Hello, I am looking to build my first computer, I am a huge gamer and wanted to build my own to make it the specs I want and such. My uncle recommended this site so I figured I would ask some questions. My budget is $2,000 and here is a list of parts that I have so far:
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard with 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support and UEFI BIOS
Video Card: EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi)
Processor: AMD FX-8120 Zambezi (Eight-Core)
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM (x2 For 32GBs)
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1
Power Supply: NZXT HALE82 HALE82-650-M
Hard Drive: Samsung by Seagate HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive(x2
Hello, I am looking to build my first computer, I am a huge gamer and wanted to build my own to make it the specs I want and such. My uncle recommended this site so I figured I would ask some questions. My budget is $2,000 and here is a list of parts that I have so far:
...
Please leave your input, advice, what you think I should keep, change or anything I might be missing. Thanks.
Welcome to Sharky's Echo!
Right now, sadly in the world of consumer gaming PC's, Intel beats the pants off of AMD when it comes to performance per $ and performance per watt. That means not only will an Intel CPU be faster, it will consume less energy both during idle/sleep times and during full load.
You obviously are trying to build quite the beast of a rig for your first time out. I commend you!
A couple of notes:
1. Most modern motherboards only accept 4 DIMM's of memory. High end Intel boards take 8 DIMM's, and older (X58 chipset based) ones take up to 6 DIMM's. You're 4x4GB DIMM kits x2 would probably not be worth it.
2. Hard drives are much more expensive than they used to be. 500GB x2 is commendable, but probably not worth the price vs. the performance boost you might get. (Unless you are running RAID1 for data security, in which case.... Still not sure if it's worth the price. )
3. Most motherboards have decent-to-high quality sound cards onboard. They aren't perfect but might be worth starting with before you spend the money on a dedicated sound card.
4. Finally, if you aren't in a huge rush, Ivy Bridge (new generation Intel CPU's and their attending chipsets) are due to be launched sometime between April and June. If you can wait, this will push existing solutions down in price, and does offer the chance at the absolute bleeding edge if you want to go that route.
If I might counter offer what you have proposed, here is a rig that will tear through all of your games with ease, and should only require video card upgrades over the next few years. Keep in mind: This is my recommendation based on quality components, but there are a few personal preferences included as well. you can always modify it to suit your tastes.
Case: Antec DF-85 - $129.99
PSU - Antec CP-1000 - $149.99
CPU - Intel Core i7-2600k - $324.99
CPU Cooler - EVGA Superclock CPU Cooler - $49.99
Motherboard - ASUS Maximus IV Extreme - $$289.99
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600 - $98.99
Video Card - ASUS ENGTX580 1.5GB - $499.99
SSD - Crucial M4 128GB - $174.99
HDD - Seagate Barracude 6.0GB/s 2TB - $119.99
DVD Burner - Lite On Combo Drive - $17.99
Blu Ray Drive - Lite-On Internal 12x Drive - $59.99
Monitor - ASUS VS248H-P 24" LCD - $199.99
$2116.88. Couple hundred more than what you had, loads better in performance. You could always go with a pre-fabbed water cooling kit such as the Swiftech H20-X20 kits, they look nice.
Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.6Ghz, MSI P67A-G43, Antec Kuhler 920, 16GB (4x4GB) Patriot G2 DDR3 1600, ASUS GTX560 1GB OC @975Mhz, Samsung 840 Series 120GB SSD, Seagate 1TB HDD, Antec 650 Earthwatts, Antec 300, Logitech MK710
Late 2009 21.5" iMac - 3.06ghz C2D, NVidia 9400m, 4gb RAM, 500gb Hard Drive, Magic Mouse
Steam ID - Entrical85
Xbox Live Gamertag - Entrical85
Currently playing: Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2, Guild Wars 2
Agree with 2x8 gig memory. DDR3 is so cheap right now. Hard drive prices are so high right now. I am guessing they will try to keep them up there as long as possible. I know it is only about 40USD difference but why does he need Win 7 professional over home edition to game?
Agree with 2x8 gig memory. DDR3 is so cheap right now. Hard drive prices are so high right now. I am guessing they will try to keep them up there as long as possible. I know it is only about 40USD difference but why does he need Win 7 professional over home edition to game?
The main reason I recommend Pro vs. Home to anyone is the ability to do backups to network drives. Even if you just have a cheapo 1-2 drive NAS on the network, it's still worlds easier than constantly having to connect a USB drive for the backup. (In my mind.)
Crusader for the 64-bit Era.
New Rule: 2GB per core, minimum.
Case: Antec DF-85 - $129.99
PSU - Antec CP-1000 - $149.99
CPU - Intel Core i7-2600k - $324.99
CPU Cooler - EVGA Superclock CPU Cooler - $49.99
Motherboard - ASUS Maximus IV Extreme - $$289.99
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600 - $98.99
Video Card - ASUS ENGTX580 1.5GB - $499.99
SSD - Crucial M4 128GB - $174.99
HDD - Seagate Barracude 6.0GB/s 2TB - $119.99
DVD Burner - Lite On Combo Drive - $17.99
Blu Ray Drive - Lite-On Internal 12x Drive - $59.99
Monitor - ASUS VS248H-P 24" LCD - $199.99
$2116.88. Couple hundred more than what you had, loads better in performance. You could always go with a pre-fabbed water cooling kit such as the Swiftech H20-X20 kits, they look nice.
Great system, but I would change one thing, the vid card. Either max it with a GTX680 2gb or go for a lower priced HD7950 3gb (~$460 @newegg). The HD7950 trades more wins against the GTX580 plus it has 3gb of VRAM. I honestly believe that more and more games would require more VRAM to max them out @1080P.
The main reason I recommend Pro vs. Home to anyone is the ability to do backups to network drives. Even if you just have a cheapo 1-2 drive NAS on the network, it's still worlds easier than constantly having to connect a USB drive for the backup. (In my mind.)
I would have to say, get the SSD as the primary and install another internal hard drive(s) for data storage and backups.
MOBO: Biostar TZ68K+ Intel Z68 ATX CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) CPU COOLING:Corsair Hydro Series H80 VIDEO: MSI TWIN FROZR II GeForce GTX 570 HDD: Intel 320-160GB SSD HDD: 250GB WD SATA HDD: 1TB WD SATA HDD: 500WD SATA MEDIA: Plextor Dual DVD PSU: CORSAIR HX750 750W CASE: Antec Twelve Hundred V3 ATX Full Tower OS: WIN 7 x64 Home Premium Monitor: Westinghouse 32" LCD 1080p
If you are going Win 7 Pro, then it doesn't make sense to waste the RAM slots like that. Stick with Home Premium if you are only going to max out at 16GB. But your mobo supports 32GB and as people have said RAM is cheap. I would get Gskill Ripjaws at 8GB sticks.
I've always have been an intel fan. I would say go i7. I also agree with the GTX 680. If you are a serious gamer, then it only makes sense to go with the best gaming materials. Having a good power supply is very important so I would say go with this one:
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