New to the custom scene, looking for some advice

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   For the past six years I've exclusively used laptops. At this point I'm tired of playing games on the lowest setting and still getting lag, and so will be switching to getting a desktop. Also, I've always wanted to splurge a little, so I figure why not on the object I use the most throughout the whole day?   

Budget:

$1,200-$2,000

I'm looking for great value - e.g. if the point of diminishing returns is $1,500, then that's probably the area I'll go with. If a 2k computer is 2x as fast, etc... as a 1.2k computer, I'll go with the 2k. This budget must account for a decent mouse, monitor, and keyboard. I don't need speakers (I use headphones). 

Expectations:

I expect this computer to work better than my 3yr old laptop and play games sexy :)

Usage:

1. This computer will be 70% work. My work needs are low: Microsoft Office, photo editing, web surfing, videoconferencing, etc... I got by on a laptop for 3 years, so I'm sure whatever is fine. 

2. I want to be able to play games like Diablo 3 and Shogun 2 with 0 lag on normal settings. I also want this computer to play games that come out in the next 2 years with 0 lag on normal settings. 

Basically, my work needs are average, so I'm looking for a gaming desktop that I can also use for work. 

Special Needs:

I'm willing to pay a little extra to lower the loud humming sound of desktop computers. Space-wise I don't need much: 150-250gb is good enough. 

Specifications:

Although my budget is flexible, I really do want to save money, so I looked at the special OPs builds. I got lost when it came to all of the options though, hence why I'm posting here. 

Thanks!

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aamin Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 09 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Quote Reply Topic: New to the custom scene, looking for some advice Posted: 09 Apr 2012 at 3:38pm
	For the past six years I've exclusively used laptops. At this point I'm tired of playing games on the lowest setting and still getting lag, and so will be switching to getting a desktop. Also, I've always wanted to splurge a little, so I figure why not on the object I use the most throughout the whole day? Budget: $1,200-$2,000 I'm looking for great value - e.g. if the point of diminishing returns is $1,500, then that's probably the area I'll go with. If a 2k computer is 2x as fast, etc... as a 1.2k computer, I'll go with the 2k. This budget must account for a decent mouse, monitor, and keyboard. I don't need speakers (I use headphones). Expectations: I expect this computer to work better than my 3yr old laptop and play games sexy :) Usage: 1. This computer will be 70% work. My work needs are low: Microsoft Office, photo editing, web surfing, videoconferencing, etc... I got by on a laptop for 3 years, so I'm sure whatever is fine. 2. I want to be able to play games like Diablo 3 and Shogun 2 with 0 lag on normal settings. I also want this computer to play games that come out in the next 2 years with 0 lag on normal settings. Basically, my work needs are average, so I'm looking for a gaming desktop that I can also use for work. Special Needs: I'm willing to pay a little extra to lower the loud humming sound of desktop computers. Space-wise I don't need much: 150-250gb is good enough. Specifications: Although my budget is flexible, I really do want to save money, so I looked at the special OPs builds. I got lost when it came to all of the options though, hence why I'm posting here. Thanks!

LaneHayes Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 17 Oct 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 90	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Apr 2012 at 6:44pm
	Those games don't require the super enthusiast rigs to run on ultra like BF3 and other graphic intense FPS (first person shooters). A single GTX 570 and the i7 will definitely ultra d3. An Ode Lvl 1 (~1500 bucks) will max everything and wow you with Office 2010 performance :O) You could probably do a custom config for a bit cheaper and not see any difference, but you'd only be saving about 200 bucks at most and you may be hedging your performance.

Seachickens18 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 25 Mar 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 23	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Apr 2012 at 8:01pm
	As lane said the ODE 1 is the best bang for your buck, I'm not able to access custom builds as of now so give it a couple min and either Frank or Bprat will respond with a really good build for budget, both are great guys at helping. best of luck
	"In the intelligence community I am told that the threat is now called multi-faceted or multi-directional, which actually means that we are not very sure what it is or where it's comming from."

Seachickens18 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 25 Mar 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 23	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Apr 2012 at 8:26pm
	Here is a build Frank put togeather for a question similar to yours, it will be able to handle everything you need it for with ease, Cost: $1872 Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Corsair 600T Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V LE (Intel Z68 Chipset) (New B3 Revision) (Does Not Support SLI) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 600W Corsair CX600 V2 Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Corsair) (Model: Force GT Series CSSD-F120GBGT-BK) (SATA 6Gbps) Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (500GB Seagate Barracuda (7200 RPM) (16MB Cache) Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / 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 570 1.2GB (Includes PhysX Technology) (EVGA 012-P3-1571-BR) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Corsair A50 120mm Fan High Performance Cooler 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: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks 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 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 (Large) Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty
	"In the intelligence community I am told that the threat is now called multi-faceted or multi-directional, which actually means that we are not very sure what it is or where it's comming from."

bprat22 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS ELITE DigitalStorm East -- (Unofficially!) Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20391	Quote Reply Posted: 10 Apr 2012 at 5:31am
	Hi aamin Welcome to the forums. Lanehayes and seachickens18 gave you some great advice, the ODE 1 the best bang for the buck . seachickens18's build is great but I'll just follow up with another suggestions. Config # 674167 Cost $1532 Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish Processor: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core) Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V LE (Intel Z68 Chipset) (New B3 Revision) (Does Not Support SLI) System Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) Power Supply: 800W Corsair GS (Dual SLI Compatible) Expansion Bay: - No Thanks Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Seagate Barracuda (7200 RPM) (16MB Cache) 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 24x / 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 570 1.2GB (Includes PhysX Technology) (EVGA 012-P3-1571-BR) Add-on Card: - No Thanks Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 1: Corsair A50 120mm Fan High Performance Cooler 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: - No Thanks Chassis Mods: - No Thanks Noise Reduction: - No Thanks LaserMark: - No Thanks 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 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 (Large) Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty This build has the HafX case, the tops in air cooling. The other cases are also very good but HafX is the best. I dropped to the i5-2500k even though the other build withi7-2600k is a better cpu, but the 2500 is very good also. But, if possible, the 2600 in the ODE and the seachickens18's build above is a bit better in the long run. I put in the 800W psu, a step up from the others 600W to give more headroom as psu's age and also the 5 year warranty DS gives it. I did drop the SSD to save you money, you didn't seem too interested in storage. The SSD does however load very fast as opposed to HDD. gaming perfromance wise, this build and seachickens18's is about the same as the ODE 1, this custom builds does give you a better case for cooling, a better power supply but a drop in the cpu from i7-2600 to i5-2500. It's all about the budget. See what you think and good luck. Edited by bprat22 - 10 Apr 2012 at 5:37am

aamin Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 09 Apr 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Quote Reply Posted: 10 Apr 2012 at 5:45am
	Wow guys, I wasn't expecting 3 responses so quickly. Thanks! It is much easier for me to decide between three options (ODE, seachicken build, and bprat build) than the hundreds DS offers. I will let you all know what I pick, thanks again!

New to the custom scene, looking for some advice

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