Gaming Pc $3000 limit! Plz Help!

[Pinscher]

For starters, get this instead of the as5
Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease

You could drop down to this 24" which is still a good size and Samsung makes some of the best monitors (not counting professional stuff). That will knock off $40.
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG ToC T240HD Rose-Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 10000:1 Built in DTV Tuner & Dolby Digital Surround Speakers - LCD Monitors

This one would be good to if that samsung isn't still on sale when you buy
Newegg.com - LG W2453V-PF Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 50000:1 w/ Smart Package - LCD Monitors

I've heard good things about this case. Are the Lian-Li's just not your style?
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1010 ESA RC-1010-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

For the PSU, here's a real nice modular one.
Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE DA700 700W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

 

[Guttzu]

For starters, get this instead of the as5
Newegg.com - Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease

You could drop down to this 24" which is still a good size and Samsung makes some of the best monitors (not counting professional stuff). That will knock off $40.
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG ToC T240HD Rose-Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 10000:1 Built in DTV Tuner & Dolby Digital Surround Speakers - LCD Monitors

This one would be good to if that samsung isn't still on sale when you buy
Newegg.com - LG W2453V-PF Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 50000:1 w/ Smart Package - LCD Monitors

I've heard good things about this case. Are the Lian-Li's just not your style?
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1010 ESA RC-1010-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

For the PSU, here's a real nice modular one.
Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE DA700 700W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

Thank you for your help man!

I was wondering about the PSU... You had me going with a 750watt one before so is the Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE DA750 750W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies overkill or just about right for my system?

Also I really need to find a different type of sound card (less expensive)...any suggestions?

About the SSD...is 60GB really enough for the Main drive + gaming and is this particular SSD stable and efficient? What would be a good HDD alternative?

I love the Lian-Li cases but they are really really expensive... The cosmos one you recommended said it had no HDD cooling and that peoples' HDDs would get really hot... what about the Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE TJ09-BW Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases I like how this case looks and it has some great reviews...plus it is $100 less than the Lian-Li. It only comes with 2 fans but I think there is room for 5? Anyone know this for sure? What would be good fans to go with?

So this is what the new "wishlist" looks like... Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

 

[Pinscher]

Heres a good soundcard for cheaper
Newegg.com - Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - Sound Cards

The PSU is a little over what you need but its not like waaay over. It will leave room for if you ever go SLI in the future.

I don't think 60GB is enough for a main drive, thats why the original one I suggested was a 120GB but apparently that one has had some issues. The thing is, the 120GB is $345 Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

You could put 2 of these in RAID 0
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives that would be pretty fast for pretty cheap.

Sorry about that case, I don't know a whole lot about it. A lot of people like the TJ09. With the money I'm chopping off with these other parts can you still not afford a Lian-Li? Nobody ever gets Lian-Li cases when I recommend them so I really wanted you to lol. I understand you do have a budget though.

 

[Guttzu]

Thanks for the help Pinscher... Here is the new "wishlist" Newegg.com - Once You Know, You Newegg

Tell me what you all think... Would the one Newegg.com - Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive) - Internal Hard Drives be enough for a Main Drive/Gaming drive?

Is the Silverstone PSU unit I chose still a good PSU? If not, what would be a better Modular one in that same Power Range?

Also the case only comes with 2 120mm fans...."1 x 120mm exhaust rear fan, 1200rpm, 21dBA
1 x 120mm intake Mid-section fan, 1200rpm, 21dBA" but it can fit 5 120mm fans total...what would you all suggest for these?

Anything else I would need to add to the setup or maybe change? Right now I'm sitting at about $2,600 which is in my budget but I still have to pay for shipping which I have no idea how much that will be lol... The only thing I can think of is a keyboard and maybe some tools... of course zipties or whatever else is needed when doing wire management and building the rig...

Any other suggestions/comments are welcome....thank you all for the help

 

[Pinscher]

That PSU is great.

The velociraptor will be great for your main drive too.

For fans, get some of these
Newegg.com - Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm Case Fan - Case Fans

If you get those you might want to put the fan controller in too.
Newegg.com - ZALMAN MFC2 Muti Fan Controller - Controller Panels

Shipping is only going to cost you $50-$75 probably. If you put all that stuff in your cart and then put in your zipcode, newegg will tell you how much it will be so you can know your grand total.

Oh as long as you have a screwdriver, you will be good on tools. Pick up some zip ties too wherever you can buy them. They are very handy

 

[Guttzu]

That PSU is great.

The velociraptor will be great for your main drive too.

For fans, get some of these
Newegg.com - Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm Case Fan - Case Fans

If you get those you might want to put the fan controller in too.
Newegg.com - ZALMAN MFC2 Muti Fan Controller - Controller Panels

Shipping is only going to cost you $50-$75 probably. If you put all that stuff in your cart and then put in your zipcode, newegg will tell you how much it will be so you can know your grand total.

Oh as long as you have a screwdriver, you will be good on tools. Pick up some zip ties too wherever you can buy them. They are very handy

Thanks for the help man... So I plan on having 5 fans in my case so what would be the best fan controller for that? I guess I could have 4 fans controlled and the other one running constant to use the MFC-2 controller.....what about the CPU Heatsink fan?

My real question is if I plan to have 5 fan cases what would be the best way to control all of these? What about the Newegg.com - Sunbeam RHK-EX-SV Rheobus-Extreme 5.25" Bay 4 Channel 30W Fan Controller Panel - Controller Panels or the Newegg.com - ZALMAN MFC1 Plus-B Black 6 Channel Multi Fan Controller - Controller Panels

 

[Pinscher]

Well you could have the Scythe fans connected to your fan controller. The cpu fan will connect to the motherboard and can be controlled through software and I believe any other fans should be able to be controlled through software if they are connected to the motherboard. I'm not totally sure on that though.

You could try this one
Newegg.com - ZALMAN MFC1 Plus-B Black 6 Channel Multi Fan Controller - Controller Panels

 

[Guttzu]

Well you could have the Scythe fans connected to your fan controller. The cpu fan will connect to the motherboard and can be controlled through software and I believe any other fans should be able to be controlled through software if they are connected to the motherboard. I'm not totally sure on that though.

You could try this one
Newegg.com - ZALMAN MFC1 Plus-B Black 6 Channel Multi Fan Controller - Controller Panels

Ok so there is a Video card fan mounted mid-case then there is a HDD fan mounted in the middle of the HDD racks also 2 fans can fit at the top of the case and the Exhaust fan... So 5 fans in total... The 2 top mounted fans should be intake fans I assume? The mid section fan is already setup to blow across the Video Card and the Exhaust fan...yeah it is the Exhaust fan lol... The HDD fan sits in the middle of the two HDD racks so should I have the HDDs in the top rack then have the fan suck air? Any suggestions on these? Also could I have the exhaust fan not hooked up to a controller and just control the other 4? How would you guys suggest doing this?

 

[Pinscher]

I would put the HDDs in the bottom rack and have the fan blowing in. Then the fans on top should always be exhaust (heat rises) side and rear should be exhaust

 

[Guttzu]

So what fans in the case would you recommend hooking up to the ZALMAN MFC2? I would have the top two fans as Exhaust fans + the rear exhaust fan... the mid-section fan blowing on the video card and the HDDs in the bottom rack with the fan blowing in. It says the ZALMAN MFC2 controls 4 fans but 3 of them are 3-pin and 1 is 4-pin? Could you explain that further please Also... why did the ZALMAN MFC2 get such bad reviews on Newegg?

If this controller doesn't do the job than what other controller would be better?