Building a new rig

[guncrasher]

forget 3k, with less than 2k you can build a very nice system unless you want to over pay on stuff you wont really need.  save the extra 1k for next year when something better comes along.


semp

[Chalenge]

My suggestion was merely a relatively reliable storage for games that can easily be reinstalled in case of a hard disk failure. But the RE indeed seems to be a good choice, it's not that much more expensive for the added reliability claims, at least not in the USA. Actually I haven't studied enterprise level hard disks before so thanks for the information!

On the other hand the original question was about better graphics... A Velociraptor for hard disk and a Titan for video card would both fit the 3K budget but would they significantly improve the games JunkyII plays? There's so many variables we don't know about like the monitor(s) to be used, be it about resolution or refresh rate.

I use the Velociraptor on an independent controller, so that I can record video at 60 fps. It gets a lot more nightmarish then that, so I do not recommend that drive for typical users (it is small for storage after all). I moved to RE drives because I got tired of having drives die and losing that last week, or more, of images and emails (etc.). The original question gets a lot deeper than just the video card (. . . and such. . .), especially when you consider the effects of overloading the USB bus, using the onboard HDD controller for RAID (terrible idea), or USB or GPU audio.

[BaldEagl]

forget 3k, with less than 2k you can build a very nice system unless you want to over pay on stuff you wont really need.  save the extra 1k for next year when something better comes along.


semp

Agreed.  

I recently priced out replacing the main components of my computer (CPU, GPU, Mobo, RAM, CPU Cooler) and adding an SSD.  I'd re-use my case, 2 of my HD's, 2 Optical drives, PSU, soundcard and peripherals.  For a very good machine I came up with $1100.

Intel Haswell K series I5
Nvidia 970
16 Gb 1866-2400 RAM
250 Gb SSD

Looked at the Noctura air coolers and didn't totally settle on a mobo but it looks like the $150 range gives you everything you need.