First new comp in a while

[gamingcomp]

Thank you very much to anybody who reads this post and responds, I really appreciate it.

Approximate Purchase Date: In the next day or two

Budget Range: $1250ish

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming with a little bit of school

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Headset (speakers), Monitor, Case

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Tigetdirect

Country of Origin: USA!

Parts Preferences: i7 2600k, not 100% on motherboard but I've been looking at the Asus P8P67 Deluxe and a GeForce GTX 560 Ti but I'm not sure which manufacturer makes the best card.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, I already have one Samsung PX2370

Additional Comments: One of my questions is whether of not I need a sound card and if it even makes a difference anymore. I'll use my Logitech G35 headset 99% of the time, though I was thinking about getting some speakers at some point. I have no idea what good gaming RAM is like and I want to know what good cooling is for the RAM and CPU because I do plan on OCing.

 

[Proximon]

You don't need a sound card.

At that price range I would do it this way though:

■ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
■Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5 GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video ...
■CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active ...
■MASSCOOL G751 Shin-Etsu Thermal Interface Material
■G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR
■Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
■XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler bracket included I7 i5 775 1155 AMD and dual fan push pull compatible
■Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
■ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
TOTAL: $1,229.11

 

[geekapproved]

For what you do you don't need hyperthreading so save $100 and put it elsewhere.

4GB of ram would be sufficent as well, you could save $35-50 there.

I'm also sure that Xigmatek comes with thermal paste, so you don't need to buy it extra.

Personally I would recommend a 1tb Samsung or Western Digital Black over a Seagate, it's all YOUR personal choice though.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

for the same price as the Gaia, I'd suggest the Thermaltake Frio, which is a top-5 cooler at Frostytech

 

[Proximon]

Frio is a lot more, but it's offset a bit because it comes with good paste.

GA, there is actually quite a bit of difference in pastes, or can be. There have been some good tests lately:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermal-interface-roundup-2.html

 

[geekapproved]

for the same price as the Gaia, I'd suggest the Thermaltake Frio, which is a top-5 cooler at Frostytech

Frostytech, LOL.

I would rather get advice from a 4 yr old than Frostytech.

 

[geekapproved]

Frio is a lot more, but it's offset a bit because it comes with good paste.

GA, there is actually quite a bit of difference in pastes, or can be. There have been some good tests lately:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermal-interface-roundup-2.html

Exactly right and exactly why Frostytech is a complete joke. They use the same thermal paste for every cooler they test, instead of the paste that comes with the cooler. Which negates any advantage a company might have. I prefer TX3 but if you buy a good cooler, it usually comes with decent, tested stuff on it. They are not going to put a paste on their product that sucks.

If Frostytech had MY companies cooler on their site, I would sue them for misrepresentation.