I need opinions on a system that I am soon to build

[C_noss]

Helo
I have been doing a lot of research lately and think I have a good gaming setup planned out. I am in need of some thoughts and suggestions from people that have a better concept on gaming computers than I do.

Here is my build concept

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155

MotherBoard: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77

Power Supply: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 (CMPSU-850AX) 850W

Case: Rosewill THOR V2-White Edition, THOR V2-W Gaming ATX Full Tower

Hard Drives: Seagate 1TB 7200 RPM and a SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series 128GB SATA Solid State Drive

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit (x2)

CPU Cooler: Noctua 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

Ram: 16GB of ram. This is where I need some suggestions, Im not sure what brand/series of ram will fit under my CPU cooler.

Thank for reading, this will be my very first build so take it easy if I messed something up.


Edit: Changed Sea Sonic 1250W to a Corsair 850W

 

[strife_ff7]

Will you be recording your game play or doing some video editing? Because if not you don't need an i7 or 16gb of ram. Also 1250w is major overkill even for a two gpu setup.

 

[C_noss]

Strife_ff7

I will be doing some video editing, and photo editing for a couple of my classes with adobe products, but other than that no. Do you think that an Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz cpu would be a better choice?

How big of a PSU do you recommend getting? 800W, 950W?

Thanks for Replying

 

[NV88]

Drop the PSU to a Seasonic X 760, up the GPU to a 680, double the HDD to 2TB and possible add another SSD as a scratch disk. Rest is good.

 

[strife_ff7]

The i7 will help with video editing. For the psu if you plan to add a second gpu later for a sli setup then a 750w-800w will work but if you don't just get a 550w-600w.

 

[strife_ff7]

Drop the PSU to a Seasonic X 760, up the GPU to a 680, double the HDD to 2TB and possible add another SSD as a scratch disk. Rest is good.

The gtx 680 is not worth the small incease in performance over the gtx 670.

 

[chugot9218]

I would stick with the i5, leave the 670, and get an SSD. If you want to up your gaming potential in the future add another 670. I bought 16gb RAM myself simply because I did not want to worry about compatibility issues in the future if I decided to go from 8 to 16.

Also, the only reason to go for the Sabertooth in my opinion is the aesthetics, there are plenty of Asus boards with similar features that are just as good and cheaper. Some even find that the thermal armor increases temps in certain locations, and I have also heard the included MOBO fans can be a little noisy.

*Edit* I didn't see you planned on 2 670's, in that case you may want to go for the 680, and add another 680 in the future, single cards perform better than SLI/multi-GPU setups currently.

 

[NV88]

The gtx 680 is not worth the small incease in performance over the gtx 670.

It is. Every extra bit of grunt comes in handy. Same with the setup from 7950 to 7970. Forget the gimped versions and go straight to the fastest.

 

[C_noss]

Strife_ff7

Is 1 680 better than 2 670's? If so then I may consider going with it. My actual plans were to go with 1 670 until I had the funds to get a second.


Chugot9218

I agree that the sabertooth is a bit pricey. What Mother Board would you go with, in terms of number and types of pci slots. I dont want to get an under powered mother board that may bottle neck the rest of my equipment, that is the only reason that i went with the pricey Sabertooth.


NV88

I see where you are going with this, but sadly i dont have the funds atm to afford all of that. Are you suggesting that I go with 1 or 2 680s?

 

[chugot9218]

If you aren't planning to buy 2 GPU's right away then get a 670 and another 670 down the line, that's what I am doing and the single 670 runs most everything at 1080 at ultra. I have the Asus P8z77-V Pro, I chose it over the Sabertooth and could not be happier, it also comes with a free wireless module (well, "free", I am sure it is factored into the price).

I put a couple together to compare, I dunno if it carries over through the link. Look at the PCI slots, SATA ports (6gb and 3gb), USB ports (2.0 and 3.0) and the RAM speeds when making your decision. http://www.asus.com/Compare/

 

[C_noss]

Chugot

Yes, i am planning on going with 2 graphics cards, so I think I will stick with the 670.
I took a look at the Asus P8z77-V Pro, it has everything that the Sabertooth had, (- the Thermal armor) and will work great for what i need, so I will go with it instead.

I still have no idea what ram will be compatible with the Curent Cpu Cooler I have.

Thank you for the Mother Board you suggested, you saved me $40.

 

[chugot9218]

If you are getting the NH-D14 (which I think you are, I am sure they have this list for their other coolers) here is the RAM compatibility list, it will tell you what is too tall and such. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=compatibility_ram_gen&products_id=34&lng=en

I love my Noctua, I got the downdraft version, keeps my MOBO nice and cool.

 

[C_noss]

Thanks everyone for all of the help. You answered all of my questions

 

[chugot9218]

Not a problem, if you get the opportunity, pay it forward (i.e. help someone else )!