[MrMario]

Hello,

I'm in need of some advice/guidelines of building a gaming PC. My budget is between $1,500 to $2,000 and I want this computer to be fast, powerful and can last for a few years before I need to start upgrading.

These two things is what I wanted to start at and the rest can be suggested as long as it fits the budget above.
Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card

ASUS Motherboard?
Liquid Cooling?
16 GB RAM
120 GB SSD for boot
1TB HDD
What are some fanny & cool cases that don't have any lights?

Thanks!

This post has been edited by MrMario: 11 February 2013 - 12:02 PM

[waldojim]

MrMario, on 11 February 2013 - 11:19 AM, said:

Hello,

I'm in need of some advice/guidelines of building a gaming PC. My budget is between $1,500 to $2,000 and I want this computer to be fast, powerful and can last for a few years before I need to start upgrading.

These two things is what I wanted to start at and the rest can be suggested as long as it fits the budget above.
Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card

ASUS Motherboard?
Liquid Cooling?
16 GB RAM
120 GB SSD for boot
1TB HDD
What are some fanny & cool cases that don't have any lights?

Thanks!

I would actually recommend EVGA motherboards, particularly in the FTW series. Asus makes a nice board, but EVGA makes rock solid boards. Also, if you want a few extra features on your board, the Gigabyte Sniper is worth considering. They use Killer Nic network cards, and Creative sound cards - so a little nicer components.

For a case, I happen to like the Silverstone Raven r3: http://www.silversto....php?model=RV03
It is clean, elegant, and has TONS of cooling.

I do not recommend liquid cooling, unless you are going 100% custom cooling. If not, go with the Zalman CPNS 10x, 11x, 12x, Cooler Master V8, or Gelid Tranquillo.

With SSD prices dropping, go big. Get a 256GB or larger drive. I am using a Plextor M3 (pre 's' and 'pro'), which has been replaced by the M5Pro. I would suggest going that route myself. It has been truly set-it-and-forget-it. Something not all SSDs can claim.

[MrMario]

Case look nice, but isn't really making it stand out in my eyes.

This is what I have so far from taking your input. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CTjR

Still not sure about the cooling though, have no idea how many I would need and which one is better and hope the Optical Drive is already.

Thanks for helping though!

This post has been edited by MrMario: 11 February 2013 - 01:21 PM

[waldojim]

I forgot Zalman had the 14x out now.... That is what I would suggest. It is also the ONLY cooling you will need to buy (depending on the case)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118133

Most cases come with the necessary fans. In some situations though, you might be forced to pick up a few extra 120mm case fans.

After that, it looks like you still need a power supply. The best choices are going to be Antec Earthwatts or HCG/HCP series, PC Power and Cooling Silencer, OCZ ZT/ZS series, Corsair TX, HX, or AX series, or the Seasonic G and X series. Go with anything between 500 and 750 watts. You won't need anything more with that system, and would be throwing away money. Just remember to buy a QUALITY power supply.

[MrMario]

Now my question is, if you could change anything out of this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CUpU to get the best results out of a gaming pc in the 1,500 to 2,000 range. What would you change?

[LiveBrianD]

FYI, it looks like the Plextor M5S is a lot cheaper.

[coastie65]

MrMario, on 11 February 2013 - 04:46 PM, said:

Now my question is, if you could change anything out of this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CUpU to get the best results out of a gaming pc in the 1,500 to 2,000 range. What would you change?

Hi, Unless you have a specific reason for wanting 16Gb of ram, This would be good:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231445 Lower latency and timings and 8 Gb is plenty. As for the Motherboard I would go with this one: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131819 or just the "V" @ $189.99. EVGA is my preferteed chioce for Video cards, but not Motherboards. I had one and it just plain didn't have enough of what I needed to get it to work in the machine I put it in. Also, with ASUS, the BiOS is easier to work with as it has a nice User interface. It is the new UEFI, which is graphically driven. Not sure if EVGA has taken that step or not.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 11 February 2013 - 05:32 PM

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 11 February 2013 - 04:51 PM, said:

FYI, it looks like the Plextor M5S is a lot cheaper.

It is cheaper for a reason. GO Pro.

[waldojim]

coastie65, on 11 February 2013 - 05:24 PM, said:

MrMario, on 11 February 2013 - 04:46 PM, said:

Now my question is, if you could change anything out of this http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CUpU to get the best results out of a gaming pc in the 1,500 to 2,000 range. What would you change?

Hi, Unless you have a specific reason for wanting 16Gb of ram, This would be good:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231445 Lower latency and timings and 8 Gb is plenty. As for the Motherboard I would go with this one: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131819 or just the "V" @ $189.99. EVGA is my preferteed chioce for Video cards, but not Motherboards. I had one and it just plain didn't have enough of what I needed to get it to work in the machine I put it in. Also, with ASUS, the BiOS is easier to work with as it has a nice User interface. It is the new UEFI, which is graphically driven. Not sure if EVGA has taken that step or not.

EVGA boards have been UEFI for quite some time. Graphic? No. UEFI, yes. A solid BIOS/UEFI is much more important than pretty.
EVGA FTW boards are 100% designed in house (rather than FOXCON designed as many boards are). That is why I recommend them so highly.

[MrMario]

Seems like people that I've talk to about boards is the same number for each. All perfer one and others perfer the other Should I go with two graphic cards? Is it really needed?

[waldojim]

MrMario, on 11 February 2013 - 09:23 PM, said:

Seems like people that I've talk to about boards is the same number for each. All perfer one and others perfer the other Should I go with two graphic cards? Is it really needed?

That comes down to what you want.

Do you need extreme resolutions (talking about 5760x1080)? If so, then yes, get two.

If you don't need that, then don't bother. Also, I do tend to agree with Coastie, if you have no need for 16GB of ram (and I do mean actual need!) then you really are wasting money on it. It is rare for me to even get CLOSE to 8GB...

[LiveBrianD]

waldojim, on 11 February 2013 - 08:51 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 11 February 2013 - 04:51 PM, said:

FYI, it looks like the Plextor M5S is a lot cheaper.

It is cheaper for a reason. GO Pro.

$160 for 128GB is awfully expensive though. (particularly when the M5S has 256GB for $30 more) As far as I can tell, the only thing you gain are faster write speeds.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 12 February 2013 - 07:14 AM

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 12 February 2013 - 07:12 AM, said:

waldojim, on 11 February 2013 - 08:51 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 11 February 2013 - 04:51 PM, said:

FYI, it looks like the Plextor M5S is a lot cheaper.

It is cheaper for a reason. GO Pro.

$160 for 128GB is awfully expensive though. (particularly when the M5S has 256GB for $30 more) As far as I can tell, the only thing you gain are faster write speeds.

That shows you don't know anything about the drive. You completely change NAND type, from cheaper 'always on' NAND like that used in most other drives, to Toshiba toggle-mode NAND, like that used in other high end drives. You gain performance, yes, but you also gain longer life and reduced power consumption.

Now, in general, the m5 pro does consume more power than the M3 pro while being about 5% faster generally. It is also about 10~15% faster than the M5S. Truth be told, the only drives that could consistently out-perform the M5Pro, were Sandforce based OCZ Vertex 4's, and it was by about 2% on average. Nothing worth taking on the OCZ headache for.

[MrMario]

waldojim, on 11 February 2013 - 10:43 PM, said:

MrMario, on 11 February 2013 - 09:23 PM, said:

Seems like people that I've talk to about boards is the same number for each. All perfer one and others perfer the other Should I go with two graphic cards? Is it really needed?

That comes down to what you want.

Do you need extreme resolutions (talking about 5760x1080)? If so, then yes, get two.

If you don't need that, then don't bother. Also, I do tend to agree with Coastie, if you have no need for 16GB of ram (and I do mean actual need!) then you really are wasting money on it. It is rare for me to even get CLOSE to 8GB...

Thanks!
Anyone got a good place to find cases?

This post has been edited by MrMario: 12 February 2013 - 03:17 PM

[waldojim]

MrMario, on 12 February 2013 - 03:14 PM, said:

Thanks!
Anyone got a good place to find cases?

if you have a decent local shop, head there to check out the options. If not, take your time going through newegg, Anandtech, and Toms Hardware.