The most powerful desktop money can buuuuild?

[DracoRedux]

I'm looking at building a gaming rig on steroids. The budget is $5000. Don't hold back. Pull out all the tricks. I am looking at 2 HDD's max for the initial setup. I am an NVidia fan, but don't let that stop you if you're a die hard AMD person. This is not something you should spend all night researching. I have my own ideas of what the machine will have, but I want unbiased suggestions, so I left out an initial build. Thanks in advance.

-Draco

 

[Roark]

$5,000, tight budget don't you think?

CPU: $1,050 Intel i7 3960X
MB: $450 Asus Rampage IV Extreme
RAM: $200 16GB Corsair Dominator 1600/CAS7
ODD: $20 Sony Optiarc 24x DVD/CD Burner
HDD: $130 1TB WD Caviar Green
SSD: $1,100 480GB Vertex 3
GPU: $1,200 XFX 7970 Black Edition (x2)
PSU: $200 OCZ ZX 1000W
Case: $210 Cooler Master HAF X
Cooler: $120 Corsair H100

Total = $4580 (not including rebates/combos/shipping)

 

[Shaynk]

5k? Better include a custom loop in that if you're serious.

 

[Talyor]

Dawm 1,100 dollars for an ssd

$5,000, tight budget don't you think?

CPU: $1,050 Intel i7 3960X
MB: $450 Asus Rampage IV Extreme
RAM: $200 16GB Corsair Dominator 1600/CAS7
ODD: $20 Sony Optiarc 24x DVD/CD Burner
HDD: $130 1TB WD Caviar Green
SSD: $1,100 480GB Vertex 3
GPU: $1,200 XFX 7970 Black Edition (x2)
PSU: $200 OCZ ZX 1000W
Case: $210 Cooler Master HAF X
Cooler: $120 Corsair H100

Total = $4580 (not including rebates/combos/shipping)

 

[Sean W.]

Hey Roark,


good build, but for a gaming build mine will rock your world



Case: $350
COOLER MASTER COSMOS II
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER COSMOS II RC-1200-KKN1 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Motherboard: $380
MSI Big Bang-Marshal (B3) LGA 1155
Newegg.com - MSI Big Bang-Marshal (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 (B3) & Lucid LT22102 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 XL ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Processor: $320
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I72600K

Ram: $125
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-16GBXL

Graphics card(s): $2400
XFX Black Edition Radeon HD 7970 x4
Newegg.com - XFX Black Edition FX-797A-TDBC Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

PSU: $280
CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) 1200W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

SSD: $280
120GB SATA III
Newegg.com - Intel 510 Series (Elm Crest) SSDSC2MH120A2K5 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

HDD: $270
Western Digital Caviar Black WDBAAZ0020HNC-NRSN 2TB 7200 RPM
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WDBAAZ0020HNC-NRSN 2TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

DVD Burner: $20
Newegg.com - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 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 DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - CD / DVD Burners

cooler: $120
CORSAIR H100
Newegg.com - CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler



Total: $4545

 

[Roark]

Hey Roark,
good build, but for a gaming build mine will rock your world

I didn't know 4x 7970s would really make that big a difference over 2x in today's games.
But if thats the case can replace these components in my build:

HDD: $160 1TB WD Caviar Black
SSD: $180 120GB Corsair Force GT
PSU: $270 Seasonic X-1250
GPU: $2,400 XFX 7970 Black Edition (x4)

Total = $4,960

 

[DracoRedux]

I didn't know 4x 7970s would really make that big a difference over 2x in today's games.

I really don't think it would. Four of them seems like it would be a waste. It would be cool to have to rigs running 2 each, though. I could have gaming redundancy! If one of the computer's components failed, I'd have a twin to use while I was waiting on parts, lol.

I did ask for power, though. I guess I need to specify useful power. The most I will ever be doing with it is running SWTOR, listening to music, editing with photoshop, and Mozilla in the background. More suggestions are welcome.

-Draco

 

[MindoverMaster]

I don't think CPUs work in redundancy. And multiple CPU's are made for servers, not gaming.

 

[Roark]

The most I will ever be doing with it is running SWTOR, listening to music, editing with photoshop, and Mozilla in the background. More suggestions are welcome.

That changes everything, you can build that rig for closer to $2,000

$320 Intel i7 2600K
$93 Corsair H80
$205 Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
$75 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600/CAS8
$200 2TB WD Caviar Black
$300 240GB OCZ Agility 3
$600 XFX 7970 Black Edition
$200 OCZ ZX 1000W
$160 Corsair Graphite 600TM

Total = $2,153

 

[DracoRedux]

I don't think CPUs work in redundancy. And multiple CPU's are made for servers, not gaming.

I don't think you read my post as intended. I said 2 rigs running 2 each. I mean 2 separate machines. I could swap the HDD out in case a hardware component other than the HDD itself fried. Keep the ideas coming. I'll be posting my version of the build later when I get off work.

-Draco