High budget build (expected $2000ish)

[slicedtoad]

I'm helping a friend with his new computer build. He has no real budget but expects to pay around $2000.

Uses:
-Games
-Adobe video apps
-1920x1080 screen

Biases/preferences:
-nvidia (he won't reconsider)
-prefers a single graphic card solution
-performance and acoustics are important. looks don't matter.
-upgradeability if the price is right

Here's what we have so far:
i7-2600k - oced (i7 cause he doesn't only game)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD7-B3 - This might get downgraded to their $270 one if he doesn't like the price at the end.
590 - he can get one of these from microbytes
12GB corsair vengence - this amount make sense for video encoding apps?
CM silent pro 1000w - Very open to changing this. Focus is on the noise and preferably the 1 KW.
2TB WD caviar black hdd
Liteon blu-ray burner

What i need help with:

SSD: is smart response an acceptable solution? What's a decent drive for this?
If smart response isn't very good - what's a good 80GB or so SSD for holding windows, adobe apps and office?
Should he use an ssd and smart response the hdd?

CPU fan: i have a cm-hyper 212 in mine and it works great for me. For him it's too loud (at least the default fans are). What's a quiet cooler that will handle 4.2-4.7GHz? also it can't bump into the ram which is relatively high.

I appreciate any help, opinions or comments, thx.

 

[gkay09]

^ Possibility of going with 590 SLI later on?? Also if you see, GTX 570 SLI performs similar to the GTX 590 and costs ~$100 less,...

Some suggestions -
Dont go with Tri-Channel kit, the Z68 boards are Dual-Channel so populate either 2 or 4 RAM slots to get the advantage of Dual-Channel config, so either 8GB or 16GB,...
And somehow newegg has priced this kit very less, so better to make the purchase soon if building within somedays,...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

SSD - You can go RAID 0 with 2 of these,...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

Cooler - If he wants a quiet cooler with very effective cooling, then Noctua would be a very good option, but price is a factor,... Also with the above said RAM, I doubt you would have clearance issues,... But if still skeptical that if all 4 RAM slots will be populated and it might block, then get a cooler like the Corsair H60,... No clearance issues, would perform like a mid-range air cooler,...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015

 

[slicedtoad]

If he's unhappy with the performance (not really possible unless he gets a bigger monitor) he might think about something like sli 590s. Otherwise, i'd expect him to just upgrade to one or two newer gpus in a few years... unless an extra 590 is the best option whenever he decides to upgrade. So, yeah i tried to keep it capable of sli 590s but some things might get downgraded like the mobo and psu. Actually will a 1000W psu even run two 590s?

ok, changed the ram to 8 gb of sniper, thanks.

Is raiding ssds going to make that much difference? I'd lean towards a slightly bigger one as well.

This noctua? looks good. he wants to stay away from liquid cooling.

 

[gkay09]

^ Actually 1000W is just about enough to run GTX 590 SLI, but if overclocking high is in the cards, then maybe a slightly bigger PSU,... But I see no point going 590 SLI as it would become a Quad-SLI which is not supported by most of the games, also by that time, there would be even more powerful cards which will have better performance,...

SSD - RAID 0 would nearly double the performance of the SSDs, also you get about 120GB in RAID 0 which IMO would suffice for OS, important apps and some games,...

Cooler - That H60, though is a water cooling unit, but is self-contained and maintenance free, so you dont have to meddle with it,... but if he really insists, then its fine,...

 

[slicedtoad]

oh, right. raid 0 keeps capacity, forgot that. And that mobo can raid without any extras right?
Also, am i right in assuming smart response is for those who don't want to buy more than a 40GB ssd?

 

[gkay09]

^ Yes, the smart response is mainly for SSDs of low capacity,... Even if going with 30GB, you can just install the OS onto it directly instead of going for Smart Response,...

 

[footfiremystic]

Corsair just released vengeance LP (low profile) without the high heatsinks which might help fitting with the cooler.

 

[slicedtoad]

Can anyone recommend a decent priced case that:
-has decent cooling (especially gpu area)
-is quiet (too many cases come with cheap loud fans)
-can fit the 590

looks don't matter much.

Also, whats a good site for comp case reviews? The ones on Tom's are minimal and browsing newegg seems endless.

 

[slicedtoad]

Ok, the build has been downgraded. Decided to save money by not leaving room to sli 590s.

i7-2600k with Noctua cooler
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P - The differences i can see btw this and the $270 one are very minimal. Anyone see any reason to buy the $270 one? besides a few extra ports.
590
16GB G.SKILL sniper 1866
HX750 - CM silent pro is now sold out and he also doesn't need 1000w unless he does 590 sli. 750 is enough for a single gpu sli config right?
2 x 2TB WD caviar black hdd
1 x crucial m4 64GB - decided 64GB should be enough
Liteon blu-ray burner

Still need a case.

Anything wrong so far?

 

[slicedtoad]

just for fun i built nearly this exact setup on cyberpower and it actually came out cheaper...