Gaming PC for Late Winter 2011

[theclassic]

Hello,
I have a build in mind, but I'd still like to get advice for improving the performance without exceeded the conditions listed below.
Approximate Date of Purchase: January - February 2011
Budget: $1600
Usage: Gaming (Currently: Black Ops, WoW. Future: Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2)
Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers, OS
Preferred Website: www.newegg.com however, other options are fine as well
Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Overclocking: Probably
SLI: Probably


EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$259.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$79.99

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
$34.99

KINGWIN Mach 1 ABT-1000MA1S 1000W ATX / BTX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
$159.99


Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950
$294.99

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$99.99


Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
$274.99


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
$29.99


CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory
$129.99


GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$199.99

Grand Total: $1,564.90
Everything listed was from newegg.

I'd appreciate any kind of critique.

Thank you in advance

 

[gkay09]

^ Jan-Feb 2011 ??
- Newer CPUs from Intel (The ones to replace the i5 7xx series, which are as powerful as the i7 9xx)
- Newer GPUs from both ATI and Nvidia(GTX 570 is out and HD 6970 will be out soon).

PSU - Why do you need a 1KW PSU ?? IMO a 750-850W would suffice even for GTX 580 SLI...

Sound card - The onboard would be as good as the sound card that you have selected, so better to skip that...

 

[theclassic]

I'm planning to buy an i7-950. When you said i5, was that a typo or misread of the listed CPU?

Say if I do stick with this setup and I want to get the newer Nvidia or ATI, would I need to upgrade anything?

For the PSU, I thought I'd better be safe with 1000 Watts. I was reading how many people misjudge the amount of watts needed. So I was thinking why not just spend the extra bucks just to be safe and hopefully wouldn't need to swab out when I do upgrade my system.

Looks like I'll save 30 bucks then if I take out the sound card.

Thanks for the advice

 

[Griffolion]

PSU - Why do you need a 1KW PSU ?? IMO a 750-850W would suffice even for GTX 580 SLI...

Not a chance. GTX 580 takes 230W full load, that multiplied by two is 460W full load. Account for rest of system, about 300W and you have 760W, dangerously close to the top limit of those PSU's. Its sensible to leave plenty of headroom as it also increases efficiency the close the total load is to 50% total PSU capacity.

 

[gkay09]

^ I partly agree with you, but do you think that even when gaming, it would push those 2x GTX 580s to its full load ?? Practically it is not possible for say the whole system would run at Full Load,...
But still if he plans to say he is going to overclock the CPU to the max, and both the GPUs to the highest possible speeds, then he might need an 1KW PSU,...