New Gaming Rig [750$-1000$]

[WeeFreeMen]

Good evening fine techies of the TomsHardware Forums,
I require your expertise yet again, after my current computer caught a nasty Virtumundo.dll followed by a very nasty Sys32 Virus I decided It was time to retire old Asland+. He served me well for over 5 years, however, its time to move onto bigger and better things. This is where you come in my fine friends.

Specifically, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed in the matters of GPU nVidea (570) vs. Radeon (6970) [Or any combination of SLI/CF there within) as well as SSD choices.
For clarity, could anyone recommending SSD choices PLEASE give reasons why it was picked? also, why you picked that size. Most games are 30GB~ So that leaves little space for a OS.
Details Spoiled for Size/Annoyance.

Spoiler

Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next Week.
Budget Range: 750-1000$ (After Rebates)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing, Media, WordProcessing
Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers, Display/Monitor
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg/TigerDirect
Country of Origin: USA/FL
Overclocking: Maybe- Only if extremely needed.
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe, if you can convince me with the numbers to back it up.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
Additional Comments: Noise isn't a huge factor, but as quiet as possible. I would LOVE a solid SSD. Also, the ability to Max out the following games would be awesome. Also, OS will be Win7; already purchased.
--------------
-Rift
-Portal 2
-BFBC 2/3
-Crysis 2
-TF2
-Vindictus
--------------

Current Ideas for Build

Spoiler

CPU - I was heavily considering the i7-950 series, however, upon reading a vast amount of forums they are saying the 930 is better IF overclocked. I would like to avoid OC tho seeing as Ive never done it before, also, the computer is on almost 24/7.
i7-950 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211&Tpk=i7%20950
Video Card :
EVGA - GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593&cm_re=gtx_570_evga-_-14-130-593-_-Product
vs.
Radeon HD 6970 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102915&cm_re=6970_radeon_hd-_-14-102-915-_-Product
Motherboard :
Of the 3 most popular, this is the one with the most consistent reviews and I trust the company. Still, feel free to input.
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128423&Tpk=Gigabyte%20GA-X58A-UD3R
Memory :
Here is where I start to be at a loss. I want to have 8GB minimum, however, I dont know which brands hold up anymore. Currently, I put G.Skill in my brothers computer and its holding up well. Still, please give input.
Hard Drive :
Ok, this is the major thing, I WANT,NEED, would LOVE a SSD. OCZ Vertex 3 series is nice in Price, but almost all reviews say they are dying VERY fast. So Id like to stay away from that, other SSDs are rediculous in price. Perhaps a SSD with just 60gb? 90gb? 120gb? I dont know, please lend me your insight.
Optical Drive:
Your choice.
Case: Antec 900 series has yet to disappoint me, however, Im open to suggestions.
Antec 900 Mid Tower : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021&cm_re=antec_900-_-11-129-021-_-Product
PSU: I really am at a loss here, my brother has a 650w Antec, however, upon looking for something I stumbled upon this. What do you guys think?
Antec High Current Gamer Series 900W : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371050&cm_re=antec_900-_-17-371-050-_-Product

tl;dr: Need a gaming computer for current and next years games, price of 750-1k.

 

[crewton]

I'd highly recommend you ditch the i7 900 series since the lga 1366 boards are now a legacy item and all future intel chips will be 1155 or 1365 or 2011 in the long future.

If you are looking to buy right now then you are going to want 1155. I'd recommend

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K $224.99

Yes, you'll need to OC but you'd need to do that with any processor The new motherboards are super easy to overclock and some even will overclock for you. All you really need to do is adjust the multiplier and bam overclocked.

motherboard: ASUS P8P67 PRO $179.99

Graphics Card: MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II $249.99

You can overclock the 560 ti to be on par with the 570 with less wattage and noise. Also MSI comes with MSI afterburner which is a great tool for overclocking graphic cards. This card will easily handle 1920 x 1080 on its own.

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB $99

PSU: CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W $164.99

850W allows for overclocking and adding an additional 560 ti down the road.

hard drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 $69.99

Those items alone put you at 1000ish. You can't get an SSD into a 1000 build without sacrificing elsewhere.

Edit: this is basically my build as well except I'm using a gigabyte board which isn't as user friendly. I can play Rift on Ultra, portal 2 and TF2 no sweat. Don't have crysis 2 though.

 

[Onus]

Ok, here's a build:

ASUS P8P67-M PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #: P8P67-M PRO (REV3.0)
Item #:N82E16813131707
$149.99 -$10.00 Instant $139.99
Has two PCIE slots which will run at x8,x8 if you want to run two GPUs later. You say you're not interesting in overclocking, so any limitations imposed by the micro-ATX design shouldn't be relevant. Has USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s.

Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52400
Model #: BX80623I52400
Item #:N82E16819115074
$189.99 $189.99
Not overclocking, you don't need a "K" version. If you check the benchmarks, you'll see this CPU is quite good. You could even cut it back a little to save a few $$ and likely sacrifice little gaming performance.

Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE ...
Model #: TP-650
Item #:N82E16817371021
$129.99 -$50.00 Instant $79.99
Very good deal on a PSU that has received excellent competent technical reviews. Can run two GPUs (and won't need adapters); modular, so until/unless you do, you won't have a rats nest of extra cables to hide.

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 120mm ...
Model #: DESTROYER
Item #:N82E16811147144
$59.99 -$10.00 Instant $49.99
I've liked every Rosewill case I've bought. The fans don't move a whole lot of air, but it's enough, and they're quiet.

Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #: ST3500413AS
Item #:N82E16822148701
$39.99 $39.99
For a gamer, 500GB is enough. When you want to add your photo / video collection, you can always get another drive.

Corsair Force CSSD-F90GB2-BRKT 2.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Model #: CSSD-F90GB2-BRKT
Item #:N82E16820233149
$189.99 -$10.00 Instant $179.99
90GB should give you plenty of space for your OS and a few games.

SPARKLE SX560T1024D5MH GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Model #:SX560T1024D5MH
Item #: N82E16814187136
$249.00 -$20.00 Instant $229.00
This will play all your games at very good settings; arbitrarily trying to "max" every game including outliers is either going to be very expensive or simply futile. You can add another one of these later if you need to.

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT
Model #: F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT
Item #:N82E16820231422
$79.99 $79.99
I've had good luck with the last few G.Skill sets I've bought, and this is cheap for 8GB. If you need to save money, cut it back to 4GB.

XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler bracket included I7 i5 775 1155 AMD and dual fan push pull compatible
Model #: GAIA SD1283
Item #:N82E16835233082
$29.99 $29.99
I know you won't be overclocking, but this cooler is cheap and will reduce noise, as the Intel stock cooler starts quiet but gets loud under load.

Subtotal: $1,018.92
Slightly over, but I think there are some rebates in there, if you play that game and win. I've also commented a few places where you can bring this down a little.

Edit: to remove smileys in model #s.

 

[Ogdin]

Crewtons machine looks good.Could save $59 by going with 4 gigs ram,unless your actually going to use some programs that make use of 8 gigs(highly doubtful).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

Could shave $55 by going with a 750 watt Corsair,more than enough juice to run all that and a second 560 if you added it later.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

That leaves you with 125 to spend on a ssd,and that will only get you a 64gb or smaller,which are worthless imo. I have at 80 gigs ssd now and would never want to use anything smaller than that.

 

[Ogdin]

jtt283's build looks even better,but again i'd drop to 4 gigs ram and use the 750 corsair.