New Rig about 2k

[BlazenDemon]

AMAZON

EVGA GTX 580 Superclocked $520
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 ordering on Amazon for free shipping
Antec 1200 V3 $160
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB $88

NEWEGG

Corsair 750W TX $110
Arctic Silver 5 $7
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB 2x4gb $100
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz $330

Missing: Motherboard

Other: Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers

Z-5500 $349 (Newegg)
Logitech G110 Keyboard $65 (Newegg)
Logitech MX 518 Mouse $37 (Amazon)
ASUS VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED $190 (Newegg)



Newegg Total Cost: 1231.50
Amazon Total Cost: 824

ALL ITEMS SHIP FREE




This adds to be about $2,050 (7% NJ Sales tax included [Only applies to Newegg]) right now and now im just waiting on the 1155 MBs to be re-released so i can add it to the bill and order most likely will be an ASUS mobo.

What do you guys think of this build? I'm open for any suggestions that may cut down the price with little to no performance hit especially the GPU im up for suggestions on that but SB CPU stays for sure im sure anyone else would agree =D

 

[MadAdmiral]

First, you can switch the WD HDD for a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB. The speed is very similar, but the F3 is about $35-40 cheaper. The WD is a SATA III drive with 500 GB platters, but SATA III does nothing for mechancial drives. There is no reason to pay such a high premium a SATA III mechanical drive.

Second, if you're just using this for gaming, you could drop the i7-2600K to an i5-2500K. The main benefit of the i7 is that it has hyperthreading, which isn't used in gaming. The i5 can get a higher clock speed, which is more important. Plus, you'd save $105 on that part alone.

Third, drop the Artic Silver. It's unnecessary, especially since you don't have an aftermarket HSF in there. Even if you did, the difference thermal compound makes is so little, it's not worth the added cost. I would suggest getting an aftermarket HSF though. Check out either the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus (about $30) or Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (SCMG-2100, about $40).

Fourth, I don't know if you're considering SLI in the future or not, but if you are, you need to up that PSU to 850W. If you're not, you can lower it to 650W. If you go up to 850W, the Corsair 850TX is the cheapest quality unit at $110 after rebate. If you go down to 650W, the XFX 650W is the cheapest at $65 after rebate (assuming you get free shipping, not that the items you've picked get free shipping, otherwise it's the Corsair 650TX).

Fifth, the case is pretty expensive. It's a good one, but the HAF 932 or HAF 922 have better performance at $40 and $60 cheaper respectively. Of course, they're pretty ugly looking. You could also check out the Antec 900 (original or V3). They're a smaller version of the 1200, but would still fit the GTX 580.

Finally, for a motherboard, I'd wait for the revisions to come out. However, I'd look at the new version of the ASRock P67 Extreme4 or Asus P8P67 Pro if you want to SLI later. If you don't, I don't have a good recommendation, simply because I can't go looking for the boards.

 

[binoyski]

At least pair your great speakers w/ a great soundcard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132018

 

[MadAdmiral]

^You don't need a sound card. Onboard audio is already superb. Unless you're an absolute audiophile, you'd never be able to tell the difference. There's certainly no reason to waste $280 on it. I would try the onboard audio before even considering adding a sound card. If you can actually hear a difference, then consider a $100 card. I wouldn't spend more than that on a sound card.

 

[Why_Me]

Trying to run dual 580's on a 750w psu is rolling the dice...if that's your intention. Like MacAdmiral pointed out...go down to a 650w psu or go up to a 850w if you plan on running two of them...and even a 1000w if you want to o/c on top of that. Seeing how you don't have an after market cpu h/s, I'm guessing you don't plan on o/c....so no need for a "K" series chip. And if this is suppose to be a gaming build, no real need for an i7, a i5 2500 will do you just fine. $350 for a sound system seems a bit steep imo. If I had that budget...I think I would do something like this down below.

Dual 560's instead of a single 580...for the fact dual 560's in SLI > single 580...not to mention by the time if and ever you do decide to add another 580 for SLI chances are that card will be obsolete by then with faster and lower power consumption vid cards. The gtx 560 runs on a newer chip set than the 570 and 580, it runs cooler, and consumes less power. A 750w will easily push two of those cards and leave you plenty of juice to spare. btw CM 212+ h/s down below comes with decent thermal paste included.

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/article/1000116#axzz1EOA0WguH <--- detailed and in depth review of that mother board

http://www.asrock.com/MB/download.asp?Model=P67%20Extreme4&o=BIOS <---- get the latest bios for that board here

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-560-ti-sli-review/1 <--- review/benchmarks gtx 560 in SLI *The cards in that review are @ stock settings, unlike the card down below in this build which is factory over clocked.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097 <--- More info on that Antec case down below.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004ALI5KC/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1298400222&sr=1-16&condition=new $119.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver
Antec Mid-Tower Gaming Case Nine Hundred Two V3

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Truepower-TP-750-BLUE-Management/dp/B001RTPMM4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1298395469&sr=1-1 $89.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Antec Truepower 23754 TP-750 BLUE LED 750-Watt PSU NVIDIA SLI Certified 80 Plus Bronze Advanced Hybrid Cable Management Power Supply

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P67%20Extreme4 $155 @ newegg
ASRock P67 Extreme4

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Universal-Heat-Pipe/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1298396254&sr=1-1 $28.43 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plus

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR

http://www.amazon.com/Lite--LightScribe-Layer-Drive-IHAS424-98/dp/B002SIMPXM/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1298398260&sr=1-1 $23.99 Free Standard Shipping (3-5 days)
Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N560GTX-Twin-Frozr-IIOC/dp/B004JLNZXU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298395316&sr=1-1 $249.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
MSI GeForce GTX 560 1 GB DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x 16 Graphics Card N560GTX Ti Twin Frozr IIOC

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-N560GTX-Twin-Frozr-IIOC/dp/B004JLNZXU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298395316&sr=1-1 $249.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
MSI GeForce GTX 560 1 GB DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x 16 Graphics Card N560GTX Ti Twin Frozr IIOC

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-Cache-Desktop-HD103SJ/dp/B001U3S5S0/ref=sr_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1298395203&sr=1-1 $64.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Samsung 1 TB Spinpoint 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.5 inch Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive HD103SJ

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-THX-Certified-Speaker-System-Z623/dp/B003VAHYTG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298396865&sr=8-2 $119.30 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Logitech THX-Certified Speaker System Z623

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-920-002232-Gaming-Keyboard-G110/dp/B002RRLQIO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298398508&sr=8-1 $64.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Logitech Gaming Keyboard G110

*** 120mhz gaming monitor worth taking a look at...

http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-XL2410T-23-6-Inch-Monitor-Backlight/dp/B004AKFRZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298397706&sr=8-1 $469.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
BenQ XL2410T 23.6-Inch Monitor with LED Backlight - Black

http://shop.benq.us/ProductDetail.aspx?id=56 $469.99 Free Ground Shipping Add Promo code "Thankyou11" for 10% off
BenQ LCD XL2410T BLACK 23.6W LED monitor 120HZ 3D 2ms D-sub + DVI + HDMI

http://www.benq.us/products/product_detail.cfm?product=1775 <---- more on that monitor

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/benq_xl2410t.htm <--- detailed and in depth review of that monitor

 

[BlazenDemon]

Thanks for the information!

I guess i will probably get the i5 2500k considering i don't do anything aside from gaming and web surfing and I have heard that HT can cause some trouble in games at times.

As for the GTX560 sli suggestion i looked into it and i think i'll go with a Corsair 850w psu and stick with getting a GTX 580 with intentions to sli later. Perhaps while i wait for the 1155 boards to be released again the GTX 590 will hit the market and the 580 will drop in price if only $30 or so its still something.

I do intend to OC the CPU to at least 4ghz on air and I'm concerned whether or not the suggested Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plus heatsink will fit the 1155 socket since it only says that it supports 775/1156/1366/AMD/AM2/AM3 sockets or am i missing something here?

Lastly few things i want to mention is i'm definitely no audiophile so i dont need a soundcard lol my current rig is coming up to 3 yrs old and im happy with the music quality especially when im using the G930 headset.

The suggested Z623 logitech speakers are a replacement of the Z-2300 and unfortunately they're of lesser quality, but i'll still stick with my choice of the Z-5500

The BenQ XL2410T 23.6 monitor i'll pass on since i have no interest in spending so much for a computer monitor especially one that has 3d which i hardly care for and see as just a gimmick.

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks for the information!

I guess i will probably get the i5 2500k considering i don't do anything aside from gaming and web surfing and I have heard that HT can cause some trouble in games at times.

As for the GTX560 sli suggestion i looked into it and i think i'll go with a Corsair 850w psu and stick with getting a GTX 580 with intentions to sli later. Perhaps while i wait for the 1155 boards to be released again the GTX 590 will hit the market and the 580 will drop in price if only $30 or so its still something.

I do intend to OC the CPU to at least 4ghz on air and I'm concerned whether or not the suggested Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plus heatsink will fit the 1155 socket since it only says that it supports 775/1156/1366/AMD/AM2/AM3 sockets or am i missing something here?

Lastly few things i want to mention is i'm definitely no audiophile so i dont need a soundcard lol my current rig is coming up to 3 yrs old and im happy with the music quality especially when im using the G930 headset.

The suggested Z623 logitech speakers are a replacement of the Z-2300 and unfortunately they're of lesser quality, but i'll still stick with my choice of the Z-5500

The BenQ XL2410T 23.6 monitor i'll pass on since i have no interest in spending so much for a computer monitor especially one that has 3d which i hardly care for and see as just a gimmick.

The 1156 h/s fit the 1155 boards...like that CM 212+ I posted. I would go with the G.Skill sniper RAM I posted for the fact those cake cutter h/s on the newer Ripjaws tend to get in the way of larger cpu h/s.

On the monitor...I don't know anyone that uses 3d. What makes that monitor a gaming monitor is the 120mhz refresh rate amongst some other goodies that monitor provides. If someone is going to build a gaming rig around dual 580's in SLI... I would think the refresh rate would be something to look into ...especially seeing how your going to put out $350 on a sound system.

 

[MadAdmiral]

I don't really like the SLI 460 idea. I know it offers more raw FPS, but I always try to balance it with future performance. If you start a build with a dual card solution, you lock yourself out of an upgrade path. In 3-4 years time, that dual card solution is going to start showing it's age. In order to get a sizeable improvement in performance, you'd easily spend another $500+ on either a single massive GPU or two smaller cards (which might require a new PSU as well). However, if you started with a single card with the option to add a second, in 3-4 years you'd be able to go out and get a second older card for not much added cost (I'd guess $250). That small investment would give you a 60-75% performance boost. Buying the newer GPU(s) for $500+ certainly wouldn't give you that much added performance.

I'm fairly certain the Hyper will support the LGA1155 socket. It's basically the same as the LGA1156, and numerous other LGA1156 coolers had their listings updated to include the LGA1155. I suspect they just haven't got around to it yet.

@Why_Me: A higher refresh rate than the standard 60 Hz isn't important if you're not using 3D. The human eye can only see a maximum of 60 FPS, making anything above that utterly wasted. Why spend the extra amount to buy something you physically won't be able to use?

 

[BlazenDemon]

Oh alright then yeah i'll probably grab that heatsink as well as add another 120mm fan to it to push the air quicker

About the monitor does a 120hz refresh rate really make a huge difference? I have a 2007 dell monitor that is at 1680x1050 resolution at a 60hz refresh rate and i feel comfortable with it.

 

[Why_Me]

I don't really like the SLI 460 idea. I know it offers more raw FPS, but I always try to balance it with future performance. If you start a build with a dual card solution, you lock yourself out of an upgrade path. In 3-4 years time, that dual card solution is going to start showing it's age. In order to get a sizeable improvement in performance, you'd easily spend another $500+ on either a single massive GPU or two smaller cards (which might require a new PSU as well). However, if you started with a single card with the option to add a second, in 3-4 years you'd be able to go out and get a second older card for not much added cost (I'd guess $250). That small investment would give you a 60-75% performance boost. Buying the newer GPU(s) for $500+ certainly wouldn't give you that much added performance.

I'm fairly certain the Hyper will support the LGA1155 socket. It's basically the same as the LGA1156, and numerous other LGA1156 coolers had their listings updated to include the LGA1155. I suspect they just haven't got around to it yet.

@Why_Me: A higher refresh rate than the standard 60 Hz isn't important if you're not using 3D. The human eye can only see a maximum of 60 FPS, making anything above that utterly wasted. Why spend the extra amount to buy something you physically won't be able to use?

In regards to adding a duplicate 580 for SLI 3-4 years down the road...that's simple. I would say less than 10% of peeps planning on adding a second card that far down the road actually do so. And here's why. Look at the cards 3-4 years ago...the gtx 275's, gtx 260's...great cards btw, but they are totally outdated. Neither of those cards support DX11, they can't compete with the cards these days in any aspect of the game. Get the SLI out of the way now, ebay those cards 3-4 years down the road (chances are it's going to be a complete new build by then anyways), and get on with whatever is out there atm.

Human eye in regards to the refresh rate...well from what Iv'e experienced... a 120mhz refresh rate makes the game that much smoother...at least in regards to FPS games. I can't say it would make much of a difference if any in regards to a RPG like WoW, but for FPS...it's smooth as butter.

 

[BlazenDemon]

In regards to adding a duplicate 580 for SLI 3-4 years down the road...that's simple. I would say less than 10% of peeps planning on adding a second card that far down the road actually do so. And here's why. Look at the cards 3-4 years ago...the gtx 275's, gtx 260's...great cards btw, but they are totally outdated. Neither of those cards support DX11, they can't compete with the cards these days in any aspect of the game. Get the SLI out of the way now, ebay those cards 3-4 years down the road (chances are it's going to be a complete new build by then anyways), and get on with whatever is out there atm.

Human eye in regards to the refresh rate...well from what Iv'e experienced... a 120mhz refresh rate makes the game that much smoother...at least in regards to FPS games. I can't say it would make much of a difference if any in regards to a RPG like WoW, but for FPS...it's smooth as butter.

So you suggest to just get a single 580 with no intention to SLI 3-4years down the road and to just build a new rig instead?

 

[Why_Me]

So you suggest to just get a single 580 with no intention to SLI 3-4years down the road and to just build a new rig instead?

It depends on how often you updated/new build. For me...3 years seems to be the usual. Three years ago the i7 920 came out and it was the best thing since sliced bread. It mopped the floor with everything out there...and it's still a good chip. But with technology going faster than ever... I mean take these Sandy Bridge cpu's for example. Nothing out there touches them. 3 years before the i7 920 it was the Intel 775's q6600 was the biggy then..and now it's hamburger. New games require more.

Now dual 560's > single 580. Look at the link to the benchmarks I posted...or google them.

As far as power requirements go (o/c, extra drives down the road, etc..)...I do my builds in this order...

dual 560's = 750w psu

dual 570's = 850w psu

dual 580's = 1000w psu

I posted a good 750 psu for $90 & free shipping @ amazon

dual factory o/c 560's for $250 each & free shipping @ amazon

So for less than $600 you get a killer SLI set up.

 

[MadAdmiral]

No, Why's suggesting you blow all the budget on a SLI system now, and then throw it away in 3-4 years. As much as people like to talk about resale value, it's basically non-existent. How many 3-4 year old parts do you see selling for a decent amount now? Even one year old parts are selling for a fraction of the cost that they were new. Just look at the price history for the GTX 460. It's about a year old. It was $200 new when it was release. It's now around $150 brand new. That's a 25% price decrease for a new part, and that's without a major release in it's price range. If you were to try to sell one used, I wouldn't expect to get more than $120 for it. That would put the resale value at 60% of what you bought it for one year earlier.

As for the older, non-DX 11 cards being "outdated", I disagree. DirectX 11 is by no means a requirement for gaming. Any game that uses DX 11 has options to play it with DX 10 or even DX 9. DX 11 isn't mainstream yet, and it's nearly two years old. I'd say it's at least 1 more year from being mainstream, and then it's probably 2 more years from needing to be replaced. So, 3 years down the road, DX 12 will be relased. It'll take that another 3 years to become mainstream. So 6 years down the line, you'll need a new generation GPU.

You don't need a 1000W PSU for SLI GTX 580. You need 850W.

And the upgrade path for GPU is completely different than what Intel pushes for their CPUs. They release a new socket with every new series (Core 2, Core i5, Core i7, Sandy Bridge). They want to force you to upgrade the motherboards. GPUs are easily interchangable, and the only thing that really cahnges significantly is the overall power. It's not like there are huge shifts in the technology from one generation to the next that locks people out from an upgrade.

 

[BlazenDemon]

It depends on how often you updated/new build. For me...3 years seems to be the usual. Three years ago the i7 920 came out and it was the best thing since sliced bread. It mopped the floor with everything out there...and it's still a good chip. But with technology going faster than ever... I mean take these Sandy Bridge cpu's for example. Nothing out there touches them. 3 years before the i7 920 it was the Intel 775's q6600 was the biggy then..and now it's hamburger. New games require more.

Now dual 560's > single 580. Look at the link to the benchmarks I posted...or google them.

As far as power requirements go (o/c, extra drives down the road, etc..)...I do my builds in this order...

dual 560's = 750w psu

dual 570's = 850w psu

dual 580's = 1000w psu

I posted a good 750 psu for $90 & free shipping @ amazon

dual factory o/c 560's for $250 each & free shipping @ amazon

So for less than $600 you get a killer SLI set up.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-sli-review/14

Dual 580 will be fine with 750watt PSU but to play it safe 850W would be better and still leave some head room so idk why 1k watts is your recommendation

 

[MadAdmiral]

^Also, high quality PSUs can produce a lot more wattage than they actually state. It wouldn't be rare that a high quality 850W could pump out closer to 950W of power before it begins to struggle.

 

[BlazenDemon]

Alright well i think that just about wraps everything up i'll be going with a 850 corsair psu incase i want to sli for the future and the i5 2500k. I just need help with finding a good 120mm fan to attach to the 212 heatsink that is in roughly equal power to the one that comes already attached to the heatsink

 

[BlazenDemon]

Best answer selected by BlazenDemon.

 

[DarkMantle]

Check out this if you are looking for a good 120mm fan:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/120mm-fan-roundup-1.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/120mm-fan-roundup-2.html

 

[JackNaylorPE]

1. The 1200's essentially been replaced by the DF-85. Adds a load of new features (I've built several boxes with both) but the most valuable ones are:

a) cleaning air filters is 8 minutes in 1200, 8 seconds in DF-85
b) Hit swap drive bay.
c) Fleet swap drive bays.

2. The TX750 is a 2nd tier unit. It gets an 8.5 Performance rating on jonnyguru.com

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=73

Does the TX750 V2 do any better .... hard to tell .... Both the TX850 and the TX850 V 2 got the exact same performance score (9.5). If the TX750 V2 manages to match the 9.5, I'd be comfy using it.

But it can not handle adding a 2nd 580 in the future. With twin GFX and overclocking, you'll want a 1st tier unit. One option to consider would be getting a 570 in lieu of the 580, adding a 2nd 570 could be handled by a 850 watter. Also note that both the 1200 and DF-85 are designed for CPX power supplies, though they will accept standard ATX power supplies with the provided adapter back plate. With twin 570's, a CP-850 would be the ideal choice. It's a 10.0 performance rated PSU per jonnyguru.

If ya stick with the 580, adding a 2nd one later on would boot you up to a 950 - 1000 watter. Most readily available quality choices are

Corsair HX1000
Corsair AX1200
Antec CP-1000
Antec HCP-1200

2. Skip th AS5 and get something that doesn't take 200 hours to cure. Shin Etsu gets the exact same performance results but curing time is minutes.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=12

Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Thermal Compound (4) Polysynthetic Silver Low / Thin 37.55°C A+
Shin-Etsu MicroSi G751 (0) Aluminum Oxide Moderate 37.55°C A+

(0) No Curing Time or Special Application Suggested
(4) Arctic Silver 5 Application Instructions (up to 200-hours recommended curing time)

You have a TIM, bit no heat sink to put it on. Pick one:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=447&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=15

Or if ya into the new self contained wc units, this review compares the latest ones.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=694&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=5

I used to buy same KB / Mouse combo when peeps didn't want the G series gaming stuff....mnow getting this:

Keyboard - $65 - Logitech G110 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126087
Mouse - $53 - Logitech G500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104318

For years now, every 6 - 8 weeks ..... the Z-5500's go on sale at Dell for insane prices .... I never paid more than $225 per set ... bought about 8, 3 of which are at home.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/desktop-hardware/124512-dell-has-logitech-z-5500-203-free-shipping.html

http://www.dealoverflow.com/peripherals/logitech-z-5500-speaker-system-220-dell/

http://www.overclock.net/sound-cards-computer-audio/346806-dell-has-sale-z-5500-a.html

Finally for the MoBo ..... logical choice is the Asus P8P67 pro .... but if you are considering a 2nd 580 down the road as a means of extending system life another 1.5 - 2.0 years, then I'd consider the Asus WS revolution which will garner and extra 2 - 4 % in speed due to its NH200 chipset allowing both GFX slots to operate at x16 x16 instead of x8 x8.

 

[MadAdmiral]

1. I don't think there's much difference personally. Cleaning time for the filters is pretty much irrelevant. Sure, you might need to open up the 1200 to take them out, but then you have an excuse to blow out the rest of the case, so it keeps everything cleaner. Hot swap bays and the like are only really useful if you swap HDDs a lot. If you don't, there is no point to them.

2. We've already covered this. You don't need a 1000W from dual 580s. A system using dual 580s peaks at 719W of usage (Blazen's graph), so an 850W leaves an extra 131W of headroom already, plus whatever the PSU can actually supply over that (likely another 100W). Why would you ever need 381W of headroom? That's just wasted efficiency and capacity. You're probably thinking of the GTX 480, which does practically require a 1000W. Also, no one was talking about the 750TX, only the 850TX.

3. (your second 2) I personally don't see the value in thermal paste. The stuff included with heatsinks is pretty good already, so it's not worth the added cost to invest in aftermarket crap.

As for the motherboards, 16x/16x means absolutely nothing. Unless you're using the HD 5970 in Crossfire, you won't notice any difference. The very low performance gain (2-4%) from going to 8x/8x to 16x/16x translates to 1-2 FPS. It's not worth spending an extra $70 to get a 16x/16x board.

 

[BlazenDemon]

Check out this if you are looking for a good 120mm fan:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/120mm-fan-roundup-1.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/120mm-fan-roundup-2.html

jesus christ lol i didnt need a rocket science breakdown on 120mm fans xD just asking for some recommended and positively reviewed fans that will work well with the 212 heatsink =)