Ordering tonight, compatibility check

[trevdar]

Approximate Purchase Date: today

Budget Range: ~$1700 - $1800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming

Parts Not Required: speakers, optical drive

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: US

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: in the future

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I'm mainly curious as to whether my PSU would be able to power 2x 7950's and if the case is large enough for them as well.

Case:
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

PSU:
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850 V2 850W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

Motherboard:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K

CPU cooler:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

GPU:
SAPPHIRE 11196-00-40G Radeon HD 7950 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

SSD:
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

Monitor:
Asus VE248H Black 24" 1920X1080 2ms Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 10,000,000:1

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

Mouse:
Logitech G500 10 Buttons Dual-mode Scroll Wheel USB Wired Laser 5700 dpi Gaming Mouse

Keyboard:
Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Keyboard

The total comes to $1,727.87 after discounts and shipping.

I would like to stay under $1800 but would like to make sure the PSU can power dual 7950's, the case can fit dual 7950's, and ensure the MoBo can handle them in Xfire.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

 

[g-unit1111]

That looks really good but if you can put a bit more into the case I'd highly recommend doing so. The HAF 912 is a great choice, don't get me wrong, but it won't have the most interior space for big video cards like the 7950. Maybe upgrade that to something like one of these for only $40 more:

- Fractal Design Arc MIDI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007
- Corsair Carbide: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007

I'm also not the biggest fan of buying expensive peripherals but my suggestion would be to get an inexpensive Logitech keyboard / mouse set and put that money into getting a better case or motherboard. The Asrock you have is fine but maybe upgrade that to this if you can:

- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131771

Otherwise everything looks really good. That Corsair PSU is more than capable of powering 2 or 3 high-end video cards.

 

[sadams04]

Looks good. The Corsair 850w PSU is fine for dual GPUs. I would change the memory to standard height modules (no tall heat spreaders) and call it good. Enjoy that rig!

MEM - Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600 CL9 - $50

 

[g-unit1111]

Looks good. The Corsair 850w PSU is fine for dual GPUs. I would change the memory to standard height modules (no tall heat spreaders) and call it good. Enjoy that rig!

MEM - Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600 CL9 - $50

Yeah I didn't catch that - the tall heat spreaders will not be good with the Evo.

This would also be a good recommendation: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148519

 

[sadams04]

If you are looking to add a second CPU fan for a push / pull setup on the Hyper 212, check out the fan below...

CPU Cooler 2nd Fan - Cooler Master 120mm - $12

 

[trevdar]

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely get the smaller RAM as I didn't even think of the heat spreaders getting in the way.

Any reason in particular you recommend the Asus mobo over the Asrock?

 

[sadams04]

Any reason in particular you recommend the Asus mobo over the Asrock?

Personal preference most likely... I usually go with ASUS, Gigabyte and ASROCK in that order. If you can stretch the budget a bit I would recommend the ASUS below. However, at $150 the P8P67 is a great board.

MB ($200) - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3

 

[g-unit1111]

Personal preference most likely... I usually go with ASUS, Gigabyte and ASROCK in that order. If you can stretch the budget a bit I would recommend the ASUS below. However, at $150 the P8P67 is a great board.

MB ($200) - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3

I was thinking better feature set and reliability compared to the Asrock - people either have a great experience with their boards or a not so great experience, on a $1700 build you definitely want the former, not the latter, if you catch my drift.

 

[xtremegamer2da-max]

get g.skill ram instead of corsair becuz corsair is taller than g.skill and gets in the way

 

[azeem40]

At 24" and 1920x1080 resolution, the pixels start to get less and less. I recommend the 23" ASUS or even the Dell UltraSharp U2312HM.