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First Time Build - Need opinions

Last response: in Systems
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Approximate Purchase Date: This Week


Budget Range: $900-$1000


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming


Parts Not Required: Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg


Country of Origin: U.S.


Parts Preferences: core i5, radeon hd 6000 series


Overclocking: Yes


SLI or Crossfire: Yes


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 existing


Additional Comments:

First time build. I have a $1000 budget and I need the wireless adapter. I'll be using mostly on my Samsung 55" LED (1920x1080). I want to build a system for gaming (all types) and general entertainment. May get into overclocking in the future. I want a system that will last me around 4 years. Here is what I'm looking at:


1 ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

$20.99

1 Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

$59.99

1 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$59.99

Rosewill RNX-N180UBE USB 2.0 External 5dBi Antenna Wireless Adapter

$19.99

2 SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

$349.98
($174.99 each)

Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

$99.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL

$27.99

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

COMBO
$329.98

Subtotal: $968.90


What do you think. I appreciate the input. Also, I would like to get an SSD drive in the future. Will the Samsung F3 work for now? How does this HDD perform while gaming? Long load times? Let me know. Thanks again for the comments

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Go for a different power supply. I actually had that one before upgrading to a Silverstone 1000w That was the same price. You will need to shop around but Corsair, Silverstone, and pc power and cooling are the ones I would look at. I have noticed that for multi-gpu systems having a single rail power supply with more than enough amps on the 12 volt rail helps keep you entire system stable. 70-80 amps is good. The hard drive is fine. I would try to go Western Digi Caviar black though if that is going to be your primary hd. Case is fine if it meets your needs/style. Also look into the g-skill 8GB ddr3 ram kits the are a little more but you have a little room in your budget and you can go 1600 Mhz (make sa difference for gaming). But yeah other than that you have a pretty solid setup.

the silverstone 1000w is $150+.
please stay with the antec, the EA 750w or the antec high current gamer 750w which is on promotion for $90 after MIR are far superior PSUs to the corsair, don't get me wrong, both of them are overkill, but the antec is the better of the two. A higher amperage would help, but the Corsair gives only 65 amps in one rail, while the antec gives 40amps each on four rails for a combined 160 amps. With the corsair, your entire system will be sucking from the 65 amp rail, while with the antec, each graphics card gets their own 40amps, the CPU gets 40 amps, and 40 amps for everything else.
though getting 1600mhz won't hurt, it will NOT improve any performance whatsoever, keep in mind sandybridge support up to 1333 mhz, your 1600 will be running at 1333 anyhow. Even if the ram does run at 1600, there will be about a 0.2fps improvement, doesn't matter either ways.
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Zero_ said:
Great build.

Stick with the EA750. It's plenty for dual HD6870's. Also, it can be found for cheaper on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QZMBEQ?tag=widgetsamazon-2...

Sandy Bridge doesn't support over 1333? That's new. Check this CAS8 1600 kit. Cheap as you get for just $25.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003E1WL4A?tag=banforbucga08-2...


anandtech: Mobile Sandy Bridge also officially supports up to DDR3-1600 while the desktop CPUs top out at DDR3-1333 (though running them at 1600 shouldn't be a problem assuming you have a P67 board)

Thanks for the help. I've made my decision here's my build:

$976.35 with shipping:

Core i5 2500k / MSI Motherboard (PCI 2.0 (8x, 8x)) COMBO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

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

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

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

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

2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Antec High Current 750W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

G. Skill Ripjaw 4 GB (2x2GB) 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I can always get another 4 GB of RAM if needed. I may invest in a SSD later if I feel I need it.

What do you think of my under $1000 build? Will I be good to go for about 4 years? Thanks again for the comments.
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