Another nub needs help :D

Budget: I'm trying to stay under $4k if possible, but over by a couple $100 should be fine.

Expectations:
I've been gaming for a long time, and I like having the highest settings, but tired of overheating comps / having to upgrade. I want a great gaming PC, will use a 24" 1920x1080, and occasionally will have dual monitors (for work). Would like this computer (esp, the graphics card) to last for a few years over several game generations, so I don't mind spending now. I don't have access to direct ethernet connection, so I do need wireless capabilities. I do also want it to look awesome. Last thing, I set to stage 1 overclock to be conservative, but happy to do stage 2 if the extra burden isn't that much).

My big problem is I am prone to overkill when I build my comps :-p, so happy to scale stuff back if you think it's unnecessary - I def don't want to waste money.

Usage:
Games on (hopefully) highest video settings. These days its GW2, D3, SC2, WC3. Also into music editing which runs some heavy software.


Specifications:

Ticket Number: 691125
Total Price with Instant Savings: $4,042.00

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six-Core)
Motherboard: ASUS P9X79 DELUXE (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1000W Digital Storm Certified (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition Highly Recommended)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (2TB Hitachi/Seagate (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: Wireless PCI-E 802.11n Up to 300Mbps (Supports 802.11n/g/b) (Model: ASUS PCE-N15)
Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (Includes PhysX)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 240mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (Extreme-Performance Edition)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis With LED Performance Fans (Blue) (Up to 6 Fans)
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: Digital Storm LaserMark Service - Graphic (Non-Window Metal Side Panel)
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks <b></b>
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks <b></b>
Mouse: - No Thanks <b></b>
External Storage: - No Thanks

Sorry. This is what that meant to say.

All in all, an awesome desktop. However, may I recommend replacing the first hard drive with an SSD, and then possibly increasing the multimedia/data hard drive capacity if you need more space? You will notice a huge difference between performance in boot time, load time, etc. with a solid state drive over any HDD.

Hi v12golfcart,

That is a pretty good build with a few of exceptions.

1. With the Deluxe Mobo you get WiFI and Blue Tooth so you can drop the Wireless card.

2. Change the PS to the Corsair 1050. You get a better power supply with a longer factory warranty.

3. A SSD would be a much better choice for the 1st drive. If you don't want or don't have the budget for the SSD then put the 1TB WD HDD as the 1st drive. It has better performance than the drive you have in 1st now. My choice by a long shot is the 180Gb Intel 520 SSD.

4. You have picked a great case with big, slow moving, fans that move a bunch of air. The fan up grade will replace 200mm fans with 120mm fans. Not a good idea. The front fan is a 230mm fan with red LEDs. Highly recommend you drop the fan upgrade.

5. With the 240mm cooler you should move up to the stage 2 OC.

6. You might want to get Win-7 Pro rather than the Home edition. You won't be able to add any more memory with the Home edition. It is limited to 16Gb of ram.

According to what kind of work you do you may not need to get the 3930K. As far as gaming is concerned the 3770K CPU is all you need. That will save you $300 on just the CPU.

Frank

Edited by FrankW - 22 May 2012 at 9:16am

Thanks bprat22. You know I saw the 240mm rad and was wondering about that. To lazy to check the configurator.

Frank

Awesome - thanks so much for the help everyone! I had heard customer support for DS was great, but I didn't realize it also had such a helpful community as well, definitely appreciate it.

All the comments make perfect sense, here's the latest build. If y'all think it makes sense, I'll probably pull the trigger in the next day or two (if I can wait that long haha).


Ticket Number: 691280
Total Price with Instant Savings: $3,861.00

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core) (Requires Z77 Motherboard)
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE (Intel Z77 Chipset) (Higher Overclocks and Unique Wi-Fi Features)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (180GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 520 Series)
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (Includes PhysX)
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 240mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (Extreme-Performance Edition)
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: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: Digital Storm LaserMark Service - Graphic (Non-Window Metal Side Panel)
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro/Deluxe/Sabertooth Motherboard)
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)

Edited by v12golfcart - 22 May 2012 at 2:55pm