$1500 Gaming i5 2500k build

[supermarty]

Hey every one I'm new to Toms hardware and new to computer building. I'm looking to put a gaming computer together that also does everyday use as well. I did a lot of research on these forums with reviews and this is what I put together. I don't have a mobo chosen atm because I'm unsure. I hear people say not to go z68 and then people say to go z68. So any help with that would be great. Also if you could give a reason on why you choose that board and all that it would be great. Thank you for reading this as I'm sure I ramble on a lot.



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Approximate Purchase Date: 1-2 weeks


Budget Range: $1500


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and every day use.


Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, and monitor


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any good place


Country of Origin: US


Parts Preferences: Open to options


Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Need help picking out a good mobo and ram


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Cooler master haf x 942
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225&cm_re=cooler_master_haf-_-11-119-225-_-Product

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139022&cm_re=corsair_850-_-17-139-022-_-Product

Intel Core i5-2500K
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073161&CatId=6988

coupon code $20.00 off

Noctua NH-D14
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018&Tpk=Noctua%20NH-D14

G.SKILL Ripjaws X 8GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-3-5-Inch-Internal-HD103SJ/dp/B002MQC0P8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309462575&sr=8-1

MSI nVidia GeForce GTX560 Ti Twin Frozr II
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565&cm_re=MSI_nVidia_GeForce_GTX560_Ti_Twin_Frozr_II-_-14-127-565-_-Product

MSI nVidia GeForce GTX560 Ti Twin Frozr II
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565&cm_re=MSI_nVidia_GeForce_GTX560_Ti_Twin_Frozr_II-_-14-127-565-_-Product

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986&cm_re=Microsoft_Windows_7_Home_Premium_SP1_64-bit_-_OEM-_-32-116-986-_-Product

LITE-ON DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289&cm_re=LITE-ON_DVD_Burner_-_Bulk_24X_DVD%2bR_8X_DVD%2bRW_12X-_-27-106-289-_-Product


This is around what I have for a list. I need a mobo and I'm unsure about my ram. So any thoughts on that stuff would be great.

 

[rvilkman]

Memory is a good choice.

Mobo, not sure how much room there still is in the budget but a good P67( or Z68 ) board would seem to fit the bill.
Asrock P67 Extreme 4 $159.99 Tom's HW recommended enthusiast board.
MSI P67A GD65 $172.99 ($152.99 after rebate) HardOCP Gold reward.

Pretty much all of the Asus or Asrock boards in the $190-210 range are quite good as well, just starting to be a bit pricy.
Similar boards are available with the Z68 chipset for about $0-$20 more.

 

[supermarty]

Thanks for for the info I was looking into Asrock could you recommend a good z68 chipset from their lineup. I don't really know what the difference is between the p67 and the z68. Any ways thanks for the help. Will look into the z68 mobo's and all that

 

[rvilkman]

Basically the features that the Z68 brings to the table are situational at best. So if you go for pure gaming you won't need them.
There are probably more things than I list below but those are the major things.

P67:
+ allows overclocking of CPU and memory
+ SLI/Crossfire support

- No support for i3/5/7 integrated graphics

Z68:
+ allows overclocking of CPU and memory
+ SLI/Crossfire support
+ SSD Caching ( allows you to add an SSD and use it as cache for your normal hard drives drives )
+ Support for i3/5/7 integrated graphics
+ with Virtu SW you can use the integrated graphics for highly optimized video transcoding

Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 $189.99 - Tom's hardware 2011 recommended buy

 

[supermarty]

Thanks a lot Rvilkman your help is appreciated and won't go unnoticed.

 

[supermarty]

Best answer selected by supermarty.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

i would scale back on the case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068&cm_re=nzxt_phantom-_-11-146-068-_-Product, get this psu- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703027&Tpk=pc%20power%20and%20cooling%20750w , and then grab 2 6950's

here is a good motherboard- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128493&cm_re=gigabyte_z68-_-13-128-493-_-Product : this is a gaming oriented board no on-board graphics output since you are gaming

 

[supermarty]

Any reason to swap out the gtx 560's to the 6950's? The case looks like something I might consider how much cheaper it is. And the mobo looks interesting to any difference between that and the one he recommend.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

6950's are more powerful than 560 ti's in sli

motherboard i posted

no integrated graphics output (like you will use it)

no esata ports (doesnt matter usb 3.0 is the future)

more phases on the gigabyte board= better overclocking

uhhh do i need to say any more?

 

[supermarty]

Ha ha no thanks alot for the help man. I'm pretty new to all this so I like to get as much information as I can get. Could you recommend 6950's I was looking at the same company for the 6950's with the froz system

 

[mjmjpfaff]

Ha ha no thanks alot for the help man. I'm pretty new to all this so I like to get as much information as I can get. Could you recommend 6950's I was looking at the same company for the 6950's with the froz system

whats your budget?

here is an msi 6950 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127562&cm_re=6950_2gb-_-14-127-562-_-Product

 

[supermarty]

$1500 budget

 

[mjmjpfaff]

haha. i know that. for the gpu's?

 

[supermarty]

around 600 for duel cards. I mean I don't have to go cf or sli right now since the new cards are coming out soon.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

1gb cards will be cheaper, and equally as powerful (it is really all you need for 1080p)- http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Radeon-256bit-Mini-DisplayPort-H695QNT1G2M/dp/B004WZ0HPC/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1309480025&sr=1-3 , http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-GV-R695OC-1GD/dp/B0056GJL26/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1309480025&sr=1-8 , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103185&cm_re=6950_1gb-_-14-103-185-_-Product , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150527&cm_re=6950_1gb-_-14-150-527-_-Product , http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121437&cm_re=6950_1gb-_-14-121-437-_-Product

you have to decide between their cooling, price, and factory overclocks (cooling and price only matters for me)

you have to take note that their is only 1 rebate per person per product so maybe you can get a friend to buy one and you buy one so you can get 2 mail in rebates

 

[supermarty]

Thanks alot for your time.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

You are welcome. I can't stand watching people make the wrong decision on something so expensive.

 

[Sequences]

Just FYI, that case is.. MASSIVE. I bought one without knowing how big it is, and I can tell you, it is really really big. It's also heavy. All in all, its very solid (I'm pretty sure its hurt me more than I've damaged it, if at all, the few times I've bumped into it).

 

[supermarty]

I have a buddy of mine that has one and it really is huge. Ha ha told me it would be a good buy for later builds if it ever came down to it. Looks like a tank but black haha