$2000 Gaming PC: Who else wants a 128GB SSD?

Recently updated Gaming PCs:

$400 Gaming Build, $500 Gaming Build, $600 Gaming Build, $700 Gaming Build, $850 Gaming Build, $1000 Gaming Build, $1250 Gaming Build and the $1500 Gaming Build.

The Kingston 128GB SSD: The Star of This System.

Upcoming Updates:

In March, you can expect to updates to the lower end Gaming PCs, all of the Workstation Builds, as well as all of the HTPCs Builds. I’m also planning a few updates to our popular Best PC Parts articles, where I point out which parts offers the best performance for a given price or the best value.

For more details on what is coming up in March, read the following article: Recap of February and the Schedule of March 2010.

Automatically receive our future articles for free via RSS or Email:

Did you know that you can get our future articles for free via RSS or Email? That way, you never have to check the site for updates again because you get the latest and greatest articles delivered automatically in your RSS reader or Email inbox around 7PM EST, every day that I publish an article. If you’re not familiar with RSS technology, here an article that explains What is RSS?

If the fact that you’ll be receiving outstanding custom PC designs for free is not enough to convince you, here are 7 Reasons to get our posts via RSS or Email.

About the $2000 Gaming Build:

My thoughts about it:

When I started to consider which parts to recommend for this build, I took a look at the $1500 Gaming Build and asked myself the following: “Which parts should be upgraded in order to offer the most perceivable performance boost? What will offer you (the reader) the best bang for your buck?”

I then looked at every part, one by one. I stop and asked myself if the cost of upgrading a part would bring any real-life benefit. Could the money be invested on another part instead, that would give you a better experience overall?

The choices that I made in my recommendations for this build will reflect that way of thinking. This build, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of what you can get for a $2000 Gaming Build. Enjoy!

What does this enhanced version of the $2000 Gaming Build offers compared to the previous version?

This version makes a switch from an Intel Core i7 920 processor to the faster Intel Core i7-860, which offers an higher default frequency as well as higher frequencies with the Turbo mode, while consuming less power and allowing you to save on the platform cost in order to invest your money on parts that are more worth it.

Obviously, the motherboard had to change, due to the change from socket 1366 to 1156,  from the Foxconn FlamingBlade 1366 Intel X58 to the GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P 1156 P55 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0. Not only is it less expensive, it is also offers SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 support unlike the previous recommendation.

Due to the motherboard platform change, the memory was changed from a three-stick kit, the G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 Triple Channel, to a dual-channel kit, with 4 sticks though: G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1600MHz.

The Video Card changed from the Radeon 5970, which is currently out of stock and up in price to $700, to two Radeon 5850 in Crossfire. While two Radeon 5850 in Crossfire are slightly slower, they cost $80 less, are available and still offer plentyyy enough power to run pretty much any game that you throw at them.

This build now features the excellent Samsung 1TB hard drive, which is faster than the previous recommendation, the Western Digital Caviar Black and allows you to buy two of them and put them in RAID 0 for superior performance, or have secure data with RAID 1. With Western Digital drives, you have to buy their “RAID-Edition” drives, which of course, are more expensive.

The Solid State Drive (SSD) was changed from the previous OCZ Vertex Series 2.5″ 60GB SATA II MLC SSD to the Kingston 128GB 200(R)/160(W) MB/s 2.5″ SSD TRIM which offers over two times the capacity for only $10 more!

The Case was changed from the COOLER MASTER HAF 932 to the LIAN LI PC-K62, a slightly more compact case. Some of you complained that the Cooler Master HAF 932 was too big, hence the change. LIAN LI are known for making very high-quality case and the PC-K62 is no exception. Note that the Cooler Master HAF 932 is available as an upgrade option if you still want it.

The power supply was changed from the Corsair 850-Watt Modular CF/SLI/80 PLUS Silver to the Seventeam 850W CrossFire/80 PLUS Bronze Certified. While it is slightly less efficient, it is much less expensive, at $120, allowing you to put money on other parts instead.

Finally, the sound card was changed from on-board sound to a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 24-bit PCI. For only $25, this dedicated sound card will provide much better sound to your ears.

There’s a lot of change to this build, all for the better performance, storage and experience for you. I hope that you like it and I invite you to comment on the changes at the end of the article, in the comments section.

Computer Builds FAQs:

I often get questions such as:

• Who are you to tell me which parts to choose?
• Can you suggest me a step by step guide to build a computer?
• Why should I build a PC instead of buying one in a store?
• And many more…

You will find the answers to all of these questions and more in this article: FAQ: How to Build Your Own Computer

Also, if this is your first build, here are 10 Quick Tips for 1st Time Builders to get you started.

About Gaming PCs:

Gaming Computers are all about playing video games. Every year, new video games that pushes the boundaries of visual effects are released and demand more and more power from your computer to run. Being so powerful to handle cutting-edge video games, they are also very good all-around computers, capable of handling photo/video edition, web development, High Definition content playback and much more.

This is why our Gaming Builds Designs focus both on current performance for today’s games, as well as being ready to upgrade, to be ready to handle future games. For Gaming Builds Designs, a big portion of the budget goes to the Video Card and the Processor to ensure high performance in video games, as well as a solid power supply with a case with good cooling abilities, to ensure reliability.

Upgrades will usually focus on the processor and video card for enhanced performance, as well as on the power supply and cooling, to enhance overclocking capabilities. You may choose to upgrade the hard drive for more capacity, or change the case to get one that matches your personal preferences, such as look, cooling, size, etc.

Is this the right type of PC for me?

If you’re looking for a PC to play video games, you’re at the right place. If this is not what you’re looking for, check out our other Computer Systems instead.

$2000 Gaming computer hardware parts recommendations, short version:

Explanation:

• In the left column, you have the component type, such as the Processor, Video Card, etc.
• In the middle column, you have the specific brand, model and a quick look at specifications for that part.
• In the right column, you’ll find the best price that I found after double-checking at various trustworthy online sellers such as Amazon.com, NewEgg.com, Buy.com and others.
• In Bold, you’ll find my recommendations for the parts that you should buy in order to have the best overall performance while fitting the overall budget.
• In Italic, you’ll find the best possible upgrades if you have money to spare. These are the parts that offer better features or more performance, while still being relatively affordable in regard to the overall budget.
• In simple terms, if you want a more powerful CPU or video card, pick it from the list of recommended upgrades that are in Italic.
• All upgrades are compatible with the rest of the system, as well as other upgrades, meaning that you can choose one or many upgrades without a problem.
• If upgrades just don’t cut it, visit the Gaming PCs page, where you’ll find our other gaming computer custom build designs.

Components	Make, Model and Specifications	Price
CPU/Processor	Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz Quad-Core + HT 1156 95W Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz Quad-Core + HT 1156 95W	$280 $540
Motherboard	GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P 1156 P55 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0 ASUS Maximus III Formula P55 Crossfire8x/8x	$185 $250
RAM	G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1600MHz	$240
Video Card	Two XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB in Crossfire Radeon HD 5970 2GB 512(256 x 2)-bit GDDR5 DirectX 11 * *Requires one of the larger cases, as it’s a longggg card Two Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 DirectX 11 in Crossfire	$620 $650 $798
Hard Drive	SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Two SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s RAID 0 or 1 Kingston 128GB 200(R)/160(W) MB/s 2.5″ SSD TRIM Corsair 120GB 250(R)/170(W) MB/s 2.5″ SSD TRIM Corsair 128GB 270(R)/195(W) MB/s 2.5″ SSD TRIM All SSDs come with a 2.5″ to 3.5″ adapter bracket, so no need to buy one.	$90 $180 $250 $330 $370
Optical Drive	LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Reader LG 10X Blu-ray, 16X DVD, 48X CD SATA Burner	$24 $62 $149
Power Supply	Seventeam 850W CrossFire/80 PLUS Bronze Certified	$120
Case	LIAN LI PC-K62 1x 120mm, 3x 140mm case fans Mini Towers for a LAN party PC: LIAN LI PC-A05NB Mini Tower 2 x 120mm Other “regular” case alternatives: Antec Nine Hundred 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm case fans Antec Nine Hundred Two 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm case fans COOLER MASTER HAF 922 – 1x 120mm 2x 200mm fans * Antec Twelve Hundred 5x 120mm, 1x 200mm case fans * COOLER MASTER HAF 932 1 x 140mm, 3 x 200mm case fans * SILVERSTONE KUBLAI KL03-BW 2 x 120mm case fans * COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 4 x 120mm case fans * * The Radeon 5970 will only fit in those cases	$100 $100 $100 $110 $110 $160 $160 $170 $180
Cooling	COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus 120mm CPU CoolerARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound CORSAIR All-in-One Water-Cooling CPU Cooler Rosewill 120mm Case Fan Scythe 120mm “Slipstream” Case Fan	$35 $8 $78 $4 $9
Sound	Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 24-bit PCI	$25
Network	Ethernet RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps: Integrated on the motherboard	Free
Total price	Not Including OS, Shipping nor handling. Within -/+ 5% of Budget	$1977

$2000 Gaming Computer Hardware parts recommendations, detailed version:

Motherboard:

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P 1156 P55 SATA6Gb/s USB3.0

This is an ATX sized motherboard based on the Intel P55 chipset, that supports Core i3/i5/i7 processors with the LGA 1156 socket.

It features the following:

• Ports on the back: Six USB 2.0, two USB 3.0, two E-SATA/USB 2.0 Combo, one regular and one mini Firewire, two PS/2, dual LAN, 8 channels HD audio and 1 x Optical, 1 x Coaxial S/PDIF outputs.
  Expansion slots: Two PCI-Express 16X 2.0 (One at 16x or Two at 8x), Three PCI-Express 1x, two PCI.
  Storage ports: Six SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports, two SATA 6.0Gb/s, one IDE with support for two devices.

I picked this board as it supports Crossfire while giving you the possibility of adding expansion cards, like the sound card that I recommend. Also, unlike boards from ASUS, boards from Gigabyte do not bottleneck USB 3.0/SATA 6.0GB/s when you have two cards in Crossfire/SLI.

Finally, the layout will allow you to put the dedicated sound card in the last PCI port.

Recommended upgrades:

• ASUS Maximus III Formula P55 Crossfire8x/8x – This is the enthusiast/overclocker’s choice. If you want all the features and/or push your computer to its limits, this is the way to go. Good to know: It includes a Supreme X-Fi sound card, which is a nice step-up from onboard sound. However, it does not feature SATA 6.0Gb/s nor USB 3.0.

CPU:

Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz Quad-Core + HT 1156 95W

The other contenders in the same price range would have been the AMD Phenom II X4 965BE or Intel’s own Core i7 920. I picked the Intel Core i7 860 over them simply because it is faster than both of them when it comes to gaming, according to AnandTech. They also said this about the Core i7 860 vs the Core i7 920: “In terms of cost effectiveness, the Core i7 860 is the way to go. With cheaper motherboards and higher operating frequencies than a Core i7 920, for the majority of users the 860 will be the better pick.”

I couldn’t agree more with that statement. I also have to mention that the Core i7 860 consumes only 95W instead of 130W for the Core i7 920 and that its turbo frequencies are much higher: Bloomfield processors (Core i7 920 and other socket 1366 Core i7) are limited to a 133MHz boost with 4 active cores or 266Mhz with a single active core. Meaning that the Core i7 920, which at stock runs at 2.66GHz, won’t go any faster than 2.93GHz.

The Lynnfield based Core i7 860, which starts at 2.80GHz, also gets only an extra 133Mhz with 4 or 3 actives cores, up to 2.93GHz. However, things get interesting with 2 active cores will hit 3.33GHz or even better, 3.46GHz with a single active core. If you consider that most programs, especially video games, still only use one or two cores, this is where the Lynnfield based Core i7 860 shines.

Recommended upgrades:

1. Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz Quad-Core + HT 1156 95W – While it’s only 133MHz faster at stock, the Core i7-870 main advantage over the Core i7-860 is its even higher turbo frequencies. With three or four actives cores, it hits 3.20GHz (333MHz more than the Core i7 860), with two cores 3.46GHz and finally, with a single core, nothing short of 3.60GHZ (133 MHz more than the Core i7 860).

Video Card:

Two XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB in Crossfire

Note: By Two, I mean Buy the card twice, so you can link the two cards using the Crossfire Technology.

Second only to the Radeon 5970 or the Radeon HD 5870 in Crossfire, faster than Nvidia’s best single GPU video card, the Geforce GTX 285. This setup is also faster than Nvidia’s best card, the dual-GPU Geforce GTX 295.

When you put two of them in Crossfire, the Radeon 5850 offers a LOT of performance for the price asked. With these cards, can this PC play Crysis, with full details at 1080p? You bet it can, it is not a problem with these cards. For more details on Radeon 5850 Crossfire Performance and how they compare to Nvidia’s cards, see this article from AnandTech.

The Radeon 5850 supports DirectX 11 and it is perfect for gaming at 1920 x 1080 (1080p) or even 2560 x 1600, with high details, AA and AF. It also has a 1GB of memory buffer on each card, to handle games such as GTA: 4.

Finally, it is HDCP Ready and will handle Blu-Ray and other 1080p content playback, with audio over HDMI as well, with most audio setup (2.1, 5.1, 7.1, etc.).

Note that all the recommended motherboards support Crossfire.

Recommended upgrades:

1. Radeon HD 5970 2GB 512(256 x 2)-bit GDDR5 DirectX 11- If you can find it in stock, the dual-GPU Radeon 5970 is a good alternative to the two Radeon 5850 in Crossfire. This card is basically two Radeon 5870 in Crossfire on one card, although with reduced frequencies, giving you higher performance than two Radeon 5850 in Crossfire, while consuming less power. This is the perfect solution if you don’t want to spend more for a motherboard upgrade.However, due to its length, you’ll need to upgrade the case to one that supports its length. See the Case section lower for more details on that.
2. Two Radeon HD 5870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 DirectX 11 in Crossfire - If you want to run Crysis: Warhead maxed up at 1920 x 1080 or simply want a future-proof solution, this is the way to go.This is faster than the Radeon 5970 as you get two Radeon 5870 with their full frequencies here.

Quick tip: Remember to attach the Crossfire cable to the two video cards and to download the latest drivers, which can be found here.

RAM:

G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 1600MHz

For a $2000 Gaming Computer, 4GB of RAM will eventually become a bottleneck as video games and programs demand more and more memory, especially if you like to multitask. With a price difference of slightly more than $100 between 4GB and 8GB, you’re better off in the long run with 8GB.

I went with G.Skill for their lifetime warranty, high reliability and compatibility with the majority of motherboards. I chose these particular sticks as they only require 1.35V to run at 1600MHz, resulting in lower power consumption, but more importantly, because they have a low CAS latency of 7 and good tight timings at 7-8-7-24-2N.

With the starting low voltage 1.35V, you have a lot of headroom to raise the voltage (Maximum of 1.65V to not damage the processor) to overclock them even further.

Note: This RAM may not run at 1600MHz to begin with. This is normal, you simply need to adjust your BIOS settings to reach that speed.

In my opinion, there is little incentive to move to faster frequency RAM, as it brings only a small performance increase (According to Tom’s Hardware ) for a much higher price. DDR3 1600MHz is the sweet spot, costing about the same as lower speed, offering good performance and overclocking headroom.

Hard Drive:

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s

In Tom’s Hardware latest hard drive article, the SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB finishes on top of all transfer rates benchmarks, even ahead of what used to be my recommendation, the Western Digital Caviar Black. Considering that it’s faster and less expensive, there’s no reason for me to not recommend this drive from now on.

This drive offers 1TB (1000 GB) of storage, plenty enough to handle your video/music collection and all your games. This drive comes with 32MB of cache and a 3 years warranty.

Recommended upgrades:

Two SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s RAID 0 or 1 – If one of these top-notch hard drive doesn’t offer enough performance and/or storage, you can simply pick two of them and put them in RAID0 for enhanced performance, but with two hard drives in RAID0 come greater chance of losing your data, as in if either drive fails, you lose all your data .

To prevent that, to keep your data more safe, you may choose to go with RAID 1, which however will give the capacity of only one of the two drives, as the other will be used to backup your data in real-time.

Kingston 128GB 200(R)/160(W) MB/s 2.5″ SSD

This SSD from Kingston brings the SSD well-known performance (200MB/s Read – 110MB/s Write transfer rates, not to mention the nearly instant access times, that are light-years ahead of the best hard drives), along with TRIM support with Windows 7, at a new low price of $249, this is one of the few SSDs that I can recommend with a price of less than $2/GB ($1.95/GB to be exact).

With 128GB, you can easily install Windows as well as your important games and programs. The regular hard hard drive has 1TB to store various media content. Note that it comes with a 2.5″ to 3.5″ bracket adapter to mount this SSD in regular hard drive bays, so no need to buy one.

Recommended upgrades:

1. Corsair 120GB 250(R)/170(W) MB/s 2.5″ SSD TRIM Like the Kingston model, it supports TRIM and comes with a 2.5″ to 3.5″ bracket adapter. For $80 more than the Kingston model, you get an additional 50MB/s in Read speeds and an additional 10MB/s in Write speed.
2. Corsair 128GB 270(R)/195(W) MB/s 2.5″ SSD TRIM Like the Kingston model, it supports TRIM and comes with a 2.5″ to 3.5″ bracket adapter. For $120 more than the Kingston model, you get an additional 70MB/s in Read speeds and an additional 35MB/s in Write speed.

Optical Drive:

LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner

This drive is able to read and burn CDs and DVDs. Silent, compatible with all the main formats, including DVD-RAM.

The motherboard includes four SATA cables (One will be used for the hard drive and one for this DVD Burner), so no need to worry about cables.

Also, seeing as DVD Burners are often go out of stock lately, here are two alternatives that you can use to replace it. All are SATA based.

1. LITE-ON Black 24X SATA Black CD/DVD Writer
2. HP Black 24X SATA 24X CD/DVD Writer – Retail

Upgrades:

What if you want more than just a DVD Burner? No problem.

1. LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Reader – This drive will allow you to read CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray disks, for the price of only$62, which is really inexpensive if you remember how much Blu-Ray readers were going for recently. However, note that this drive cannot burn any type of disks, it is exclusively a reader. To burn disks, see the next upgrade below.
2. LG 10X Blu-ray, 16X DVD, 48X CD SATA Burner – If you want to burn CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray disks, this is the best deal right, at $149.

Case:

LIAN LI PC-K62 1x120mm, 3x140mm case fans

This is a solid case, from Lian Li, known for the quality of their craftsmanship. It looks good, offers plenty of cooling, tool-less installation and best of all, the PC-K62 features cable management clips for the bottom-mounted power supply, helping you keep your build clean.

Interesting Fact: 95% of its buyers on NewEgg gave it either a 4 egg ratings (13%) or a 5 eggs rating (82%), a testament to how satisfied the buyers of that case are.

1. LIAN LI PC-A05NB Mini Tower 2 x 120mm – If you’re looking for a case to fit a powerful gaming rig that is light, solid and portable enough to carry around to LAN parties, take a look at this case.
2. Antec Nine Hundred 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm case fans – Who hasn’t heard of the Antec Nine Hundred really? One of the most popular cases of all time (as far as I know), a favorite amongst gamers.
3. Antec Nine Hundred Two 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm case fans – The successor to the Nine Hundred, which brings improvements such as adjustable fan speeds on the back of the case, the inside of the case painted in black and more.
4. COOLER MASTER HAF 922 – 1x 120mm 2x 200mm fans* – Cooler Master’s answer to the Antec Nine Hundred, this is an excellent alternative that I like recommending due to its look (which you either love or hate) and most importantly because you can install a Radeon 5970 video card, currently the longest video card on the market.
5. Antec Twelve Hundred 5x 120mm, 1x 200mm case fans * Meet the Antec 900′s big brother, the Twelve Hundred. Make no mistake, this is a full-size tower case, which means there’s a lot of ventilation and space for all your parts.
6. COOLER MASTER HAF 932 1 x 140mm, 3 x 200mm case fans * The Cooler Master HAF 932 is the HAF 922 bigger and meaner version, with more space and more ventilation.
7. SILVERSTONE KUBLAI KL03-BW 2 x 120mm case fans * – If you want additional cooling for your video card(s), look no further. With slots for 120mm fans on the side (you need to buy the fans unfortunately) dedicated to the video card(s), this is ideal to push your video cards to the limit when overclocking. This case is really targeted to users with long video cards, as it comes with six adjustable fingers to hold peripheral cards in place. When you have long (and heavy) cards it is somewhat common for them to lift a little bit out of their slots during transportation, even if they are correctly screwed to the case, so this is a nice touch from Silverstone.
8. COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 4 x 120mm case fans * If you’re looking for a case that’s easy to use, has plenty of space and a unique design, look no further. Best of all: The case was designed with sound suppression in mind, for example, the side panel is equipped with sound dampening material.

* The Radeon 5970 video card upgrade will only fit in the cases marked with an asterisk (*)

Power Supply:

Seventeam 850W CrossFire/80 PLUS Bronze Certified

This power supply is capable of delivering up to 850W, not that should rely on this information only as I often point in posts such as Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply, but more importantly 65A on the 12V line, the most important factor when it comes to choosing a power supply for a gaming computer.

If you haven’t heard of Seventeam before, don’t be afraid. While they are not a well-known company such as Antec or Corsair, they make power supplies of a quality that matches Antec and Corsair power supplies. Moving on to about this power supply: 850W, 65A on the 12V lines and 80 PLUS Bronze certification. With such specs, this power supply will handle the higher-end video cards upgrades available in this build as well as heavy overclocking. For $120, this is a bargain for such a powerful and reliable power supply.

Its 80 PLUS Bronze certification helps this power supply stay cool, silent and keep your electricity bill reasonable.

Power Consumption:

According to the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator, it is estimated that this system will consume at load (peak usage):

• ~ 400W with the recommended Core i7 860 and the two Radeon 5850 in Crossfire, at stock.
• ~ 450W with the recommended Core i7 860 heavily overclocked and the two Radeon 5850 in Crossfire (Or the Radeon 5970), at stock.
• ~ 500-550W with the recommended Core i7 860 heavily overclocked and the two Radeon 5850 in Crossfire (Or the Radeon 5970), overclocked as well.
• ~ 550-600W with the recommended Core i7 860 heavily overclocked and the two Radeon 5870 in Crossfire, overclocked as well.

This goes to prove how efficient these new Radeon 58xx cards are, especially compared to the older Radeon 48xx series.

Cooling:

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus 120mm CPU Cooler

Tom’s Hardware recently compared ten CPU cooler for the socket 1156, and declared that the Cooler Master Hyper 212 offered the best performance for the price, or the best value.

The reason for that is that it cools relatively well and costs only $30, a bargain for a good heatsink.

If you have something more high-end, consider the CORSAIR All-in-One Water-Cooling CPU Cooler. Many say that if performs just a well as a custom water-cooling system that you’ve built from separated parts, while obviously being much more simple and less expensive, at $80. Being an all-in-one kit, it requires nearly no assembly, doesn’t require any messy fill up and is surprisingly easy to install.

Also to consider:

1. Thermal Compound: Use the ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound either with the stock cooler or better, with the upgraded CPU cooler to lower your CPU temperatures further more. For $8, this is a wise investment.
2. Case cooling: You usually can add up at least one additional 120 mm fans in any of the recommended case and I highly recommend that you add one on the side, to help keep your video card cool, but the best is to get two. Obviously, double-check with the case that you choose first before buying any additional case fans. If you’re on a tight budget and don’t mind a bit of noise at 29.3 dBA, the Rosewill 120mm Case Fan is a good choice. Go for the Scythe 120mm “Slipstream” Case Fan if you’re looking for a higher-quality, more silent fan. This particular model is relatively silent at only 24dBA.

Sound Card:

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 24-bit 96KHz PCI

This sound card will handle many different sound setups, including headphones, a microphone and more. While integrated audio on a PC has gotten much better, for $25 out of a $2000 budget, you’re still much better with a dedicated sound card.

Note: The ASUS Maximus III motherboard upgrades come with a Supreme X-Fi sound card, so no need to buy a sound card for it.

Network: Dual Ethernet RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN: Integrated on the motherboard

Integrated with the motherboard, these dual network adapters will allow you to access your local network and Internet.

Recommended operating systems:

The operating system cost, if there’s one, is not included in the total cost. The two reason for this are:

1. The budget only considers hardware.
2. You may be able re-use a previous license, go with an open-source OS such as Linux or, if you’re so inclined and are aware of what you’re doing, use torrents.

If you decide that you need an OS, here are some recommendations:

Windows 7

Despite Linux gaining more and more support, Windows still is the platform of choice for compatibility at the moment. Considering that you’ll have 4GB of RAM or more, along with a dedicated video that also has memory (512MB or 1GB), you’ll need a 64-bit version, as 32-bit is limited to 4GB of memory for the entire system, which is not enough now, nor in the future if you decide to upgrade.

Windows 7 is by far better than Windows Vista, looks better, more functional, less annoying, consumes less resources and brings DirectX 11 to the table.

Three Available Versions:

1. Windows 7 Home Premium: The basic edition, with all the looks, most of the functionality and DirectX 11.
2. Windows 7 Professional: If you want the virtual XP mode, you’ll need at least the Professional edition. Also required if you want to backup to a network, using the built-in backup mode in Windows.
3. Windows 7 Ultimate: To help protect data on your PC and portable storage devices against loss or theft with BitLocker and to work and switch between 35 languages.

OEM vs Retail:

The OEM version allows you to only install it once on a computer. You cannot transfer the license to another computer in the future and you do not receive support from Microsoft. It’s the same type of license you get when you get Windows on a desktop or laptop that you buy from Dell, HP and such. It’s less expensive, but gives less flexibility. Ideal if you intend on keeping your computer for many years.

The Retail version is the full version, which allows you to transfer the license to another computer in the future and you can call Microsoft if you need any form of support. Ideal if you intend on upgrading/changing your computer down the road.

Other than that, you get the same features on both, only the license differs. The price between the two differs obviously.

OEM Versions:

1. Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM – $105
2. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM – $140
3. Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OEM – $180

Retail Versions:

1. Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Retail – $180
2. Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Retail – $269
3. Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Retail – $292

Linux

A lot of people these days boots more than one OS. Linux is a wonderful choice: powerful, cool, and cheap. Take your pick of distributions and have fun! For Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, and Mandrake, try Distrowatch.com, Cheapbytes.com, LinuxQuestions.org or one of the many others.

While Linux does not offer the wide compatibility of Windows with video games, gaming on Linux is still possible, through projects such as Wine, Cedega and Crossover. For more on the topic of Linux Gaming, I invite you to read this excellent article from AnandTech: Linux Gaming: Are we there yet?

What about Word processing, Excel and other Windows-based programs that you need? Linux being an open platform, there are many free alternatives that will answer your needs. For Word/Excel and such, try OpenOffice.

Cost: Free

Conclusion

What do you think of this updated version of the $2000 Gaming PC?

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Building this system?

Do you need a guide on how to build a computer or do you have some questions?

Consult our: FAQ: How to Build Your Own Computer

Also, if this is your first build, here are 10 Quick Tips for 1st Time Builders to get you started.

Finally, if your newly built computer won’t start, I invite you to read Help me: Why won’t my newly assembled PC start or boot?

Did you enjoy this build? Support me and Hardware Revolution

For each article, I spend many hours of research and many hours of writing/editing and I generously offer it to you and everyone else for free.

In the last few months, My current “workstation” from which I manage Hardware Revolution and write articles on, an HP tx1000 tablet laptop, has been plagued with problems for the last few months and could now fail at any time. Despite various attempts to fix it, the problem remains.

My solution is to build a new Workstation PC from scratch, based on a mix of the $500 and $1000 Workstation Builds.

Starting today and until the end of March, I’ll be raising funds toward building this new Workstation in order to replace my failing laptop and to help me keep improving Hardware Revolution for you.

My goal is to raise $1000, which will cover the build, a monitor, shipping and taxes.

To learn more details about this, read: Raising Funds for Hardware Revolution’s New Workstation PC

If this website helped you before, this is your chance to return the favor and help me this time.

Donate what you can (I suggest $5 to $20, but it’s up to you) via the ChipIn widget below (Which will track the donations), which will bring you to a secure Paypal page where you can donate.

Thank you very much for your support,
Mathieu

(If you don’t see the widget, you can donate by clicking the following link:)
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=MEKXWKCGJFVU6

Category: Gaming PC