A good strong multipurpose system

[Dbzlotrfan]

• Purpose of System: Gaming, browsing internet, watching videos. But mostly for gaming. I may want to do folding@home
  
• GPU Setting: Quite high, if not ultra (eventually, for when I get a new monitor)
  
• Budget: @ Around $1000 - $1300 (or so)
  
• Country: USA
  
• Reuseable parts: Can't, see below (current specs) as to why
  
• Overclocking: No.
  
• Monitor: Currently 1680 x 1050 (22 Inches) - I eventually want HD (Between 23 - 27 inches)
  

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.01 @ Microcenter)

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($200.25 @ Amazon)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.66 @ NCIX US)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($97.41 @ NCIX US)

Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($119.06 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($402.16 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($158.86 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($147.52 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($20.54 @ Outlet PC)

Total: $1374.47

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Current specs:

• Case: No idea (although it is a HP slimline, gray) - that should give some idea of the sort of case.
  
• Motherboard: Asus A8N-BR (Pyrite) (1 PCI, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN, IEEE-1394)
  
• Motherboard Chipset - nVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE, AMD Hammer
  
• Power Supply: No idea (but it's less than 100 watts, I think)
  
• Processor: DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2000 MHz (10 x 200) 3800+
  
• CPU Cooler: A fan
  
• Memory:
  
• - DIMM1: Kingston 1 GB DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM (5-4-4-12 (at) 266 MHz) (4-4-4-12 (at) 266 MHz) (3-3-3-9 (at) 200 MHz)
  
• - DIMM2: Kingston 2G-UDIMM 2 GB DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-15 (at) 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 (at) 266 MHz) (3-3-3-9 (at) 200 MHz)
  
• Hard Drive: 250 GB ATA drive
  
• Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVDRRW GSA-H20L ATA Device (DVD+R9:8x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/32x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
  
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
  

What I wanted from the System

- Hardware

• USB 2.0 & 3.0 ports
  
• Firewire & or eSata port
  
• Support for DVI/HDMI (display port?) - either from the motherboard or from the GPU
  
• Quad Core
  

- Software

• Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
  
• Folding @ Home
  

-- Gaming Software

• (Heroes of) Might & Magic
  
• Diablo 1 - 2 LOD
  
• SimCity 3000/Unlimited/4000/Rushour
  
• The Sims 1 - And all expansions
  
• The Sims 2
  
• Warcraft 2 - Tides of Darkness & Beyond the Dark Portal
  
• Warcraft 3 - Reign of Chaos & Frozen Throne
  

-- Steam

• ID software
  
• - Commander Keen
  
• - Doom (will run Classic Doom 3 as well)
  
• - Hexen/Heretic
  
• - Quake (Ult Quake)
  
• - Rage
  
• - Wolfenstein
  
• PopCap Games
  
• - Bejeweled
  
• - Peggle
  
• Bethesda
  
• - The Elder Scrolls:
  
• -- Morrowind (may try MorrOblivion & Skywind)
  
• -- Oblivion
  
• -- Skyrim (plenty of graphical mods)
  
• - Fallout
  
• -- 1-3/New Vegas
  
• Valve
  
• - Portal 1/2 (plenty of custom maps)
  
• - Half Life (if it will run)
  
• -- Along with the fan remake
  
• Misc Title
  
• -- Batman: Arkham Asylum/City
  
• -- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
  
• -- Dragon Age: Origins
  
• -- L.A Noire
  
• -- Legends of Grimmrock
  
• -- Torchlight 1/2
  
• -- Metro 2033 (& Last Light)
  
• -- Sniper Elite (2?)
  
• -- Space Quest & King's Quest (if I can run them)
  
• -- Bioshock 1/2(/Infinite?)
  
• -- Sonic Generation
  

- I may try to emulate games up to the PS2/Wii era.

Power Supply

- @At most 750 watts

- At lest 80+ Silver

- Semi or fully Modular

MISC thoughts

- Eventual dual monitor setup & one be Full HD

- 23+ Inch Widescreen (absolute max 27, I don't have a lot of room on this desk)

-- I presume one these three monitors is a good choice:

--- http://pcpartpicker....-monitor-ve258q

--- http://pcpartpicker....-monitor-vg23ah

--- http://pcpartpicker....monitor-vs239hp

- I will not overclock. The CPU chosen was cheaper than the NON "K" edition. By like $30 or more.

- I am choosing right now a weaker GPU, when I get a monitor that is actaully full HD and has HDMI (and or display port) support I can than get the 7970 or one of the 8000 series.

- Is Microcenter still doing the buy the CPU & motherboard get $50 off the price of the board?

Thank you, merci, gracias, domou arigato . . . .