I7 Gaming Rig

[notrace]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next Month

BUDGET RANGE: Nothing Ridiculous (2000$+)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Music, Obeying my will at incredible speeds.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Speakers, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg!

PARTS PREFERENCES: Anything

OVERCLOCKING: Yes!

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes! (SLI)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Be able to destroy any game.

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I'm planning on having this entire thing watercooled by the end of the year, just need to make sure im making all the right choices with the rig itself, here's what i have so far.

Power Supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225
(I will be purchasing 2 of these, equaling 12GB of RAM.)

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049

Chassis:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163073

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150014%2050001306%201035507821&name=10000%20RPM

Ok here i cant decide which HD to go with, is there actually a downside with getting the 300GB over the 150GB? Something like reduced speeds? Or should i choose a different drive altogether?

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001402%2040000048%201068340784&Description=GTX%20275&name=896MB&ActiveSearchResult=True

I'm planning on having two GTX 275's in SLI, because i've heard that they can benchmark just as well as a GTX 295, but i dont know which ones to go with out of these 3. If im going to be SLI'ing them together, shouldn't i pay attention to the Core Clock on each card? Thanks for the opinions and info, and all of these parts are subject to change.

 

[hunter315]

Get a WD Caviar Black 640GB, it performs similarly to the raptor in all but random I/O tasks. You can even drop a couple of them in RAID 0 for the price of a raptor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

Dont forget to check the combos, the Asus p6t is one of the most recommended boards and comes with a $40 off combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.216037

 

[jbakerlent]

Ditto on hunter's comment, don't waste your money on Velociraptors.
Check out this PSU as well: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018&Tpk=modxstream%20pro

 

[notrace]

Do you think it would be worth the extra 75$ to buy the 2nd WD Caviar Black 640GB so i could put both of them in RAID0? Especially if performance was what i was looking for?

What do you guys think of the video card situation?

 

[notrace]

bumping*

 

[hunter315]

As for the video card situtation it depends on if you want a preoverclocked one of if you are willing to buy the cheaper one and overclock it yourself. The final overclocked speeds will be different, but you can probably get the same speeds as the more expensive one from the cheaper one if you cant afford it.

What type of tasks are you doing that you need that much speed for? Raid 0 is a bit more useful with random reads which is what the raptor is best at too.

 

[notrace]

I do a ton of video editing and game design so i need files to open quickly and move around quickly...

On another post someone was recomending having two 640GB Caviar Blacks in RAID0, then one extra HDD for all my OS's, where i might use a Velociraptor or maybe even a SSD drive so it can keep up with the RAID HDD's, or does it not even make that much of a difference?

Also, worth getting over the EVGA cards?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143199

 

[tecmo34]

If you are doing video editing and game design, you will see some benefit in 12GB over 6GB.

I'm a fan of the VRaptors because I'm not a fan of RAID's and at the time I purchased mine, SSD's were too expensive. The WD 640GB Blacks in RAID0 will perform better than the Raptors but you increase your risk of possible data lost, that is why it is always recommended to have a secondary drive for backup or "personal" data.

Either Video Cards are good... I like EVGA but that is just who I perfer over the other makers.

 

[notrace]

/agree

Don't worry i was planning on getting 12GB haha, alot of people oppose against it saying its not necessary but i disagree, plus how many people can go up to someone and say, "I've got 12GB of RAM, bitch."

Anyway, i too like the EVGA cards and always have, so pulling away from them will make me feel like a heretic.