Help Starting a Build (Requested Info inside)

riotxcore

Junior Member
Feb 1, 2011
3
0
0
Purpose? The plan for this machine is to be a gaming machine first. Secondary uses will include some video/photo editing as well as a bit of media PC that will be hooked up to my flat screen to enjoy the occasional Blu-Ray.

Budget? $2000. This price is firm, must account for shipping and a version of Windows 7. I have existing mouse, keyboard, monitor and sound system.

Location? United States.

Preferences? None at the moment. I simply want the most for my money. I would like an SSD though for those fabled second-long boot up.

Existing Parts? As mentioned above, I have an existing mouse, keyboard, moniter and speakers. Everything else will be new.

Overclocking? Possibly. I cooked my current CPU trying this for the first time since I didnt have a very good guide to follow.

Resolution? Not sure off the top of my head. I currently run a build with 2 moniters. The main monitor is a 27 inch with DVI and HDMI inputs. Secondary is an old 19 inch with DVI inputs.

Schedule? I will be ordering parts before the end of the month, hopefully up and running by the 1st of March.

Thoughts ...
I really have no preferences when building this except first and foremost I want the rig to be a true gaming machine. If this means going with a SSD in a raid config to cache using Z68 chipset, cool. If it means just manually organizing installs/files with a normal SSD and storage HDD but using 2 GPU in SLI or Crossfire, cool. I just want to get the most gaming machine for my buck while still being able to get some decent video/picture editing and occasional HDMI connection to the flat screen to watch my Blu-Rays. After digging through multiple boutique sites and toying with thier custom builds and lurking the forums here for ages, Im simply at a loss where to begin hardware-wise. This will be my second computer Ive ever built. If you need any more info, let me know.
 

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
428
136
^^ this exactly
If only 1920x1080 I doubt you will even need a 2nd GPU.

If 2560x1440 however 2 GPU's will be needed for some games.
 

DSF

Diamond Member
Oct 6, 2007
4,902
0
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When you say get the most gaming machine for your buck, do you mean get the most powerful machine you can out of spending all $2000, or get the best value out of your parts and potentially leave a few hundred in the bank for later?