Thoughts and opinions for a new build

[mfezza]

After several years of going off the shelf I have decided to build my own system again. The system will be mostly used for gaming. I don't anticipate overclocking but am not ruling it out. I would love to get anyone's thoughts and opinions of my parts list.

Video: SAPPHIRE TOXIC 100282TXSR Radeon HD 5850 1GB (2X)
MB: ASUS Sabertooth X58
CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz
RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit
Storage: Intel X25-M Mainstream SSDSA2MH080G2R5 2.5" 80GB SSD
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM
Optical: LG Black Blu-ray Disc Combo UH10LS20
Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Sniper SGC-6000-KXN1-GP
PSU: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RS800-80GAD3-US 800W
Cooling: Scythe SCMG-2100 Sleeve CPU Cooler

Thanks in advance.

 

[dndhatcher]

It would be a shame to not do a little light overclock with that nice Scythe cooler installed.

The AALS is an older 320GB platter HDD. The new 500GB platter drives are substantially faster. Samsung F3 500GB/1TB, WD black 1TB "FAEX". I dont think WD has a black 500GB single platter out yet.

You dont have a link or exact RAM model. The motherboard is going to want to give 1.5V to the RAM and start screaming red warnings at you if you try to overVolt to 1.65. For that reason I like 1.6V or lower RAM with Cas7 timings and no tall heat spreaders. Corsair has been overpriced lately. Geil, Mushkin, Gskill have been better values.

You might get a single 5970 instead of a pair of 5850s. The performance will be about the same and less cards generally gives off less heat. A single 480 is also up in this ballpark for performance.

 

[mfezza]

Thanks for the ideas. I will definitely look into the HD and RAM. I looked at the 480s but the heat issue scared me off. As for the 5970, it's very tempting but i'm not sure it will fit into the case.