Advice on a $3,000 PC

[Qwert7465]

Hello, im within a week of buying the parts for a PC that im building for myself and would like to get the communities opinion/advice on it.

Some info before questions are brought up in the comments:
- I plan on using this for multiplayer gaming, video/photo editing, and watching movies.
- This PC will be running just about 24/7.
- I have a LG 32" 1080p LCD TV that I plan on using for my main moniter through HDMI, and I am buying another moniter as listed below.
- I am on the second floor of the building im in and our router and modem is on the first floor, hence why im purchasing a 50ft ethernet cable.
- I want as much airflow as possible and want to keep my system as cool as possible (subject to change).
- I will be overclocking my CPU to 4-4.5ghz (this can be changed if there is a good reason and is suggested).

Here are all of the parts that I plan on purchasing:

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case - $189.99

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard - $334.99

Video Card: 2 XFX HD-695X-CDDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity - $579.98

Power Supply: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series 1000W Power Supply - $199.99

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor - $314.99

Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler - $79.99

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $219.99

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $84.99

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory - $74.99

Keyboard: RAZER Black USB Wired BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - $119.99

Mouse: Razer Mamba Gaming Mouse - $129.99

Moniter: Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1 - $179.99

Webcam: Logitech C910 USB 2.0 1080p HD Pro Webcam - $86.99

Mouse Pad: RAZER Goliathus Gaming Mouse Mat - Fragged Control Edition - Alpha L - $19.99

CD Burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $20.99

Blu-ray Burner: LG Blu-ray Burner - $69.99

Case Fan: COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200mm Red LED Case Fan - $16.68

Ethernet Cable: Link Depot 50 ft. Cat 6 White Network Cable - $9.99

Headset: A40 Audio System - $249.99

Total Cost: $3069.48

Let me know what you think. Any feedback would be appreciated!

 

[Why_Me]

You have the wrong RAM up there. You want DDR3 Dual Channel for these boards. That RAM you have up there is DDR3 Triple Channel meant for a socket 1336/X58 board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 $51.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157269 $279.99
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z68%20Extreme7%20Gen3 <----- a better look at that board

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/PCIe3/ <----- PCI-E 3.0

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4272/asrock_z68_extreme7_gen3_intel_z68_motherboard_review/index.html <----- review of that board

750w psu if you plan on running two of those cards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207016 $129.99 - $99.99 after mail-in rebate
XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus Silver 750 Watt Power Supply

1000w psu if you plan on running three of those cards. Cooler Master psu's don't have that great of a reputation.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139034 $219.99 - $209.99 after mail-in rebate card
CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Power Supply

Here's another case worth considering. It's new on the market and it's large and has great cooling/airflow.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139009 $129.99 - $114.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Black Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

 

[rvilkman]

^+1 on the memory, possibly get 2 kits if the video editing benefits from the 16GB of ram.

For Mobo also consider the $200 range boards from Asus, Asrock & Gigabyte. The $300 is quite a bit for a mobo.
But if you must ^+1 on the ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3.

For case also might consider the slightly smaller HAF 932.

If you do a lot of image editing, you might want to consider an IPS display such as HP ZR24w (1920x1200) instead of the Asus.
Viewing angles and colors are much better. It costs around $380.

 

[008Rohit]

That RAM is a triple channel one that works in LGA 1366. You need Dual Channel.

I'm leaving the Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Webcam etc and making a build for you. I hope you can wait for one month for bulldozer to launch.

Processor : AMD Bulldozer FX-8150: 8 core, 3.6GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) - $266.28

CPU Cooler : CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181017&Tpk=Corsair%20H100

Motherboard : GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard - $250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128508

RAM : 2x CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000 - $210 (105x2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145325

Graphics : EVGA 03G-P3-1596-AR GeForce GTX 590 CLASSIFIED Edition Video Card - 3GB, 768-bit GDDR5 - $750
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=849362&CatId=3669

Hard Disk : 2x SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM - $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=Samsung%20Spinpoint%20F3%201TB

SSD : OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III - $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

Power Supply : CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) 1200W - $280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014&Tpk=Corsair%201200W

Case : COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower - $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

Optical Drive : ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner - $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252

Total : $2390

You can even SLI two 590's with that PSU.

 

[Qwert7465]

I was really hoping to stay with intel, and I really want to future proof myself as much as possible. I would be more then willing to get the 590 and a larger PSU in plans for down the line to get another one and put the 2 in SLI if its recommended by the community.

 

[008Rohit]

You get a Octo-Core processor for $260, MAN!!!

 

[geekapproved]

As far as video editing goes, the 2600K -IS- an octo-core.

 

[008Rohit]

4 Physical Cores are better than 4 logical one.

 

[rvilkman]

Well we have yet to see performance results between the 2, and considering how badly 2600k beats Phenom II x6 I would wait for the test results before making the choice.

For upgrade ability as money doesn't seem to really be much of an object with $3000 budget, you might as well go with just about the the best there is.
Grab the Corsair AX1200 it is one of the best PSU's out there and will be big enough to handle any config suggested, including 590 x2 QuadSLI.

As for the video cards, you should set a specific target what you want to accomplish. A single 6950 will run great on 1920x1080 resolution with settings maxed out in many games having 2 will just make sure of it for even more games or if there is a crowd in the multi player game for example. So you hardly need more juice in the graphics than that.
However to have the option for easy upgrades you should maybe consider a single GTX580 or then the GTX590.

 

[gamer25]

Best Motherboards for Gaming
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme -Z

Best Power Supply for Gaming Computers
Corsair Professional Series Gold 1200-Watt

Best Gaming Graphics Cards
EVGA GeForce GTX 590 Classified 3072 MB GDDR5

 

[008Rohit]

Agree Somewhat.

 

[Qwert7465]

I am changing my setup and will post it in a reply with what some of the suggestions are saying.

 

[Qwert7465]

It costs a bit more, but I'm willing to save a little bit longer if it will last me in the long run. Also, I chose the single 590 instead of the 6950 CF because I
plan on putting 2 in SLI in the future and I would prefer 2 cards instead of 4 on my motherboard. I upgraded my PSU to the recommended one and I just wanted to make sure that it will support both in SLI in the future and the overclocked CPU. Thanks for the help.

Here are all of the parts that I plan on purchasing:

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case - $189.99

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $279.99

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 590 (Fermi) Classified 3072MB 768-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $749.99

Power Supply: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 1200W SLI Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - $279.99

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor - $314.99

Heatsink: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler - $79.99

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $219.99

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $84.99

RAM: 2 G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory - $103.98

Keyboard: RAZER Black USB Wired BlackWidow Ultimate Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - $119.99

Mouse: Razer Mamba Gaming Mouse - $119.99

Moniter: Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1 - $179.99

Webcam: Logitech C910 USB 2.0 1080p HD Pro Webcam - $86.99

Mouse Pad: RAZER Goliathus Gaming Mouse Mat - Fragged Control Edition - Alpha L - $19.99

CD Burner: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $20.99

Blu-ray Burner: LG Blu-ray Burner - $69.99

Case Fan: COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200mm Red LED Case Fan - $16.68

Ethernet Cable: Link Depot 50 ft. Cat 6 White Network Cable - $9.99

Headset: A40 Audio System - $249.99

Total Cost: $3204.37

 

[008Rohit]

Absolutely Fine..
Go for it!

 

[Qwert7465]

Best answer selected by qwert7465.

 

[Qwert7465]

Thanks for the help!