Computer building help

[omniregisforte]

I am wanting to build a Desktop PC and am a little apprehensive about this being my first time to build a computer. I want to spend at absolute most $2000. I would like to use Windows 7 and Ubuntu on it. I plan to use it for some graphics heavy gaming, medium amount of graphics and video design, but the primary purpose will be for programming and an entertainment center. I would like to have multiple drives and set up a RAID system on my machine. I know I want enough ports and slots with my motherboard to provide versatility when I finish college. I have two monitors, a set of speakers, a mouse, and a keyboard. Any advice on what combination of parts I should use to assemble my machine?

Thanks for the help

P.S. Answers posted in a list form would be appreciated.

 

[Yerfdog]

So you're saying you want multiple RAID's set up?

 

[omniregisforte]

I was hoping to use RAID 5 first and see how things work

 

[Yerfdog]

Yeah, I don't really know what that is so I'll let someone else help you. >_>

 

[Night Fox]

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
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
Newegg.com - EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - LG Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 10X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Super Multi WH12LS30 LightScribe Support - Blu-Ray Burners
Newegg.com - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD 24-bit 96KHz Sound Card

Price: $1,978.87
Shipping: approx. $20.33
Total: $1,999.20

This has 3 1tb hard drives for the raid 5 configuration you mentioned. I added a sound card because you mentioned entertainment system. If you want to upgrade other areas, you can use integrated audio or get a cheaper sound card. If you want easier hot-swap bays, you should check out the Corsair 800D, which has 4 hot-swap bays in the front. This is much more expensive however. If you really wanted this, you could get a lower sound card, graphics card, and power supply to make up for the cost. Also, if you wanted a full tower, and you like the design of the mid-tower case I originally put on there, you could get the Cooler Master HAF X which is very similar to the 922. As for the graphics, the GTX 570 can run every current game at high settings and should last you quite a while without having to upgrade (the motherboard is SLI compatible, should you choose to add another gpu later on). The SSD is for your OS and programs and will hugely improve the speed and performance of your computer.