first build $1700 budget

[Bioptix]

hey all looking for some help or ideas of what i should do here.

big wall of text so please bear with me, trying to get as much insight as possible.

Approximate Purchase Date:about 6 weeks

Budget Range:$1600 to $2100 less would be better

System Usage from Most to Least Important: pretty much only gaming

Parts Not Required:e.g.: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:newegg or tigerdirect or anywhere thats good.

Country:usa

Parts Preferences:by brand or type, intel and nvidia (maybe amd GPU if it could be better and cheaper.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes maybe tri in the future some time if anyone thinks it will be worth it? even on a pci 3.0 slot

Monitor Resolution:going to buy a new monitor a while after i build so as high as I can in resolution.

Additional Comments: well ive been looking at alot of stuff and decided to go with a z68 mobo cause i want compatibility with ivy bridge when it comes out and pci 3.0.

So im not sure if I should buy the stuff now that I know is good and tested that I know will not fail (probaly) and have no probs with. Or wait for the ivy bridge mobos and cpus to come and get them instead.Which I might have to spend more money on and not be a huge improvment and from what ive read the first ivy cpu wont have a unlocked multyplier.(which i want)

Also not sure of Sata3. sata2, sata and esata and the compatibility with the hdd or ssd that I get.

ok so parts I have in mind if I build now.


PSU:
havent looked into one much but want to do sli or crossfire down the road so anyone recomend one would be great. I was thinking 800w to 1000w.

HDD or SSD:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1083959&CatId=2459

not sure of the difference between them. Wanted them for the 7200rpm and the 64mb memory.Would also maybe get a SSD drive now or in the future for the right price.I dont need the 2tb space atm so a good hdd for cheaper or a SSD would be good. Not interested in raid either
Also what are the pros and cons of both? And really only wanted a good storage device for quicker gaming as I read that the storage device can affect that as the cpu will be waiting for it.

mobo:
Ok so this im having big probs with. Get a tried and true z68 or wait for the ivybridge ones to come out and get that for more money and a cpu then too.Also want at least 2 psi 3.0 slots and also at least 2 sata 6gbs slots.Also would like one that is good for OClocking.

Also want one to be compatible with Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology ,K-Series unlocked CPU and HyperThreading Technology. Not sure if the hyperthreading is important or not if I get a 2500k chip and upgrade to a ivybridge later if it will matter with that.

looked at a few mobos and the prob is that there is always the one thing missing that i wont and the other mobo will have it but is missing somthing else.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68 Extreme7 Gen3
this one has everything I want: nf200 chip so I can sli at 16/16 but only 1 pci 3.0 slot which is no good for when I get a ivy bridge cpu and have a pair of pci 3.0 gpu's. Not sure if I get 1 pci 3.0 compatible gpu and only a 2500k cpu I know the pci 3.0 will not work until I get a ivybridge cpu (which might be better so I dont spend $500 now on a pci 2.0 gpu and then spen another $500 later on a pci 3.0 gpu or get 2 pci 2.0 gpus now ).

So a bit of a dilemma, and also not sure about how a amd gpu works on a intel mobo?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263
so this one has what I need but no nf200 chip so no 16/16 if I go sli now and also read some bad reviews on it.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CmtB5ObkkzCjCVqHCjCdwwp&cpncode=20-81879013-2
this one looks good, has 2 pci 3.0 slots, 4 usb 3.0 ports, but no nf200 chip and has a intergrated gpu ( will probaly buy the gpu a bit later then the rest of the parts so this will let me use the computer in the meantime I think? does anyone know?) Also not to sure on the differences between this and the deluxe gen 3 and which one is the best for me.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68VGEN3/#specifications
also has 2 pci 3.0 slots, only 2x 6gbs sata ports, no nf200 and also has intergrated gpu. Also less pci slot altogeather so not sure how goos 2 gpus will fit in and leave enough room to breath. especialy if they are big.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=wia9geyxmet4
well this one has the pci 3.0 , also not sure how important usb 3.0 are, but I will be using a usb mouse and keyboard so if the usb 3.0 speed helps that all the better. also has 2 sata 6gbs port and one is shared with a esata 3 port which not sure how that works.

or this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=mu479uaiebts

well thats the mobos and I was also looking at some gigabyte and msi ones also.So anyhelp here would be great.

cpu:intel core i5 2500k
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073161&CatId=6988
not sure if I should get this or the i7 2600k or i7 2700k

gpu: $609 Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 OC (GV-R797OC-3GD)

was looking at this one because I will have compatability with pci 3.0 if or when I get a ivy bridge cpu and also this one kept up there with dual GTX 590's and also dual dual HD 6990 check this reviewhttp://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/33697-gigabyte-radeon-hd-7970-oc-gv-r797oc-3gd/?page=6

so yeah not sure if i should get this one and get onother later on or get 1 or 2 pci 2.0 gpu's and keep them and the sandybridge cpu for as long as possible.

so any advice on other good gpu's would be great and I would rather go with nvidia any way but am very intereted in the 7970.

CPU cooler: any that is recomended, want to do OClocking and want a very good one.

Case: also any that can be recomended

thermal paste: any recomended

OS:$ 140 windows 7 pro x64
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CmtB5ObkkzCjCVqHCjCdwwp&cpncode=20-81879441-2

RAM: any that is recomended Im not sure how muh I will need though.

well I think that is all as of now, everyones help is greatly appreciated

links working know ty

 

[diaz]

None of the links you posted work..

If you want to wait for Ivy bridge/Kepler to buy, they are both coming out shortly. Ivy for sure march/april, and Kepler around that time too (rumoured).

 

[Horrerblade]

Here is my build for you

Case This can be anything you want that is ascetically appealing to you.
Ram
Hard Drive: what ever you want yours seems to be fine just make sure it has at least 32 mb cache and 7200 rpm.
SSD
GPU
MOBO Go with this if you are going to use the i5 2500k if not we don't know what the new boards are. I am not good at picking out boards so if some one else could help him/her here that would be great.
CPU: Depends on if your going to wait for IB or not if not then go with this
CPU COOLER
PSU
CD/Dvd drive

 

[Zapador]

Hi!

My suggestion would be something like this:

MOBO: Asus Maximus IV Extreme, P67, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s
CPU: Intel i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4 GHz
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3 1866 MHz CL9
SSD: Corsair Force Series GT 120 GB
HDD: WD Digital Caviar Black 1.5 TB 7200 RPM
GFX: XFX Black Edition Radeon HD 7970 3 GB
AUDIO: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1
PSU: Corsair Pro Series HX1050

On more than one point my build is identical to the components that Horrerblade suggested.

It ends up at just around 1.900 $

And then you will need:
Case, CD/DVD/BD and a CPU cooler.

Since you expect to buy it in 6 weeks time I imagine that the price for these components will drop maybe a 100 or so.
So assuming thats around 1.800 it leaves you with 300 $ for case, optical drive and a CPU cooler.

That will bring you close to your budget limit, but on the other hand you get a very nice system with great overclocking potential.
Also the motherboard and PSU-wattage will allow for an additional graphics card should you decide to upgrade to Crossfire.

The 120 GB SSD should be sufficient for your Windows installation and the majority of applications - a few games too.
A trick there is to change the location of your My Documents, My Music, My Pictures etc. to the HDD instead - that way 120 GB goes a long way and indeed boosts your overall performance experience.

Why did I add a soundcard?
Well, because if you own decent speakers or a decent pair of headphones you are very likely to experience the enriched sound from the standalone-soundcard - the onboardstuff isn't amazing at all. But if you run 20$ headphones you might as well use the onboard stuff... but what do I know xD

- Zap

 

[Horrerblade]

you dont need that mother board its basically over kill unless you are doing stuff that only that mobo can do you can drop down to a 180 dollar mobo and be 100% fine and then drop down to the 2500k which is better price per performance because the i7 is un-needed i would wait as long as you can to buy a hard drive because the prices are slowly coming down so prices 6 weeks from now will be better then right now

 

[Bioptix]

ok ty all