P55-GD65 build PSU, GPU, mobo advice/questions

[sgtdavis44]

Ok. I'm putting a new rig together and have a few questions.

NOTE: I will unfortunately not post the cost of these parts as I have the costs in South Africa(e.g. MSI Cyclone US: $250; MSI Cyclone SA: $336). It sucks but we have to live with it =/ I have a budget of about $1100 US, the shop I'm getting at is cheaper than most places but I haven't received a quote yet. This budget excludes a DVD optical drive, cables and screen.

The build:

Motherboard: MSI P55-GD65 *1
Graphics Card: X450G(Sparkle's Calibre series OC'd GTS450 card) / N450GTS-M2D1GD5/OC(MSIs OC'd GTS450 card) / SXX4601024D5UNM(Sparkle 1GB GTX 460) / N460GTX Cyclone 1GD5(MSI Cyclone 1gb GTX 460) / X460G(Sparkle's Calibre series OC'd 1gb GTX460 card) / N460GTX Cyclone 1GD5/OC(MSI's OC'd 1gb GTX 460 card) *2
Processor: BX8060515760(i5-760 2.8-3.33gHz)
RAM: KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/2G(Kingston 1600mHz DDR3 RAM x2 with heat spreaders @1.65V)
Hard Drive: ST3500410AS(Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200RPM 16mb Cache)
Power Supply: SCC-750AF / GS600 *3

Questions:
1. I read a couple of reviews and it seems like the best board for me. Now a simple question: what is your experience with this board(if you have one of course)?

2. I'm finding it difficult to choose between these two. They come in almost the same(Cyclone a little more expensive) over here. But out of experience(overclocking, power usage in mind), which is best?

3. This is a long -ish thing. a: Of what quality are these two brands(Sparkle and Corsair)?
b: Will either of these two be sufficient two run two GTX 460s/GTS250s in SLI(See #2 for the cards)? Most specifically the GS600 from Corsair.
c: If not, what is the minimum wattage for GTX 460 SLI/GTS450 SLI(See #2 for cards)?

 

[etk]

Corsair is a very high quality tier 1 manufacturer; sparkle is bottom of the barrel. a 650 or 750W Corsair supply should be fine, assuming no excessive over clocking.

 

[sgtdavis44]

OK. And overclocking a single GTX 460 on a GS600? Along with CPU. RAM I most likely will not overclock though.

 

[etk]

More than enough power. (Probabaly enough for 2 GPU's, but it is always good to play it safe with PSU wattage)

 

[sgtdavis44]

Hmm, meaning it might infact be best to go with an even lower one for now. SLI GTX460 might still be a couple of months off =/

More like a VX550(CMPSU-550VX) maybe? BTW what are other good PSU manufacturers?

EDIT: Coolermaster RP-550-PCAR? Or the Coolermaster RS-550-ACLY

 

[Silvune]

The PSU he is talking about is from Sparkle Computer Corp, not Sparkle Power, if that makes any difference. Unfortunately the only review I could find of the 750W Gold Series was from pureoverclock, the only useful thing they showed was that the primary caps were from CapXon and rated at 105C.

Surely buying two PSUs is going to be a waste of money, especially if you are only waiting a couple of months to get the second card.

As for other good brands, Antec, OCZ, Silverstone, Seasonic, Enermax are 5 that I can think of atm.

The eXtreme series from Cooler Master should only be bought if you are under a pretty extreme budget (as in low).
Real Power is a bit better.

 

[sgtdavis44]

Yeah, I mean the Sparkle Computer Corp one.

But looking again, the Cosair GS600 and CX600 are my best options. Which is best(heavily taking into account the cost). Any money saved is money well-used.

 

[sgtdavis44]

Best answer selected by sgtdavis44.