i agree it probably would have similiar benchmark performance for the most part (although which octo-core CPU are u referring to???)

anyway back the OP's question: the 2600 will not overclock very high since it's not a k-series chip, and since Ghz is still the king of performance, I would def. go for the i5 2500k, you're getting a k-series chip that will easily overclock to 4.5ghz on air...if you decide that HyperThreading is more important to you, spend 100 dollars more and get the i7 2600k, if you don't want to overclock your CPU, then get the 2600 that guy is offering you :)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104203

Kingston HyperX is awesome RAM, i have that model above (its 1600mhz!) except at 8gb...and the price rocks!

that would definitley be pushing it, i doubt it :/

you would have to play at a very low resolution at low settings...google those games' minimum hardware requirements to get a better idea

what kind of games are u wanting to play at that resolution? U can build a fairly budget-minded PC at the resolution :D

[QUOTE="grf7291"]

if its the "i7 2600" and not the "i7 2600k" then I wouldn't go for it if i were you... the 'K' series chips are worth getting and can easily overclock to 4.3 or 4.5ghz with low voltage and on stock air cooling

As far as gaming, i5 2500k is the best deal BY FAR! I had one and it worked beautifully, i eventually returned it for the i7 2600k b/c i like to encode movies, etc.

bottom line, get the i5 2500k brand new for $220 and you won't be disappointed, besides, why risk getting a used non-K i7 chip? only difference is it has hyperthreading which has NO impact on gaming and still won't for the foreseeable future

JigglyWiggly_

yea i understand what your saying, definitley take advantage of 4 cores over 2...idk i just think hyperthreading isn't something even "targeted" at gaming, more for encoding etc. due to simply turning 4 physical cores into 8 "logical cores"...of course in benchmarking it will matter but for everyday gaming? i have to disagree, by the time games need HyperThreading technology it will be time to upgrade the CPU entirely and probably the GPU haha

if its the "i7 2600" and not the "i7 2600k" then I wouldn't go for it if i were you... the 'K' series chips are worth getting and can easily overclock to 4.3 or 4.5ghz with low voltage and on stock air cooling

As far as gaming, i5 2500k is the best deal BY FAR! I had one and it worked beautifully, i eventually returned it for the i7 2600k b/c i like to encode movies, etc.

bottom line, get the i5 2500k brand new for $220 and you won't be disappointed, besides, why risk getting a used non-K i7 chip? only difference is it has hyperthreading which has NO impact on gaming and still won't for the foreseeable future

Hey all,

Looking at getting a decent gaming keyboard/mouse for my new rig. I'm not into macros or anything very hardcore, just a modest keyboard/mouse that i can do college papers/programming assignments on and jump into an FPS or RTS. The feature that I really want is for the keyboard to be illumintated so i can type in the dark :P

Budget for the keyboard/mouse combo is $100

Any recommendations?

Also, I'm in the market for a decent monitor, Asus seems to be popular on Newegg. Anyone own any? Budget for monitor is $200 and anywhere from 21 inches & up.

Any help is much appreciated!

The rig is behaving well, haven't had any issues thus far with it, my first build as well!

--Antec 902v3 midtower case

--Corsair AX1200

--Asus P8Z68-V

--i7 2600k, turbo boost: 4.3Ghz

--EVGA GTX 580 SC

--Kingston HyperX 8gb (2x4gb) 1600Mhz

--WD Caviar Black 750gb 7200rpm SATA 6gb/s

--Asus CD/DVD burner

--Win7 Professional 64-bit

--Arctic Silver 5 compound with Corsair H70 cooler