My $3000 Build Thread [Completed]

[szvwxcszxc]

DISCLAIMER: I wrote $3000 Build because although I only paid about $2200 total (and am planning on spending about $400 or so more for H100 and a few more HDD and a couple other little things), if you were to buy this PC today then it will cost you about $3000 to $3500, since I got everything on sale.

I currently have an MSI gaming laptop, a GT780DX [UPDATE: IT IS SOLD NOW]. It is a very good computer, and I can play Skyrim on Ultra. It is an amazing PC, and for laptops it hardly gets any better than this. However, I have decided that since I have two laptops and I never take this laptop anywhere because it is a little too big to carry around, I will build a serious work/gaming PC instead and actually save money (or break even) and have more performance.

Moreover, I am realizing that to have a real PC it really expands my storage capabilities. I recently bought a 3TB USB 3.0 external for $250 and it was a good deal. But I already used up all but 300mb in only 1 month (although a lot was backing up my current hard drives).

So I realized that having a desktop, I can add in new 2TB 3.5" hard drives for less than $100 each. That Significantly decreases cost of storage and expansion.

I have done a bunch of research on parts. I have been dancing around doing this for over a year, and now it is time to move forward.

Since I just bought two 24" 1080p monitors, I won't be needing monitors. I also have a trackball (I don't like mice, just trackball) and also I just bought a nice illuminated keyboard. So now all I need is the tower. EDIT: I returned the Logitech illuminated keyboard and instead got the challenger ultimate keyboard.

After monitors and peripherals, I want to spend a max of about $800 - $1000 [UPDATE: I spent more anyway] on the actual PC. So far it seems to be working out, but I could use some input as to me selections. I have two main builds, an AMD build and an Intel build. Both fit the budget, and the AMD of course is a little bit less expensive. (UPDATE: HOLIDAY BUILD!!)

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PICTURES OF CHOSEN PARTS FOR BUILD :

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RESULT:

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Nice trance song I just found, for your enjoyment:

 

[szvwxcszxc]

Some more images of the build:

 

[biostud]

no custom CPU HSF?

 

[szvwxcszxc]

no custom CPU HSF?

No not yet at least. Thinking about getting an H100 though.

 

[moonbogg]

That looks really nice. I love the mid tower. I wish I was there to smell the brand new, clean video cards and motherboard. I love smelling new video cards and motherboards. Don't even pretend that you don't hold the new card right infront of your face and delight in its brand new, shiny appearance and bring it close enough to smell the fresh, powerful circuitry.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Nice. You should of considered getting a case that would easily house a rad.

 

[szvwxcszxc]

Nice. You should of considered getting a case that would easily house a rad.

rad?

 

[SheHateMe]

rad?

A Radiator, your case doesn't look like it will support a H100. An H80 will suffice, anyway.

 

[szvwxcszxc]

A Radiator, your case doesn't look like it will support a H100. An H80 will suffice, anyway.

Oh, I never thought of that. You're right, a radiator would definitely not fit into this case.

Thanks, I will look at the H80, maybe wait for a sale.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Lol@sand force ssd
Lol@none flipped psu

 

[szvwxcszxc]

lol@sand force ssd
lol@none flipped psu

lol@e2140

 

[Eureka]

Wait a second... is this your high end "$6500" build? You barely posted it yesterday, there's no way you could've gotten parts in that time frame.

 

[szvwxcszxc]

Wait a second... is this your high end "$6500" build? You barely posted it yesterday, there's no way you could've gotten parts in that time frame.

No. I built this last week. Completely different project.

 

[mnewsham]

Lol@sand force ssd
Lol@none flipped psu

lol@e2140

 

[T_Yamamoto]

lol@e2140

Lol@me being a high school student
Also it gets the job done, even though its old and stuff I can live with it.

On a serious note
Why didn't you get a marvel ssd or the likes of it? You had a 3k budget and didn't even get a good ssd

Also a flipped PSU may give you better temps.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Nahh not really. I'm just laughing at the amount of money he spent and ended up with a sand force. (Would have chosen other parts)

 

[mnewsham]

Nahh not really. I'm just laughing at the amount of money he spent and ended up with a sand force. (Would have chosen other parts)

it's funny because you don't have the money for a good computer. (or you aren't allowed to spend it, either way)

 

[T_Yamamoto]

it's funny because you don't have the money for a good computer. (or you aren't allowed to spend it, either way)

Yeah. Well its okay. Its still chugging along. Nice to see you back here.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

His point is absolutely valid. Buying a crappy Ssd is foolish with the budget he had. And it is foolish to just side with him for your ego,

 

[mnewsham]

His point is absolutely valid. Buying a crappy Ssd is foolish with the budget he had. And it is foolish to just side with him for your ego,

compare it to SSD's people were buying 2 years ago and it's amazing, sure he spent more money than he should have for what he got, but honestly he would be hard pressed to notice an actual difference when using a "better" SSD. When upgrading from a 64GB SATAII SSD at 180MB/s read speed to my current 240GB 550MB/s read speed I noticed almost no difference in actual use, now in benchmarks it is much faster, but in every day use? Maybe a few seconds, tops. His SSD is better than that even so while it isn't the best it doesnt outright suck when it comes to actual real world use.

 

[mfenn]

Also a flipped PSU may give you better temps.

A "flipped" PSU is just a normal PSU rotated 180 degrees. The OP could (and probably should) flip his current PSU over to take advantage of the vents on the bottom of his case.

 

[szvwxcszxc]

Lol@me being a high school student
Also it gets the job done, even though its old and stuff I can live with it.

On a serious note
Why didn't you get a marvel ssd or the likes of it? You had a 3k budget and didn't even get a good ssd

Also a flipped PSU may give you better temps.

I only paid $109 for this hdd on sale, normally almost twice as much. It gives me EXTREMELY FAST performance, so I have no idea why you keep telling me to get a better one???? It was a Very Good Purchase and Impossible To Find A Better Deal Anywhere. Or even close to the same deal is impossible now that black friday is gone. Good luck finding a 256GB SSD for under $150 - even used.

 

[red12355]

Lol@me being a high school student
Also it gets the job done, even though its old and stuff I can live with it.

On a serious note
Why didn't you get a marvel ssd or the likes of it? You had a 3k budget and didn't even get a good ssd

Also a flipped PSU may give you better temps.

The Agility 4 DOES use a Marvell controller (with custom OCZ firmware). Surprised nobody mentioned this yet.

If you're going to bash his build at least get your facts straight.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

The Agility 4 DOES use a Marvell controller (with custom OCZ firmware). Surprised nobody mentioned this yet.

If you're going to bash his build at least get your facts straight.

Ah it does? I always believed that OCZ used sandforce controllers. Well I wouldn't buy OCZ for my life. What I'm saying is, he had a budget of 3000. THREE THOUSAND. Yet he can't fit a Intel or crucial ssd? You're doing it wrong. Also, just because its cheap doesn't mean its always good.

 

[szvwxcszxc]

Ah it does? I always believed that OCZ used sandforce controllers. Well I wouldn't buy OCZ for my life. What I'm saying is, he had a budget of 3000. THREE THOUSAND. Yet he can't fit a Intel or crucial ssd? You're doing it wrong. Also, just because its cheap doesn't mean its always good.

well my performance begs to differ. it was only inexpensive because of Black Friday sales.
Agility 4 does use Marvel controller not sandforce. Agility 4 is not like other OCZ products. It is a huge performance increase over previous models. it compares with other high-end ssd, such as Samsung.