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[Koshka]

I am planning to buy parts and have a local computer store put together a computer for me. Not including OS and peripherals I would prefer to spend between, say, $2000 and $2500 although that is not a fixed limit. Gaming right now is primarily WoW but want to have options to do other things. I always use two monitors usually with WoW on one and the other have multiple browser windows open, plus maybe Word and Excel and maybe Photoshop Elements. I also often stream video while playing WoW. I am sometimes have two copies of WoW open at a time and would like to be able to run 3 on occasion.

I want a computer that will work well for 2 to 3 years. I am not looking to save money where I could easily get better performance now. However, I don't want to waste money for things that will have no benefit for me. It is important that I have some future expandability.

Case - Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition (VN10006W2N) White and Black SECC / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case with Four Fans-1x 200mm Colorshift side fan, 1x 200mm Colorshift top fan, 1x 200mm Colorshift front fan and 1x 140mm rear fan - $289.99

Cooler - Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler - $75.87

Motherboard -Case has front usb 3.0 20 pin header for 2 USB ports 3.0 on the top so need motherboard to support that.

Possibly:

ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Processor - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K - $314.99

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9 - $57.99 - Is 8GB enough looking ahead a couple of years or should I get 16 now?

EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $589.99 -- Is this enough? I don't think my usage justifies dual cards now.

Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $276.99 - I want to be able to have the OS, WoW, Photoshop Elements and a few other programs on it with room to add more. I could go larger on this but don't want to go smaller. Another option would be get this now but have the potential to add another later and run as RAID 0.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $89.99

Power Supply - CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Want something that you use if I went to dual video cards later.



Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM - $19.99

SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-/+R 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Combo Model SH-B123L/RSBP LightScribe Support - $64.99 (Yes, I want 2 optical drives)

ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card - $73.99 - I debated getting no sound card or getting a better sound card and went with this as sort of in between. I do mostly use a headset which is a Sennheiser.

AFT PRO-55U All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader - $51.99 - This is mostly for transferring photos. This was attractive due to speed in transferring but is more expensive than most. Open to alternatives. Must be able to transfer from compact flash cards.

Network -- While I usually will run wired I want to have a WiFi card in it just in case I need to temporarily move the computer to another place in the house.

Sabrent 802.11n Wireless PCI Controller Card - 802.11n/g/b, 300Mbps, 40/64/128-bit WEP encryption

[llDemonll]

motherboard i know the asus p8z68 vvpro has a 20 pin usb 3.0 thing, i dont think it has two though

everything looks good. personally i'd drop the sound card, you don't really need it unless you're an audiophile or need to work professionally with sound

i7 2600k is justified if you run a few copies of WoW a lot. the GPU you could downgrade to a gtx570 and not lose much performance for the gaming / usage that you're doing

[Deleted]

Well tbh the case is a fair waste of money, for example the NZXT Phantom is like half the cost.

No need for a soundcard unless you're all about sound, or just want to blow some cash.

If money isn't an object get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139010 for the PSU, modular makes cable management much easier.

I'd not downgrade to a 570, with your budget you should take the 580. I really don't see you needing the 3gb version, unless you're running two giant monitors.

[Ghâzh]

Corsair HX750 aint modular, I think you are thinking AX? And 750 watts is barely enough for two gtx 580's if he wants to keep his options open for a future SLI upgrade he'd be better off with AX/HX850, just my opinion.

With quality headphones you'll definitely hear the improvement over motherboard's integrated sounds if you know what to listen to.

My opinion of the matter is objective of course but I think that case looks like shit and is over priced. But that's up to you really.

Edit: Making a fool of myself again, looks like the HX is modular after all :P. Weird that they don't say anything about it in the corsair's website. Was always under the impression that AX was the modular series and HX was only partly modular. Sorry for the confusion.

[Deleted]

Corsair HX750 aint modular, I think you are thinking AX? And 750 watts is barely enough for two gtx 580's if he wants to keep his options open for a future SLI upgrade he'd be better off with AX/HX850, just my opinion.

With quality headphones you'll definitely hear the improvement over motherboard's integrated sounds if you know what to listen to.

My opinion of the matter is objective of course but I think that case looks like shit and is over priced. But that's up to you really.

Edit: Making a fool of myself again, looks like the HX is modular after all :P. Weird that they don't say anything about it in the corsair's website. Was always under the impression that AX was the modular series and HX was only partly modular. Sorry for the confusion.

Actually at load two gtx 580s pull around 720 watts. So the PSU could easily handle it, but yeah 850 would be even better.

[Ghâzh]

Actually at load two gtx 580s pull around 720 watts. So the PSU could easily handle it, but yeah 850 would be even better.

Did you count in the sound card, usb card reader, CD/RDVD burner and bluray combo drive? Plus 1x 140 fan and 3x200 fans the case has?

[ispano]

Actually at load two gtx 580s pull around 720 watts. So the PSU could easily handle it, but yeah 850 would be even better.

The entire System with 2 580s might pull that, but not the two cards themselves. Their TDP is ~244 Watts, and add a bit just because and for OC, they would still need to draw 360 watts each to hit 720. Usually only the dual GPU cards will pull that much.

[Koshka]

Yes, I know I could get cases that would meet my needs that are less expensive. And, I think the aesthetics of the case are very much a love it or hate it thing. But, I fall in the love it camp and am willing to pay a premium to get a case that I like aesthetically.

What about this for the PSU?

CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply


For motherboard possibly:

ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS


For wireless

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...486&CatId=2701

[Ghâzh]

What about this for the PSU?

CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply


For motherboard possibly:

ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

That would be the exact power supply I'd buy for this setup. It has room for another gtx 580 later if you so wish and should be exellent quality.

Regarding the motherboard, what do you need the Deluxe for? Could downgrade it to Pro safely if you don't have some specific feature on the Deluxe model that you need. It mostly just has some additional ports and stuff so check if you really need it as it doesn't have any real effect on the actual performance.

[Koshka]

You have a good point. I really debated it and it did have a few ports but not really all that important to have them. I think I would rather save the $40.

[Deleted]

Looking great, would change the SSD though to a Crucial M4 which is cheaper and faster (even more so after the latest firmware).

[Zkeya]

P8Z68 Deluxe has only one USB3 header and provides a front panel with 2 slots, so you'll have to choose between the case ports or the panel (the differences with Pro are minimal, Pro has some less USB ports but it's cheaper). (just noticed that Ghaz beat me to that )
HX series are semi-modular (the 20/24 - I don't remember the exact number - can't be removed). AX series are completely modular.
(I'm a bit jealous about the case, snow edition looks F*****G AWESOME. I would have bought it myself if it was available here -.-)

[Koshka]

Yes I've decided to switch to the Pro. For my needs I think the HX series is fine.

Access -- there is not a huge difference in cost after factoring in rebate for the Intel. On the Newegg web pages for the two drives it looks like the Intel is faster than the Crucial M4 though?