Sandybridge gaming PC. Ordering in 1h. Did I make any mistakes?

[yakri]

Alright so here's my final build.

The purpose of the build is to run stupid-fast for general operations, be godlike at gaming in 1920x1080 for at least 3 years, and survive for at least 5 years.

I could stand to spend about 50-100$ more tops, but that's stretching it a bit.

Cooler Master HAF 922
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
I'm liking this part a lot on paper, since you can turn off the LED in the front (no LED's is a must for me), and it has large fans so it'll be fairly quiet.

Samsung spinpoint F3 1TB drive. x2 in RAID 0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
To begin with I'll just use these with a 500GB external for backing up important files. I do plan to get a SSD now, but only after they drop in price by a very large amount, probably in 1-2 years.

Cougar 850w modular PSU -- Already purchased
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817553006
Well, this better be a good choice. I've found some decent reviews of their PSU's though, and I got it on sale plus in a combo deal with a game I wanted.

Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608008
I've read in online views, and heard in personal recommendation that this compound beats out artic silver by a wide margin, and won't fry you mobo if you spill some (although I doubt that's going to happen).

CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4x 2GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145261
Although I do some video editing and 3D rendering as a hobby, it isn't exactly HD, and I just don't see how I could max out 8GB. Even though it'll be a bitch if I ever decide to upgrade it on the same mobo, I got 4x2GB instead of 2x4GB because of the higher performance of 4 sticks in unganged dual channel over 2 sticks.

ASUS P8P67 Deluxe LGA 1155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131679
I'm really not sure about this one, it's either the deluxe or the pro. Currently I'm gunning for the deluxe on the assumption that it'll last better over time and under the stress of (eventual) overclocking. I'm not entirely sure it's worth the price jump from the PRO though.

i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz -- Already Purchased.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
Pretty happy with this sucker, except for the bullshit that is QS and only 16 PCIe lanes.

EVGA GTX 570 x2 SLI.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593&cm_re=GTX_570-_-14-130-593-_-Product
Unfortunately, I'm stuck buying the 570, and buying it from EVGA, because I'm actually being able to afford this ridiculous expendature through their step up program. So I'm getting my first GTX 570 when they come in stock, and my second one whenever I get through their damned queue (at least 2-3 months T_T).

CPU Heatsink.
I don't have one, I'm thinking of going for the Hyper 212+ if that'll work on this socket, which I think it should. I'm mostly concerned about whatever heatsink I get covering up my ram, which could be bad if the HS doesn't have high enough clearance.

I'm probably going to order in the next hour, and I'm pretty settled on this, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case someone noticed something funky in my build; I'm a nervous buyer.

 

[gkay09]

^ Mobo - The Deluxe offers Dual-LAN ports and has 16+2 Phase power compared to the 12+2 and a single LAN, but IMO 12+2 is very good I doubt if not overclocking very high, the 16+2 would be of any advantage,...But the deluxe does come with front panel USB3.0 though,...
http://www.bjorn3d.com/articles/ASUS_P67_Motherboards_P8P67_Deluxe_and_P8P67_Pro/1973.html

RAM - Change to this
Better to stick with 2x 4GB kit as it will allow for future upgrade
$15 off w/ promo code EMCKJKD27, ends 1/12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324

PSU - There are as good or better ones for less, but as you bought it, cant do anything,...

You can save some money getting CASE and HDDs from amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-Cache-Desktop-HD103SJ/dp/B001U3S5S0
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RC-922M-KKN1-GP-Tower-Black/dp/B0026FCI2U

 

[Guest]

For High Overclocking get any of this heatsinks.They are top notch
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

 

[lucid484]

Well that ram isnt very low latency...only has a cas of 9!!! mine has 6 and intel i series chips LOVE low latency ram.....why gtx 570 sli? still issues with profiles and some games not running as fast as a single card...i would go a gtx 580. and crucial c300 SSDs have gone way down...I have a 128GB for windows that gets 363mbs read speed and a 2tb fast drive for my games and programs...if you have 1-200 extra to spare i would go single graphics and get that SSD ....oh and i doubt an 850w power supply is enough for 2 GTX's!!!

 

[yakri]

Well that ram isnt very low latency...only has a cas of 9!!! mine has 6 and intel i series chips LOVE low latency ram.....why gtx 570 sli? still issues with profiles and some games not running as fast as a single card...i would go a gtx 580. and crucial c300 SSDs have gone way down...I have a 128GB for windows that gets 363mbs read speed and a 2tb fast drive for my games and programs...if you have 1-200 extra to spare i would go single graphics and get that SSD ....oh and i doubt an 850w power supply is enough for 2 GTX's!!!

Even on a PSU calculator, my current system maxes out with 100% load at 820w, even using an older more power hungry CPU. Given that PSU calculators overestimate things, and that when I did the math myself I hit more along the lines of 750w, I should be fine.

Yeah, that RAM isn't really the fastest ever, but it's still respectably fast, enough so that lower timings might not be a large benefit. It'll also fit under my heatsink, and it's cheap. If it doesn't work out that well, I'll upgrade it in a year or two when low latency DDR3 RAM is a little cheaper, and I start needing the extra gaming juice. Also, you've got a point, I hadn't thought about how lower latency is a particular advantage with intel chips.

If you read my initial post, it's the GTX 570 single, GTX 570 SLI, or stick with a single GTX 460. In my case, since I'm using EVGA's step up program to get my first 570, it's cheaper for me to get 2 570's than one 580. Plus, those kinds of problems are driver issues no? So they'll be fixed eventually, hopefully sooner than later.


The the drives I bought in RAID 0 should hit something like 250MB/s read speeds, with 1TB of storage. Like I said, I'll probably get an SSD later, and move my system boot and speed loving programs onto it, but right now they really don't get you much bang for your buck.

 

[yakri]

Best answer selected by yakri.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

For Coolers .... look at the top 3 in "Top Performers" the 212 is a great "inexpensive cooler" but you aren't building an inexpensive system.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=447&Itemid=62

AS% is good....after its 200 hour break in period, but Shin Etsu scores better

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=13

Drop the Cougar PSU and get an XFX Black Edition 850 on newegg for $110. It gets 10.0 performance rating on jonnyguru.com

The 922 is a great mid tower, but w/ twin GFX I'd be ore comfy in full tower HAF-X w/ that XFX or Antec DF-85 w/ CP-850