After my UPS Fiasco...

[ujellybrah]

So I have recently moved from Florida to Colorado, and before I moved, I had my PC shipped to a friend in San Diego, where we drove to Colorado from. Well, What happened is UPS broke my PC. Luckily I had it insured so I am now just waiting on a check from them. But I need to build a new computer. So my thing is what to get. This is what I have come up with so far. Any other suggestions would be great!

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mExt

The PSU I know is probably overkill, so I might change that once I figure out which video cards to get.

Now here is the thing. My old computer had 2 Radeon HD 6970's in it with a 3 monitor setup. I would like to do something along those lines as well. Just not sure if I want to stick with ATI or switch to nVidia. I am leaning towards nVidia at the moment, and was looking at some of the 680's just not sure which ones are worth it. So any feedback would be great. My PC is pretty much my entertainment center, so I like to make sure I can play any game I feel like playing, and watching movies on it as well. Any thoughts as to this build? (I didnt pick a 2nd HD because I have a 2TB one with most of my data from the old pc that I pulled out before shipping it.) Also, did not select a CD/DVD drive because those are pretty simple. But like I said any feedback would be great!

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

What is your total budget?

[ujellybrah]

Well, after UPS decides to cut the check $2500.00

[Cyanotical]

Well, after UPS decides to cut the check $2500.00

not to be mr negativity, but don't count that money yet, i've dealt with their claims process before, they go out of their way to avoid paying you anything

if they have already told you they are going to pay you, then all is well

[ujellybrah]

The fact is, I am out of a PC atm, (just a shitty laptop right now) And from what I can tell from my tracking number the last entry says this: All merchandise discarded. UPS will notify the sender with details of the damage.

So from what I can tell, they have examined it, and threw it away. So either they will cut me a check for the amount I insured it for (since it was only 5 months old) or I will sue the shit out of them and get a check anyways. But yea, I understand what you are saying, I have been reading nothing but some horror stories from UPS and damaged items and claims.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Well, if you really want to spend 2500 dollars, you can build something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($208.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($183.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($198.87 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($409.66 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($409.66 @ NCIX US)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card ($179.00 @ B&H)
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case ($149.93 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2427.54
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)


If, on the other hand, you don't want to spend all the 2500 dollars and would like something that will do just the same job, just be less flashy in your forum signature (and run with less issues because dual-card solutions can be very temperamental), you can build something like this instead:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14 CPU Cooler ($72.29 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($135.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($183.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($198.87 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($409.66 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1551.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Personally, I'd save the 900 bucks for something else and go with the second rig if it were my money.

[Cyanotical]

then they are probably gonna cut you a check, but it will probably be for the current used value, which in terms of computers is never good, there is no regulated used computer market like there is for cars, parts-wise, its a mix with some appreciating, but most depreciating

edit: expect the worst, that way you are not caught off guard when if you don't get as much as you hoped, and are more than happy when you do

[ujellybrah]

Butter Dog, With the 7970 if I was to get just 1 of those would I be able to run 3 monitors off it. I assume if I could I would need to purchase another DVI to Mini Displayport adapter for it.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Yes, you can run 3 monitors off a single 7970. As for output connectors, you'd need to check that. I'm not really a big fan of multi-monitor setups (not least because my desk isn't big enough ).