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$2000 pc build, need some help!
immortal111
Member UncommonPosts: 54
in Hardware
Hey guys, a friend wants me to build a computer for him. All the help I've given friends has been for 1000$ budgets, usually no ssd a i5 2500k and a 560/570 geforce card. I'm not really what i7 processor is worth it or what vid card / ssd / mobo I could be reccomending him. Any help is appreciated, thanks!
Comments
I'll go ahead and get the standard questions out of the way so those more knowledgable can begin to help you right away.
1. What is the indended use for this computer? Just gaming, if so what kind (often MMO's for example don't really require any where near the best GPU on the market while FPS and certain other games can push them)? Or will it be used for perhaps heavy photo/3D graphics editing? On the budget you provided I can assume it will certainly be used for more than just simple web surfing and emails or word processing.
2. Is this a "from scratch build" meaning it will require everything to fit into the budget to include an OS and peripherals (monitor/mouse/keyboard/etc.)? Or is that budget strictly for the computer itself?
3. Does the person have a preference on case size (this tends to effect a lot of other options)? How about type of cooling, fans vs liquid (the former is far easier to maintain while the ladder will provide better cooling but requires more maintenance)? Which brings me to my next question, is silence a requirement or are noise levels not really an issue? This last question is heavily affected by the two former as cases are typically designed around thermal levels, noise levels or both (to an extent) which brings into play which cooling type you will most likely prefer.
4. Last thing I can think of right now is does the person want to spend the entire budget even if it only means minor improvements for their intended purpose? Or would they prefer to simple spend as much as they within that budget to meet their needs rather than wants? I ask this because sometimes people are willing to pay extra for slight performance increases even though the cost doesn't really justify it. This could be for many reasons, the most common I find is because upgrade options in the future will be difficult to come by (as a married man I can tell you it's a LOT easier to convince my wife to spend $2k on a computer all at once than it would be to try and convince her to spend $1k twice on the same thing. Logical? Hardly but that doesn't mean it isn't true).
1. It will be a gaming PC. He also does programming. He wants it to last for a really long time.
2. No peripherals, but an OS!
3. Not SILENT, but also not extremely loud. I have an Antec Nine hundred two case, its pretty loud but I think that noise level is fine, maybe a bit quieter? He doesn't want liquid cooling. As long as the case is big enough to fit everything, has good air ventilation, and looks half decent.
4. Lmfao, I know exactly what you mean. He doesn't need the best of the best, I mean if it's going to be something like a 5% increase for $100 I don't think its necessarily worth it. He'd be fine with upgrading later, as long as it isn't in the next few years.
Hopefully that covers everything you were looking for, thanks for the thought out response ;D
Think this would be a good build, that dosn't cost to much and you still have a quite good PC. Later on (in 1-2 years) you can upgrade the grafic card and you sitll have a good system. I would go for the Corsair water cooling system. Its easy to juse and realy helps to keep the system cool.
I would go for somthing like this:
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600k, 3.4GHz, LGA1155, 4C/8T, 8MB Cache, max Turbo 3.8GHz
RAM: 4x 4GB Corsair Vengeance, DDR3-1600, PC3-12800, CL9, Max. 4x 8GB
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V LE, ATX
Chipset: Intel Z68
Solid State Drive (SSD): 1x 120GB, Corsair Force3, SATA III, 2.5 Zoll
Hard disks: 1x 2TB, 7200rpm, 64MB, SATA III
Graphic: GeForce GTX580 1536MB GDDR5
Cooling System: CPU Cooler Corsair H60, all-in-one Mini-Water cooling
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Here is an idea.
-
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$25.00 Combo
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$25.00 Combo
Total $ 1872.91
New Egg's web site seems to be having problems at the moment, and won't display item prices on the page for that item. It does still show prices on the pages where it finds everything subject to various search conditions, at least. Anyway, all prices including shipping and before rebates:
Processor/motherboard combo deal: $409
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.947926
Because I think an Asus Deluxe is ridiculous overkill. More features on the motherboard can mean slower boot times (waiting for the BIOS to detect everything), so going too high end isn't always desirable. Everything you might plausibly want plus a lot you won't is good enough.
As for the processor, a Core i5-3570K is definitely the thing to get. A Core i7-3770K won't be any faster for gaming purposes, at least if you set both to the same clock speed.
Power supply: $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151111
The best available, without regard to the price tag. Or you could save some money and still get something very nice, as in jdnewell's build.
Video card/memory combo deal: $517
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.942789
A GeForce GTX 680 is faster than a Radeon HD 7970. It was also essentially a paper launch, and nearly two months later, it still isn't available. So that leaves no idea when you'll actually be able to buy one. The next best is a Radeon HD 7970, which you can easily buy today, and with many choices. If you overclock both, that greatly narrows the gap between a 7970 and a GTX 680 anyway, and overclocking is safer on a 7970, due to PowerTune. Not that there would be any reason to overclock either in the near future.
There's also a $5 off promo code on the memory. I don't know if it's compatible with the combo deal. But 8 GB of system memory is plenty, and 1600 MHz DDR3 is plenty fast enough.
Solid state drive: $210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443
A 256 GB Crucial M4 will have plenty of room for anything that ought to go on a SSD. The idea is that you put the OS and your main programs on the SSD, and bulk data such as videos, music, or pictures on a hard drive. Speaking of which:
Hard drive: $85 with promo code
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
How much hard drive space do you need? I have no idea, and it varies wildly from one person to the next. But here's a 1 TB hard drive.
Optical drive: $22
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244
Because none of the cheap ones have free shipping today.
Processor heatsink: $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835288001
A simple enough design, but Hardware Secrets found it was remarkably effective at keeping a processor cool.
Operating system: $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986
Not a tough decision here.
Case: $100 after promo code
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147053
Or pick something else if you don't like the looks of that one. Just make sure you get something with plenty of space and plenty of airflow.
Total: $1713
You seem to be unaware that anything has happened in the last year or so, as a lot of the hardware you list is obsolete--most notably, the processor, motherboard, and video card. There's also little point in paying a fortune for a Core i7-2600K and a water cooling system, and then getting a motherboard that will rather limit the overclock. There's also rarely any sense in getting Windows 7 Ultimate.
I'd argue that you don't need a $260 case.
I don't see any real reason to get 16 GB of system memory now, either.
A Samsung 830 is perhaps a little nicer than a Crucial M4. But it's also $65 more expensive. If you had two computers that were identical except for the SSD, I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference between a Samsung 830 and a Crucial M4 apart from synthetic benchmarks and options like Device Manager or DxDiag that will explicitly tell you what hardware you have.
You're missing an optical drive and a processor heatsink, though you could theroetically go with just the stock heatsink.
Graphics update and change constantly. Might as well build one for 75% less..
I just built this system and BF3 now runs great at default graphic setting (I'm quite happy with that for the price!)
1. Intel i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz(3.9GHz turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad Core with Intel HD 4000 graphic BX80637I73770K $349.99
2. Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous direct contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler (FAN) $34.99
3. OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive $139.99
4. Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard drive-bare drive $99.99
5. G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB(2x8GB) DDR3 1600 SDRAM (PC3 12800) Model F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL $114.99
6. ASUS Maximus V Gene LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX $209.99
7. Logitech G300 Black/Gray 9 Buttons 1xWheel USB Wired Optical Gaming Mouse $35.99
8. Logitech K120 Keyboard $cheap!
9. ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner-Bulk-OEM $ 17.99
10. Cooler Master Silent Pro M700 RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 Plus Bronze Certified Modular PSU $109.99
11. Fractal Design Arc Mini Black High Performance PC Computer Case w/USB 3.0 and 3 Silent Fans $99.99
12. My old Radeon 4770 HD PCI 2 vid card for now (until PCI3 nVIDIA 670 price drops!)
13. Win 7 Ultimate 64bit (already owe one, did not need to buy another)
Bought all from newegg.com, free shipping, arrived in 2 days! Newegg, YOU ROCK!!!
Total of less than $1,300 and you can play most of the games and do some programming work just fine with this built!
NO NEED to spend $2000 bucks!
I left the optical drive out, but i did post a Heatsink. the 212 evo air cooler
Give me the money and I will give you a wooden toaster... JUST AS GOOD AS A COMPUTER!!!!