High end gaming pc, dont know anything about ssd's please help

[peyoteimmortal]

Hi there, i'm building a new computer.
I'm using it mostly for gaming, but also video and such.

I'm buying all my parts in Denmark, so the price might not be the same, as many of the prices we see on this site.

So far i've decided on the i7 2600-k, i might aswell OC for more performance.
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=i7&sp=all&pid=4606783

for mobo my thoughts where the ASUS P8Z68-V
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?pid=5013307

Since i want to OC i was thinking about buying the Noctua NH-D14, i've read some comments about it, i know its one of the quietest coolers, but is it also a good one for cooling the i7 down if it's OC.
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=scythe&sp=all&pid=695231

For graphics i was thinking about either the MSI N570GTX-M2D12D5/OC (1.25 GB) or ASUS EAH6970 DCII/2DI4S/2GD5 (2 GB).
i've read some info about the new 6990 and the 590, they seem to twice as pricy, but also twice as good in the benchmarks, if that is the case it would be the first time i've seen new gfx cards actually being worth twice as much.
Would it be unwise not to use SLi or Crossfire, with two of the first cards insted of just buying the 6990 or 590?
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=570+gtx&sp=all&pid=4888045
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=6970&sp=all&pid=4827390

RAM: I'm not sure what to look for here, as far as i know lower CL is better. so i guess CL6 beats CL9 iv'e found some Mushkin 2 x 2 GB 6-8-6-24 1600 MHz 1.65 V
I've read somewhere that 1.5 V is better than 1.65 V cause the 1.65 V forces the i7 2600-k to run at 1.65 V also, is this rubbish or?
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?pid=4181464

Now for SSD i'm completly unaware of what i'm looking for here. My best guess is a Crucial RealSSD C300 128 GB, but when i read some of the specs, i find these
OCZ Solid 3 Series Solid State Disk 120 GB
Crucial M4 128 GB
OCZ Agility 3 Series Solid State Disk 120 GB
to be way better in specs, and at the same cost.
and this one a bit more expensive, but also a bit better.
OCZ Vertex 3 Series Solid State Disk 120 GB

http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?pid=798029

For psu i'm thinking about buying PSU - Corsair AX750/850, ive read some info about it, it's suppose to be ultra quit, but will it offer enough power if i am to use SLi or crossfire?
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=ax750&sp=all&pid=4191475

Case, well i'm really "Ehmm" no where, ive looked at some of the quit cases with big fans and such, but i really dont know what to go for. I would like a case with some nice cable management maybe. and if i am to OC it might be a good idea with alot of fans? or just a large case so it wont overheat..

Any advice on this build would be greatly appreciated since last time i build a pc, was when the dual cora was brand new.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

"video and such"-editing or watching movies?

 

[mjmjpfaff]

if watching movies
i5 2500k 225$ at amazon- no need for hyperthreading
asrock p67 extreme4 at amazon 160$- this is the best mobo for the money hands down
ssd 210$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227726&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo
noctua nh-d14 87$- http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Heatpipe-Bearing-Cooler-NH-D14/dp/B002VKVZ1A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1306682579&sr=1-1
ram ~70$- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416&cm_re=gskill_ddr3_1600_8gb-_-20-231-416-_-Product
6950 2gb right now then in cf it will be as good as gtx 570 sli- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161368&cm_re=6950_2gb-_-14-161-368-_-Product
nzxt ohantom case 140$- http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_17?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=nzxt+phantom+case&sprefix=nzxt+phantom+case -pick your

 

[peyoteimmortal]

Well, i use it for ripping blue-rays and dvds, also doing a bit photoshop.

SSD seems the OCZ Agility 3 seems to be the one i'm going for then.

if i want this computer to last around 4 years before buying a new one, would the i7 not be the best choise?

The mobo seems fine, cant really see many differences, but why get the 6950 insted of the 6970?

And i cant buy a webpages who wont ship to denmark. so i guess i cant get it at newegg.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

i dont think you need an i7 especially when you can get a 2500k upwards of 5ghz.
what is your res?

 

[peyoteimmortal]

I think you'r right, after reading some more, i can see the i7 is a bit overkill, but its not that more expensive its about 95$ more.

I may just go for pure gaming, since the ripping of dvds and such, is happening while im asleep or at work.

So if this is pure gaming oriented now.
Still im having trouble finding the right motherboard, if i am to buy a 6950 now, or 6970 and then alter go for the crossfire, should i not get one that can run both in x16 mode insted of 2 x8?
only one i've found yet is ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution B3 Revision at 342$

And i cant figure out the thing with ram, is the CL6 more important than CL9, if i want to OC the i5 2500k to 4,6+ wich ram would be best?

and resolution is atm 1920x1080
I'm thinking about getting a new screen for 3d at 27" or 30"

 

[mjmjpfaff]

6950 and 6970 wont bottleneck at x8/x8
since you are using 1080p get this gpu- http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004XUCCRM/ref=dp_olp_new_map?ie=UTF8&qid=1306688732&sr=8-8&condition=new
it is faster than the 6950 in single card and in sli/cf. it is pretty much a 6970 when oc'd to 950mhz i got mine to 960mhz with 1.062v

 

[peyoteimmortal]

thanks for the advice, so running the singlecard gtx560 ti in x16 mode is faster than 6950, and it wont bottleneck when running them in sli?
but would it not increase performance in 2 x16 mode? maybe not enough to pay the ekstra dough for the mobo.
so it´s the superclocked version, i should buy amd mot the regular, do i need to OC it manually or will this come OC?

 

[peyoteimmortal]

btw that 560ti gtx costs 345$ here in denmark.. so sad...

 

[mjmjpfaff]

no it wont bottleneck in sli even though it is x8/x8

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Cooler - The Noctua gets outperformed by the Scythe Mugen 2 which is half its price:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=432&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=19

Scythe Mugen-2 SCMG-2000 29.00°C over ambient
Zalman CNPS10X-Performa 29.71°C over ambient
Titan FENRIR TTC-NK85TZ 29.80°C over ambient
Thermolab BARAM 29.84°C over ambient
Noctual NH-D14 (2x 140) 30.09°C over ambient

SB really doesn't need it unless ya planning over 4.8 Ghz but if you want monster performance and no noise, I'd suggest the Thermalright Silver Arrow or Archon

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=674&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=4

Corsair H50 73.1 +11.3
Coolit Vantage A.L.C. (extreme) 73.0 +11.2
Prolimatech Super Mega 67.2 +5.4
Antec Kühler H2O 620 65.9 +4.1
Corsair H70 (high) 65.3 +3.5
Thermalright Venomous X 63.0 +1.2
Thermalright Silver Arrow 61.8 +0.0
Cooler Master V6 GT 61.2 -0.6

With both of its 140mm fans connected directly to the computer's power supply and running at full speed, the Silver Arrow turns in amazing performance, edged out by less than 1 degree by the Cooler Master V6 GT. The minimal performance difference here is probably due to the V6 GT's high-speed fans, each of which is rated at 90CFM, as compared to the Silver Arrow's 69CFM fans. It's worth noting here that the V6 GT's fans are quite loud at full speed, whereas the Silver Arrow's fans are very quiet.

Forgive the US links but I posted links to sites containing good specs / technical data.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11676/cpu-tri-77/Thermalright_Silver_Arrow_Dual_160mm_x_140mm_Fan_Universal_CPU_Cooler_Sockets_775_1156_1366_AM2_AM2_AM3.html

GFX - The 590 and 6990 are pure dogs. They get outperformed by twin cards in SLI / CF at half the price.

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$245.00 6950 (479/751) $0.51 - $0.65
$265.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $0.55 - $0.70
$210.00 560 Ti (455/792) $0.46 - $0.53
$315.00 6970 (526/825) $0.60 - $0.76
$220.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $0.44 - $0.51
$335.00 570 (524/873) $0.64 - $0.77
$500.00 580 (616/953) $0.81 - $1.05
$725.00 6990 (762/903) $0.95 - $1.61
$700.00 590 (881/982) $0.79 - $1.43

Twin 900 MHz 560 Ti's at $440 for both will get ya 862 fps whereas the $700 590 gets you just 19 fps more. On the ATI side twin 6950 Frozr's 's at $530 get you just 3 fps less then the $725 6990.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130651

For gaming at 1920 x 1200, I'd take nVidia as you can see above they outperform not only the more expensive 6950 but also the 6970 when paired up .... at 2560 x 1600, I'd take ATI with its 2GB of memory.....if doing photo, video, CAD, 3D rendering, I'd want CUDA and that means nVidia.

CPU - For any of the stuff mentioned for CUDA, I'd also want the 2600k. Set it up with a BIOS profile at about 4.5 - 4.6 w/ HT enabled for that stuff and a separate BIOS profile for gaming at 4.8 - 5.0 Ghz w/ HT off. Boot to whichever one suits ya needs at the moment.

RAM - Forget the voltage .... 1.65 is just fine for SB. Lower CAS will benefit but only of yourGFX card is not the bottleneck. While in most systems this is the case, with what you are talking about in this build, it won't be. Therefore, I'd suggest paying attention to CAS for those annoying min. frame rate occurences.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2792/12

22.3 % (SLI) increase in minimum frame rates w/ C6 instead of C8 in Far Cry 2
18% (single card) / 5% (SLI) increase in minimum frame rates w/ C6 instead of C8 in Dawn of War
15% (single card) / 5% (SLI) increase in minimum frame rates w/ C6 instead of C8 in World in Conflict

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226178

As far as bottlenecking w/ x8 x8, you can expect some bottlnecking from the 560 on up as is shown in this article.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910-7.html

x16 x16 STALKER = 99 average fps
x8 x8 STALKER = 91 average fps

As you can see, that's a 9% performance drop. It will affect some game smore than others....in most it will be much smaller but as also shown with the RAM, the effect will be more pronounced with minimum frame rates rather than average ....and the article failed to address this.

SSD - The best I have seen tested so far is the Vertex 3 and Corsair Force 3 ...... the latter's anticipated release at $220 fr 120GB is expected to drive down the price of the Vertex 3 ($300 currently) to match.

Case / PSU - The AX series of PSU's are great ... if a bit expensive. You have to think about buying these with the other in mind. The Antec performance cases for example are equipped to handle CPX form factor PSU's which is a huge advantage from a temperature and noise standpoint.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=142

[The CP-850] is completely unmatched by any ATX unit on the market I can think of. You'd have to spend twice as much as this thing costs to find the next best thing, performance wise.

This is my favorite combo....DF-85 w/ CP-850

http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=Antec+DF-85&sp=all&pid=4217235
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=Antec+CP-850&sp=all&pid=511012

You can read about how the case and PSU work together here (note the DF-85 is an upgrade of the 1200 described in the article:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article971-page7.html

My second fav combo is the HAF-X w/ XFX Black Edition 850

http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=HAF-X&sp=all&pid=4665554
http://www.edbpriser.dk/Product/Details.aspx?q=XFX+Black+Edition&sp=all&pid=656055

Note that all of the 850 watt XFX Black, Antec CP and Corsair AX all get a 10.0 performance rating at jonnyguru.