Reason two, with the introduction of the new Intel Haswell processors coming out a few days or so ago I thought it was the right time to do one. Although, I didn’t make this build a Haswell build, this is the best $2000 build in my opinion you can get for your moneys worth at the time being. Prices may also be decreasing on some of the hardware as the month goes on so do keep an eye out for this (just a random gues however).
And finally, reason three I am doing a $2000 build is also to make comfortable room to include the very new GTX 780 Graphics card, which has made it’s way splendidly into the realm right underneath the GTX Titan cards. This has made the GTX 780 a very smart buy for a high-end gaming graphics card.
This build is no wimpy gamers build, so dive right on in and enjoy!
Gaming PC Build ( $1983): June 2013
Gaming PC Build Recipe:
Capability: Game with Ultra settings in games up to 2560×1600 resolutions
Overview: Gaming PC Build ( $2000 )
(All hardware is linked to Amazon.com above)
This $2000 gaming PC starts with a wonderful Intel 3770K i7 Processor. Just as with the Intel i5 3570K, it can be overclock very easily. This processor will actually be more processor then you need for just gaming, which makes this PC build not just an awesome gaming PC, but a great PC build for every task.
I have included a newly released line of GTX 780 graphics card. Specifically, the EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Superclocked version, which is currently priced lower then some of the other GTX 780 cards and Superclocked so that you don’t have to.
This build like the $1500 build, comes with 16Gb of Kingston HyperX Blue RAM to get tons of memory chugging into this build. Is 16GB too much? Who cares – at least in a year when everyone is pumping their machines to 16GB, you can tell them “took ya long enough”. RAM nowadays has become quite affordable, so why not.
The hard drive included is a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive. Yep, I have not gone with the Caviar Blue this time. My thinking behind going with the Caviar Black is that if you are pumping 2 grand into a build, why not maximize some read and write speeds where you can.
If the Caviar Black isn’t enough, I have also included a Samsung 840 PRO series 240GB Solid State Drive. This should greatly increase boot times for your OS and most used games / software.
The power supply included is the high end Corsair AX series 850 Watt PSU. This power supply is 80 Plus Gold certified to deliver at least 90% efficiency at a 50% load – saving you energy. Also, by having a low profile modular cable set-up you can increase airflow in your case and clear up clutter.
The Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 was my choice for this months $200 gaming pc build. It seemed to be the right choice as it fit perfectly into budget, comes in at good price of $130 currently and is a quality nice looking case. It has a nice cable management system, “SuperSpeed” USB 3.0, a heightened foot to stand that lets it sit slightly off the ground for higher airflow and it has an HD docking station on the top to quickly plug in an extra hard drive.
Finally I have included the same optical drive as in every build this month – The basic Samsung 24x SATA drive as seen in the table above.
Conclusion
This $2000 build is a great solution for those of you who want to have some of the higher end gaming hardware and to have zero worries when gaming at resolutions higher then 1080p. In the coming month or two I may do another $200- that includes the Haswell processors, however time will tell what that build will entail.
If you are building this month and have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Until then, thank you for reading and good luck Gaming & Building.
Comments 12
Hey Corey,
i feel like i am pelting you with builds left and right. haha. But this is really the only place i can receive quick, and easy expert advice. This build seems to be a very polished and final form of what i want my first build to look like. As always, feedback is appreciated along with anyone else who would like to contribute.
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.4 GHZ 6 MB Cache, 244.99
DVD Drive: Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST, 23.99
PSU: Now, this is where it gets a little tricky, i used the extreme power calculator listed on you website to find out how much power i needed, just in case, i put 3 way SLI 770s a 100% load on all parts, massive over-clocking, and pretty much anything else you can think of, the maximum amount of power i would ever need turned out to be 847 watts, so should i go with the corsair 860i or the 1200i i still dont know.
GPU: ASUS 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Cards GTX770 (upgrading to a two way SLI format in the future), 399.99
Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H80i, 86.99
SSD: Samsung Electronics 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 256 GB SATA 6GB/s Solid State Drive, 232.95
HDD: Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop 3.5″ Hard Drive (HUGE SALE save 160 on amazon!!!), 87.92
MOBO: ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO DDR3 1600 LGA 1150 Motherboard, 229.99
Case: Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 VN300M1W2N No PS Full Tower Case (Black), 154.99
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (save 47$ on amazon) 116.99
Misc info: I have not included peripherals this time because they have not changed at all. Yet i have discovered that SLI 770s outperforms the TITAN and the 7990 by at least 20-30% in all games, for only 800$!!!!! it is a greta discovery and saved me alot of money.
All in all this build can range from 1778 (with the 860i) to 1858 (with the 1200i), when i add the second 770 it will end up around 2300$ without peripherals (wit peripherals almost 3000, yeesh!)
Thanks again,
Joe
Just a few more thoughts, i ma considering switching my 1tb hdd for another samsung pro SSD 128gb edition, its about 40$ more but the performance boost is worth it and it will be a lot less noisy. Also, with recent price cuts my build has alloted me to upgrade to a 4770k, should i keep the 4670k or go about 50$ over budget and buy a 4770k,
Thanks again,
Joe
Author
Hey Joe,
Sorry been busy this past week and have not responded. You can always just go with the Samsung PRO 840 512GB hard drive as well so that everything can be installed on the one drive more easily, but up to you (Or the 256GB model). I’d also say if you are comfortable with the affordability of the 4770K, it would make a really nice edition, however if you cant afford it I wouldn’t fret too much (especially with you futures plans to SLI you GTX 770’s). Other then that, everything looks spiffy!! This build either way will play literally anything you want haha.
I apologize for he wait, i was on a 3 week vacay with my family and lacked internet access. Yet on amazon the WD black hdd is on a 150$ “sale” and i cannot pass up that kind of bargain, yet with the 4700k that puts me over 1500 so… ugh. haha
Hey Corey,
I didn’t want to be the one to break it to you but the thermaltake chaser mk1 has juts jumped up yo 155 dollars on both amazon and newegg. May i suggest the thermaltake A71 as a replacement, this case was just recently unveailed at computex and is very impressive at about 140 dollars. i am thinking of replacing the mk1 with this case for my build, let me know what you think.
Joe
Author
You’re right! And no worries, always good to know of significant price hikes like that – a $20 price hike is pretty significant on a case. And yes +1 on the Thermaltake A71, i’ve heard good things.
Yup,
I really appreciate all of the help, there are many things that just require a personal response. Speaking of which, i have a concern regarding internet connectivity and my computer. My house utilizes a router to spread cord free wifi will i need an extra module attached to my motherboard to utilize this wifi or is it built in, the ASUS website was a little unclear.
-Joe
Author
It looks like the Asus Maximus IV has Intel®, 2 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s) which are ethernet, so you would as is need to connect to the internet via an ethernet cord. What this means is that you would need a separate PCI Wireless card that plugs directly into the motherboard for wireless internet. For example something like this – 300Mbps Lan 802.11 n/g/b Wireless Wifi Network PCI Card – http://goo.gl/IPMcN
Corey,
Let me be the first to congratulate you on a superb build. This definitely makes me rethink my build. First off, this case looks cheaper and better than the CM Haf X. The inclusion of the 240M cooler would make for great OC. A couple bits of constructive criticism I had was the disclusion of a 1000watt power supply. As parts grow older, especially the GTX 780, they require more power, also if you wanted to upgrade more expensive parts would inevitably consume more power. A 1000w power supply would only be about 40$ more than the 850 and provide a lot of future insurance. The GTX 780is definitely a very powerful card only about 10% slower than the titan, but it comes at a steep price, conserving your cash and rolling with a 770 of the same brand would allow you to upgrade to a much more powerful card in the near future ( the GTX 800 series perhaps?). Besides these two minor things, i just had a few questions i hoped you could answer.
1. Could you suggest a Z87 series MSI gaming board for the 4th gen intel cores, i am unable to find any.
2. What is the haswell equivalent to the i7-3770k i am interested to know!
Thanks again for the great build, this truly looks like a gaming JUGGERNAUT!
-Joe
Author
Hey Joe,
Thank you very much for your feedback. I did hem and haw on the 1000W, and you make some great points as to it might be a good idea for those planning for the future. Although you are right, you probably can go with the GTX 770 and upgrade in the future, this doesn’t necessarily save you money in the long run – but more now, which would be ultimately up to the builder. I would also like to add that the GTX 780 would be perfect for those playing at really high resolutions, so that would have to also be taken into consideration. Because otherwise, its just not worth it, price and all.
Yeah, there was just recently a whole lot of Z87′s released by MSI – Such as – The Z87 G45 Gaming Series Board for $159 – http://goo.gl/zaZXr OR the G65 – http://goo.gl/bQhg8
And the closest equivalent for the Intel i7 3770K in the Haswell processors would be the 4770K.
Hope it all works out!
Thanks Alot Corey,
I to realized that the 780 would be a better choice in the long run after further conducting some research on the topic. Also, instead of an MSI board i went with the Maximus lV hero from ASUS, their ROG series of boards is very impressive and i urge you to check them out for future builds. besides that a few more complications arose when constructing my build. 1. Will i have to remove the top fan on the thermaltake to install the water cooler? 2. If i have an HDMI enabled graphics card, and motherboard, which one of these do i plug my hdmi cord into after i plug it into my monitor?
Thanks again,
Joe
Author
Hey no problem and good questions. You don’t necessarily have to remove the fans in the chaser since they are a tad separated on the top. You would simply screw the radiator inside the case right underneath them.
And the HDMI cord would do directly into the graphics card and not the motherboard. The only time you would use the motherboard inputs is if you did not have a graphics card and were using onboard graphics (such as the Intel Graphics HD 4000 on the Intel 3770K processor).
Hope this answers your questions!