[New Build] BF3 system

[heybrus]

Hey.

So was thinking of building a new PC (first time, so unsure on a lot of things) predominantly for BF3 and gaming, as well as a media center. I know its kinda hard to determine what is required since the Beta release really did not give any indication on a High - Ultra build.

Approximate Purchase Date: within 2 - 3 weeks (or prior to BF3 release)

Budget Range: AU$1200 - AU$1400

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, media center

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: pretty new to this, so unsure on what key sites there are. so far just using Australian msy site and what is available in my nearest store. but really, whatever is quickest and most reliable to be sent to Australia

Country of Origin:Australia

Parts Preferences:

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3Ghz 1155pin Boxed CPU
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=7581

RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws-X 8G Kit(4Gx2) DDR3 2133 F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=7665

Mobo - AsRock Z68-Professional Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 USB3.0 1155pin Motherboard
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8170

OR

Asus P8Z68-V Pro Z68 USB3 DDR3 Intel 1155pin Motherboard (but no availability, so may be hard to get quick)
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=7839

GPU - Gigabyte 1GB 6950 PCI-E VGA Card or even 6970 (will this cause more overheating for 6970) or is nVidia recommended?
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=7667

PSU - Corsair TX-850 ATX Power Supply Unit - is this any good? any other recommendations? Taking into account potential xfire.
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4992

HDD - SATA Samsung 2TB HDD
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=2509

Optical - Samsung SATA 22x Black DVD RW - 1 Year Warranty
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=5580

Case - Thermaltake V9 case without PSU
http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=1054

Possible cooler / whatever needed for OC or xFire

Overclocking: Yes - eventually, when its required pretty much

SLI or Crossfire: Yes - going by all the talk on the forums, a single GPU on the market wont be powerful enough so def want something for future

Monitor Resolution: whatever is good stock standard. got a 24" Samsung, so wanna play on reasonable res.

Additional Comments: Just want a PC for lastability and be able to run BF3 on high to ultra settings.

Help and feedback is much appreciated. Is doing my head in on what to get, especially reading up it seems people are just saying wait for a bit until new tech comes out. Thoughts? Would really like to get a PC now, but if things come out in a month, with possible price drops or better tech... may not be worth it yet?

Thanks

 

[cutebeans]

Your build is pretty good.

You might want to get a single GPU though because I heard that the crossfire 6950 suffers from microstuttering. (google it up)

Anyway, what I suggest is getting a 6970 and lowering down your PSU to 600w. Getting the cheaper extreme3 gen3 mobo.

Multiple GPU setups are not as perfect as running with a single card. Most of the time, there are issues that turn up when gaming with multiple GPU.

Btw, you might want to invest into a good cooler like the

Hyper 212 evo when you do plan on overclocking so you can keep your temps down.

 

[abekl]

The only thing I don't like about the case is that it doesn't have usb 3 ports on the front. Not sure if this is an issue for you. Otherwise, this looks like a good build. I wou;ld save $ and go for the less expensive MB. As for X-fire, I don't do it myself because I get good enough rates with a 6970.