jtgasv

Budget (including currency): 500 Country: U.S. Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: media center and 1080p light gaming Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc) trying to reuse my old (sapphire hd 7970ghz toxic) in a pc to stream to the TV from and some light 1080p gaming for my gf. already have ram and a spare ssd. but need a motherboard, cpu and power supply. mostly need help though finding a small enough case that can sit on its side that will fit a large gpu. Card Dimensions (L x H) 10.83" x 4.53" x 2.04"

fairly basic question (i think) what extra cables should i pick up to go along with the ones that should come with the components, or in case ones dont show up with the components so i dont end up waiting extra to be able to put the system together?

wow nice replies already, ok. as far as ram, currently with 6gb of ram, i start getting the lovely "your memory is low" and maxing out my ram before i even get the string section loaded, not counting the rest of the orchestra. even with 16+gb i could easily use it all. I've actually stopped bothering with my current computer to run software or any recent games cause it doesn't run properly, or i cant play higher than low settings now. yes i know, ive let myself become too out of date, and doesnt help that my primary computer right now is a laptop... wasnt by choice at the time as i had no room for a tower and monitor 3-4 years ago. the 3rd build is a bit much so will not be going with that one. intel vs amd, (not going to start that argument here) but so many people telling me diff things between them. the intel setup seems like a better choice from what ive been reading, but the price of the amd is nice. ive been out of the loop so long. when the system is finally set up i wont be able to do an upgrade to it for at least another 2 years or so as once this is setup my money will have to start going elsewhere, so not looking twords spending extra money on a temporary graphics card to upgrade in half a year, so will be looking more at the 680. thankyou for your suggestions on the hard drive. so other question, regarding the graphics cards, the difference between a 2gb and a 4gb version, is there any advantage or use upcoming for needing a 4gb card? somewhat revised build for now. (links were for my own use, i started putting links in my lists so i wouldnt have to keep searching) Case: Cooler Master Cosmo II 350.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119252 personally i like this case and would be my preference but also like the COOLER MASTER HAF X Blue Edition 220.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119239 psu: CORSAIR AX760i 209.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139043 [amd setup] mobo: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 160.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128514 cpu: amd fx-8350 190.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819113284 [intel setup] Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP4 TH LGA 1155 185.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128558 cpu: Intel Core i5-3570K 230.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115233 Intel Core i7-3770K 330.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116502 video: MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC 470.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127672 memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 87.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233246 hd: Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 110.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148697 optics: LG Black Blu-ray Combo Drive Model UH12NS29 50.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136252 1626$usd amd; 1691$usd intel i5; 1791$usd intel i7 prices based on newegg prices without any discounts. will end up getting for a little cheaper than listed. the difference in price is within a allowable range for all 3 setups to be viable to me pricewise, specially if i can find discounts. undecided on which ssd

preface: so due to a lot of things happening that tied up more of my time than i wanted over the past couple years i have not kept up on where technology has advanced to till my computer became unable to play new games or properly run my music software to my liking. over the past 3 weeks I've spent most of my time trying to come up with a new setup. this will not be purchased all at once and some things may be changed depending on if i find things on sale. i will be purchasing the parts over the course of ~3months with future upgrade to using multiple displays and sli over the course of the next year. budget: currently 1500-2000$ usd would be my preferred budget but i could go over that to 2500$ usd if the benefits would be worth it. purpose: music composition, gaming, a lot of multitasking and running multiple games/clients at once while running a lot of background programs. currently i just have a 1080p flat screen tv that isnt all that great. 60hz 1080p 6.5ms. but final setup will be 3 panel panorama along with the 1080p as extra mounted above. but that will come at a later date. already have keyboard/mouse will be with windows 7 pro a lot of people that ive been talking to at work keep recommending amd even though what I've been reading is recommending intel. so since I'm undecided on certain things, I'm going to start with purchasing "common" components between the builds I'm considering and hold off on the big ones until the last parts. 3 different builds being considered at the moment if anyone would like to give some feedback amd build: Case: COOLER MASTER HAF-932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP 160.00 Psu: XION AXP-700K14XE 700W 80.00 CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 270.00 Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7 AMD 900 Series Motherboard 231.00 Cpu: amd fx-8350 190.00 Video: EVGA 04G-P4-3687-KR GeForce GTX 680 560.00 Memory: Kingston HyperX Black KHX16C10B1BK2/16 16GB 85.00 HD: Western Digital WD Green WD10EARX 1TB 100.00 Optic: lg black WH14NS40 80.00 1700$usd on new egg (as low as 1500$usd purchasing w/ discounts and other sites) intel build: Case: COOLER MASTER HAF-932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP 160.00 Psu: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 270.00 Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP7 (preferred) 400.00 Cpu: Intel Core i7-3770K 330.00 Video: EVGA 04G-P4-3687-KR GeForce GTX 680 560.00 Memory: Kingston HyperX Black KHX16C10B1BK2/16 16GB 85.00 HD: Western Digital WD Green WD10EARX 1TB 100.00 Optic: lg black WH14NS40 80.00 1985$usd on new egg (as low as 1800$usd purchasing w/ discounts and other sites) another setup i was looking at but i would have to wait an extra 2-3 months to get the initial setup due to the price Case: COOLER MASTER HAF-932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP 160.00 Psu: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 270.00 Mobo: ASRock X79 Extreme11 LGA 2011 Intel X79 600.00 Cpu: Intel Core i7-3930K 570.00 Video: EVGA 04G-P4-3687-KR GeForce GTX 680 560.00 Memory: CORSAIR XMS 32GB (4 x 8GB) 175.00 HD: Western Digital WD Green WD10EARX 1TB 100.00 Optic: lg black WH14NS40 80.00 2515$usd on new egg (as low as 2400$usd purchasing w/ discounts and other sites) was considering ASUS P9X79 LE LGA 2011 Intel X79 240.00 as an alternate motherboard for this setup. prices could be lower depending on sales or sites. considered options for any build though it would be a bit more expencive i think it would be a bit nicer of a case. COOLER MASTER COSMOS II for cooling am considering Corsair h100 or thermaltake CLW0217. and looking at possibly a 60gb or 120gb ssd for the os and commonly run programs depending on if i find them on sale or a good deal. i have showed the amd setup possibility to friends at work that are good with computers, but not the intel builds as they wont even talk to me about intel setups. actually, i dont know anyone offline that has recommended intel, even though most of what im reading does recommend them. i am looking for something that can be somewhat future proofed/upgradeable. multiple graphics in the future would be important as an upgrade option instead of replacing parts. for the latter intel setups i was looking at the options for 64gb of ram max as it would be highly beneficial for my music software. final monitor setup would look something like... XXX XXX XXX XXX looking at something bigger than 1080, tripple 2560 x 1440 is what ive been thinking but that will come in the future, and will depend on how prices change by the time i get these (in 1yr) resolution is important, but not so important that i would spend the insane amount for 1600. any recommendations/advice on the 3 setups would be nice, or things i should change, or any general information on what ive said about the setups would be much appreciated. my knowledge is kinda out of date, im more of a software person, not so much a hardware person, till recently.