New Build Concerns (PCI-E 3.0 Lanes)

[Robert Snedden]

PSU: 750W Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M, Modular, 85% Eff' , 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX PSU


CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i Hydro Series CPU Cooler, LGA 115x, 1366, and 2011 & AM2, AM3, FM1 and FM2

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K, 1150, Haswell, Quad Core, 3.5GHz, 3.9GHz Turbo, 1250MHz GPU, 35x Ratio, 84W, Retail

GFX: 2GB EVGA GTX 770 SC ACX, 28nm, PCIe 3.0, 7010MHz GDDR5, GPU 1111MHz, Boost 1163MHz, Cores 1536, DPort/HDMI/DVI

HDD: 2TB Seagate ST2000NM0033 Constellation ES.3 Enterprise 24x7 SATA 6GB/s 7200rpm 128MB Cache 8ms NCQ OEM

RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Pro Series Red, PC3-19200 (2400), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 11-13-13-31, XMP, 1.65V

Case: Zalman MS800 Plus USB 3.0 ATX Mid Case w/o PSU

What concerns me:

MOBO: MAXIMUS VI HERO - Asus ROG Maximus VI HERO, Intel Z87, S 1150, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, PCIe 3.0 (x16), HDMI, ATX
PCI Express Configurations 1x16, 2x8

In the future I'd like to SLI the GTX 770 cards.
I'm not clued-up about the PCI-E lane speeds, and the 2x8 (SLI) concerns me. Is it possible to get a 2x16 lane SLI supporting motherboard?

Is there anything else in the build that isn't great?
This system is costing around 1400 GPB from my local hardware supplier (scan.co.uk) which I have found to be reasonable cost.

 

[tiny voices]

No, 2x8 lanes are what you want for SLI. That is standard.

If this is for gaming, get an i5 and 8gb RAM.

I would also ditch the closed loop water cooler for a good air cooler. It will cool basically just as well but make WAY less noise.

 

[endeavour37a]

Your cards will not run any faster on x16 than they will on x8, you will be good to go.

 

[Robert Snedden]

No, 2x8 lanes are what you want for SLI. That is standard.

If this is for gaming, get an i5 and 8gb RAM.

I would also ditch the closed loop water cooler for a good air cooler. It will cool basically just as well but make WAY less noise.

Thanks for the advice.

What is the reason you would go for an i5 over the i7, and also why less RAM (this RAM is good spec/speed as far as I know).

 

[tiny voices]

Because games use 3.3gb RAm 16gb RAm will just sit around doing nothing. 8gb RAm will perform identical in games and cost half as much.

Same for the i7. It isn't better in gaming than the i5. Just wasted money.