Finalizing Build for under $2000

[TheOnlyCorwin]

New to this forum, but I am looking for help on building a new computer (because that's what everyone says to do instead of Alienware )
I've never built before, but ready to give it a shot. I will just be building the computer as I have the keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers. Other than Windows 7, I have no need of other software.

I am looking for a cost anywhere between $1500 and $2000.
The most important things to me are speed of regular use (surfing internet, running programs), gaming performance, and a computer that will last.
I use my computer mainly for gaming/internet. I'd love to be able to run games on max visual settings. (The game I am playing now is Star Wars The Old Republic)


Approximate Purchase Date: Next 2 weeks
Budget Range: 1500-2000 before rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming/surfing web
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference, I've been using newegg
Country: US, California
Parts Preferences: Intel, Cool looking case
Overclocking: Maybe... I would do it but I do not know how
SLI or Crossfire: If it makes sense in the budget, yes
Monitor Resolution: Currently running 1680x1050
Additional Comments: Would prefer a quiet PC (Very interested in liquid cooling, is this a good option?

Here is a link to the build I currently have:
https://secure.neweg...spx?ID=18966692

Cd Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
Case: COOLER MASTER CM Storm Series Trooper (SGC-5000-KKN1) Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
HD: Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML16GX3M4A1600C9
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme4 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 2011 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73820
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel ...
SSD: Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW120A3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
GPU: EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card


I am willing to upgrade where I need to and I'd rather do it right now than save a little now. I am interested in liquid cooling as i'd prefer a quiet system. Is this a good option?

Looking to build soon. I can buy online or I am fairly close to a Fry's so I could go there for parts too (to save on shipping).
Seriously ANY help would be welcome. Thanks guys!
(Let me know if you have any questions!)

 

[EarthDog]

Excellent first post.... Welcome!

Well, here is what I would do with your budget, and uses....

1. I would get a 2600k or wait a month or so and get the new Ivybridge CPU that is coming out. Since you dont seem to need six cores, I would go with 4 and HT now (8 threads).
2. Since you have a fairly low monitor resolution currently, I certainly would NOT go SLI/Crossfire. That, IMO, is reserved for 2560x1600 or multi monitor.
3. You may want a faster storage drive. 5900RPM is brutal (to me).
4. You dont remotely need 950W for a single GPU, even 2 GTX680's. Since I cant imagine you to go SLI/Crossfire, (it doesnt make sense with hte setup, not the budget), Grab a Seasonic X750 for $160 and save a couple dollars.

 

[TheOnlyCorwin]

Thank you EarthDog! In response:
1. I thought I heard new CPUs were coming out. I am in no rush so I think I will just wait for the IvyBridge.
2. I would LOVE to go multi monitor. I am not sure if my monitor's resolution can go up, but I would be willing to eventually buy a better/second monitor. Do you think I would be served to buy a monitor that could run a higher resolution?
3. What is a good speed for the HD?
4. I figured 950W was a lot, but I heard to go higher than lower on PSU. If I can get by on 750W I will look at those options instead.

Thanks for your help!

 

[EarthDog]

Note with buying a 2600k or a new Ivybridge chip you will want the "K" version if you plan on overclocking. You will , you will need to get a Z68 based motherboard or Z77 (unreleased) as opposed to the X79 listed.

Monitor is up to you. A common res is 1920x1080... and thats worth an update to me. Still thats a single videocard job.

Good speed for HD = 7200RPM

For one videocard and overclocking 600W is plenty. 750W is juuuuuuust in case you decide to go SLI/Crossfire.

 

[TheOnlyCorwin]

Alright I've looked up a few components that I could change up. Would you mind telling me if these are acceptable alternatives?

New CPU to accommodate overclocking.
CPU:GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512

New Hard Drive with 7200RPM and 64MB Cache
HD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

New PSU with 760W
PSUC Power and Cooling Silencer 760W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703030

Thanks!

 

[EarthDog]

Looks solid to me.

 

[manu2b]

^Agreed, but I prefer Asrock boards (Extrem4Gen3)...

 

[TheOnlyCorwin]

^Agreed, but I prefer Asrock boards (Extrem4Gen3)...

ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264

It is more expensive, but I am willing to pay if it is more quality.
Also, (Warning! Incoming newb question) there seem to be a lot of different brands for the same exact item on Newegg.com, is there really a large difference between brands? (Such as AsRock and GIGABYTE Or should I typically just try to pick the cheapest one? )

 

[Horrerblade]

okay well brands are a tricky thing. Most ppl prefer an asus or gigabyte board (that's what i usually go with in builds) asrock has started to make a dent in the market as alot of ppl now days are recommending them for there stellar performance at a nice price point. Psu's ppl generally stick to corsair and a few others cant remember the others off the top of my head. Ram go with anything doesn't really matter. Cpu gpu up to you on amd vs nvidia/amd vs intel but card maker wise depends per card on the cooling clock speeds and what not just make sure to look for reviews and compare cards (PLZ dont trust Newegg reviews unless the are 3 stars or below just Google the product with review after the name to find usually the best review sites) case is up to you just read reviews. storage i go with WD to seagate to hitach and thats it. SSD's are corsair, crucial, or intel. But if you havent noticed corsair comes up alot lol so if you want to be safe go with corsair all the way. hope i hleped and please correct me if i am wrong

 

[Horrerblade]

if anything also i would get another monitor and then get the rest of you build you then you can game on one and use your old one to to pheriperial stuff on. Case wise you might be able to save a few bucks by going with cases like the haf 932, nzxt phanton, rosewill thor cases. Just a consideration if you do plan on going water with your build make sure you get a case now that supports a 240 mm rad min i would recommend a 360 rad support but that's if you go with water. Also with the Heat sink get another 120 mm fan so you can do push pull config. And if you dont want to ungrade you moniter i might suggest (please correct me if i am wrong) down grading to a 7870 its 350 vs the 500 saves you about 150 dollars which you can put into a water cooling kit like this or this or a new monitor?

 

[Knufire]

Search around, there's another active thread in the General Hardware forum with almost the exact same budget as you.

I'd go with this plus a GTX680 (when they come back in stock) and a TRUE Spirit 140 for the CPU Cooler. This puts you right at around $1500. With the extra money, I'd grab three smaller 1080P monitors for some nice NVIDIA Surround action.

 

[Horrerblade]

^ that sounds like a very good build. GJ knufire... again LOL. just for future is that phantom usable for WC'ing.

 

[TheOnlyCorwin]

Haha you guys gave me a lot to process. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the branding advice Horrerblade, sounds like Corsair knows what it's doing.

(Consider the 2nd Monitor as not part of my budget)
I figured I would keep my old monitor and use that for surfing the web while I was playing games/movies/tv on my soon to be new one!
The case I will research to make sure the WC unit would fit into it. Although, if I do not go with WC, would the second fan for the push pull config be a good idea anyways?


Those deals are amazing Knufire! Looks like you just saved me a bunch of money! (Guess I need to learn to be a smarter shopper! )
Ivybridge comes out April 29th! I read on the other forum you suggested and it appears that it makes sense to wait since IB is supposed to be so awesome!

The GTX680 with 3 monitors? Now you're talking!
Does it make snese to buy some of those items with the combos if I am going to wait on IB? Or should i wait to buy everything at one time?

 

[Knufire]

Frankly, you could buy everything except the CPU, since the motherboard is IB compatible.

And don't believe everything you hear...99% of people thought AMD's Bulldozer platform was going to be the next greatest thing since canned bread, but it was a flop. Early reports by some people who got ahold of engineering samples of Ivy Bridge have found that there are only marginal performance gains over Sandy Bridge with a LOT more heat output due to the new 3D transistor...but I don't know reliable these sources are either.

 

[TheOnlyCorwin]

That makes sense. To be honest I'm not a hardcore computer enthusiast... I may just get the sandybridge i-7 and be done with it.
I probably will not do liquid cooling simply because it looks like too much maintenance and too much could go wrong :/ I was simply looking for a quieter computer since I want to leave it on all night and my gf complains about the noise of mine now.
Are traditional coolers fairly quiet?


Also, would you mind sending a link to that picture? I can't seem to find those deals! Thanks for all your help!

 

[Knufire]

The fan that comes with the TRUE 140 should be pretty quiet, yes.

PSU+HDD Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.858657
Motherboard+SSD Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.864171
CPU+RAM Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.850299
Case (they're all the same, pick whatever color you prefer): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...odeId=1&Description=NZXT+Phantom+PHAN&x=0&y=0
TRUE Spirit 140 [Might find it cheaper elsewhere]: http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-passed-Intels-testing-officially/dp/B00629G1PG
Video Card (all out of stock though, since it just came out): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...CH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=GTX680&x=0&y=0

 

[TheOnlyCorwin]

Thank you that is amazing Knufire!
I took that build and it's sitting in my queue, awaiting my orders.

Is there any reason you suggest the True Spirit 140? Or would another fan work as well?
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Something like this?
And looks like I will have to wait on the video card blargh!

 

[TheOnlyCorwin]

Also, someone suggested dropping the CPU to i5-2500K. Does this move make sense?

 

[Horrerblade]

Yea go for the i5 there is a difference, but not enough for it to justify the 100 dollar jump if i where you i would wait for ivy bridge. Either one of two things will happen ivy bridge will be amazing and you will get that or the price of Sandy bridge will drop and you will save some money. Also if you wait for a non reference design 680 you can get better cooling results. But though i don't think that that monitor requires all the HP of a 680 i would either wait for the 670, its 1 tier down from the flag ship so its cheaper and will preform a little less then the 680, or jump on the 7870/7850 when the price drop occurs.

 

[Knufire]

Thank you that is amazing Knufire!
I took that build and it's sitting in my queue, awaiting my orders.

Is there any reason you suggest the True Spirit 140? Or would another fan work as well?
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Something like this?
And looks like I will have to wait on the video card blargh!

The Hyper212+/Hyper212 Evo is probably the next best price/performance cooler than the TRUE Spirit 140. Since Sandy Bridge runs relatively cool, the Hyper212+ is actually what most people get. Just chose something a little beefier, because, well, you could afford it .

Also, someone suggested dropping the CPU to i5-2500K. Does this move make sense?

Yes, it does. The main difference between the two is Hyperthreading, which doesn't really help in gaming, so they perform about the same. Again, just didn't know how to spend the money.

Yea go for the i5 there is a difference, but not enough for it to justify the 100 dollar jump if i where you i would wait for ivy bridge. Either one of two things will happen ivy bridge will be amazing and you will get that or the price of Sandy bridge will drop and you will save some money. Also if you wait for a non reference design 680 you can get better cooling results. But though i don't think that that monitor requires all the HP of a 680 i would either wait for the 670, its 1 tier down from the flag ship so its cheaper and will preform a little less then the 680, or jump on the 7870/7850 when the price drop occurs.

The 670/660Ti might not be out for a while, otherwise I'd wait. It could still be a couple months though.

The 7870/7850 are really aggressively priced as is, a price drop would make them even more attractive.

Either way, all of the above mentioned are smart choices for the OP.