About to purchase this build, any last minute suggestions?

July 25, 2011 11:36:33 PM

Approximate Purchase Date: 1-2 Days
Budget Range: $1500-1600
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.ca, NCIX, directcanada.com, bestdirect.ca
Country of Origin: Canada
Parts Preferences: by brand or type I think I'm set on the GTX 570 and the 2500K
Overclocking: Yes
SLI or Crossfire: Yes, plan to get another GTX a few month down the road. Compensated for this by getting a 850W power supply.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 (any 23-24" moniter suggestions would be great too)
Additional Comments:

Mostly looking for any major compability issues or missing components/adapters at this point...Some concerns I have:

1. From what I read, I think the mobo comes with SATA III cables, so I don't need to buy extra cable right?

2. I think the HAF X case comes with the 2.5" drive bay adapters, so I don't need to get those either right?

3. PCPartPicker says my mobo doesn't support SLI, but most of the reviewers on Newegg say that SLI is supported... so I think it will be okay?

4. I know the RAM specs doesn't list that it supports Socket 1155 P67, but many reviewers have said that it indeed does work on P67 mobos...

Any suggestions and especially potential compatibility issues or missing components/adapters are greatly appreciated! I'm really worried about starting this build half way through and find out that I'm missing cables or adapters.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($208.79 @ BestDirect.ca)
Motherboard: MSI P67A-G43 (B3) ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($47.49 @ Newegg Canada )
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Solid State Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($209.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 1.25GB Video Card ($324.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case ($167.20 @ BestDirect.ca)
Power Supply: XFX 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.79 @ BestDirect.ca)
Total including taxes and shipping: $1453.28

More about : purchase build minute suggestions

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ronaldmcdonald

July 26, 2011 1:01:30 AM

Why_Me said:

Looks good, but I can see a few changes I would make to that build. First off would be that MSI board that doesn't come with an SLI bridge. Also you have a lot of money sunk into that HAF X and SSD...that case which is the size of a small house. That money could be spread around a bit for better hardware and still have a very large quality case with great cooling. Also you don't have a cpu cooler on there...and the entire idea of the "K" at the end of the 2500"K" is that it's over clockable.

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/235030/GA-Z68A-D3H-B3... $128.70
Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 HDMI DVI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/232563/F3-12800CL9D-8... $57.72
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/218427/RR-B10-212P-G1... $24.20
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1155 LGA1156 120MM

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/216224/RC-922M-KKN1-G... $89.68
Coolermaster Haf 922 Mid Tower ATX Case Black 5X5.25 5X3.5INT Front Audio USB eSATA No PSU

Down below is an optional side fan for that case...

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/228326/R4-LUS-07AR-GP... $11.00
Coolermaster Megaflow 200MM Red LED Case Fan 700RPM for HAF932 922 Cosmos S Atcs 840 Storm Sniper

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681... <----matching black front usb 3.0 bezel that fits in the front of the case. That's just one example of many of those ...different brands, manufacturers, etc....

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id... <----- Check out the size and cooling for that case on this link.

Thanks for the suggestions! (I meant to add the hyper 212+, forgot to list it, oops)

For the gigabyte MOBO, all I can find is a picture showing that it came with 2 SATA cables, but didn't say SATA II or SATA III. If I go with that board, can I assume that there is a SATA III cable for my SSD or do I need to buy one separately?

Once I switch the mobo (assuming it comes with SATA III cables?), ram, and haf 922(+drive bay adapter, fan), I should have everything necessary for the build right?

I'm just worried that half way through the build, I'll find out that I'm missing some cables or adapters...

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Why_Me

July 26, 2011 1:22:01 AM

ronaldmcdonald said:

Thanks for the suggestions! (I meant to add the hyper 212+, forgot to list it, oops)

For the gigabyte MOBO, all I can find is a picture showing that it came with 2 SATA cables, but didn't say SATA II or SATA III. If I go with that board, can I assume that there is a SATA III cable for my SSD or do I need to buy one separately?

Once I switch the mobo (assuming it comes with SATA III cables?), ram, and haf 922(+drive bay adapter, fan), I should have everything necessary for the build right?

I'm just worried that half way through the build, I'll find out that I'm missing some cables or adapters...

Those are SATA III cables I would assume... SATA III is backward compatible.

Down below are more links / info on that board...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageGallery.aspx?CurImag...

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=...

Yep, with that adapter your good to go with the 3.0 USB plug ins. If and when you add another card, add that 200mm red LED fan to the side of that case so you have some air blowing on those cards. Dual cards create a lot of heat.

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ronaldmcdonald

July 26, 2011 5:30:11 AM

Best answer selected by ronaldmcdonald.

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ronaldmcdonald

July 26, 2011 5:33:50 AM

Just made the purchase... Made a last minute change because I overlooked the fact that the XFX power supply wasn't modular, so I got the silverstone instead. Hopefully 750W should be enough for running GTX 570s in SLI in the future.

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=22170AC0247&v...

Thanks a lot for your help!

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