Help with Computer Build (2000$ AUS)

[Senatour]

Hey, im looking at buying a dedicated gaming computer which has the ability to max out games such as crysis 2 and BF3 with a playable FPS and am yet to decide whether to have it premade or build it myself . Basically im looking for the parts for an intel build which would maximise the performance for the 2000 dollar budget. This is my current idea but i am unsure on what case and power supply i would need as well as any additional parts required (e.g CPU Cooling)
Also my price range does include a monitor and keyboard as i need new ones.
Cpu:Intel Core I7 2600k 341$
Motherboard:ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Motherboard 185$
Disk Drive (optical drive): Pioneer DVR 219L DVDRW 35$
Graphics card: Gainward Geforce GTX 580 3GB Phantom 588$
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 110$
Ram: Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1600C7 4GB DDR3 (x2) 138$
Operating system: Windows 7 32bit. 100$
Total so far = 1497$
Your thoughts on this would be appreciated as well as suggesting ways to improve my build as well as suggesting the parts i have missed out due to being unsure! Also im new to computers and their parts, so my choices may be a little uninformed so far!

 

[Roark]

For a dedicated gaming rig go for the i5 2500K and save some cash. It will perform just as well for gaming as the 2600K.

Unless you plan on extremely high resolution (3-screen?) a 3GB GTX580 is probably overkill, check out the 1.5-2GB versions.

I'd go for an 8GB (2x4GB) Dual Channel RAM kit instead of buying 2 x 2GB sticks.

No reason not to get Windows 7 64-Bit, it should be the same price and recognizes over 4GB of system RAM.

Where are you purchasing from? would be more than happy to make specific suggestions.

 

[Senatour]

PC Case Gear or http://www.centrecom.com.au is where im purchasing from. Theyre prices are reasonable compared to other options! So my question is firstly, what is the main difference between the I5 and I7? sorry im new to this. Also will the 1.5 and 2 gb version of the gtx580 be able to max out games such as BF3? I just want this system to be able to perform well for the next few years (hopefully) upgrading of course is an option. Also can u recommend a decent monitor (no im planning on using 1 monitor for now), case and psu? im unsure what it needs
thanks

 

[Roark]

The differences are the i7 has hyper-threading, 0.1GHz faster stock clock, and 2MB more L3 cache, none of which is groundbreaking when it comes to gaming performance, and certainly not worth the extra ~$100 unless you do a lot of video editing/3D rendering/etc...

Yeah the 1.5/2GB versions of the 580 can max BF3, like I said the 3GB version is just for large/multi monitor setups:
The numbers on 1.5GB vs 3GB GTX 580s (Single + SLI) - Overclockers Forums
580 1.5gb or 580 3gb - Graphics-Cards - Graphic-Displays
GTX 580 1.5GB or 3GB?

Route I'd go:

CPU: $230 Intel i5 2500K
MB: $231 Asus P8Z68-V-Gen3
ODD: $35 Pioneer 24x DVD/CD Burner
GPU: $548 MSI GTX580 Twin Frozr II/OC 1.5GB
HDD: $110 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12
RAM: $69.3 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600/CAS8
OS: $109 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit OEM

Total so far = $1,332.30

PSU: $149 Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W
Monitor: $149 Samsung 22" 2ms LS22A350HS
-OR- : $169 Philips 24" 5ms 244EL2SB
Keyboard: $49.5 Razer Arctosa
-OR- : $79 Logitech G110
Cases are personal preference, but I'd take a look at:
$174 Cooler Master HAF 932
$198 Cooler Master HAF 942
$208 Corsair Graphite 600TM

Total, using the most expensive options above, = $1,937.30
Total, using the inexpensive options above, = $1,853.80, which would leave enough room for:
SSD: $129 60GB OCZ Vertex 3


Some other options I might consider that I found at MSY:
MB: $184 Asus P8Z68-V
ODD: $24 Pioneer 24x DVD/CD Burner
GPU: $539 Gigabyte GTX580 1.5GB
Case: $134 Corsair Carbide 400R
PSU: $189 Corsair HX750
Monitor: $156 Samsung 23" 5ms S23A300B
Keyboard: $87 Logitech G510
Keyboard: $89 Razer Lycosa


*Edit - Forgot about your CPU cooler question.
You'll really only need an aftermarket CPU cooler if you plan on overclocking your CPU.
And even if you do the stock Intel cooler should be sufficient up to around 3.7-4.0GHz.
Options if you're worried about it, or plan on doing some 4GHz+ overclocking:
$39 Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
$59 Noctua NH-U9B-SE2