2000 budge for an mmo pc

I would recommend:

ticket number: 404769 - $1989.00

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Maelstrom
Exterior Finish: - Not Available
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Set 1 Raid Options: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Cooler Master V8 High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Available
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Green)
Enhancements: - Not Available
Chassis Mods: - Not Available
Noise Reduction: - Not Available
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade)
Boost Video Card: - Not Available
Boost Memory: - Not Available
Boost OS: - Not Available
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - Not Available
Office: - Not Available
Benchmarking: - Not Available
Install/Test Game: - Not Available
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

Originally posted by Shaelen thanks so much for your help! This seems pretty perfect.  Do you think its worth splurging on upgrading the cooling a little? My comp has problems overheating now and I don't want problems like that again, espeically with overclocking.

The V8 is a great cooler for overclocking from what I've seen, spending any more than that will show very little performance gain per $ spent, upgrading to a Noctua would lower temps by ~2-4c but I personally don't feel that it would be necessary.  I highly doubt you would have any temp problems with a OC less than 4ghz. 

Originally posted by Shaelen Last q, is it possible to switch the case with a diff one?  or is that a good case for air flow and stuff?  oh and how about upgrading chasis airflow? does that help?

Yep, you can change to most any of the other cases for ~30$ or less though the Maelstrom should provide plenty of air flow and room for upgrades with your setup.  I doubt you would see a noticeable temperature change if you switched to another case, though if you like some of the features on another case better it wouldn't hurt.

Noctua cools better is a bit more quiet also, for $20 IMO Its worth it.

920 is all you need, no difference with 930.

I like the 932 better for case here, and keep in mind if your room temp is high then no cooling can help you, cause all cooling would be blowing the warm air of your room.

Originally posted by Shaelen cool, thanks for all the tips guys! I was just reading that about the 920s, so that will help save a few bucks I'm assuming.

18$ I thought Intel discontinued them for the 930 and didn't bother to look as I though DS stopped carrying them.

Originally posted by Shaelen Also read about that other fan, so I'll have to check that out. Are the chasis fans worth it to you guys?

The chasis fans are a waste of money IMO, with one video card and a moderate overclock they just aren't worth the money.  Even with a higher overclock and multiple video cards they probably aren't worth the money, other reviewers also complain about them being loud. 

Originally posted by Shaelen What's the diff. between that and the noctua fan? Is it just the placement of it? If anything, they look cool right? heh

The Noctua is a CPU cooler, the other fans are for chassis airflow.  I think they look cool but with a 2k budget I'd rather spend every last $ on performance.

Originally posted by Shaelen How do you guys feel about the graphics card? Most people tend to lean towards Nvidia but is the ATI the better choice here? Should I upgrade it to a more expensive one?

The 5850 is a great card up to resolutions of 1600x1200 or the 16:10 or 16:9 equivalent.

Performance between NVIDIA and ATI looks something like this:

480gtx>5870>470gtx>5850. 

All 4 of the mentioned cards overclock fairly well.  

400 series - Runs very hot 90c(but is designed to run at high temps as well), supports DX11 does better than ATI with very high AA/AF, much better at images with high tessellation.

5000 series - DX11 ready, less expensive than 400 series, great at overclocking, runs much cooler than 400 series. 

200 series - Waste of money

Disclaimer - In before I get jumped by fan boys.  What I've written is a BROAD GENERALIZATION and does not always hold true, every game is different and will preform differently depending on resolution, AA, AF, and many other factors

Originally posted by Shaelen As far the SLI, is it correct that it only is beneficial if you are using 2 superior cards?

SLI and Crossfire will produce more heat and are generally not needed unless you have a 30" monitor or multiple monitors. 

Originally posted by Shaelen like, 1 lower end + 1 lower end isn't greater than 1 higher end card right? It would be nice to have the option to go to two cards, but I can see where one really nice card will probably be fine. All this help is great btw and is making me more excited for my new comp

It depends on what cards we're talking about, what game you are playing and a dozen other factors.  Typically I'd recommend you stick with one card as not all games benefit from SLI / Crossfire in addition to the extra heat/power usage. 





Edited by Herniter - 10 May 2010 at 10:26pm

If new monitor is gonna be 1900 x 1200 then yes you will either need to oc the heck out of the 5850 or get a 5870/480.

otherwise this system is gonna be good for a long while, the good thing about these pcs are that you can upgrade them, you can upgrade the cpu to a 6 core and you can always upgrade the gpu to a more powerful one, say in 3 years or so.

Originally posted by Shaelen awesome, thanks again for all your help! Is it hard to replace a cpu? I've put in my own GPUs before and that's quite easy. Down the road, would I be able to send it back to DS to have them swap out the cpu?

They have an upgrade plan, I would call for more specific details. 

Originally posted by Shaelen Last q, I think, is this the same HAF 932 that DS has? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160 Looks awesome on Newegg with the side panel and colored fan.

Another question an admin would have to answer :(.

Originally posted by Shaelen Oh, if I live in Illinois, should I be worried about shipping here? What happens if something breaks along the way?

DS has great tech support and they use much better shipping materials than most other companies, expandable foam is used to hold hardware inside in place in addition to padding for the outside.  However if UPS/Fedex some how finds a way to damage the PC DS will either help you trouble shoot over the phone or ship it back to them for repairs(never at your expense). 

Thanks again for all your help Hern and DST; I hope they tip you guys :) I just saw their post on dropping some of their prices which let me bump up the graphics card and stay around 2k. I tried adding everyone's suggestions. How does this look? Ticket #: 406515

Few things I noticed, is there a diff between the two 750w power supplies? The Corsair is 30 bucks more but both are 750w. Also, the there's a regular NVIDIA GTX 480 and an EVGA GTX 480, is there a diff? and the two EVGA X58 MOBOs, what's the diff between the micro and LE versions again?

edit: looks like the Corsair is recommended because of better quality? So I can switch to that. For the MOBO seems like the LE allows me to add a few other cards like tv or wireless, etc. So I'll switch to that for more flexibility. Still not sure on the gpus and I should drop HD to 1TB from 1.5?

Edited by Shaelen - 14 May 2010 at 10:01pm

thanks :) Hmm I might want a bigger monitor in the future, but I suppose it's not essential atm. Doesn't the better graphics card help my fps when trying to play on max settings? Yea the SSD stuff sounds cool, but like you said expensive. My fiancé will kill me if I go over 2k lol. Somehow spending that much on a gaming computer seems silly to her

Dragoonseal's new build under the new deal is great, being able to fit a SSD into a 2k build is quite impressive.  I would express my concern about the new 3 year warranty and what it covers before moving forward though.

well he has to make sure that he does not need more then 80GB of space, otherwise a 80GB HDD will not do. also for 1900 x 1200 he is better off with the 480 or 5870 IMO.

then there is the limited warranty vs the platinum warranty, I don't like the limited much.


you need to change to a 930 on your own ticket, drop upgraded fans, go with 1TB HDD, change psu to corsair, so basically this, Ticket Number: 406608.

however if you want the full 3 year warranty then Ticket Number: 406611

keep in mind in both cases, your psu can't do dual sli/cf cause the psu can't handle it.

the bump on gpu is only good if you still gonna get a 1900 x 1200 monitor, otherwise the 5850/470 is gonna be all you need, once you are over 50 to 60 fps then more fps will not be really noticed, at 1600 x 1200 single 5850/470 will give you 50 to 60 fps in 90% of the games.

the corsair psu is more reliable and has better quality.

the evga gpu brands have life time warranty I believe.

micro is great for people that need only one gpu and no more then pci cards.

the LE is great for people that want to have one gpu and more then 2 pci lanes or dual gpus and at least one pci lane.



Edited by DST4ME - 15 May 2010 at 2:49am

you guys rock I think it would be sweet to be able to squeeze in the 80GB SSD. I think that would cover my few games and OS. Thanks for the info on the GPUs; I'm so use to the thinking that more expensive=better. These forums have been a great resource to realize that that isn't always the case if that extra power isn't being utilized. Is there a page that covers the info on the warranty changes? I saw Alex's post about lower prices, and I know it's because of changes to the warranty. I suppose I should wait until that's all figured out before placing my order. Thanks again for everyone's help, this will def. be my best comp yet!

edit: seems like Alex clarified the warranty stuff. I'm torn as to what to do now >_< I posted after his post for a little extra clarification and then I can move from there. What are your guys' thoughts on which direction to go?

edit: again heh, I messed around with Black OPS edition, if I wanted to keep the premium 3 yr warranty, came to just under 2.3k with a gtx 470 gpu and no SSD. So, which would you guys do, the SSD config with limited warranty or spend teh extra 2-300 for warranty and no SSD?

Edited by Shaelen - 15 May 2010 at 6:31pm

OK how is this, it has platinum warranty?

Here you go Ticket# 407283 --- Price: $2284 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $2284

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Not Available
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 LE Edition SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (80GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Extreme Performance) (Model: SSDSA2MH080G2R5)
Set 1 Raid Options: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Seagate/Hitachi/Western Digital (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 22x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Noctua Dual 120mm Fans High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Available
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Green)
Enhancements: - Not Available
Chassis Mods: - Not Available
Noise Reduction: - Not Available
Boost Processor: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended)
Boost Video Card: - Not Available
Boost Memory: - Not Available
Boost OS: - Not Available
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - Not Available
Office: - Not Available
Benchmarking: - Not Available
Install/Test Game: - Not Available
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

if you are going to have a monitor with 1900 x 1200 res, getting a 5870/480 is more important then a ssd.

Edited by DST4ME - 17 May 2010 at 4:01pm

well remember if you want a bigger monitor then the gpu in config needs to change to a 5870 or 480, then if that is the case, if you want the ability to go cf/sli in the future then we need to change the psu also.

so what are you thoughts?

Dell UltraSharp U2410 and HP ZR24w are 2 good ips monitor, the dell being the best of the 2.

Edited by DST4ME - 17 May 2010 at 6:13pm

warranty is very important IMO.

I understand, but in a few years, buy the newest gpu on the market, that one by itself should give you what you want vs a 480 or 5870

My pleasure and good luck

ya but the monitors here are all tn panels

I understand, but my thinking is that the 22" Acer @ $160 might be affordable now, and a 22" TN is gonna knock him off his chair compared to the 19" TN he's got now. However, he can always consider this one:

ips panels have a better overall picture quality.

the technology they use are different and as far as color accuracy goes, as you mentioned, ips is dead on, which is why most graphic designers work on ips panels, cause color clarity and details are very important, all of that equals to a better picture quality.

but budget always dictates, so you got to do what you got to do, there is always time to upgrade down the road.