Building a new gaming rig - thoughts and opinions appreciated!

[SO1]

Heya everybody,

I’m putting together a new gaming rig. I’m unsure about the graphics cards as I’ve only used ATI Radeon up until now, but I think Nvidia might be the way to go on this one. Also, the Mobo seems to be what I need, but I’m not married to it.

I appreciate any and all suggestions about this build. Thank you for your time.

Mobo:
ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

CPU:
Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600

RAM:
2X (16GB total)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL

PSU:
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Video:
2X
EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Audio:
Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium

SSD (For the boot drive):
Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

HDD:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CPU Cooler:
Corsair (CWCH60) Hydro Series H60 High Performance CPU Cooler

DVD Drive:
2X ASUS DVD/CD R/RW +/-

Case:
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Graphite grey and black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

 

[computernugget]

looks good. you arent planning on overclocking?

 

[BlackHawk91]

You have a really nice build there, however, I would suggest some changes. Get the i7 2600K that's the unlocked version. Get the Crucial M4 128 gig instead. And change the HDD for a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB.

 

[DoomsWord89]

Very nice!

Personally, I suggest the 2500(K) seeing as hyper-threading is basically worthless when it comes to gaming. Also, with the money you save on your CPU you will have enough for the H80 instead of the H60.

 

[SO1]

ComputerNugget:
I will probrably see what I can push out of it, yes.

blackhawk91:

Okay, I’ve swapped the following as per your suggestions:

SSD (For the boot drive):
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

CPU:
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

I actually already have the HDD, brand new and unused. Fully tested and working. It looks like the Samsung Spinpoint F3 vs. WD Caviar Black is largely a personal preference issue, (according to a search of the forums), so I think I’ll just use what I have. I’ve used several Blacks before and none have caused issues.

Is there any other reason to use a Samsung Spinpoint F3 over the WD Caviar Black in this specific build that I might have missed? Your comments are most appreciated.

DoomsWord89:

Although I want to streamline this build for gaming, I will also use it for graphics design and work. I figure I’d get the best I can afford for gaming, and the rest will fall into place.

I think I’ll go with the H80 instead of the H60, now that you mention it. Consider it swapped. Thanks for the suggestion. I was on the fence about it, but you gave me the push I needed.

CPU Cooler:
Corsair (CWCH80) Hydro Series H80 High Performance CPU Cooler

 

[DoomsWord89]

ComputerNugget:
I will probrably see what I can push out of it, yes.

blackhawk91:

Okay, I’ve swapped the following as per your suggestions:

SSD (For the boot drive):
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

CPU:
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

I actually already have the HDD, brand new and unused. Fully tested and working. It looks like the Samsung Spinpoint F3 vs. WD Caviar Black is largely a personal preference issue, (according to a search of the forums), so I think I’ll just use what I have. I’ve used several Blacks before and none have caused issues.

Is there any other reason to use a Samsung Spinpoint F3 over the WD Caviar Black in this specific build that I might have missed? Your comments are most appreciated.

DoomsWord89:

Although I want to streamline this build for gaming, I will also use it for graphics design and work. I figure I’d get the best I can afford for gaming, and the rest will fall into place.

I think I’ll go with the H80 instead of the H60, now that you mention it. Consider it swapped. Thanks for the suggestion. I was on the fence about it, but you gave me the push I needed.

CPU Cooler:
Corsair (CWCH80) Hydro Series H80 High Performance CPU Cooler

The build looks great, I am glad I could help out!

 

[SO1]

Best answer selected by SO1.