My First Build, Please Make Recommendation/ Rate

[rm - ottawa]

This is my first ever build. I have come up with the following list, whch I am ready to purchase, if it passes the Tom's Hardware seal of approval

Are there any modifications or suggestions that would improve my build? My main concerns are with the monitor being ideal or not, the asus mobo being as good as the rest of the competition i.e. gigabyte ud7 or maximus 4 extreme. Also is HAF-X a good case? Finally, I kind of randomly chose he 2nd hard drive and optical drive

May 2011

Processor - Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
MOBO - ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) ATX Intel Motherboard
Monitor - Acer GD235HZbid Black/orange 23.6" 2ms Widescreen 1080p 120Hz 3D LCD Monitor
GPU's - (Quantity 2) EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 015-P3-1582-AR Video Card
PSU - CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 1200W Power Supply
CASE - COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
RAM - (Quantity 2) G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
COOLING - CORSAIR Hydro H70 CWCH70 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
MAIN HD -OCZ Vertex 3 Series – MAX IOPS Edition VTX3MI-25SAT3-120G 2.5" MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
2nd HD - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3R 1TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE - LG Black 10X Blu-ray Burner - Bulk SATA WH10LS30 LightScribe Support

 

[rm - ottawa]

Am I on the right track?

 

[Outlander_04]

Read some reviews of the cpu ooler . Plenty of air coolers do better and quieter

and you want 16 gig of RAM? What are you doing with it? Designing the continent of AFRICA ?

 

[cobra5000]

Read some reviews of the cpu ooler . Plenty of air coolers do better and quieter

and you want 16 gig of RAM? What are you doing with it? Designing the continent of AFRICA ?

Why not, RAM is cheap right now and he is obviously going for near uber-rig status (2x 580's). Drop 1k just on vids and skimp with a measly 4 GB RAM, i think not!

 

[rm - ottawa]

Thanks Outlander, I will consider better coolers.

Is there good value in my build? f anyone has any insights or recommendations, I would like to purchase parts within the next day or two.

 

[ererr10]

H70 gets decent marks, and upgrading the fans, which is quite cheap, can reduce the noise by a huge amount

 

[aznshinobi]

No need for that motherboard when a $180 can bench the same as the $220+ boards. I suggest the MSI P67A-GD65.
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/03/03/asus_p8p67_deluxe_motherboard_review/6

MSI P67A-GD65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574
Review:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/01/03/msi_p67agd65_lga1155_chipset_motherboard_review/6

You don't need 16GB AT ALL. 4GB is enough to do anything. And Video Editing and Photo editing at most requires 8GB, same with programming. Gaming doesn't require more than 4GB. So 8GB and save $100.

Drop the H70, it can barely compete with a Hyper 212+. You'll save $65 and still have the same performance practically.
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0%3FSubscriptionId%3D19BAZMZQFZJ6G2QYGCG2%26tag%3Dsquid1240995-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB002G1YPH0
Review: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/corsair_hydro_h70_liquid-cooling_system_review

It beats it by 6*C but easily you can buy 2 Scythe Slipstreams for $10 each, still save $45. And have practically the same performance. The H70 just is overpriced, defiantly not worth the Price/Perf.

I highly doubt you'll need SLI 580, even CF 6950's, but if you want to spend that much, be my guest. Going CF 6950 or SLI 560 Ti would save you $400 at least. The 6950 CF can get to the 6970 CF performance and the 560 Ti SLI can get to the 570 SLI performance.

 

[rm - ottawa]

Is it worth it to wait for the new 2011 mobos to come out? What about that new Z68 chipset?

If yall can help me with the recommendations to my list, I'll gladly post up all the pics I just need to get the parts down, and I'm a rookie.

Thanks

 

[Outlander_04]

Why not, RAM is cheap right now and he is obviously going for near uber-rig status (2x 580's). Drop 1k just on vids and skimp with a measly 4 GB RAM, i think not!

I can take a bucket of $10 bills outside and set fire to it too

but I dont

because its a dumb idea



Still Im capable of learning , so my challenge to you would be to find a benchmark showing a performance gain in gaming from using 16 gig of RAM

 

[aznshinobi]

ottawa, we did just help you....

Waiting for Z68 is smarter.

 

[rm - ottawa]

Hmm. What do you think is the best 3d vision enabled monitor out there? And are they good monitors overall, or is it non-sensical compared to IPS?

Thx

 

[rm - ottawa]

I may have to opt with the AW2310. I have just decided that it is better than the Acer and I don't think the new FPS monitor from BenQ is better than AW at this point. What do you guys think?

 

[rm - ottawa]

.

 

[rm - ottawa]

Does a Z68 board mean 2011 mobo? I am that newb I need the 101

 

[aznshinobi]

Z68 is replacement for X58. It's the enthusiast version P67 sporting 22nm (That is a fabrication process).

 

[rm - ottawa]

Any Z68 board in particular we should be looking out for? I heard Taiwan is shipping upwards of 400,000 boards later this month. I want to get the one with the most ammenities!

 

[brpeden82]

here a z68


http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=344431&CatId=7212