Gaming PC - Budget is $1500

[_EuG_]

I have been wanting to make the transition from console gaming back to PC gaming for some time now. Yesterday my PS3 went YLOD. So this is my chance to get a new pc.

I have never build a PC on my own so this is something completely new to me. I have been reading about different parts for the past couple of weeks so I am starting to learn somethings.

This computer will be used to play games and watch movies on a 46 inch Panasonic Plasma and also it will be connected to a 19 inch monitor which I already have.

So far I have decided that I want to get

Intel i5 2500k
Gtx 580 but I am not sure which brand or which spec
I am a bit confused about motherboards so some suggestions are welcome.
PSU I want to get 850w in case I want to run SLI in the future.
Case, I am not sure either.

Basically this is a work in progress which I was going to research for a few months but since my PS3 is out. It is a bit more urgent now.

What stores do you guys recommend for me to buy from, I want something with a quick delivery time and good price.





PLEASE when POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Games, Movies, Internet

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$1500 and Under

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

Canada

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.

Intel and nVidia

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

I am thinking of using my current Hard Drive from my HP computer which is about 4 years old but I may just buy a new one.


6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

I have been reading about different PC builds in the $1000 to $1500 price range.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

For now defult speed, but in the future overclocking is an option.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?

As soon as possible, winter is coming and I have nothing to play games on at the moment.

9. What resolution do you use?

1080p

[oOoSMOKEoOo]

At this momnt in time if your are wanting to build your pc soon i would recomend an ssd over a hdd as the prices of hdd have gone up by over doubble the standered price and arnt going to be dropping in price any time soon the erlyest estimate for hdd hit the market poperly is 3Q 2012. i wold use the ssd for your os and a few games they are alot faster than hdd andi would use your old hd for now then whn hdd prices drop get a new one personly i would get a western digital cavir black, for yuor mother board i would go with a z68 chipset gigabyte and asus make some very good boards and then it depends on how much your wanting to spend on it and if you will be doing overcloking. the corsair obsidian 650D is a good case also has a side window and cable managment it cost about $175 cad NCIX.com - Buy Corsair Obsidian Series 650D Mid-Tower Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB USB3.0 1394 Fan Ctrl No PS - Corsair - CC650DW - in Canada. id probably go with a slightly higer watt PSU if yor going to run sli in th futue and overclocking. if your looking to kind of futre proof your pc you might want to look into the 2011 intel chips but for gaming the 2500k should be fine.

[_EuG_]

This is what I ended up ordering

Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 ATX LGA1155 DDR3 2PCI3.0-E16 1PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard

Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit

EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Fermi 732MHZ 1280MB GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card

Coolermaster Haf 922 Mid Tower ATX Case Black 5X5.25 5X3.5INT Front Audio USB eSATA No PSU

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM

Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1155 LGA1156 120MM

Corsair Force 3 Series 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 6GB/S Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD Sandforce SF-2200

XFX 850W PRO850W XXX Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 70A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 80PLUS Silver

Total before tax = $1,296.92


I will use my old DVD drive and my old hard drive for now.

[Eldonko]

Looks like a good system to me. Would have went with a different mb personally but Im sure that one will be fine for you.

[dandelioneater]

Looks like a solid build, you won't be dissapointed.

[_EuG_]

Originally Posted by Eldonko

Looks like a good system to me. Would have went with a different mb personally but Im sure that one will be fine for you.

Why would you choose a different mb and why ?

[_EuG_]

What is a good wireless keyboard for a decent price?

[_EuG_]

Sorry about the multiple posts but

This is the spec of my current HP DVD drive

16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 8x DVD-R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CDR, 32x CDRW, 40x CD-ROM

Should I bother changing ?

[Eldonko]

I would have went with something Z68 and gen 3 like a P8Z68 Pro gen 3 or similar. Gives Z68 features like SSD caching and Virtu and PCI-E 3.0 capability. Not a big deal though if you dont plan on using any of that.

Originally Posted by _EuG_

Why would you choose a different mb and why ?

[draemn]

Yeah, the motherboard is the backbone of the life of your build as that is the one part that doesn't get changed until you make a new build (usually). I think that was a very smart move to get the 570 over the 580 as the 580 is only for those who don't care much about the $$ value/performance, but just want the best.