Best possible system for sub 2400$?

[Skorpian]

Hi everyone
Helping a friend with a rig, he'll be ordering online. He wants a beast rig with a 2400$ max budget, less would be nice. Mainly 2x680 is required, and I think maybe X79 board with 3930k? IDK, I'm all open to suggestions .

 

[PP Mguire]

You already have the best products in mind. Just hook him up with a good SSD, a 2TB drive, an H series cooler, nice case, and a Corsair AX 850 and he's good to go.

 

[Skorpian]

850W is enough for 2x680? What about if he decides to 3x680 in the future?
Well I tried but I can't get that stuff into the 2400$ range. With a single GTX 680 FTW+, I'm at my max budget.
Here are the specs I have listed :
CPU : Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz @ 569.99$ on newegg
Motherboard : GIGABYTE GA-X79-UP4 @ $259.99 on newegg
RAM : CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 Desktop Memory Model @ 134.99$ on newegg
PSU : CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) @ $269.99 on newegg
SSD : Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) @ 189.99$ on newegg
HDD : Seagate Constellation CS ST2000NC001 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive @ 199.99$ on newegg
Case : COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case @ 139.99$ on newegg
Optical drive : LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback iHBS212-08 LightScribe Support @ 109.99$
And I still haven't included the cooler xD.

 

[Nurtt]

If you look on ebay I have found entire computers with 8gb ram quad core processors for under 300 I would recommend looking into some used gear.

 

[PP Mguire]

850W is enough for 2x680? What about if he decides to 3x680 in the future?
Well I tried but I can't get that stuff into the 2400$ range. With a single GTX 680 FTW+, I'm at my max budget.
Here are the specs I have listed :
CPU : Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz @ 569.99$ on newegg
Motherboard : GIGABYTE GA-X79-UP4 @ $259.99 on newegg
RAM : CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 Desktop Memory Model @ 134.99$ on newegg
PSU : CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) @ $269.99 on newegg
SSD : Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) @ 189.99$ on newegg
HDD : Seagate Constellation CS ST2000NC001 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive @ 199.99$ on newegg
Case : COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case @ 139.99$ on newegg
Optical drive : LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback iHBS212-08 LightScribe Support @ 109.99$
And I still haven't included the cooler xD.

2 680s will easily work on a 650w if you aren't overclocking as a 690 can run on one. 850w is plenty for 2 and possibly even 3. I'll have to do the math.

Anyways, your problem is that overly expensive 2TB drive. Get the standard one which is like 70 bucks or so cheaper. He also doesn't need one of the most expensive PSUs on the market which should drop the price down a few hundred. Also, for that budget I would get a better SSD.

Edit: I'm at 2372 without a case.

 

[PP Mguire]

Putting this in a new post. I ditched the 3930k as it isn't needed. You didn't specify the purpose of the PC but I'm going to guess gaming since it is getting SLI 680s. Any editing will still be perfectly fine on a 3770k though.

CPU:
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K

Motherboard:
Newegg.com - ASRock Z77 Professional LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10

GPU: x2
Newegg.com - EVGA Superclocked, Signature 2 02G-P4-2687-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

PSU:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Case:
Newegg.com - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Steel structure with black brushed aluminum faceplate ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

SSD + HDD:
Newegg.com - Corsair Neutron Series GTX CSSD-N120GBGTX-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Optical:
Newegg.com - LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo Drive Model UH12NS29 - Blu-Ray Drives

OS:
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems

$2300

Left room to change things a bit like the case. Couldn't put a HAF because I hate those. Maybe want to up the SSD but the Neutron is superb.

 

[Skorpian]

GeForce GTX 680 3-way SLI review - Power Consumption
So a 900W should be enough?
Ok, this is the new HDD I picked :
HDD : Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive @ 109.99$ on newegg
Good enough?
EDIT : Never mind. Yea the purpose is gaming. That board won't take a 3x680, I may be opting for 3-way SLI for him since it removes microstuttering as far as I know? As dual GPU causes microstuttering.
So the 3770k vs the 3930k, the 3930k wouldn't be better than the 3770k for future proofing?

 

[PP Mguire]

3 680s take 585w if they are stock. A 3770k is less than 77w. 850w is plenty, and besides with that budget he doesn't need 3 680s. They are a waste. 2 680s will waste any game even in 2D Surround.

BTW I have ran 3 overclocked 580s on my HX850 which take up more power with the 3960x which is 130w TDP. Barely got warm.

 

[Skorpian]

I know that 2x680 is beast, but I'm speaking of microstuttering which is caused by dual GPU systems. I read that three-way crossfire/SLI eliminates microstuttering, that true?

 

[PP Mguire]

It's what I call the brute force theory. Thinking raw FPS will fix other latency based issues, which isn't true. It will only cause certain games that support SLI heavily (actually use 3 GPUs) to render faster which will decrease the latency issue which they go into great detail on the 7950 vs 660ti thread. That being said, micro-stutter from having a multi-GPU system will always be there, but it's more of an AMD issue with Crossfire. Spending 1500 on video cards for something barely seen at high frame rate is not really that cost effective considering the fact that 2 680s barely fully get used by all games. Most older games will utilize at best 25% of the second GPU while using 100% of the first one. It's the reason why I tell people dual card solutions aren't really the answer because they up the budget with extra board and PSU costs and only give about a 50% increase with a 100% increase in cost and power usage. Plus, if your friend doesn't have 3 screen then 2 GPUs is pretty much wasted as a single 680 or even a 580 maxes any game.