First time builder please help - sub $2000 gaming rig

[exyeezee]

Hi all

First time builder here hoping to upgrade from a very old system that has served me for the past few years. Hoping for a quiet and pretty system.


Approximate Purchase Date: this week

Budget Range: $1500-2000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, photo editing, surfing the internet ..

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Probably buying locally but otherwise amazon.com as im in Europe

Country of Origin: North Europe

Parts Preferences: Intel, Nvidia

Overclocking: Yes / Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 (if i upgrade my monitor)

Additional Comments: quiet and good looking with lots of power for some time to come. Only air cooling.

Hoping this will be enough for running games for a few years as well as anything else i could come to throw at it. I'm probably buying locally so not all parts are available and pricing is a bit odd for some parts (HAF X and Antec p183 which i was thinking of originally are the same price for instance).

Is the size of HAFX an overkill for this system?

Should i not be buying aftermarket cooling -- is Noctua an overkill -- hoping to keep things as cool as possible for longevity?

Should I be looking at another PSU -- do I need less perhaps?
(Hoping to be able to expand the system with sli in the future perhaps tho)
(Will not be running many HDD no more than 3)

Playing WoW, BlackOps, CS:Source and hoping to expand into some of the coming titles. Photoshop work.

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Intel i7 2600K
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-2600K-Processor-Socket-LGA1155/dp/B004EBUXSA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295912947&sr=8-1

ASUS Sabertooth P67 or ASUS P8P67 Pro -- not sure which one would be better suited
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-P67-Supported-ATX-Motherboard-Sabertooth/dp/B004I8WD7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295912988&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Supported-ATX-Motherboard-P8P67-Pro/dp/B004FPYKOS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295913045&sr=1-3

Was thinking Sabertooth for 2x 16x PCI or am i just wrong?

Noctua NH-D14 Cooling or some other?
http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Heatpipe-Bearing-Cooler-NH-D14/dp/B002VKVZ1A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295913101&sr=1-1

CDRom/DVDRom -- not sure which to take sata i guess?

Some SATA system disk 7200rpm will upgrade to ssd in future

PNY GTX570 or PNY GTX580 -- 570 enough?
http://www.amazon.com/PNY-PCI-Express-Graphics-Output-VCGGTX570XPB/dp/B004FL04TM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295913313&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/PNY-GDDR5-PCI-Express-Graphics-VCGGTX580XPB/dp/B004B3BQ7S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295913347&sr=1-1

Corsair HW850X
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CMPSU-850HX-850-Watt-Professional-Certified/dp/B0029F21LA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295913376&sr=1-1

Mushkin 8GB kit (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz, CL9, PC3-12800, Blackline
Cant find link

Coolermaster HAF-X or Silverstone Fortress FT02
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Haf-Ultimate-Gaming-Chassis/dp/B003S68Q0Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1295913548&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Aluminum-Uni-Body-Computer-FT02B/dp/B0030MHEJK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295913578&sr=1-1
Cant decide between the two :S

Any tips or comments please?

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.amazon.com/PNY-GDDR5-PCI-Express-Graphics-VCGGTX580XPB/dp/B004B3BQ7S $499.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
PNY XLR8 GTX 580 1536 MB GDDR5 PCI-Express HDMI Graphics Card VCGGTX580XPB

I would say gtx 580 with that price point. Go with the Asus pro to save a few dollars...good board.

 

[dominionz]

I just purchased my sandy bridge build and will be getting the parts tomorrow. I already had 1 segate 1.5TB drive. Everything was bought from Newegg.com and with Tax (New Jersey) it came to $1,740. I use a 24" BenQ monitor running 1920x1200 and the OC'd 460 for $199 is a great price/performance pick. The ASUS Evo board is SLI ready in case U need to add another card. I went with the 2500k to save $100 since i don't do any photo/video editing and didn't need the hyperthreading. Most benchmarks had the 2500k beating the 2600k in games anyway. Don't know if Newegg is available to you but thought i'd give u an idea since i just purchased all this and it's similar to what you're lookin for.

NZXT Phantom Black
ASUS P8P6 EVO
i5-2500K
Megahalems Rev B with Noctua NF-S12B 120mm
EVGA GTX 460 SSC+
NZXT Hale90 750W 80+ Gold
G Skill Ripjaws X 8GB
Lite-On IHBS112 BD-R
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD
2- Seagate 1.5TB raid 0
1 WD Green 2TB

 

[exyeezee]

Is the size of HAFX an overkill for this system?

Should i not be buying aftermarket cooling -- is Noctua an overkill -- hoping to keep things as cool as possible for longevity?

Should I be looking at another PSU -- do I need less perhaps?

 

[exyeezee]

I just purchased my sandy bridge build and will be getting the parts tomorrow. I already had 1 segate 1.5TB drive. Everything was bought from Newegg.com and with Tax (New Jersey) it came to $1,740. I use a 24" BenQ monitor running 1920x1200 and the OC'd 460 for $199 is a great price/performance pick. The ASUS Evo board is SLI ready in case U need to add another card. I went with the 2500k to save $100 since i don't do any photo/video editing and didn't need the hyperthreading. Most benchmarks had the 2500k beating the 2600k in games anyway. Don't know if Newegg is available to you but thought i'd give u an idea since i just purchased all this and it's similar to what you're lookin for.

NZXT Phantom Black
ASUS P8P6 EVO
i5-2500K
Megahalems Rev B with Noctua NF-S12B 120mm
EVGA GTX 460 SSC+
NZXT Hale90 750W 80+ Gold
G Skill Ripjaws X 8GB
Lite-On IHBS112 BD-R
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD
2- Seagate 1.5TB raid 0
1 WD Green 2TB

Would you recommend 460 over 570 or 580?

Newegg not avail to me unfortunately so I dont have a big selection.

The Phantom looks good would you recommend that over Haf X and Silverstone Fortress ft02? Are those too big perhaps?

What benq 24" are you using?

Thanks for the reply

 

[dominionz]

I use the BenQ G2400W monitor. I bought it 2 years ago and was considered one of the best 24" monitors for gaming.

The NZXT Phantom is a full tower case which is pretty big. I currently have an Antec 900 case but decided on the Phantom because of the individual fan controls on top of case, the internal layout of the case (everything just plugs in), and the cable routing ability so the internals are nice and open. The Haf X and Fortress are both good cases. It all comes down to a matter of taste really.

I suggested the 460 mainly as bang for buck card. if you're going for raw performance then u can't go wrong with 570 or 580. I will prob be going SLI with my setup so i'll be adding another 460 but only if I have problems running games. The 460 can handle 1920x1200 pretty well stock and i'm using OC'd version.

 

[exyeezee]

Is the size of HAFX an overkill for this system?
Should I go for smaller PSU?

 

[Why_Me]

Is the size of HAFX an overkill for this system?
Should I go for smaller PSU?

It's big from all the reviews Iv'e read on that case.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RC-922M-KKN1-GP-Tower-Black/dp/B0026FCI2U/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1295982050&sr=1-1 <--- large case for half the price.

btw if your going to run dual vid cards, that 850w psu leaves you some head room.