Gaming System - Would appreciate feedback on spec

[iNco782]

I am looking to buy the following and would appreciate feedback on the system on what could be improved or tweaked.

The system is mainly for gaming (BF3)

Will probably look to have two GFX cards in SLI in the future.

Processor - Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition Gulftown 3.46GHz 6 x 256KB L2 Cache 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor

CPU Cooler - CORSAIR H80 (CWCH80) High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Motherboard - GIGABYTE G1.Sniper LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Memory - CORSAIR DOMINATOR GT 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory with Airflow Fan Model

Boot Hard Drive - OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Storage Drive - Western Digital VelociRaptor WDBACN6000ANC-NRSN 600GB 10000 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Optical Drive - Standard DVD-RW

GFX Card - ASUS ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD5 GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Case - COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Power Supply - Thermaltake TP-1500M 1500W ATX 12V v2.3 & EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Monitor - ASUS VE278Q Black 27" 1920x1080 2ms Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 300 cd/m2 ASCR 10,000,000:1

Thanks for your help.

 

[jmsellars1]

Personally i would give this build a complete overhaul:

CPU - The i5-2500k beats the i7-990x in games for a fraction of the price, that seems like the obvious choice. If you need hyperthreading get the i7-2600k.

RAM - That stuff looks expensive and the fan is pretty overkill, seems like unnecessary noise and cost to me. I would go for dual channel Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz, 8GB would probably be best.

MOBO - Obviously with a 1155 chip you need a 1155 board. Getting a dual SLI x8/x8 capable board is going to be a lot cheaper and should give ample performance. The ASRock Z68 Extreme is a good board.

GPU - GTX 580 is a bit pricey but your budget seems high so that one is up to you, if it was me i would probably get a couple of GTX 570's or HD 6970's

HDD - The Velociraptor seems incredibly expensive for a drive that is going to be idle most of the time, a couple of Spinpoint F3's in RAID 0 would give a lot more space with good performance and be much cheaper.

Monitor - I would never buy a monitor with speakers, especially for a system like this. Even a $30 pair of PC speakers will sound a lot better.

 

[008Rohit]

Get an i7 2600K or wait for Ivy Bridge and Socket 2011.
1366 processors are useless in gaming.

 

[iNco782]

Thanks for useful info.

I'll will certainly be re thinking my build.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

what is your budget? you can probably have a 3 screen setup for how much you are spending.

just some quick math and you are spending over 3k

Asus VS series 23" monitor- http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VS238H-P-23-Inch-LCD-Monitor/dp/B005BZNEVQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314456068&sr=1-4 176$x3=528$

Corsair 8gb 1866mhz & Corsair ax1200- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.703308 340$ 1866mhz ram is fast enough to get you through any game and the best psu on the market

i5 2500k & Gigabyte p67 ud7- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.660722 490$ the best gaming cpu for the money

Corsair H80- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181016 92$

Those fans on the h80 are loud- http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-120mm-Case-R4-C2R-20AC-GP/dp/B0026ZPFDE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1314455860&sr=8-3 x2=17$

Corsair Force GT 120gb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233191 215$

Samsung f3 1tb- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=f3%201tb 60$

ASUS DVD Burner- http://www.amazon.com/Asus-DVD%C2%B1RW-DVD-RAM-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314456181&sr=1-1 21$

Silverstone Raven RV02- http://www.amazon.com/SILVERSTONE-RV02B-W-Steel-Tower-Computer/dp/B002M78KZG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314456235&sr=1-1 160$ cools better than the haf x thanks to its unique design

EVGA GTX 590- http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Classified-Graphics-03G-P3-1596-AR/dp/B005CQQLNM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314456357&sr=1-1 750$

& GTX 580- http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-DoubleShot-Superclocked-015-P3-1587-AR/dp/B004ZEZC6E/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1314456575&sr=1-7 500$ this paired with a 590 is tri sli 580. the 590 is made up of 2 580's

Total=3173$
this is probably overkill for even 3 screens. another good option is 3 570's- http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004SAO0Z4/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1314456890&sr=1-2&condition=new 350x3=1050$
Total for 3 570's=2973$

 

[008Rohit]

Get ASRock Gen3 Z68 boards if you plan getting a LGA1155 CPU.

 

[zooted]

Get an i7 2600K or wait for Ivy Bridge and Socket 2011.
1366 processors are useless in gaming.

You should have phrased that a little bit different. It is not viable to make a 1366 build anymore, due to sandy bridge being superior, but they are in no way useless.

 

[jmsellars1]

You could get this build for a lot less and it is still going to max any game for a while, on a single monitor anyway:

i5-2500k
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz
ASRock Z68 Extreme4
2 x Gigabyte GTX 570 (Tri fan version)
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB
2 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB in RAID 0
HAF X
Corsair H100
850W Seasonic 80PLUS Silver
Samsung 27'' 1ms Monitor
Logitech Z623 Speakers

That should give better performance and presumably cost a lot less.

($2256.87 before shipping and rebates.)

 

[iNco782]

Budget is $3500

Not really concerned about 3D and havn't really considered a multiple screen set up.

I am slightly handicapped in what components are available to me as i've recently moved to the UAE. So i'm just using newegg as a rough guide to pricing.

Is the Asus GTX 580 a worth while buy and seeing as i'm saving money on the processor would it be worth buying 2 and having them in SLI that is if the ASRock68 Extreme 4 could support 2 large cards.

Is a 1500W PSU overkill even for the above cards in SLI?

Again many thanks for your help.

 

[phenom90]

jmsellars1 correct... 990x is no better than i5 2500k for gaming... i think you don't need a 1.5k watts to power two gfx cards... even in a heavily overclocked state... for such a high price build... to include only a 120gb ssd seems like not a good idea... for graphics card... even for a custom design card... i would only choose a card that will only takes up two slot... not 2.5 or 3... such as msi twin frozr iii series... here is list of recommendation.... i hope it helps

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220558

psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341045

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

cpu cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181016

graphic card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134124

hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

ssd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227730

odd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136236

 

[phenom90]

man u should get an ips monitor... as it has decent viewing angle and superior color accuracy... it offers better image quality than cheaper tn panel... below is the one that is highly recommended...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116421

 

[jmsellars1]

Oh i thought you were planning on 3 way SLI, 1500W would even be a bit overkill for that to be honest. I think 850W would be enough for GTX 580 SLI, possibly 900-950.

As for the GTX 580, get them if you want since you have a high budget. I don't know if you would actually notice the difference between GTX 570 SLI and GTX 580 SLI on a single 1080P monitor though.