High End Gaming PC - Help/Advice Plase

[Akushi22]

Hey everyone,

My current computer has gotten to the point where it can't do the kind of gaming and deliver the preformance I want from it. After doing some research, I've concluded that buying parts and building a new machine myself will give me more bang for my buck than to buy a pre-assembled one.

Now, the problem is, as someone new to this, I don't really know what kind of stuff I should be getting. I've done some research online, but had a lot of different results. So I'm mostly looking for builds or suggestions I can consider before making a final choice.

I'm looking to build:
-A high end gaming PC
-Want an Intel chipset
-Want the ability to run games (Crysis, ect) on the highest settings
-A computer than can game while other programs are running in the background
-Multi-monitor support preffered, but not a deal breaker
-Prefer ATI graphics card over Nvidia, unless there's some strong arguments for Nvidia, in which case I'll consider it.

I have a budget of about $2000-$2500 Canadian. I don't need any optical drives, as I'll be taking those out of my current box, and I already have 7.1 capable speakers, a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. So all I need is a box (but once again, no DVD/Blueray drives)

Any help/insight/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Akushi22

 

[Jagged.Edge]

Case:Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF X Blue Edition RC-942-KKN3 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case Although you can get the normal HAF X if you don't want the fans to be blue: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

HDD:Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD2002FAEX 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Video Card (Its AMD!):Newegg.com - XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

PSU:Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 (CMPSU-850AX) 850W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

RAM:Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL

MoBo:Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 EVO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU (Intel):Newegg.com - 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

CPU Cooler:Newegg.com - Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

SSD:Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

All that is pretty much the same as my build.

Grand total around $1800 USD. I'm not sure how much that is in Canadian Dollars.

 

[mononcleken]

+/- $5

 

[Thomas]

Everything Jagged suggested is great. I would rather see this psu though - Newegg.com - SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM Active PFC F3) 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Corsair units have mixed reviews and Seasonic has been building them a lot longer with a stellar reputation. It's about 10 bucks more but there is no sense skimping on the power supply when your building such a high end machine.

 

[Slaymate]

I wouldn't buy either of those power supplies. The system components I see listed will work with a good 600w power supply and still have some spare room.

This is $74.99 after a rebate plus it has an extra 10% off if you use the Promo Code PSU624 by June 30.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

If you just want some extra power then this is $99.99 after a rebate plus it has an extra 10% off if you use the Promo Code PSU624 by June 30.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

 

[Thomas]

I think it's more about the quality of the supply. The Corsair builder series have not been up to the same standards as pc power and cooling or seasonic. This can be verified at jonnyguru and many other sites. I agree he doesn't need that much power but that is no reason to get a budget supply for a high end rig.

 

[Akushi22]

Thanks guys, so far looking pretty good. 8GB of RAM is probably enough, though I have seen builds using up to 12 GB of RAM. (Example: Corsair XMS3 Tri Channel 12GB PC10666 DDR3 Memory - 1333MHz, 12288MB (6 x 2048MB) at TigerDirect.com )

Do you think it would be worth it to pay the extra $60 to get the extra?

 

[Slaymate]

I think it's more about the quality of the supply. The Corsair builder series have not been up to the same standards as pc power and cooling or seasonic. This can be verified at jonnyguru and many other sites. I agree he doesn't need that much power but that is no reason to get a budget supply for a high end rig.

None of the Corsair power supplies that have been linked to are Builder Series. The two I suggested are the TX series which are excellent power supplies.

 

[Roark]

Akushi, the motherboard that was linked utilizes Dual Channel RAM kits, while the kit you linked would work you'd lose the increased bandwidth from dual channel.
8GB is plenty for what it sounds like you'll be doing. If you're worried about it I'd suggest running it with 8GB then make up your mind if you're using it all, then just get another 8GB kit if so.

 

[Akushi22]

Akushi, the motherboard that was linked utilizes Dual Channel RAM kits, while the kit you linked would work you'd lose the increased bandwidth from dual channel.
8GB is plenty for what it sounds like you'll be doing. If you're worried about it I'd suggest running it with 8GB then make up your mind if you're using it all, then just get another 8GB kit if so.

Okay, makes sence to me. I'll just run with the 8, and then if for some reason I need more (which I doubt), I can just throw a second 8 in with that board?