Building the ultimate gaming PC ($4500.00) budget

[Oldgamer]

I hope I put this in the right place. I want to build the ultimate gaming PC from scratch. I am looking at setting up 2 or maybe 3 monitors, and this PC will store a butt ton of games of every type. I want to include not only the ultimate gaming mouse but other peripherals as well such as joystick, etc.

I have a budget of $4500.00 and I wanted to get the PC Techs on here to help me with some suggestions of all components and prices.

Would really love some help on this project!

=)

 

[Sleepingforest]

I just did a $3000 build for this sort of thing at Ars Technica. Throw in a joystick and upgrade the screen to a 30" Dell 1600p and your sitting at $3400 or so.

• Intel i5-3570K = $229.99
• Asrock Extreme4 = $124.99
• Scythe Ninja 2 = $24.99
• G.Skill 2x4GB DDR3-1600 CL9 1.5V = $52.99
• Radeon HD7970 = 2*$399.99 = $799.98 (before $60 across 2 MIRs)
• Samsung 840 Pro 512GB = $444.99
• Samsung SH-224BB DVD Burner = $15.99
• NZXT Phantom 630 = $179.99
• Corsair CX750 Bronze = $74.99 (before a $10 MIR)
• Dell U2713HM = $699.99
• Audio Technica ATH-AD700 = $99.95
• Creative X-Fi Titanium HD Soundcard = $159.99
• Logitech G400 = $39.99
• Cosair Vengeance K90 = $119.99
• Total = 2,918.81 (after $70 back across 3 MIRs)

Those 7970s are already at the 1GHz mark right out of the factory. The Phantom 630 is said to be excellent by Anandtech. The ATH-AD700s are supposed to have a superior soundstage and impeccable directional accuracy, which is important for FPSs. It's basically like having wallhacks on once somebody shoots. The weakness here is bad bass, but the trebles are very clear. If you want more bass but equally good (or better) precision for gaming, look for the $300 or so AKG Q 701s

Anyway, we don't really recommend spending a bunch on the actual computer since it's pretty wasteful and peripherals don't really et outdated

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I just did a $3000 build for this sort of thing at Ars Technica. Throw in a joystick and upgrade the screen to a 30" Dell 1600p and your sitting at $3400 or so.

Only thing you forgot is the obligatory windows license. Other then that it seems very nice...

 

[BrightCandle]

I would definitely bump the CPU up in light of Crysis 3 and the pending PS4/Xbox720 hardware.

3770K as the hyperthreading 20% is going to be worthwhile or maybe a X79 and a 3930k.

Switch to 2x NVidia Titans for graphics.

Mouse depends on how you hold (claw, finger tip, palm and what shapes you liked in the past). G400 is a great mouse other than its cable, its for palm grippers.

I would definitely want 120Hz monitor for gaming, 27" I is doable but its always 1080p. A brand new lightboast 2 based monitor at 24" such as the Benq XL2411T with NVision 2 to allow the zero motion blur mod is awesome for gamers.

+ Windows 8.

 

[sm625]

Wow for that kind of coin you should get like 3 30" 1600p monitors. Maybe even 4 or 6 lol.

If I was forced to spend that kind of money I would buy 4 Dell UltraSharp U2713HM for $800 apiece and tilt them all 90 degrees so my final resolution would be 7200x2560 (2.8:1) Oh man that would be badass. Get a pair of dual monitor stands. (One big stand costs more than a pair of simpler stands) That still leaves $1500 to put into the pc parts.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Brightcandle:

My problem with that approach is that a solid set of peripherals is going to last across 2-3 builds. That Nvidia Titan is going to be beaten by the 2014 GPUs for half the cost. For a build of this cost, you want to sink extra into peripherals, not rapidly outdated components.

 

[Oldgamer]

I just did a $3000 build for this sort of thing at Ars Technica. Throw in a joystick and upgrade the screen to a 30" Dell 1600p and your sitting at $3400 or so.



Anyway, we don't really recommend spending a bunch on the actual computer since it's pretty wasteful and peripherals don't really et outdated

Oh wow, thanks for outlining all that for me, with $ amounts. Much appreciated.

I saved some serious coin for this. It was a goal that I have been saving for, for awhile now. But I am a bit of a noob, and will be building this myself, and I really appreciate all the input.

I am looking all this up right now online.

 

[Oldgamer]

I would definitely bump the CPU up in light of Crysis 3 and the pending PS4/Xbox720 hardware.

3770K as the hyperthreading 20% is going to be worthwhile or maybe a X79 and a 3930k.

Switch to 2x NVidia Titans for graphics.

Mouse depends on how you hold (claw, finger tip, palm and what shapes you liked in the past). G400 is a great mouse other than its cable, its for palm grippers.

I would definitely want 120Hz monitor for gaming, 27" I is doable but its always 1080p. A brand new lightboast 2 based monitor at 24" such as the Benq XL2411T with NVision 2 to allow the zero motion blur mod is awesome for gamers.

+ Windows 8.

Awesome thanks!

 

[Oldgamer]

Ok I am looking at the Scythe Ninjua 2 cpu cooler, and it looks like it can fit various socket sizes. I am assuming that it will fit with the ASRock Z77 motherboard? Last time I mismatched my motherboard and cpu/fan etc..

As I said, I am a bit of a noob at this.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

29" Ultra Wide IPS monitor 21:9 Aspect ratio

 

[Sleepingforest]

It does! As for the suggestion about better hardware: I don't find it very cost effective to go beyond 2 way CFX or SLI. Even that's a bit rich for the average gamer. The key is to get nice peripherals since that's what you'll actually interact with. The Corsair K90, for example, is a backlit mechanical keyboard with a bunch of macro keys. That means the keys ate extra responsive and last for longer.

I wouldn't get that super wide monitor either. Games aren't built for that resolution, so they'll look stretched or have huge black bars on the sides. For productivity and gaming, a 16:10 or 16:9 screen is the way to go (16:9 is better for gaming and movies, while the extra vertical pixels are better for web browsing and productivity.)

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Choose your mechanical keyboard type. I prefer Cherry MX Reds for constant double tapping. I use to use MX Blacks but they got tiring after an hour. The game I refer to is UT3. The games you play might not need constant double tapping for dodging etc.

 

[Sleepingforest]

The K90 I referred him to is a MX-Red also. It's a nice, linear key that will feel basically like a normal keyboard--except much more responsive. They will come up faster and be less "mushy."

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

The K90 I referred him to is a MX-Red also.

I understand. I use a K60. I was just helping the OP learn a little about mechanical keyboards incase he goes shopping for one.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Fair enough; that guide is really great! I think the only thing it doesn't articulate well is the actual amount of force required to push down the keys. "55g" is a great objective measure but it doesn't really how you'll feel after typing a couple of pages or doing intense gaming for an hour.

For the record, my MX-Brown feels a bit easier to push than any membrane keyboard simply because the keys' switches are better designed. It's not much though--I couldn't tell the difference when I first switched until I had to go back to membrane for a bit.

To get an idea of how it feels, try finding a heavily used cheap keyboard from mid-2000. Then try typing on a newer membrane keyboard. You should feel a huge difference.

 

[mfenn]

I would definitely bump the CPU up in light of Crysis 3 and the pending PS4/Xbox720 hardware.

The PS4 comes with the equivalent of 8 E-350 cores. I don't think an i5 3570K has anything to be worried about there.

 

[mfenn]

Oh wow, thanks for outlining all that for me, with $ amounts. Much appreciated.

I saved some serious coin for this. It was a goal that I have been saving for, for awhile now. But I am a bit of a noob, and will be building this myself, and I really appreciate all the input.

I am looking all this up right now online.

You really really shouldn't spend $4500 on a gaming machine unless you have the means to keep throwing a couple grand at it every 18 months.

The reason for that is that the only reason to build such an expensive box is for bragging rights and you can't brag unless you have the latest and greatest. Spending $4500 is certainly not necessary to have a good computer.