What would you build right now for around $2k?

[savage1987]

That's tower price, not including peripherals.


I have an urge to build another system. I want to use water this time to see how it feels to put together, just for the experience really.

The budget is just a rough outline. I will spend whatever smart shopping dictates





There's no real rush, my current gamer is just fine, but I want a second desktop in the house.

I was thinking an i7 this time (current is PhenomII x4 955BE oc'd to 4GHz on air, HD6870, etc) but looking at the Ivy Bridge architecture about to hit the market in the next few months I think their prices may drop a bit??? As much as I'd love a 22nm CPU I don't think they will be cheap enough fresh onto the shelves so I'll probably be stuck with a mid-range i7.

Are the i7 range all fairly similar, or are there vast differences in the actual hardware? For example, I put my PhII on a CH IV Formula motherboard and with tweaking a few settings I got it running better than the 970, and I know with Core Unlocker features etc on current gen motherboards there can be surprising opportunities for those using cheaper CPUs and tweaking the settings for optimum overclock.





Sorry to be so open ended, just looking for discussion on the topic really


So far the only thing I've really decided on is the Thermaltake Armour case, should provide plenty of space for one or two onboard water loops, depending what setup I end up going with, how many GPUs and SLi/Xfire etc.


Thanks
Sam

[Super_Low 91]

could always by my system lol, then throw in some nice water cooling gear,

Water cooling is good for the looks, especially if you get some nice compression fittings an do everything as neat as possible. Took me a little while to figure out the best loop an layout that worked in my old case, so make ensure you have plenty of spare hose an fittings.

[savage1987]

What are you selling?? I'd be open to doing something like that, I can see myself saving some serious money on componentry buying the right system second hand

[wraith]

Lol super low is finally trying to sell his expensive youtube viewing machine. 2nd hand is always easier as long as the gear is still current. I know shane's setup and it can handle everything you could want to throw at it.

[Super_Low 91]

Just the basics,

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Amd Phenom II X6 1090T 3.2Ghz
Noctua NH-D14 Air cooler
Asus Crosshair IV Formula AMD 890 Chipset Socket AM3 Motherboard
8 gig Corsair Vengence 1600 ram
Sapphire HD 6990
500GB Seagate (os)
Silverstone Ltd Edition White Rv02

I also have some water cooling gear as well from my old build that i would be willing to throw in.

[Full Spectrum]

Don't know if 2k would do it.

Thermaltake armour + Case.
Thermaltake toughpower psu.
Asus Crosshair-V-Formula-Thunderbolt M/B.
AMD FX-8150 CPU.
Corsair DDR3 12GB Dominator GT. Memorey.
Western digital velociRaptor 300GB hdd.
XFX Radeon 6970 xxx 2GB GPU.
Thermaltake frio ock cpu cooling.

I might have broke the budget .

[savage1987]

Funny enough not quite




from pccasegear.com, and that's with a bigger HDD as the 300GB was out of stock


although I think parts compatibility would be an issue with that exact bunch pretty sure that motherboard, CPU and CPU cooler would all refuse to talk to each other.

[Krisp]

well for 2k i could get a mad system, courtesty of whole sale prices. but i would rather inject that 2k into my veins

[savage1987]

lol! Hello!

You and your damn wholesale prices. Should have made you hook me up when I built my AMD system





side note: if only there were a market for building custom PCs for profit.... I'd do it for free really, getting paid for it would be a bonus though!

[wraith]

For hard drive I wouldn't go anything less then a 120GB Corsair Force GT and then a secondary Sata 3 3TB drive.

[savage1987]

yeah my current PC has a 1TB Caviar Black for OS & games, and a 2TB Caviar Green for storage I wouldn't go with anything less in the next one, and possibly try SSD.

[wraith]

Once you go SSD you won't look back. I had a customer with a beasty little HTPC with a 120gb SSD and a secondary 3tb hard drive. Full windows install in 7 minutes roughly. Cold boot took about 15 seconds to get into windows.

[savage1987]

That's impressive, the only problem I have with SSD right now is the pricing, and the fact they haven't proven themselves over time as a long-term viable option for OS drives.... I think I'll still try one though what's the worst that can happen?

[Full Spectrum]

Funny enough not quite




from pccasegear.com, and that's with a bigger HDD as the 300GB was out of stock


although I think parts compatibility would be an issue with that exact bunch pretty sure that motherboard, CPU and CPU cooler would all refuse to talk to each other.

There shouldn't be an issue?. The board is am3+ like the cpu and the cooler comes with provisions to suit both Intel and Amd CPU's .

Some very good prices there.

[savage1987]

Yeah after doing a ton of research I found PCcasegear to have very competitive prices in the Australian market, so I buy all my stuff through them

[Full Spectrum]

I was picking $8-$15 prices differences between my prices. That doesn't sound like much but ad that over all parts and all builds and that's a mighty saving.

[footy]

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K $235
Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V Gen3 $225
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1333 $39
SSD: Crucial M4 128GB $239
HDD: Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB $159
GPU1: Gigabyte 1.25GB Nvidia GeForce GTX570 OC V2 $379
GPU2: Gigabyte 1.25GB Nvidia GeForce GTX570 OC V2 $379
PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus ST85F-P 850W $159
ODD: DVD burner $22
CPU HSF: Thermalright HR-02 Macho $59
Soundcard: Asus Xonar DG $39

Should come in close to 2k with ur case included.
U will only want a i7 if u plant on doing video editing etc for the hyperthreading but afaik the 2500k is best for gaming due to ease of overclocking and price.
U could also swap out the 2x gpus for a single gtx580 or wait a few weeks for the 7000 series to drop in price.

[savage1987]

Yeah I was reading about the i5 2500k being the pick of the bunch at the moment for those reasons.


A couple of things have made me decide to put off building another system for a few more months at least. I switched up priorities a little and also I want to wait and see how Intel's Ivy Bridge works out, no doubt there will be a couple of architectural breakthroughs with GPU tech as well in that time.

I just have really itchy fingers, I just love building well thought out computers