Please HELP finalize my ~$1,500 Gaming Rig

[Casperjv]

Budget Range: ~$1,500.00 before rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (WoW, BF2, Mass Effect 2, future gaming)

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com, Tigerdirect.com + Fry's Electronics

Country of Origin: United States (California)

Parts Preferences: by brand or type : Preferably Nvidia for the GPU.
Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: SLI in 1-2 Years definately.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I want to be able to have a Mid-High level gaming PC that has room to upgrade in about 3-4 years. Appologize if you see some of the same parts from recently posted builds, i sorta chose what i liked from certain ones.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K.
Fry's Electronics: $219.99

MOBO: ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard.
Fry's Electronics: $219.99

or

ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard.
Fry's Electronics: $189.99

RAM: 8gb (2x4gb) DDR3-1600. (was thinking about the G.skill Ripjaw but they don't sell it at fry's so im willing to order it online. i was also thinking about the Corsair Vengeance. Any other suggestions here? would like lowest timing possible and price isn't too much of a factor here. I would like to keep two slots open for an additional 8gb in the future.
In-store or online: ~$90-$150 justifiable bang for its buck

GPU: EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Fry's Electronics: $339.99 ($299.99 after rebate)
-I know i should wait another month for the GTX 590 but im already having gaming withdrawals ever since my last rig died 24 hours ago.

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139022&Tpk=850 tx) $139.99

or

CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=850w hx )$164.99
-Do to you think 850w will be enough to run two GTX 570s in SLI in the future?


CASE: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Fry's Electronics: $89.99

HARD DRIVE(s): Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com: $87.99

and (maybe?)

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com: $124.99
- I can do without the SSD, but i'd like to have quicker access times and startups.

HEAT SINK: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7
Newegg.com: $34.99

Total (before rebates + taxes + shipping): $1,432.92 (assuming im spending $150 on ram)


I want to thank you all ahead of time for taking the time to view, comment this. I'm willing to trim the fat but would like this system have plenty of room to upgrade in a few years. Any input/additional info would be greatly appreciated! Let my know if i missed anything here including compatibility issues. thx!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

MoBo - Asus Sabertooth is great board which I can only echo from 2nd hand experience at this point however. I have not as yet had the pleasure since most of peeps I have built for have opted for the P8P67Pro or WS Revolution. I say, spend the $40 for the x16 x16 GFX lanes via that NF200 chip.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910.html

RAM - Ya said budget was $150, so buy the best CAS kit available.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2792/12

22.3 % fps increase in far Cry 2 moving down 2 notches from CL8 to CL6
18% single card / 5% SLI in Dawn of War
15% single card / 5% SLI in World in Conflict

CAS 7 low profile Mushkin Redline DDR3-1600 2 x 4GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226178

OK so I better start saving ya money cause at this point, I hit ya for $85

The Corsair TX is not the PSU for twin GFX and over clocking.....you'll want a bit more precise voltage control that comes with the HX. The HX is $145 tho and the XFX Black Edition 750 is every bit as fine a PSU as the HX (see jonnyguru.com reviews) and it saves you $35 ....OK so Im back to spending only $50 more of ya money

case - The 922 used to be one f my fav cases....bit it's old and out of date (i.e. no front USB 3 ports). But that's why it sells for only $90. The Antec 902 V3 fits the bill but $20 more ... Ok so I am $70 over now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

HD saves ya $23 here w/ the Spinpoint F3 ... down to $48 over ....wooo hoo !
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Cooler - Invest an extra $10 in teh Scythe Mugen 2 .... beats the 212 by 7C per BMR's tests .... $58 over

GPU - The 570 is not quite as hardy an overclocker as the 560 is.....fps totals from Guru3D. The reference 570 (see bolded line in table) gets 524 fps w/ a single card versus 873 in SLI at a cost of 64 cents a frame as single card and 77 cents per frame in SLI.

6850 (371/634) $0.42 - $0.49
6950 (479/751) $0.51 - $0.65
6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $0.59 - $0.75
560 Ti (455/792) $0.53 - $0.61
6970 (526/825) $0.64 - $0.81
560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $0.43 - $0.50
570 (524/873) $0.64 - $0.77
580 (616/953) $0.81 - $1.05
6990 (762/903) $0.95 - $1.61
590 (881/982) $0.79 - $1.43

For that $340 cost of the 570, you could spend $220 on a 900 MHz 560 Ti and have $120 left over. That 560 can be OC'd to 1000 MHz.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363

At this point if I have done my math right, you are $62 ahead of the game....but ya got some better stuff.

Or..... I have built 4 or 5 of these so far for my sons and kids in the neighborhood

Case - $160 - Antec DF-85 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087
PSU - $110 - Antec CP-850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371024
Case Fan - Later - Antec 120 mm Fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209006
MoBo - $390 - ASUS P8P67 Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.575884
CPU - incl above - Intel Core i5-2500K
Cooler - $40 - Scythe SCMG 2100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142
TIM - $6 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080
RAM - $99 - (2 x 4GB) Mushkin CAS 9 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226099
GFX - $320 - Asus GTX 570 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121412
GFX - Later Same
HD - $65 - Spinpoint F3 1 TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591429
SSD - Later - Vertex 3 120 GB
DVD Writer - $22 - Asus 24X DRW-24B3L w/ LS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135221

$1,457 as above ..... $1552 w/ WS Revolution instead

I have them OC'd to 4.4 - 4.5 (2500k) to 4.6 - 4.8 Ghz (2600k) ....can go higher but I don't wanna get blamed for toasting someone's box whom I have no control over once it leaves my work bench (aka dining room table)

 

[greenrider02]

I'm sorry to break it to you, but Socket 1155 isn't really on an upgrade path. If you're willing to deal with that, then anything you have listed there is a great choice!

 

[crewton]

Definitely yes on SSD!

I love the gskill ram and newegg.com offers plenty of 2x4gb sticks for 75-125 with free shipping.

With a single 1920 x 1080 monitor the gtx 570 will handle whatever you throw at it. You can easily go the 1-2 years before getting the second one or just wait for a 700 series to sli.

The psu I went with the 850HX. The modular cables are nice and 850W is what you need for 570s in sli.

 

[Casperjv]

Best answer selected by casperjv.