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

[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


View attachment 130793

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