pr3dict said:
As per everyones advice I have moved down to a 2500k
With the video cards, the reviews I have seen show that two 560ti's out perform a 580, and they only cost exactly the same... the 580 is 499 while the two 560ti's are 499 before rebates. I will be running a monitor at 1920x1200 and a hdtv at 1234x692 because it is about 10 feet away and I need to be able to read it. But when watching movies on it I do bump it up to 1080p.
If I was going to start scaling down where I would probably bring the psu down or the motherboard but Im not sure what a viable option would be. any suggestions?
You are quite correct that dual GTX560ti will deliver higher FPS in benchmarks than a GTX580.
But, you might want to read this current tom's article on microstuttering,
benchmarks alone do not tell the complete story:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stut...
For what it is worth, I use a GTX580 on a pair of 2560 x 1600 monitors. The primary one is for gaming, and the other is for static stuff.
I have no problems with it, and run at 60FPS with civ 5.
The psu you need will be determined by the graphics card/s.
A single GTS580 needs 600w with 42a on the 12v rails plus one 6-pin and one 8-pin PCI-E power lead.
Multi cards, you are looking at 750w or 850w.
Whatever you do, buy a QUALITY psu. My short list of quality psu's would include PC P&C, Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, and Antec.
There are some good deals out there, and it is not wrong to get a stronger psu than you need. PC P&C currently has some of the best priced units.
If you are going for sli, look at the silencer 910w for $140 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
All of the P68 and Z68 motherboards will OC to about the same sane levels.
If you have some particular features, buy based on them. I would want 6gb sata and usb3.0.
For a sli based system, look for the two primary pci-e slots to have more than minimum separation. If they are together, the top card will run much hotter. I would not pay a premium for the "enthusiast" motherboards. They are for those who are looking for record seeking overclocks.
I think 64gb is a bit small for the OS SSD. Look for 80 to 120gb if you can afford it.
Today, I think Intel 320 and 510 series are likely to be the most trouble free. Their return rates in the past have been better.
http://www.behardware.com/articles/810-6/components-ret...
Also, do not be seduced by glowing ssd benchmarks, particularly sequential. The OS does mostly small random reads and writes, a task that any SSD excells at. It turns out that your experience from a performance point of view will be about the same with ANY modern SSD, since response times are very similar. The synthetic benchmarks measure operations at high queue depths, while normal desktop usage is only at one or two.
Also, look at which WD 2tb green drive you are ordering, one is twice as reliable.