Help me spend $3800

[payj]

This is how much I am willing to spend on a bad ass computer. I want to build it. I have a buddy that can put it together for me. First off I have no knowledge of computer components, but know what I need for the most part? Short of going to newegg and clicking on the high priced stuff and "assuming" it is the best I know nothing. I know more $ doesnt mean better, thats why Im here.

I will be using this computer for gaming and muti-tasking (music player open, 5-10 internet windows open, music downloading, maybe a game running, photoshop open). Idk I just don't want the thing to be slowed down!

At this budget suggest:

-CPU(s)
-Graphics Card(s)
-Motherboard
-Case
-Cooling
-CD drives etc.
-Power
-Computer Monitor
-Whatever else I'm missing.


Thank you for the input.....

 

[Zer0Cool]

Hi Payj,

Welcome to the forums. I'm in college now so Will not be able to get into details, but let me ask you this; are you willing to Overclock your computer or not? Or should I say does your buddy know how to do that? If so, instead of spending $500 on a CPU you can spend $200 and bring it up to the speed for a $500 one, make sense?

Are you looking for a single monitor or you want duel setup? Do you have any idea how big you want them to be? I have two 24" monitors and they work really good for me.

For the amount of money you willing to spend you can really build yourself an EPIC PC, I mean really good. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

If your friend is good with PC building, definitely go with water cooling!!! you can afford it. Get Crossfire/SLI going. After you get everything if you have money go for duel monitors, you will like it.

If I have time today when I get home il try to build you a PC from newegg, but I'm sure someone will post it b4 me.

Cheers.

UPDATE

"Reasonable" High-end Gaming PC:
$470 - Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo
$165 - Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$860 - 2 x Gigabyte GV-R587UD-1G Radeon HD 5870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$439 - Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M160G2XXX 2.5" 160GB SSD
$25 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$160 - Corsair 950TX 950W PSU
$300 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$80 - Corsair Hydro H50 CPU Cooler
-------
Total: $2500 plus tax and shipping

Just add a 30" monitor and a storage drive (2TB maybe) and you'll be set. You should have enough for a watercooling setup. Dunno too much about water cooling hardware so can't help you there.

 

[sniperviper21]

Honestly? Go buy a car.

But the biuld above is good. Though i dont like the Case much..

and id just get a 5890 instead of 2 5870s

 

[Zer0Cool]

Honestly? Go buy a car.

I do agree with this. For that ammount of money car would be a better choice.

 

[payj]

Hi Payj,

Welcome to the forums. I'm in college now so Will not be able to get into details, but let me ask you this; are you willing to Overclock your computer or not? Or should I say does your buddy know how to do that? If so, instead of spending $500 on a CPU you can spend $200 and bring it up to the speed for a $500 one, make sense?

Are you looking for a single monitor or you want duel setup? Do you have any idea how big you want them to be? I have two 24" monitors and they work really good for me.


For the amount of money you willing to spend you can really build yourself an EPIC PC, I mean really good. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

If your friend is good with PC building, definitely go with water cooling!!! you can afford it. Get Crossfire/SLI going. After you get everything if you have money go for duel monitors, you will like it.

If I have time today when I get home il try to build you a PC from newegg, but I'm sure someone will post it b4 me.

Cheers.

UPDATE

"Reasonable" High-end Gaming PC:
$470 - Intel Core i7-930 CPU + Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R X58 ATX Motherboard Combo
$165 - Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$860 - 2 x Gigabyte GV-R587UD-1G Radeon HD 5870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$439 - Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2M160G2XXX 2.5" 160GB SSD
$25 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
$160 - Corsair 950TX 950W PSU
$300 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$80 - Corsair Hydro H50 CPU Cooler
-------
Total: $2500 plus tax and shipping

Just add a 30" monitor and a storage drive (2TB maybe) and you'll be set. You should have enough for a watercooling setup. Dunno too much about water cooling hardware so can't help you there.

Thank you for the reply.

I am not too sure if he knows much about water cooling, I will ask though. I do think he knows a bit about overclocking. Question on that: Is it bad to do in some way? It just doesn't seem right? Also, what if I overclocked a really good one, or used two? Also, I heard AMD is better than Intel? True, False? Why? Same thing with the gpu's, can I ad two? Are these any good? POWERCOLOR AX5970 2GBD5-MD Radeon HD 5970? What if I used two? Same thing with the CPU?

Other questions, what is "crossfire/SLI"?

My ultimate goal is to kind of go over the top so the computer has a life of 6-10 years. At the 6-10 year mark It will still be an alright computer. Would doing this achieve that? I just don't want to constantly upgrading, I figure I'll just go over the top now. Make sense?

To the others, thanks for your concern about the car. I've got one and an SUV.

 

[berry120]

I am not too sure if he knows much about water cooling, I will ask though. I do think he knows a bit about overclocking. Question on that: Is it bad to do in some way? It just doesn't seem right?

Only if you push it too far. Any overclock will shorten the life of your processor somewhat, but you can often push it well beyond it's original capacity and only negligibly shorten its life (if you push it from 3.4 to 3.8 and take the life down from 15 to 12 years that's a pretty acceptable trade off in my opinion!)

Also, what if I overclocked a really good one, or used two?

Two processors? You probably won't see too much of a benefit unless you're running heavily multi threaded applications (games are unlikely to see much, if any boost through running two processors.) Yes, you can overclock a better one but you rarely get the same boost that you do with one lower down in the range. It's all about luck really - you could get a 3.2Ghz dual core that won't be pushed beyond that, or you could get exactly the same CPU and stably push it to 3.8Ghz and 4 cores. It's just luck of the draw - though you can usually get a bit extra out of them. Google around if you're still not sure, there's plenty of information out there.

Also, I heard AMD is better than Intel? True, False? Why?

False. It's a fanboy statement. The converse is also false - again a fanboy statement. One processor may be better than another, but you can't just compare two entire companies like that.

Same thing with the gpu's, can I ad two? Are these any good? POWERCOLOR AX5970 2GBD5-MD Radeon HD 5970? What if I used two? Same thing with the CPU?
Other questions, what is "crossfire/SLI"?

Crossfire / SLI is what you need (for ATI and Nvidia respectively) if you use two graphics cards. Bear in mind though that you won't get double the performance with two cards - not even close. It just doesn't scale like that.

My ultimate goal is to kind of go over the top so the computer has a life of 6-10 years. At the 6-10 year mark It will still be an alright computer. Would doing this achieve that? I just don't want to constantly upgrading, I figure I'll just go over the top now. Make sense?

I see where you're coming from, though from a financial perspective it'd make more sense to spend a bit less and upgrade later. No PC you build now, even a high end one, will stack up against the competition 10 years later (especially if it's a gaming PC.) If you spend a bit less and go for the slightly cutting edge components you'll have a PC that'll last almost as long but cost significantly less!

 

[foothead]

False. It's a fanboy statement. The converse is also false - again a fanboy statement. One processor may be better than another, but you can't just compare two entire companies like that.

There is no better CPU, only better for the application. For gaming, the AMD Phenom II beats the intel Core i7 clock for clock when high resolutions and high Antialiasing is in the picture. At lower resolutions, the Core i7 wins, but no matter what, the two are pretty even.

To be completely honest, the Phenom II wins overall for a gaming system because the platform saves you enough money to buy a graphics upgrade, which will increase your performance more than the i7 ever would even at low resolutions.

i7s only win in synthetic benchmarks, not real world gaming application.

Now, if we were talking Video conversion, it'd be a different story.

 

[payj]

Berry120: Thank you for the reply. Would you mind explaing in your words what crossfire is and SLI? Also, you state running multiple processors does no good unless you are running heavily threaded apps. I don't know what that is but, maybe in my head I will be doing that without realizing it. Do you mind giving me an example?

Foothead: This comp will be used for gaming and other uses business actually. So tons of multitasking and skype conversations. Would you still run the Phenom II?


To all: I haven't gamed on a pc for years. Right now I use a 360 on a nice hd tv for gaming. How would the graphics compare using the gpu's etc suggested on the proper hd monitor to a 360?


thanks

 

[VINMAN46]

they graphics blows away all console systems graphics

 

[foothead]

My parents' old Dell with a HD 4670 and a Pentium 4 can run console ports at max with higher framerates than an xbox 360.

Basically, it will destroy it.

Please, describe what type of 'other business' will be done on it. Do you mean things like everyday tasks, or high end photo/video editing and the likes? There is a huge difference.