$2k gaming computer

Looks good  just wait for DST to come and give his seal of approval xD. 

these configs right here will be all you need. you can choose a Nviidia build or ATI. the Nvidia cards have better 3d rendering and tesselantion. they also have physx which will make movements more realistic as well as, fire, explosions, debris,falling objects, ect

this build can go to res 1680 x 1050 which is roughly a 22-23

i kept the mid case in the build... full towers have better airflow and plenty of room to expand. it will be cheaper to upgrade this pc in the future then to buy a new one every few years. if you decide to go full tower choose the HAF 932

Price: $1859
ticket number: 409998
Nvidia build

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - HAF 922
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 (1TB Seagate/Hitachi/Western Digital (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
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 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 1.2GB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 Extreme Performance (Does NOT fit on the regular EVGA X58 3X SLI)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
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: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Gaming Mouse (High-Speed Gaming Grade)
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Small)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Limited Warranty with Life-Time Customer Support

Price: $1819
ATI build
ticket number: 410000
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - HAF 922
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 (1TB Seagate/Hitachi/Western Digital (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
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 2: Noctua NH-D14 Extreme Performance (Does NOT fit on the regular EVGA X58 3X SLI)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
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: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Gaming Mouse (High-Speed Gaming Grade)
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Small)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Limited Warranty with Life-Time Customer Support


Edited by Raif - 28 May 2010 at 2:51am

to reiterate what has been said, certainly do not get the 470, there is little to no reason to go for a 470 over a 480, please see the numbers supporting this

Edited by !ender_ - 28 May 2010 at 9:54am

they don't need a 5870 re 480 for the res monitor they will be using so why waste her money that she will see little to no benefit from

there isn't a bottleneck. also a 22-23 in monitor is 1680 x 1050 or 1680 x 1080

the only games that card wont run at the upgraded resolution with max settings and aa/af with 60 fps are GTA4 and CRYSIS

most monitors are 60hz so going over 60fps is pointless and mute since you will not be able to tell the difference, at utter most very insignificantly

there isn't a need to oc the card period. what cave have you been in? the only thinng that makes a 480 noteworthy is the 1.5gb of Vram over 1.2gb you need 1.5gb of vram to max out GTA4, and crysis is just such a beast on gpu power if you want more then mild aa/af you need more hardware.


Edited by Raif - 28 May 2010 at 4:14pm

you are again making the assumption that the res you arbitrarily picked is what the customer wants

Edited by !ender_ - 28 May 2010 at 4:40pm

5970 is not really a single card, its in internal sli and even tho its advertised as a 2GB card, you really get only 1GB out of it cause its in internal sli, all those cards like that are not good ones to get.

to go sli/cf in the future depending on 5870/480 you will need 1000w/1200w psu to be able to do that, 750w will not allow you to go sli/cf and have enough head room.

don't believe everything you read, lately I have seen many people that have the 480 complain that the reviews are not correct and they are not seeing the high temps that the reviews say it has.

the extra power will probably mount to $80 or so a year.

I'm just giving you all the info so you know.

for 1900 x 1200 res and be able to do sli/cf in the future you are looking at something like this:

Here you go Ticket# 410259 --- Price: $2188 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $2188

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: 1000W Corsair (Dual/Triple/Quad 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 5870 1GB
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 Extreme Performance (Does NOT fit on the regular EVGA X58 3X SLI)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Available
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red)
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: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Medium)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

the HDD size depends on what you need but good rule for it is this:

HDD1 = fast small drive: os/apps/games

HDD2 = regular large drive: media/personal/work file storage

Don't fill up your HDD1 more then 50%, if think you will need more room for it then pick a bigger one.

an air cooled gpu will not be a quiet pc, as soon the gpus goes underload, its gets hot, its fan will kickin to 100% and that fan is loud as hell at 100%, 90% of the pc noise comes from gpu's fan.

noise reduction package is pointless, trap noise, trap heat.

building a computer isnt binary, you dont find specific settings for specific situations and build a rig around that,

I disagree with that statement 100%, you can't build gaming pc for a power user and you can't build a powerhouse for a gamer. you can't build a pc thats good for cod and games like that, for a person that plays crysis and suck such games and vise versa, you will either build the wrong pc for the job, or waste people's money and give them too much or give them too little. For gamers the config begings with their resolution and what kind of games they play, by knowing that, then you now what is needed to handle the job, so that you don't waste people's money and/or give them not enough power.

Edited by DST4ME - 29 May 2010 at 7:37pm

Originally posted by DST4ME building a computer isnt binary, you dont find specific settings for specific situations and build a rig around that, I disagree with that statement 100%, you can't build gaming pc for a power user and you can't build a powerhouse for a gamer. you can't build a pc thats good for cod and games like that, for a person that plays crysis and suck games and vise versa, you will either build the wrong pc for the job, or waste people's money and give them too much or give them too little. For gamers the config begings with their resolution and what kind of games they play, by knowing that, then you now what is needed to handle the job, so that you don't waste people's money and/or give them not enough power.

Edited by !ender_ - 29 May 2010 at 8:46am

Originally posted by !ender_ Originally posted by DST4ME building a computer isnt binary, you dont find specific settings for specific situations and build a rig around that, I disagree with that statement 100%, you can't build gaming pc for a power user and you can't build a powerhouse for a gamer. you can't build a pc thats good for cod and games like that, for a person that plays crysis and suck games and vise versa, you will either build the wrong pc for the job, or waste people's money and give them too much or give them too little. For gamers the config begings with their resolution and what kind of games they play, by knowing that, then you now what is needed to handle the job, so that you don't waste people's money and/or give them not enough power.   clearly you know your hardware, so it sucks that we are so far apart on this subject. but honestly i couldnt find what youre saying more wrong. your thoughts on this essentially force someone to use some magic power to both predict what res they want and what "type" of games they want to play over the course of the next 3ish years. its silly. admittedly, i dont know what you mean by a "suck" game. im assuming either a typo, youre saying crysis sucks... which i dont really see as relevant. but no one has to choose between the two games, you can enjoy both, someone shopping here should feel like they can enjoy and play at a competitive level in almost any game everyone is branching out a lot more than they used to with more access to different titles, overclocking becoming less specialized, people recording and editing for vlogs, etc etc etc. if someone were to come to the forums and say they have 2k and all they want to play is crysis at 1280x1024 ever. you are the man for the job. but the fact is very very rarely will a dso customer buy a computer and play 1 or 2 total games on it for the 3-5 years they will have it and never and use it for anything else. this is why you base a build on budget unless the customer has super specific needs like saving TBs of data weekly or if they just love watching blurays at max everything and staring at super high res photography. the idea is to keep options open so someone isnt stuck being at the bleeding edge in one specific respect instead of competitive in all the games they want to play and the ones that havent even come out yet

boss I'm not asking anybody to use any magic power, they know the mointor they have or are looking at buying, and then they can simply looked up the native res of the monitor.

most people know what type of games they play, so for the next yar or two we can pridict what kind of gpu power they need, however if its too low then they can simply add another gpu for more power, instead of spending money on things tehy dont' need now, look at this:

person A spends $800 for 2 x 5870, when all they need is one 5870.

person B spends $400 for 1 x 5870, and that is all they need.

in 3 years new games have come out and have higher demands for example more then 1GB of vram.

person A is sh*t out of luck cause even tho he has 2 gpus they are still using only 1GB of vram.

person B goes to the store spends $400 and gets a brand new gpu that is much more powerful then his 5870 and has 2GB of ram.

both spend the same money over 3 years, but person A has the least amound of performance, while the person B with the new gpu, has teh best performance and since its a new gpu, he is good for a year or two more. So in short person B spent the same money and has better peroformance and has it for longer stretch (5 years vs person A's 3 years)

I never said you don't build a system not based on a budget but before I get to the budget I need to know what it is they need it to do, then I will build a system within the budget and then as mentioned leave room to grow when more power is needed.

Its a typo, its suppose to say "crysis and such games" the H got typed as K

Edited by DST4ME - 29 May 2010 at 7:35pm

Your words honor me and thank you, I don't think I deserve them to be honest, but I thank you very much.

I agree that zr24w is a great monitor but the u2410 has more color depth, other then that I believe they are the same, so because of that mainly and the extra ports I like the Dell, plus I have owned a few of their monitors and they have not let me down so far so I tend to lean toward them because of that.

But both are great monitors and as I said you can't go wrong with either, I know I'm jealous.

Edited by DST4ME - 30 May 2010 at 1:42am

Cretae, Great Post!

2Cigars @ 1:29 a.m.:

"knoob, what are your thoughts in the face of what has been said? Let us know where you are at with the posted configurations and advice. There is a lot to digest."

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and advice.  I keep going back and forth between pinching a few pennies by going with a 750W PSU and 500GB HDD, or giving myself some headroom with a 1000W PSU and a 1TB HDD.  I'm pretty much set on everything else (such as a 5870 graphics card).  Also, do people strongly recommend the Noctua 14 cooler, or will I be all right with the cheaper one offered by DS given the moderate level of my overclocking?

Thanks again!

2Cigars, thanks for your thoughts on the Noctua and HDD.  Do you (or does anyone else) think SLI or Crossfire will become the standard setup for the more demanding games over the next year or two, or will single-GPU solutions continue to be viable (like the 5870 and 480 are now)?

Cretae, You are most welcome.

Well, folks, I did it -- ordered the machine.  Here's the config I chose in the end:

Order Contents:
- Digital Storm Desktop 215053 Quantity: 1 $1,984.00

System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - HAF 922
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: 1000W Corsair (Dual/Triple/Quad 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: - No Thanks
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(s): 1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 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 Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - Not Available
Chassis Mods: - Not Available
Noise Reduction: - Not Available
CPU Boost: FREE: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Cooling Upgrade Recommended)
Graphics Boost: - Not Available
Memory Boost: - Not Available
OS Boost: - 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
Pre-Install Game: FREE: Hot-selling game with a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or above graphics card
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Gaming Mouse (High-Speed Gaming Grade)
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: FREE: Digital Storm T-Shirt - Black (Medium)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: FREE PROMO: 4 Year Limited Warranty with Life-Time Customer Support

Does everything look OK?  I followed DST4ME's advice of allocating more money to the PSU instead of the Noctua 14 and the HDD.  Now I need assurance that a 500GB HDD will be enough for my son's gaming needs! 

What a Dad!

How old is your son??