Feedback on $1400 i5 gaming build

[fr0gpunch]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Hopefully tonight, maybe tomorrow.

BUDGET RANGE: About $1400 CAD maximum $1500, before shipping and taxes.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Any Canadian site, preferably newegg.ca

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

OVERCLOCKING: I plan to OC in the future but I've never done it before so I need to do more research first.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: I plan to add a second card later on when I feel that I need more power and the prices have dropped.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Currenty using a 1280x1024 but will upgrade in a couple months or so to something better.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This is my first ever build so I've done a TON of research and what I've ended up with is almost the exact same as tecmo34's gamer build from the Recommended Builds by Usage thread but there's still some things I'm not too sure about. First of all is the case, he recommends the HAF 922. It looks like a good case and it's what I'm going with now but I'd be willing to spend a little more on the case and I'm wondering if there's something that would be better for me? I'm mostly concerned with ease of building (since this is my first build), cooling and it needs to fit two 5850s.

The second thing I'm not sure about is the PSU, will 750w be enough to power the system when I have both 5850s in and maybe a second hard drive? And is it worth the money to get a modular PSU? I don't have any experience with cable management so I don't know how hard that will be. The modular version of the corsair 750w psu that I'm planning on is like $40 more :O.

The last thing is regarding optical drives, I really don't know anything about optical drives and the ones in the recommended builds aren't sold on newegg.ca so I have no idea what to get here. I just found one with good reviews on newegg and put it here but really I have no idea if it's good or not. I also saw some people in the reviews for the OEM drives mention about how it doesn't come with any cables, is this true and if so how will I connect it? Do I need to pay the extra for a retail drive?

Although those are my only real concerns, any feedback on other parts of the build or general feedback is still welcome and appreciated .

CPU - Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail - $219.99

MOBO - GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s - Retail - Combo with the GPU, $30 off for a total of $489.48

GPU - GIGABYTE GV-R585D5-1GD-B Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Retail - Combo with the MOBO, $30 off for a total of $489.48

RAM - G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO - Retail - $123.99

HSF - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long life sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail - $29.99

DVD - Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive - OEM - $27.99

PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail - $129.99

CASE - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail - $109.99

OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM - $119.99

HDD - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 32MB Cache 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM - $92.40

Thermal Compound - Arctic Silver 5 HIGH-DENSITY Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound 3.5 Gram - $9.14


TOTAL - $1,352.95 before tax and shipping.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Couple of notes:

Mobo: Since you want to Crossfire, you shouldn't get that board. When you have 2 cards, the USB 3/SATA III ports only work at normal speeds. For a little more, get the Asus P7P55D-E Pro. It doesn't do that.

Case: The HAF 922 is definitely big enough to fit 2 5850s. It's huge.

PSU: You don't need a modular version. The HAF is a bottom mounted case, so the cables already sit at the bottom of the case. Thus, they are already out of the way. That said, you probably should go with the 850W version to make sure you have enough power. It should only be $10-20 more.

Optical: Go for the cheapest SATA DVD burner you can find. There isn't much performance difference, so there's no point in looking at the specs in detail.

OEM drives come as just the bare drive. No software, no cables, just the part. Your board should come with some cables, so it doesn't really matter too much.

Cooling: If you're not overclocking right away, you don't need the HSF and thermal compound yet. It will hold down your costs right now.

Overall, a very excellent build.

 

[restatement3dofted]

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This is my first ever build so I've done a TON of research and what I've ended up with is almost the exact same as tecmo34's gamer build from the Recommended Builds by Usage thread but there's still some things I'm not too sure about. First of all is the case, he recommends the HAF 922. It looks like a good case and it's what I'm going with now but I'd be willing to spend a little more on the case and I'm wondering if there's something that would be better for me? I'm mostly concerned with ease of building (since this is my first build), cooling and it needs to fit two 5850s.

The second thing I'm not sure about is the PSU, will 750w be enough to power the system when I have both 5850s in and maybe a second hard drive? And is it worth the money to get a modular PSU? I don't have any experience with cable management so I don't know how hard that will be. The modular version of the corsair 750w psu that I'm planning on is like $40 more :O.

The last thing is regarding optical drives, I really don't know anything about optical drives and the ones in the recommended builds aren't sold on newegg.ca so I have no idea what to get here. I just found one with good reviews on newegg and put it here but really I have no idea if it's good or not. I also saw some people in the reviews for the OEM drives mention about how it doesn't come with any cables, is this true and if so how will I connect it? Do I need to pay the extra for a retail drive?

I can't comment on your CPU/MoBo, since I'm not too familiar with i5 processing, but everything else is looking good.

Case: The HAF 922 should have plenty of space to fit everything you're going to include. It has a built-in cable management system, and great airflow. It should be sufficient for your needs.

PSU: Your PSU should come with enough cables to get your OEM hardware connected. With that PSU and case, your cable management and airflow planning should be a breeze.

Optical drive: These days, optical drives are pretty much a throwaway. You can get an OEM DVD burner that will work just fine for under $25 USD these days. Don't worry if you can't find the specific one suggested, just find a cheap one that gets decent reviews on newegg and you should be set. DON'T pay extra for a retail drive, it is totally unnecessary.

Cheers!

 

[fr0gpunch]

Thank you both for the quick replies, I appreciate it .

Couple of notes:

Mobo: Since you want to Crossfire, you shouldn't get that board. When you have 2 cards, the USB 3/SATA III ports only work at normal speeds. For a little more, get the Asus P7P55D-E Pro. It doesn't do that.

Case: The HAF 922 is definitely big enough to fit 2 5850s. It's huge.

PSU: You don't need a modular version. The HAF is a bottom mounted case, so the cables already sit at the bottom of the case. Thus, they are already out of the way. That said, you probably should go with the 850W version to make sure you have enough power. It should only be $10-20 more.

Optical: Go for the cheapest SATA DVD burner you can find. There isn't much performance difference, so there's no point in looking at the specs in detail.

OEM drives come as just the bare drive. No software, no cables, just the part. Your board should come with some cables, so it doesn't really matter too much.

Cooling: If you're not overclocking right away, you don't need the HSF and thermal compound yet. It will hold down your costs right now.

Overall, a very excellent build.

The ASUS motherboard is actually the same price on newegg.ca but I wouldn't be able to get the mobo/gpu combo discount which was $30 bucks, however they now have an HIS 5850 for $20 less then the Gigabyte one was so overall its only $10 more to get USB 3.0 and SATA III which sounds like a great idea to me .

The 850tx PSU is $40 more then the 750tx on newegg.ca which is quite a bit of money so I decided to check out some other sites cause I think its better to be safe then sorry. As a result I managed to find it on DirectCanada.ca for the same price as the 750tx, PLUS an $11 mail in rebate. Then I found out that site also sells the Samsung HD103SJ and the Arctic Silver which I couldn't buy from newegg.ca, so I could save some money on shipping by getting it from there instead. Then I noticed they don't charge PST (which is 8% in ON, so that's going to save me a truckload of money), they have free shipping on orders over $300, and they have all the same components I need from newegg at slightly better prices, except for the 5850. So now I'm going to order everything from there and the GPU from newegg and thanks to your suggestion I'm not only going to get a better system but save a ton of money in the process. I really can't thank you enough .

I'm really satisfied with all of it so far so unless I get some comment telling me otherwise in the next couple of hours I'm gonna send the order and again THANK YOU MadAdmiral

 

[fr0gpunch]

Best answer selected by fr0gpunch.