$2k build for comment & future proofing questions

[extramako]

Would welcome any thoughts on this build that I plan on ordering soon (although I could probably keep my impatience at bay for ~4 months if better to wait?).. thanks!

Approximate Purchase Date: This month
Budget Range: $2,000 before rebates
System Usage: Max setting gaming & future proofing
Parts Not Required: Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, OS
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon Prime
Country of Origin: USA
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments:

Parts were chosen from various Toms $2k builder articles and reading these forums. I'm attempting to future proof as much as possible, and I'm planning on buying a second graphics card early 2012 to keep up with max game settings.

Motherboard - ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269
- $279.99
- Is NF200 worth it? (better for future proofing and possible reduced micro-stuttering?)
- Silly to spend extra for PCIe 3.0 capability when I'm going to have 2 x PCI 2.0? (and ~$1k already invested in graphics)
- Is z68 necessary when I'll already have an OS, Office, and a few games installed on an SSD?

CPU - Intel i7-2600k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
- $314.99
- Worth it over 2500k for future proofing?

CPU Cooling - CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010
- $79.29

Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
- $69.99
- Worth it to buy speeds past 1600? Seems the latency jumps up to 9+ as well. Not sure if 1600 8-8-8-24 is better than a higher speed but higher latency. Maybe I just didn't understand the article.

Graphics - EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1582-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590
- $499.99
- Planned purchase of a second one of these for SLI in early 2012 / keep up with max settings
- Originally was going to do 2x 570 or 2x 6970 until I read the recent micro-stuttering article

SSD - Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR120GB-DX 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226225
- $259.99
- 500mbs+ read and write
- Planned install of Win 7 64bit, MS Office Suite, and a few downloaded Steam games at a time

Storage - Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EARX 1.5TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136892
- $79.99

PSU - SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
- $159.99
- Buying extra power now for 2nd gtx 580 later

Case - LIAN LI PC-9F Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112304
- $139.99
- Looking for a case both quiet and capable of being cool enough for light overclocking (if/when I decide to dig deeper into OC and do the seemingly easier tweaks)
- Will my Corsair h70 exhaust fan work with this case / not screw with air flow?

Optical - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
- $20.99

TOTAL COST - $1,905.20 + shipping (I'll be attempting to use Amazon Prime where possible to save on shipping)

 

[ram1009]

No such thing as "future proofing". AMD boxes will likely last longer because Intel is infamous for obsoleting their platforms without warning. You don't need anything this powerful to max out today's PC games because they are so dummed down to run on consoles.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

Would welcome any thoughts on this build that I plan on ordering soon (although I could probably keep my impatience at bay for ~4 months if better to wait?).. thanks!

Approximate Purchase Date: This month
Budget Range: $2,000 before rebates
System Usage: Max setting gaming & future proofing
Parts Not Required: Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, OS
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Amazon Prime
Country of Origin: USA
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments:

Parts were chosen from various Toms $2k builder articles and reading these forums. I'm attempting to future proof as much as possible, and I'm planning on buying a second graphics card early 2012 to keep up with max game settings.

Motherboard - ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269
- $279.99
- Is NF200 worth it? (better for future proofing and possible reduced micro-stuttering?)
- Silly to spend extra for PCIe 3.0 capability when I'm going to have 2 x PCI 2.0? (and ~$1k already invested in graphics)
- Is z68 necessary when I'll already have an OS, Office, and a few games installed on an SSD?

CPU - Intel i7-2600k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
- $314.99
- Worth it over 2500k for future proofing?

CPU Cooling - CORSAIR CWCH50-1 High Performance CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010
- $79.29

Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
- $69.99
- Worth it to buy speeds past 1600? Seems the latency jumps up to 9+ as well. Not sure if 1600 8-8-8-24 is better than a higher speed but higher latency. Maybe I just didn't understand the article.

Graphics - EVGA SuperClocked 015-P3-1582-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590
- $499.99
- Planned purchase of a second one of these for SLI in early 2012 / keep up with max settings
- Originally was going to do 2x 570 or 2x 6970 until I read the recent micro-stuttering article

SSD - Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR120GB-DX 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226225
- $259.99
- 500mbs+ read and write
- Planned install of Win 7 64bit, MS Office Suite, and a few downloaded Steam games at a time

Storage - Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EARX 1.5TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136892
- $79.99

PSU - SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
- $159.99
- Buying extra power now for 2nd gtx 580 later

Case - LIAN LI PC-9F Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112304
- $139.99
- Looking for a case both quiet and capable of being cool enough for light overclocking (if/when I decide to dig deeper into OC and do the seemingly easier tweaks)
- Will my Corsair h70 exhaust fan work with this case / not screw with air flow?

Optical - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
- $20.99

TOTAL COST - $1,905.20 + shipping (I'll be attempting to use Amazon Prime where possible to save on shipping)

motherboard- no it isnt worth it. you are paying about 100$ more to stop a 5fps drop from happening once in a 1hr gaming session. get the z68 extreme4 gen3

i7 2600k- definitely not worth it since ivy bridge is right around the corner a 2500k is going to be just fine

CPU Cooler- get the h60 at amazon for 70$ and grab 2 of these fans to keep it quiet- http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-120mm-Case-R4-C2R-20AC-GP/dp/B0026ZPFDE/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315434425&sr=1-4

get this ram cheaper and just as good- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Corsair Force gt 120gb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233191 cheaper and just as fast

EVGA GTX 580- http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-DoubleShot-Superclocked-Mini-HDMI-015-P3-1587-AR/dp/B004ZEZC6E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1315434589&sr=8-4 same price better cooling

Storage drive- good choice

PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028 much bigger and should easily power 2 580's

CASE: Silverstone Raven RV03- http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Extended-90-Degree-Motherboard-RV03B-W/dp/B004X19B02/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315434770&sr=1-1 quiet and very good cooling. also has amazing cable management

dvd burner- http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SATA-Internal-Drive-AD-7260S-0B/dp/B003MRHOQG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315434846&sr=1-1 20$ free shipping

 

[extramako]

No such thing as "future proofing". AMD boxes will likely last longer because Intel is infamous for obsoleting their platforms without warning. You don't need anything this powerful to max out today's PC games because they are so dummed down to run on consoles.

I hear ya, although hopefully with this build I'll avoid putting any money into it for at least 3 years. Also, it's charts like this that scare me: (Tom's recent article on micro-stuttering, 2nd chart on link) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995-10.html

Metro 2033 at enthusiast settings on the resolution I'll be playing at: 36 fps w/ 1x gtx 580. Makes me think I could soon be behind the curve with next big game if I'll already be seeing less than 60 fps with an older game.

 

[extramako]

motherboard- no it isnt worth it. you are paying about 100$ more to stop a 5fps drop from happening once in a 1hr gaming session. get the z68 extreme4 gen3

i7 2600k- definitely not worth it since ivy bridge is right around the corner a 2500k is going to be just fine

CPU Cooler- get the h60 at amazon for 70$ and grab 2 of these fans to keep it quiet- http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-120mm-Case-R4-C2R-20AC-GP/dp/B0026ZPFDE/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315434425&sr=1-4

get this ram cheaper and just as good- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Corsair Force gt 120gb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233191 cheaper and just as fast

EVGA GTX 580- http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-DoubleShot-Superclocked-Mini-HDMI-015-P3-1587-AR/dp/B004ZEZC6E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1315434589&sr=8-4 same price better cooling

Storage drive- good choice

PSU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028 much bigger and should easily power 2 580's

CASE: Silverstone Raven RV03- http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Extended-90-Degree-Motherboard-RV03B-W/dp/B004X19B02/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315434770&sr=1-1 quiet and very good cooling. also has amazing cable management

dvd burner- http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SATA-Internal-Drive-AD-7260S-0B/dp/B003MRHOQG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315434846&sr=1-1 20$ free shipping

Thanks much for the feedback, a definite improvement on my purchase plan

Motherboard - Going with this board, dropping nf200
CPU - Great point, going with 2500k
CPU Cooler - Awesome, thanks for link. Am I replacing the fan attached to the h60 with one of these you suggest, or leaving the h60 as is and replacing the other two case fans, or adding? (probably a silly question, but I ask because you threw the fan suggestion next to cpu cooler and not the case)
RAM - Not worth extra $18 for CAS 8 vs CAS 9?
SSD - Nice, going with this one
Graphics - Awesome, going with this one
PSU - Can't complain with cheaper price, but is 200 more watts plus silver rated components overkill on power use?
Case - I was actually considering this one too, but would h60 exhaust fan mess up airflow? (seems like this case is engineered to best perform with exhausts at top, but maybe doesn't matter?)
Burner - Nice

Thanks again for your time

Now the question of whether to pocket the saved ~$250, or reallocate towards more shiny goodness?

 

[extramako]

The final price of build is $1,604.60 using the suggested changes. This includes $30 in rebates and shipping costs, although having 6 of the items shipped free with prime certainly helped.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

Thanks much for the feedback, a definite improvement on my purchase plan

Motherboard - Going with this board, dropping nf200
CPU - Great point, going with 2500k
CPU Cooler - Awesome, thanks for link. Am I replacing the fan attached to the h60 with one of these you suggest, or leaving the h60 as is and replacing the other two case fans, or adding? (probably a silly question, but I ask because you threw the fan suggestion next to cpu cooler and not the case)
RAM - Not worth extra $18 for CAS 8 vs CAS 9?
SSD - Nice, going with this one
Graphics - Awesome, going with this one
PSU - Can't complain with cheaper price, but is 200 more watts plus silver rated components overkill on power use?
Case - I was actually considering this one too, but would h60 exhaust fan mess up airflow? (seems like this case is engineered to best perform with exhausts at top, but maybe doesn't matter?)
Burner - Nice

Thanks again for your time

Now the question of whether to pocket the saved ~$250, or reallocate towards more shiny goodness?

cpu cooler question: add the 2 fans to the radiator for a push pull setup.
ram: if you really want cl8 skip it and go to 1866mhz ram. faster and at the same price. but you will not see any change in fps over the 1600mhz cl9 ram
case: the case has a place for a fan at the back of the case. that is where you would mount the cpu cooler.
PSU: the psu is 200w more so you can sli in the future. and for a single 580 it is not overkill

 

[madchemist83]

get noctua cooler and better PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171056

 

[madchemist83]

also I would go with crucial m4 SSD

 

[extramako]

get noctua cooler and better PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171056

I was originally looking at liquid cooling just because I assumed it was quieter (I share a studio apartment the size of a shoebox). This one seems quiet too. Really great reviews across newegg as well. There seems to be a decent selection, 120mm fans, 140mm, even a combo one with each size ... which one would you recommend? This is the most reviewed one for $87 w/ fs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608014

Also this thing is sizeable at 158 x 126 x 120 mm(with fan), and the suggested silverstone case I'm going with has a cpu cooler limit of 163mm. If that's L x W x H, do you think the 43mm/1.7" close proximity to case wall will reduce its efficiency or make it louder? Or maybe silverstone's cpu cooler limit already has some buffer factored in?

As for PSU, I think I'm leaning towards gold rating as well

also I would go with crucial m4 SSD

This one has 415/175 sequential read/write vs. the corsair 555/515. What about it is giving it the thumbs up in your book?

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[madchemist83]

ok for cooler go with this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018
who said that is ur maximum cpu cooler? the width of that case is 330 mm so even with that cooler u'll have 170mm to spare u'll be fine
for PSU it's not too much about rating but quality of the brand actually I take it back I would not suggest CM for PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256057
this one will be better quality then CM or PCPC
or even this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139034

and for SSD crucial released update that supposedly increase m4 speed by 20%

 

[mjmjpfaff]

that is a very good air cooler. but it is really big and bulky and the h60 with push pull fans give good performance not quite the d14 level but it can reach 5ghz with ease. i dont know how much higher one would want to go though...
the pc power and cooling psu's are high quality and with their 7 yr warranty they will last you through 2 builds like the corsairs. as for the ssd. only get an sandforce ssd if you know that the company's customer service is good and the warranty is good so you know you have a back up if it fails. corsair has the best customer service/warranties in the business.

 

[extramako]

You guys rock.. I really appreciate all the suggestions

So I had to google "push pull setup" to learn what it was and the first result was actually a comparison of the h50 w/ push pull and the noctua (on corsair's site though, so I'm thinking need to take with a grain of salt). Seems mean indeed http://blog.corsair.com/?p=987

As for the RV03 cpu cooler limit, I read it in the newegg product details tab: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163180&Tpk=rv03. I guess it's due to the extra cable space behind the motherboard?

As I'm looking to future proof as much as possible, as poor a term as that is, I don't mind paying a little extra for better manufacturing / components/ customer service / warranties

As for OC - is it the extra heat that kills an item's longevity or the extra power? I'm going to try to OC to the point where I'm not significantly reducing the lifespan of an item

 

[extramako]

Just read a news article on Toms of msi trashing gigabyte for false pcie 3 claims http://www.tomshardware.com/news/msi-gigabyte-pcie-gen3-mobo,13377.html, as not all of the components are gen 3. The more I read online the more my purchase trigger finger slows, especially after the gpu micro sputtering article, I hate it

I plan on pulling the trigger on a build next weekend btw

 

[mjmjpfaff]

for the oc a 4.5ghz oc should be fine for a while.

 

[phenom90]

2k is alot... here is some recommendations your money can buy...

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Intel Core i5-2500K - $220

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $125

ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB Low Profile - $53

cpu cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181011
CORSAIR CAFA70 - $27 after MIR

psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194083
LEPA G900-MA 900W - $130 after MIR

gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133360
PNY VCGGTX580XPB GeForce GTX 580 - $420 after MIR

hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB - $60

ssd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB - $200

odd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236
LG DVD Burner 24X GH24NS70 - $21

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163173
SILVERSTONE RAVEN RV02B-EW - $190

total: $1446 after MIR (excluding shipping)

okay... first of all... for gaming i5 2500k is adequate... going i7 2600k for another $95 gives you no advantage in this area... unless you use a heavy multithreading application... otherwise you won't see anything else besides seeing an extra $95 on your receipt... even your budget allows to...

secondly... i use h50 as well... but a good and cheap air cooler does the job well to keep cpu temps under control... which is why i picked the corsair air cooler... it is a good cooler for $27....

thirdly... the z68 extreme7 gen3 has nf200 which gives you full x32 lanes for sli/crossfire... but for $125... this board ditches the nf200 chip and plx chip which the latter gives fully operational pcie bandwidth should you populate all of them... otherwise going with this board saves you $155... and going sli won't affect your performance much... if you still confuse... go to the address below... it should give you more insight about what you want to know...

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/pcie-geforce-gtx-480-x16-x8-x4,review-31964.html

as for ssd... crucial recently released a firmware update for its m4 series which boosts overall performance for around 20%... given the fact that crucial ssd with marvell controller is considered good reliability in the long run... this model should serve you nicely without much problem...

for psu... if you want to go for sli especially gtx 580s... it is better to choose a larger capacity rather than 750w for the purpose... a 900w to 1kw would do the job nicely with power to spare...

for casing... since your budget is 2k... so i would like to recommend a sub $200 case like this silverstone raven rv02-e... it gives you uncompromised cooling featuring 3x 180mm bottom intake fan to reduce noise... this is one of the best air cooling cases in the market...

i hope my suggestions do help...