New gaming build for college, suggestions?

[a101817]

Approximate Purchase Date: this week


Budget Range: 1200 after rebates


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, College work, Photoshop, General Use


Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.newegg.com


Country of Origin: United States


Parts Preferences: No preference between intel/amd amd/nvidia


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Yes


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Components:

Thermaltake Armor A60 Gaming Mid-Tower Chassis
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133181

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229

Two SAPPHIRE 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950 Dirt3 Edition 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=N82E16814102945\

Thermaltake TR2 RX 750W Bronze W0382RU ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153136

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

ZALMAN 9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223

Three MASSCOOL FD12025S1L3/4 120mm Case Fans
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150070


Additional Comments: This is my first build and have been looking at components for a couple months. The HD 6950 2gb is supposed to scale better than the gtx 560 in crossfire mode and can come close to the gtx 570 sli. Im hoping that this build can last a couple years before needing replacement parts, which is why i am getting two hd 6950's for crossfireX mode. Also, a i5 2500k OC'd to 4.5 ghz will be faster than a stock i7 2600 right? Lastly, the sapphire dirt 3 addition has a dual bios, so can i unlock the shaders and overclock to 6970 levels if i need a few extra fps? Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kajabla]

Looks boss. This'll definitely last you a while.
The 6970 unlock is worth trying.
I don't think you need three additional fans. One or two would be plenty.
Yes, an OCed 2500K is way faster than a stock 2600. It's roughly equivalent, in gaming, to even an OCed 2600K.

 

[bankarin]

Only 1 suggestion, change out the harddrive for a WD Caviar Black Edition.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

Only 1 suggestion, change out the harddrive for a WD Caviar Black Edition.

why would you suggest that? the spinpoint is faster!
nice build by the way OP it looks great

 

[Why_Me]

Only 1 suggestion, change out the harddrive for a WD Caviar Black Edition.

When you make suggestions like that in this forum then we expect you to explain why. Please explain to the OP why he should change out to a slower, louder, and more expensive H/D on your suggestion.

 

[a101817]

Best answer selected by a101817.