5000 dollar budget build. Suggestions?

3930k/3960x Max the ram that the board that you get can do.. Go with RAID Crucial M4's.. 2x GTX680's/7970's?
Preferrably MSI Hawk/Twinfrozr ones - a 2TB/3TB Green drive. NH-D14 air cooler (for 2011).

HAF X for the case, if he wants red LED's, Antec 1200 if he wants Blue.

You won't max the budget with that, but i'm sure eyefinity screens will!
And some nice 5.1 speakers and you're done!

if he doesnt need mass storage, just stick with SSDs. a pair of 256 GB sounds perfect. If he does end up wanting more space later, bigger SSds will be available for cheaper at that point. As for the video card, GTX 680s would be the way to go, or if its in the budget after all else is said and done, you could just go with the GTX 690 and have sli in a single card. you could also go with the 4 GB versions of the 680s if he wants the extra memory.

tell him he did not need a $5000 gaming rig to have a powerhouse, you can start between $1500~$2000, the rest is saving, less your commision of course.

I would quad-SLI two 690's water cooled (then overclock to over 680 speed) and to make sure it has thunderbolt, if you set up a watercooling loop would also be nice!

This

Do a SLI 670/680 build (4GB VRAM models) and do an eyefinity setup with some nice IPS monitors. 3930k would be the highest CPU I would ever put in a gaming machine.... Even then it is pushing it seeing as IVY will perform about the same. I would probably just grab a 3770K instead of save the rest. No need to get more than 16GB of RAM, getting more is pointless and it will not be used. 128GB SSD is plenty, then grab 1-2TB of storage space.

What I would expect in a 5k build:
3930k (3960 is a waste of money, even with that budget)
2 680's (more is a waste as well) or 3 7970's (trifire doesn't seem to scale as bad as SLI)
Top-end motherboard (but this guy is probably not so tech-savy so something like a Rampage (personal preference) would be a waste sadly, although it looks good)
top-end PSU: AX 1200, or comparable Seasonic (I know there are other good brands as well, but this is what I'd pick)
1 - 2 TB WD black (yea he says he doesn't need it but in a 5k build I would want some storage, who knows he starts recording his gameplay or something, then you'll definitely need some HDD space)
2* 256 or 1 512 GB SSD (I'd take 1 512GB samsung 830 because I like the look of them over the M4s everyone is so crazy about)
Top-end sound card: No expert on this so I'll leave this to others

I would watercool the whole thing if it was mine but for someone else I wouldn't trust it so go with the best air cooler on the market (Still the noctua ND H14 (or something like that) / silver arrow ?).

Does he expect peripherals as well for his 5k ? ( Honestly I find it a bit weird when people calculate peripherals in the cost of a rig ...)
If so: a nice mech keyboard: Can't go wrong with blacks or browns
Mouse: That's pretty personal TBH. Size, grip, # of buttons, looks, Laser or optical? ... hard to choose for someone else
Screens: Well, obviously 3 or 3+1 but no idea which ones. I'd probably just get the best 120 Hz screen out there. But you know, a lot of people don't need 120 Hz and prefer the epeen of 3 screens (how bad some may be)
Speakers: again, not much experience
Headset: same as speakers but definitely not some "gaming" headset but a good set of cans and a clip on mic (or desk mic)

I have to study French so CBA to look up prizes for everything and put it in a list but this is what I'd look at with a 5k budget

PS : I read the thread title as: "5000 dollar "budget build" suggestions" and I was like: Oh you show-off ... calling 5k rig "budget"
Edited by Bloitz - 6/12/12 at 7:21am

I would pick a more efficient PSU. Gold or platinum at the least for such a rig. Corsair AX 1200 + sleeved cables?
A bigger SSD as well: 128 will be a little under 120 when formatted IIRC and - 10-12 GB for garbage collection .... 256GB at the least

You are going to want 4GB models for a GTX 680 or 670 for higher resolutions. UD2711's are some excellent monitors; great high quality IPS monitors.
PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($92.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Samsung 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.95 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($484.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($484.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White/Red) ATX Full Tower Case ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2711 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($799.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2711 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($799.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell U2711 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($799.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($98.99 @ B&H)
Keyboard: Logitech G510 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Razer Naga Wired Laser Mouse ($86.97 @ Newegg)
Total: $4684.75
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)



If the person you are dealing with wants to save money and is only gaming, drop the CPU down to an IVY i5, there will be little to no difference. Especially not for the price. Also, there is no reason to grab a bigger SSD than a 128GB. There is no reason to put every single game on a SSD. Maybe a select few single player games that need to be loaded faster. Loading multi-player games faster is pointless because you will be the only one loaded in and waiting for everyone else.