New Build...opinions welcome

[Falc-X]

Its been about 3 yrs since my last build, and my plan is to get at least that out of this one. I am looking to get BF3 and do some other gaming, and teh usual day to day browsing, etc.

Im getting all my of parts from Canada. Budget will be around $2000. All parts will be new, as i'm selling my current system complete.

I have most of the items picked out that I want..... due to preference or the vast research I have been doing.

Plan is to not overclock at all, but that may change down the road. And only looking for a single gpu setup with potential for dual monitor later.

The monitor I have is a 24in @ 1920x1200 res.

Ive already started acquiring parts and am hoping to have it built within a couple weeks.

Purchased:
-Crucial M4 128gb SSD $159
-Creative Labs Titanium Fatality PCI E 7.1 Snd card $143

Preferred Parts:
-Core I7 2600k
-GSkill Ripjaw X 1600 2x4Gig Ram
-MSI GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme edit. 3GB
-CM Hyper 212+
-LG BH12LS35 Blu Ray Writer and a standard DVD drive
-WD Black 1TB HDD WD1002FAEK
-Arctic Cooling MX-4

Still Pondering:

MB: Asus P8Z68-V pro, MSI Z68A GD80 G3, or Asrock Extreme (just read some on it) or any other Z68 mb

i would like the usb 3.0 header to the front and the other thing is I will need to put the sound card in the bottom pcie lot as the GPU ties up most of the 1x slots on these boards. With that in mind, Im wondering if theres a mb that this setup wont cause any conflicts ?? I also would like to have the video out on the mb.

PS: Will a 750w power supply be ample for this setup and if so , these are my 2 preferred choices: Cosair Pro Gold AX750 or Seasonic X760....... I would like modualr as Ive never used 1 b4 and would like to give it a try for cable management.

Case: Heres where I am stuck..... I dont think Ill get everything I want in a reasonable price but I am looking for 1 with: side window, lots of fan options(side fan for sure and possible bottom fan), usb 3.0 on front i/o, removable hd tray, need front bay for sound card panel, and would like a card reader.

I have been looking at the HafX but havent made any firm decision yet.

Im open to critique, info, options, exp, etc. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ken g6]

First, drop to the i5 2500k, unless "etc." includes a lot of blu-ray encoding or something. Games and general browsing aren't helped by the hyper-threading.

Second, a 580 is a lot of money for not a lot of benefit. GPUs advance fast. I'd suggest either getting a 6950 2GB and getting a newer card in a year or two, or waiting for the 7000 series. What card do you currently have, and could you keep using it for a couple of months?

 

[lehtv]

You're best off getting a 6950 2GB and upgrading that to a next gen card when it's not sufficiently fast anymore.

2500K will be a much better choice than 2600K, unless you need hyperthreading on a day to day basis. That's really the main reason 2600K costs so much more. It's meant for those applications that require hyperthreading.

For a 6950 2GB and any upcoming GPU a 650W PSU will be more than enough. 750W will be overkill since you don't plan on dual-GPU. I would recommend any PSU from Antec, Seasonic or Corsair, but make sure it has at least 80+ Bronze efficiency and 5-year warranty. All of the PSUs from these manufacturers are very stable and well built. At your budget, the best choice may be Seasonic X-650/X-660.

HafX [edit: I mean HAF] cases are very good. Corsair carbide is also good. Or since your budget is so high, you could really get the best case you dare, e.g. something high-end from Corsair, Silverstone or Lian Li. Whether that is well spent money is up to you.

Ripjaws X 1600 CAS9 is a good choice, but overall system performance with 1333MHz CAS9 RAM will not be more than 1-2% less, usually 0%. The price difference therefore usually doesn't justify 1600MHz RAM on Sandy Bridge.

Again due to the high budget you can afford a better air cooler. I'd recommend Thermalright Archon, anything from Noctua, Scythe Mugen 3, or something similarly high performance yet quiet. And do OC your CPU, what's the point of paying for a highly overclockable CPU now and not benefit from it now?

WD Black 1tb is good, but Samsung F3 1tb is often cheaper, a bit faster, and just as stable. Don't pay for a SATA 6gb HDD, what little extra performance you may get from a SATA 6gb HDD is certainly not worth the extra price. If you want high performance storage, go with two or more Sata 3gb/s HDD's in RAID 0.

 

[Justinator]

I'm going with the Cooler Master Storm Enforcer case since I too want a side viewing window, lots of fan options including a bottom fan, enough room, and you can utilize the USB 3.0 header that is on the Asus board since the Storm Enforcer has 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front of it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Case: Heres where I am stuck..... I dont think Ill get everything I want in a reasonable price but I am looking for 1 with: side window, lots of fan options(side fan for sure and possible bottom fan), usb 3.0 on front i/o, removable hd tray, need front bay for sound card panel, and would like a card reader.

Rosewill Blackhawk? I think that's going to be my next case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147107

 

[mfenn]

You're best off getting a 6950 2GB and upgrading that to a next gen card when it's not sufficiently fast anymore.

2500K will be a much better choice than 2600K, unless you need hyperthreading on a day to day basis. That's really the main reason 2600K costs so much more. It's meant for those applications that require hyperthreading.

For a 6950 2GB and any upcoming GPU a 650W PSU will be more than enough. 750W will be overkill since you don't plan on dual-GPU. I would recommend any PSU from Antec, Seasonic or Corsair, but make sure it has at least 80+ Bronze efficiency and 5-year warranty. All of the PSUs from these manufacturers are very stable and well built. At your budget, the best choice may be Seasonic X-650/X-660.

HafX cases are very good. Corsair carbide is also good. Or since your budget is so high, you could really get the best case you dare, e.g. something high-end from Corsair, Silverstone or Lian Li. Whether that is well spent money is up to you.

Ripjaws X 1600 CAS9 is a good choice, but overall system performance with 1333MHz CAS9 RAM will not be more than 1-2% less, usually 0%. The price difference therefore usually doesn't justify 1600MHz RAM on Sandy Bridge.

Again due to the high budget you can afford a better air cooler. I'd recommend Thermalright Archon, anything from Noctua, Scythe Mugen 3, or something similarly high performance yet quiet. And do OC your CPU, what's the point of paying for a highly overclockable CPU now and not benefit from it now?

WD Black 1tb is good, but Samsung F3 1tb is often cheaper, a bit faster, and just as stable. Don't pay for a SATA 6gb HDD, what little extra performance you may get from a SATA 6gb HDD is certainly not worth the extra price. If you want high performance storage, go with two or more Sata 3gb/s HDD's in RAID 0.

Agree with all this.

As for the mobo, the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H will do what you want. Just put the sound card in the second x16 slot.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Agree with all this.

As for the mobo, the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H will do what you want. Just put the sound card in the second x16 slot.

Oui! (means yes in french)