Quote:
Originally Posted by macatacz
Heya.
Just looking to build a new tower and I'm looking to spend about $2500.
CPU: Intel Core i7 960 Quad Core Processor LGA1366 3.2GHZ Bloomfield 8MB LGA1366 4.8GT/S Retail Box
Cooling: Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H100 Extreme Performance CPU Cooler System LGA775 1366 1156 AM2 AM3
MOBO: ASUS Rampage III Formula Rog X58 DDR3 ATX LGA1366 3PCI-E16 X-FI Motherboard
RAM: Corsair Dominator GT 12GB 3X4GB DDR3-2000 CL9-10-9-27 Intel XMP Triple Channel Memory Kit W/ Fan
GPU: 2x - EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Fermi 732MHZ 1280MB GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card
CASE: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D Full Tower Case EATX 5X5.25 4X3.5 Hotswappable 2X3.5INT No PS USB 1394
PSU: Antec Truepower Quattro 1200W Power Supply ATX V2.2 EPS12V 20/24PIN Active PFC 80PLUS 2X8PIN PCI-E
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM
SSD: Intel 320 Series GEN3 120GB 2.5IN SSD SATA2 Solid State Disk Flash Drive Retail W/ Bracket
Total comes up to be $2600ish at NCIX with price matches.
How are the choices that I'm making? Any parts I can replace with something else to get better bang for the buck?
Thanks in advance. 
EDIT: What was the fail for? This is truly a legit question and I haven't built a new tower in ages. |
Please don't buy that. Everything you had mentioned can be replaced. Good thing you came into this thread
CPU: $200-$300 Core i5 2500k or i7 2600k. Price/Performance the 2500k is better. +$100 you get Hyperthreading + 2MB L3 Cache which is hardly noticeable unless you do 3d rendering, video encoding...etc you would have benefit from HT. X58 LGA1366 is almost 3 years old and X79 chipset LGA2011 is almost released. Either wait for that or go with the above.
COOLING: $100 H100 is good as I use one myself.
MOBO: $200-$350 ASUS P8Z68-V Pro Z68 LGA1155 (NOT GEN3. Should be releasing soon) or MSI Z68A-GD80 (GEN 3) Z68 or ASUS Maximus IV EXTREME-Z Rog LGA1155 Z68
RAM: $60 Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit (I use this and like it)
GPU: $500 2x Radeon 6950's FLASHED TO 6970's
CASE: $150-$200 Corsair 800D is a beautiful case, albeit not meant for air cooling. I have a 650D myself. If you are looking for full tower, take a look at the "Cooler Master Haf 932 Advanced Full Tower EATX Case ". I can't stand tacky LED's but really good bang for your buck.
PSU: $275 Corsair Professional Series Gold CMPSU-1200AX 1200W ATX Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold Power Supply
HDD: $80 WD blacks are awesome.
SSD: $210 Get something like 2x 60gb and run it in RAID0. Mobo's now feature "Intel Smart Response Technology" but I never tried it before so I stick to my RAID0 setup.
Total of $1775-2075 *without taxes*
This leaves you around $800 to play with if you were to get the setup you had first chosen.
Throw in a nice sound card, quieter fans, keyboard, mouse, monitors...etc
Keep in mind that the new X79 chipset and socket LGA2011 are nearing. That means new motherboards + new CPU's.
If I were you I would prob buy a cheaper mobo + i5 2500k and upgrade when Ivy Bridge releases in April/May 2012.
Also check out
Shopbot - Compare prices - Canada - Price Comparison - Comparison Shopping for price matching.