Advice Needed

[DeF21]

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP.

Budget Range: Approx. $1000.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming.

Parts Not Required: Case (Antec 900), keyboard (G11), mouse (MX Revolution), monitor (Samsung Syncmaster 27" (X2), speakers (Yamaha TSS-10), drive(s) Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB (X2), PSU (NCTop 850W - will keep unless advised otherwise, but no problems over past 2 years), OS (Windows 7 Professional).

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference, but all parts listed are from Newegg unless specified.

Country of Origin: U.S./Canada.

Parts Preferences: None.

Overclocking: Tempted, but intimidated.

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future, but prefer one high-end GPU.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080.

Additional Comments: Quieter is better, but no watercooling.


MoBo - Please choose one or make a suggestion:

ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$204.99 $8.50 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131702

ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$224.99 $8.50 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701

ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$249.99 $8.50 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131753

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD5 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$269.99 $8.50 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128513


CPU - Please choose one or make a suggestion:

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
$219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&cm_re=i5-2500k-_-19-115-072-_-Product

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
$314.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070&cm_re=i7_2600k-_-19-115-070-_-Product

i7 965 Extreme*
$400 (new, through a buddy)


GPU - Please choose one or make a suggestion:

XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
$339.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517&cm_re=6970_2gb-_-14-150-517-_-Product

ATI Radeon HD 5970 2GB*
$400 (new, through a buddy, not sure on manufacturer yet)


RAM:

Seems pretty close between the major brands (Corsair, G.Skill, etc.) Suggestions welcomed!


Cooling:

Absolutely ignorant. Suggestions welcomed, but no watercooling.


*This person will sell the 5970 + i7 965 for $700. I realize the MoBos listed will not be compatible with the i7 965. Would you choose a different build if you could get these two parts at this price?


If I've forgotten anything, please feel free to jump in.

Thanks!

 

[illfindu]

Well with out going fully in to every thing you have ill make a few quick suggestions. First ram Stick with Corsair and G.Skill at and at least a 1600mhz speed with 4gb (8 gb is really the least I would use) minimum and you will be fine there. On the note of CPU the I5 2500k is really a fantastic CPU its probably one of the most recommend CPU's on TMHW. I really don't think you'll notice much from the i7 965 with most games and you are talking almost twice the price and unless you get expensive fast ram you will be holding it back.

On the note of Mother boards first off personally Asus is just top draw and Great things have been said about the sabertooth boards, not only is it the least expensive of the three it has a 5 year warranty and is fully loaded on features.

The video Card is really up to you the 5970 is a fair bit faster but clearly cost more and power consumption is higher so if you ever do deiced to cross fire it might be a concern. 400 dollars is a good deal though.

Cooler: Depending on your budget you can go tried and true with the ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro , or if you wanna spend a bit more the Noctua NH-D14 Both very good Cooling solutions.

 

[DeF21]

Thanks illfindu, I will definitely take your suggestions into account!

The biggest problem with my previous build is the motherboard (ASUSTek Rampage X48).

Within a couple of years, my options for upgrades have become pretty limited. This time around, I want to be more forward-thinking in terms of a foundation I can improve upon, which is why I listed some pricier ones above.

 

[wenqi]

GPU wise, GTX 570? gives you physx and cuda,

 

[DeF21]

I've changed my choice to the GTX 570. Thanks wenqi!

 

[DeF21]

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP.

Budget Range: Approx. $1000.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming.

Parts Not Required: Case (Antec 900), keyboard (G11), mouse (MX Revolution), monitor (Samsung Syncmaster 27" (X2), speakers (Yamaha TSS-10), drive(s) Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB (X2), PSU (NCTop 850W - will keep unless advised otherwise, but no problems over past 2 years), OS (Windows 7 Professional).

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference, but all parts listed are from Newegg unless specified.

Country of Origin: U.S./Canada.

Parts Preferences: None.

Overclocking: Tempted, but intimidated.

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future, but prefer one high-end GPU.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080.

Additional Comments: Quieter is better, but no watercooling.


Current build preferences

MoBo:

Asus SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$204.99 $8.50 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131702&Tpk=asus%20sabertooth%20p67

CPU:

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
$219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072&cm_re=i5-2500k-_-19-115-072-_-Product

GPU:

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$344.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595&cm_re=gtx_570-_-14-130-595-_-Product

RAM:

G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR
$84.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460&cm_re=ddr3_1866-_-20-231-460-_-Product


Critiques, agreements, other comments welcomed.

 

[wenqi]

if you have the money, get a new hdd, i don't know how long your current one will last you (the 7200.11 is notoriously bad for corrupting and doing other stuff you don't want it to do. look for a samsung spinpoint F3 or F4. if you've got the money for ssd then go for it, another (much pricier) alternative to the spinpoint is the WD caviar Black (i think its double the price...). my advice is, get a SSD to put your OS on and maybe keep the other 7200.11s until you can get F3/F4. to be honest, you don't need 8gb of ram, drop it down to four, but that would only save you $40.

 

[DeF21]

I'm glad you came back to give additional information, and I will certainly look into a new HDD, especially at the prices the Samsung Spinpoints are available for.

I did want to ask, I've been reading about GTX 570s having problems with crashes after a few months of use. Any opinions?

 

[DeF21]

Best answer selected by DeF21.