<$1000 Gaming PC. Need advice

[xtrmerik]

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range: Trying to stay around $800, but flexible if it means getting the right components.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Primarily WOW on a 27" monitor under Max settings with 50+ FPS (with a second monitor for browser, skype, iTunes, etc.) Occasional Final Cut Pro and Photoshop.

Parts Not Required: Case, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, Amazon.com, anywhere that I can get cheaper and free shipping!

Country of Origin: U.S.A.

Parts Preferences: Looking for the best combination of parts that will let me play with zero fps issues while giving me a measure of future proofing. Newer tech so that upgrading is easy with minimal part replacement for several years. This is why I am leaning to the Z68 Motherboard

Overclocking: Maybe. I haven't in the past, but it seems that having the option is a good thing. Sounds like the combo of motherboard and chip that I have chosen so far will allow massive overclocking for huge performance gains at this price range.

SLI or Crossfire: Probably not right now, but want a system capable of it so that if I need more gpu power, dropping in a second card is easy and done.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: Let me know what you think. I need to be sure that all these are compatible, a good fit, and that I didn't screw up my logic somewhere. I was/am considering a SSD as my system drive with wow to increase performance, but I read a ton of reviews that make them sound horribly unreliable. Seems like they have a bad habit of completely failing within months.

This is what I have so far:

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157229
$159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Item #: N82E16819115072
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Item #: N82E16820231314
Combo deal $296.98 (promo code for memory -$19) =$278
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.644254

XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler bracket included I7 i5 775 1155 AMD and dual fan push pull compatible
Item #: N82E16835233082
$29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233082

GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series GV-N560SO-1GI-950 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI
$259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125369&cm_re=gtx_560_ti-_-14-125-369-_-Product

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible
Item #: N82E16817139005
$89.99 - $10.00 Mail-in Rebate Card = $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

LG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS70 OEM - OEM
Item #: N82E16827136238
$19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136238

Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 32 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare-OEM Drives, HD103SJ
$59.99
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-3-5-Inch-Internal-HD103SJ/dp/B002MQC0P8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305519913&sr=8-2

Total in Baskets- around $906.00

This post has been edited to show the build of what I ended up choosing after all the help and suggestions.

 

[striker410]

Yes, the 5850 is better than the 6850. However, 2 6850's in crossfire perform better than 2 5850's. Hopefully I didnt make it more confusing 😛

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Not true.
5850 CF vs 6850 CF
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=302
Practically the same. The 5850 is a good choice if your going with that cheap $150 5850. Otherwise just go with a single 6950. Though 6850/5850 CF > 6950/560 Ti/570

Bear, you're referring to the motherboard. I'm referring to the CPUs, the Z68 8-Core was reported to cost upwards 1K on an Ebay auction. Though that isn't the standard MSRP, we can expect it to cost upwards 300$ as did the i7's when they started off.

 

[Guest]

Hmm. I thought it was motherboard. my bad.

 

[striker410]

^ Not true.
5850 CF vs 6850 CF
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=302
Practically the same. The 5850 is a good choice if your going with that cheap $150 5850. Otherwise just go with a single 6950. Though 6850/5850 CF > 6950/560 Ti/570

Bear, you're referring to the motherboard. I'm referring to the CPUs, the Z68 8-Core was reported to cost upwards 1K on an Ebay auction. Though that isn't the standard MSRP, we can expect it to cost upwards 300$ as did the i7's when they started off.

My bad, I've always heard for CF go 6850 because of superior scaling. I'm pretty sure i've seen them outperform 5850's in CF....
Aww well, good tip.

 

[aznshinobi]

^ They did. Before. Currently AMD has stepped their game on drivers. Certainly not as great as it could be. But defiantly much better.

 

[xtrmerik]

So is this the right 5850 to get? There are so many variations of cards that it's hard for me to be sure what is what.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=365434&CatId=3669#exchange_info

I'd really like to get the faster cards, but when this one can be had for $163 shipped, it's almost double the price just to get to the next level of card. I just can't justify it to myself when I read a review that Tom did showing the 5850 getting 80 fps avg in cataclysm with a slower cpu, and they say that it would do even better with a faster cpu. I was going to order from Amazon since it's only $149, but their estimated delivery was June 2 - June 13. I just don't have that kind of patience once I'm excited about a project.

 

[aznshinobi]

Yep That's the cheapest one. Yeah Amazon is a sweet deal if you can wait. I'll just leave the link here.

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-100282XTREME/dp/B004W75ATI%3FSubscriptionId%3D19BAZMZQFZJ6G2QYGCG2%26tag%3Dsquid1240995-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB004W75ATI

 

[xtrmerik]

Yep That's the cheapest one. Yeah Amazon is a sweet deal if you can wait. I'll just leave the link here.

Ok, thanks. Just wanted to make sure that someone wasn't going to say, "well if you are getting a 5850, this other model is better and faster and only cost $15 more." I want to get the absolute best I can, while still staying in the $160 price range. I'm starting to order the components today.

 

[aznshinobi]

Haha, good luck!

 

[xtrmerik]

Haha, good luck!

SO, every time I try to get one of the cheap 5850's, I am denied. Amazon is delayed 2-4 weeks, so I ordered the one from TigerDirect. The next day they email me and tell me that it's now on backorder and they don't know when it's going to be in. I am getting the feeling that maybe life is telling me to suck it up and get a better card. So I have 3 choices that I am currently looking at based on recommendations.

I have had multiple people tell me that WOW likes Nvidia better so I have included the overclocked 560 ti that was recommended, as well as a 1GB and a 2GB 6950. After rebates, the 1 and 2 GB are only $10 apart so the 1 GB is on the verge of falling off the list. I read a lot of reviews about the reference design because I was considering doing the firmware flash, but many people complain about it running hot, even with good ventilation, and becoming unstable. If it's hot out of the box, is it gonna cook when flashed? I don't want something unstable that is going to be a headache as well as be the most expensive. Therefore, that one is not currently on the list, unless people here have 1st hand experience and tell me otherwise.

For your consideration and comments:
SAPPHIRE 100312-1GSR Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Model #:100312-1GSR
Item #:N82E16814102921
$242.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102921

SAPPHIRE 100312-2SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Model #:100312-2SR
Item #:N82E16814102928
$262.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102928

GIGABYTE Super Overclock Series GV-N560SO-1GI-950 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready ...
Model #:GV-N560SO-1GI-950
Item #:N82E16814125369
$259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125369

 

[aznshinobi]

Get the 560 Ti, you won't be able to OC much but where it is at it reaches the 570. So that'll be solid. If you plan to flash, that 6950 2GB won't work. It has to be reference, but it'll be overclockable. Though I strongly suggest the 560.