High end Intel Gaming Rig. Everything Looking Good?

[akondray]

So I'm building a computer for my brother. I currently use a custom built higher end AMD rig that I absolutely love. His budget is slightly higher than mine was so I went for an intel build and added a few other bells and whistles. Mostly I just want to make sure I'm not messing up anywhere huge with this (as in getting parts that aren't compatible or won't fit with my case/motherboard). But naturally any other advice is greatly appreciated.


Case NEW
Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

HD
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

SSD NEW
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227726

Memory NEW
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

Motherboard
ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729

CPU NEW
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

GPU NEW
2 x SAPPHIRE FleX 100312FLEX Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102929
(^ NOTE I'M GOING TO CROSSFIRE 2^)

Drive]
Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039

PSU NEW
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
(Still 750w but I assume with the lower processor and graphics cards that I DO NOT plan on overclocking it will be fine?)

 

[gkay09]

^ When are you planning to buy the PC ? Also I would suggest a 800W+ PSU , not that 750W would be less, but having an 800W+ PSU will give you some headroom for overclocking,...

And what monitor setup are you going with ??? Even for 2500X1600, HD 6950s also would suffice,...

 

[akondray]

Hopefully ordering it this week. Any reason I should wait? I was thinking about the 6950s, but he has money to spend and I wanted to get him something he wont have to even think about upgrading for quite some time. I don't plan on overclocking at all as he knows nothing about overclocking and come September I'll be back at school and unable to help him should something go wrong.

 

[gkay09]

^ Well instead on 2x 6970s, go with 6950s and with the money saved, get a bigger SSD,... but its your call though,...

Some suggestions and combos,...
i7 + Mobo + Free game
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.657879

RAM - How about one with blue heatspreader...
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

CASE - I would suggest this one -
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K63
- All Black interiors
- USB3.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112320

PSU + HDD
Corsair 750TX V2 + Samsung F3 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.668399

SSD
OCZ Agility 120GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227726

 

[subasteve5800]

Save your brother some money and go with the i5-2500K (or even just a regular 2500 if you are absolutely sure he isn't going to overclock). Unless he does professional video work, he'll never know the difference.

Also, +1 to the 800W+ PSU. A 750w PSU is the absolute minimum I'd consider with crossfired 6970s and I always like a little bit of breathing room for when the PSU gets older.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Case - I'd upgrade to the 902 V3 ... 900 has no front USB 3 port. + $40

SSD - 410 Mbps Read / 95 write is a bit paltry compared to current generation 550 read / 500 write speeds. Also, 64 GB fills up fast ...suggest 120 GB

RAM - Save $15 for same spec RAM and lower profile to boot.

GFX - What resolution ?

-$700 for twin 6970s will garners 825 fps in Crossfire summing up all the games in Guru3d's test suite* @ 1920 x 1200.

-$440 for twin 560 Ti's (900Mhz) will garners 862 fps in Crossfire summing up all the games in Guru3d's test suite* @ 1920 x 1200.

*Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Yes, you will find sites that differ in their recommendations but I tend to avoid sites that keep changing the games in their test suites or change their price categories each month so they can recommend favored vendors. Guru3D has a nice cross section of games and doesn't change them often.

While I'd take the 6970's at 2560 x 1600, at 1920 x 1200 the 6070's give you 4.5 % less frames for 59% more money.

PSU - The TP New is a decent series. It garners a 9.5 rating on jonnyguru .... but it's $130

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=140

The XFX Core Edition 750 also gets a 9.5 performance rating from jonny but it's $100, saving ya $30

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207015&cm_re=XFX_Core-_-17-207-015-_-Product

In the end, with the case upgrade and other changes, you'll save $265 .... which will more than pay for a bigger / faster SSD

 

[megamanx00]

Looks good to me. Sure the 2500K is definitely a better value proposition, but if you want the 2600k and can afford it then go for it. As stated previously you could save some money by going with 6950s and trying to unlock them, but of course there is no guarantee that you will be able to do so, so it's something of a risk. The PSU is fine, though if you're going to do any volt modding you may want something a bit better.

 

[chesteracorgi]

I agree with the other posts, go with an 800W + PSU, a larger SSD, and save a bit on the CPU with the i5 2500K. JackNaylor has a point in the GPU performance, but the caution is that not all games perform the same in Xfire/SLI as on a single GPU. Is your brother using multiple monitors? Does he want surround or 3D display?

It would help to know what games he plays to give a better recommendation.

 

[ko888]

The Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue 750W, Corsair 750TX V2 and XFX Core Edition 750 are all made by Seasonic and all have a +12 Volt current rating of 62 Amps and are more than sufficient for your planned system.

In real world gaming the 2-way CrossFired Radeon HD 6970 graphics cards alone will draw up to 32 Amps.

The only time that the 2-way CrossFired Radeon HD 6970 graphics cards will draw more than 32 Amps from the +12 Volt rails is when you run synthetic benchmarks like Furmark which will increase the current draw to 42 Amps. Even then all three of the power supplies are actually capable of delivering more power than specified on their label (i.e. the power supplies are over-engineered).

Buying a power supply based on wattage alone is the wrong approach.

 

[akondray]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I've updated the original post with new specs!

 

[akondray]

All of a sudden the replies stopped. Is that a good thing?