$3000-$3500 Choosing Parts, Ordering tonight! Please Give Advice

[Austin772]

Hello there! I am planning on ordering a new build tonight and have been researching for quite some time now exactly what parts I require for what I am looking for. I plan on spending $3000-$3500 hard earned bones on this build, plan to 3d game at 1080p, and hopefully build the SLI'd Battlefield 3 max settings destroyer I have been dreaming about for quite some time now! I will list the parts I'm thinking of and I would really love it if any of you more experienced builders out there could comment and give me advice if you believe I would be better off with different parts here and there! I do plan on overclocking but this will be my first time trying it so I'm a little nervous but I think with my motherboard, cpu and cpu fan chosen it hopefully won't be too big of an issue... Anyways, without further ado... The specs!

Case:
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

HDD:
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

3D Monitor:
Acer HN274Hbmiiid Black 27" 2ms 3D Full HD HDMI WideScreen LCD Monitor w/Speakers 300 cd/m2 ACM 10,000,000:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009300

Video Cards x2 For SLI:
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

Power Supply:
Antec High Current Pro HCP-1200 1200W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371043

Memory:
G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

Motherboard:
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

CPU:
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

CPU Heatsink:
COOLER MASTER V6 GT RR-V6GT-22PK-R1 120mm DynaLoop CPU Cooler w/ Universal bracket & Dual Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103089

I also have an extra Cooler Master fan in there for the top of my HAF case, and thermal paste.

I've heard the Cooler Master V6 is absolutely massive and takes up the space of the first memory slot on most boards, could i put my memory in the 2 and 4 slots?


Thanks for your advice guys I appreciate any help or reassurance that im making good decisions, this is an expensive purchase haha!

Comes out to about $3000 with shipping

 

[inzone]

EVGA 03G-P3-1584-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card....x2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130655

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9Q-16GBXL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231456

OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264

You could consider what I have listed here and I did add an SSD for you to load your OS on to to go along with the Samsung Spinpoint for storage. You also have to make sure you use 1.5v ram for that cpu or you could fry the cpu.

 

[guavasauce]

i would drop one of the 580's and spend the extra bones on the i7 variant, and a CM hyper 212 cooler.

reason: while your monitor is 27", the resolution is still 1080. get everything and see if you need the extra 580. the different cooler is one of the best you can buy IMO especially for the price. further, 1200 watts seems a bit much for power.

an ssd is a good option too, but i personally dont vouche for them as the tech is still too new and not dependable enough for me, and a couple of seconds here or there isnt worth the premium. (i HAD one, hocked it)

 

[Austin772]

Thank you for the quick reply guys! I thought 16gb was not worth it as it doesn't really give significant performance increases over 8gb at the moment? And also I really want to be careful with which memory I buy cause like I said the V6 cpu is massive and I've heard large heatsinks on the memory gets in the way, which could be rather unfortunate. Would the CM hyper 212 keep my cpu cool enough in order to overclock to about 4.2-4.4? Also I thought the ram I had selected was 1.5V?

Same deal with the i7 2600k suggestion as with the ram, I have read that the i5 if overclocked can offer just as good performance for gaming?

Also for one 27' monitor at 1080p wouldn't two 3gb 580's be overkill? I thought 2 1.5gb 580's alone was kinda overkill haha but then again I do want some future proofing and I guess I will be 3d gaming which will take a hit on my fps.

I'll consider the ssd option again, I had kinda ruled it out cause of the price per GB factor right now, and I'm reading that they can be slightly unreliable in some cases compared to standard HDD's. Look's like I have somethings to think about...

Thanks again for the replies guys I really do appreciate it, any other advice would be amazing if you have any other thoughts. This is my second build, but my first build was back in 2007... So the game has changed quite a bit haha.

-Austin

 

[guavasauce]

i have a 212+ with an i7 920, does the trick i suppose.

your ram is a good one. no, 16gb wont be any better that 4gb really, it just give you more room per se. ive never needed anymore than 4 in my rig, (6gb for me) but for the price, why not get 8.

i think the cpu upgrade will future proof you more than 2 gpus, although you can always buy either down the road for cheaper used.

now, are the 2 580's gonna keep your cpu at 100% during games? i think it might even with slick oc going. something to look into.

 

[Austin772]

i have a 212+ with an i7 920, does the trick i suppose.

your ram is a good one. no, 16gb wont be any better that 4gb really, it just give you more room per se. ive never needed anymore than 4 in my rig, (6gb for me) but for the price, why not get 8.

i think the cpu upgrade will future proof you more than 2 gpus, although you can always buy either down the road for cheaper used.

now, are the 2 580's gonna keep your cpu at 100% during games? i think it might even with slick oc going. something to look into.

Did you use the 212+ to overclock? If so should I choose it over the CM V6? Also did you find the 212+ took up too much space, as in you couldn't fit your ram?

Regarding the ram comment... Hmmm, so I should stick with my original ram choice then I'm asuming.

Lastly, I'm a bit confused at what you mean with the cpu at 100% with the 2 580's, so you're saying I might be bottlenecked by the cpu even with a 4.2 (ish) overclock? Would the i7 really help that? Or should I just buy the i5, overclock it and then in a year or two upgrade to ivy bridge seeing as my mobo will support it?

 

[lbugg2]

I have the 212 plus on my amd phenom ii x6 and it absolutely blocks the first ram slot doesn't affect it to use in slots 2 and 4 at all. Currently i overclocked mine to 4.03 ghz and everything is running smoothly. This was also my first build and overclock experience and trust me its not that hard find a good step by step guide on this site to teach you how and its easy.

 

[Austin772]

Ohh I see, so even the 212+ blocks the first ram slot! Well I'll probably just get the CM V6 and put my G Skill ram in the 2 and 4 slots since that's ok to do. That way I can be confident that overclocking will not cause heat issues, the room I will be keeping my rig in is typically the hottest room in the house and I live in always sunny and hot California so I feel like the best cooling solution I can get the better. I would go water cooling but to be honest the notion really intimidates me as I feel most comfortable with air set ups.

Also, so glad to hear you were a first time overclocker as well and it went fine! Very reassuring, thanks! I'm sure things will go fine, I'll just have a walkthrough video going on my laptop as I perform the overclock, so that will be helpful.

I appreciate all the help you guys have given so far, nice to have such prompt responses and you guys really seem to care about your community here which is awesome!

 

[lbugg2]

My friends dad uses watercooling and his temps are higher than mine so its not always better anyways, glad i could help though.

 

[amirp]

Regarding your cpu cooler, I have a scythe mugen 3 cooler for my i5-2500k , in an antec 300 case the cpu never goes above 50 degrees at full load (25 degrees ambient temp), this is an amazing improvement as the stock fan was going to about 75 degrees. It is a better cooler than the cooler master hyper 212+ but not sure versus the V6.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185168

Also I have an asus p8p67 pro mobo with G. skill ripjaws x ram (same as the ones you're getting), and although the cooler is over one of the ram slots, I can still install more ram underneath it if I want to (would just have to unclip the fan). But you are fine with installing ram into the 2 and 4 slots (which are actually the 1 and 3 primary slots on my motherboard so it works fine)


***edit: here is a review with alot of coolers:
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3371/cooler_master_v6_gt_cpu_cooler/index6.html

the V6 is very slightly better than scythe mugen 3 (same as mugen 2), but the scythe cooler is by far the quietest out of all the other ones (on mine it is in audible, my antec fans on low are louder than it)

 

[tomskent]

Ohh I see, so even the 212+ blocks the first ram slot! Well I'll probably just get the CM V6 and put my G Skill ram in the 2 and 4 slots since that's ok to do. That way I can be confident that overclocking will not cause heat issues, the room I will be keeping my rig in is typically the hottest room in the house and I live in always sunny and hot California so I feel like the best cooling solution I can get the better. I would go water cooling but to be honest the notion really intimidates me as I feel most comfortable with air set ups.

Also, so glad to hear you were a first time overclocker as well and it went fine! Very reassuring, thanks! I'm sure things will go fine, I'll just have a walkthrough video going on my laptop as I perform the overclock, so that will be helpful.

I appreciate all the help you guys have given so far, nice to have such prompt responses and you guys really seem to care about your community here which is awesome!

just because it blocks it on his mobo doesnt mean it will block it on all mobos
2nd, you can orient the heatsink vertically or horizontally

 

[Austin772]

I see... Makes sense!

Well thanks for all you're help once again guys (I know I am excessively thankful haha but I am just excited!) it really is appreciated, I went ahead and ordered basically the same build in my original post! Went with the CM v6! Hopefully it'll work out just fine, I'm sure it will. Looking forward to building it and ripping through some games!