD. I have been out of the computer world for quite some time so if you have any insight, or have an opinion on something you think may be better for what I'm trying to accomplish or better because it's just better, by all means, please share. Be advised I'm building the computer entirely from scratch (minus the keyboard and mouse, i already have those).
I'm not trying to make 'teh bestest pc evar'. I just want something that's going to handle nearly anything I throw at it on high settings. I'll upgrade it in the future.
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K processor 3.5 4 LGA 1155 BX80637I73770K
This is the 3rd generation Ivy Bridge CPU, I was thinking of going with the 2nd generation Sandy Bridge with a 39xx but I saw the price difference and was like "pass!" So that's why I made the decision on this.
Motherboard: 1. EVGA Z77 FTW LGA 1155 Intel Z77 SATA 6 GB/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard (151-IB-E699-KR)
or
2. Intel Desktop Motherboard LGA1155 DDR3 1600 ATX - BOXDZ77GA-70K
I'm sort of torn here between these 2 motherboards. I hear an intel mobo with an intel cpu is nice because of the decrease in combatability issues. But I do like the features on the EVGA a little more. The 5 PCI-e slots is nice and I can put more GFX cards if I want in the future. But is that worth the 100 dollar difference in price? I'm not too sure. Personally I like both.
Heatsink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1
Although I probably won't be overclocking anything any time soon, I hear this isn't a bad heatsink and for it's price and figured "Eh, why not?" If it's not that big a deal I can take it out and that's 30 extra bucks I don't have to spend.
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B
16GB DDR3 1600 Ram, nothing special, I'm aware the mobo can cap out at 32 gigs, which I really don't need right now. This is an easily upgradeable feature in the future when I want to so for now I'm not too worried about it.
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX690 Signature 4096MB GDDR5 512bit, Dual GPU, 2xDVI-I,DVI-D,mDisplayPort, Quad SLI Ready Graphics Cards 04G-P4-2692-KR
The nVidia GeForce GTX690 is currently the top of the line nVidia card and I figured I had a choice here. I could SLI together 2 GeForce 680's for the same price as buying 1 690. Then I did a little bit of research (thinking 2 680's would knock 1 690 out of the water), and so far reviews and benchmarks don't exactly show that. They show that they're for the most part equal which was surprising to me. So for now I figure why spend ~1,000+ for 2 video cards when I can get 1 great video card now, and get a second one later and SLI those 2 which is pretty much what I plan on doing.
HDD: Seagate ST2000DM001 Barracuda 7200RPM 2 TB SATA 6 GB/s NCQ 64 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive
It's not a SSD I know, but right now I see no reason to really get one other than increase my boot time. And they're pretty expensive, even though you can buy them at less than $1 per gb. I figure for now a 2TB internal HDD is all I really need.
PSU:KingWin Lazer Power Supply 1000 Watts with Universal Modular Connectors/3 Way LED Switch/80 Plus Bronze ATX 1000 Power Supply LZ-1000
or
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
950 / 1000 watt power supply. It's SLI ready which is pretty much why i picked it, if you have any suggestion on PSU I'd appreciate it.
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case with SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (RC-932-KKN5-GP)
I picked it for a few reasons. Lot's of room, lot's of fans, good reviews. It's popular. Personally I don't really care what the case looks like. It could look like a Dell Pentium 2 computer for all I care. As long as it has good air flow, and will fit everything comfortably I have no issues.
Monitor: ASUS VK248H-CSM 24-Inch Full-HD LED Monitor with Integrated Speakers and Webcam
I plan on putting 2 of these together. If you have any suggestions on a better monitor please let me know. I still am on the fence about which monitor I want exactly. I know I want one with a fast response time, and roughly 24"+.
And of course Windows 7 and a DVD drive. But those I'm not gonna link I think for obvious reasons.
So far this total's up to $2,654.34. I plan on adding another monitor in the future, and another GTX690 in the future as well.
Thanks for those who take the time to look, let me know what you think and any suggestions you have.
I'm not trying to make 'teh bestest pc evar'. I just want something that's going to handle nearly anything I throw at it on high settings. I'll upgrade it in the future.
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K processor 3.5 4 LGA 1155 BX80637I73770K
This is the 3rd generation Ivy Bridge CPU, I was thinking of going with the 2nd generation Sandy Bridge with a 39xx but I saw the price difference and was like "pass!" So that's why I made the decision on this.
Motherboard: 1. EVGA Z77 FTW LGA 1155 Intel Z77 SATA 6 GB/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard (151-IB-E699-KR)
or
2. Intel Desktop Motherboard LGA1155 DDR3 1600 ATX - BOXDZ77GA-70K
I'm sort of torn here between these 2 motherboards. I hear an intel mobo with an intel cpu is nice because of the decrease in combatability issues. But I do like the features on the EVGA a little more. The 5 PCI-e slots is nice and I can put more GFX cards if I want in the future. But is that worth the 100 dollar difference in price? I'm not too sure. Personally I like both.
Heatsink: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1
Although I probably won't be overclocking anything any time soon, I hear this isn't a bad heatsink and for it's price and figured "Eh, why not?" If it's not that big a deal I can take it out and that's 30 extra bucks I don't have to spend.
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B
16GB DDR3 1600 Ram, nothing special, I'm aware the mobo can cap out at 32 gigs, which I really don't need right now. This is an easily upgradeable feature in the future when I want to so for now I'm not too worried about it.
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX690 Signature 4096MB GDDR5 512bit, Dual GPU, 2xDVI-I,DVI-D,mDisplayPort, Quad SLI Ready Graphics Cards 04G-P4-2692-KR
The nVidia GeForce GTX690 is currently the top of the line nVidia card and I figured I had a choice here. I could SLI together 2 GeForce 680's for the same price as buying 1 690. Then I did a little bit of research (thinking 2 680's would knock 1 690 out of the water), and so far reviews and benchmarks don't exactly show that. They show that they're for the most part equal which was surprising to me. So for now I figure why spend ~1,000+ for 2 video cards when I can get 1 great video card now, and get a second one later and SLI those 2 which is pretty much what I plan on doing.
HDD: Seagate ST2000DM001 Barracuda 7200RPM 2 TB SATA 6 GB/s NCQ 64 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive
It's not a SSD I know, but right now I see no reason to really get one other than increase my boot time. And they're pretty expensive, even though you can buy them at less than $1 per gb. I figure for now a 2TB internal HDD is all I really need.
PSU:KingWin Lazer Power Supply 1000 Watts with Universal Modular Connectors/3 Way LED Switch/80 Plus Bronze ATX 1000 Power Supply LZ-1000
or
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
950 / 1000 watt power supply. It's SLI ready which is pretty much why i picked it, if you have any suggestion on PSU I'd appreciate it.
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case with SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (RC-932-KKN5-GP)
I picked it for a few reasons. Lot's of room, lot's of fans, good reviews. It's popular. Personally I don't really care what the case looks like. It could look like a Dell Pentium 2 computer for all I care. As long as it has good air flow, and will fit everything comfortably I have no issues.
Monitor: ASUS VK248H-CSM 24-Inch Full-HD LED Monitor with Integrated Speakers and Webcam
I plan on putting 2 of these together. If you have any suggestions on a better monitor please let me know. I still am on the fence about which monitor I want exactly. I know I want one with a fast response time, and roughly 24"+.
And of course Windows 7 and a DVD drive. But those I'm not gonna link I think for obvious reasons.
So far this total's up to $2,654.34. I plan on adding another monitor in the future, and another GTX690 in the future as well.
Thanks for those who take the time to look, let me know what you think and any suggestions you have.
