Need help sorting all this stuff out.

[xanterra66]

I am looking to put together a new computer, and I am trying to figure out all the problems that I could run into ahead of time.

Here is a list of all the components I've picked out so far:

CPU
Intel Core i7-980 Gulftown 3.33GHz 6 x 256KB L2 Cache 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116402

Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665

Ram
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 24GB (6 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231359

Video Cards
2x EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587

Sound Card
Creative 70SB088000004 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Express 1x Interface PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102024

PSU
CORSAIR Professional Series HX1050 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139034

Case
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case with USB 3.0
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

DVD drive
ASUS 24X DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

SSD
Crucial M4 CT256M4SSD2 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443

Displays
2x ASUS VE276Q Black 27" 1920X1080 2ms Full HD HDMI Widescreen LCD Monito
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236091

Storage HDDs
Caviar black 2tb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136792
2x WD Caviar black 1tb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Now onto my questions.

1) How hot will this system get? Are the stock fans, and case fans enough to keep the CPU and Video Cards from overheating?

2) How loud will this system be? I currently have a 5 year old falcon northwest mach V, with and antec case that is WAY too loud. If I close the door to the room that my current system is in, i can still hear the computer fans from outside the room. Will this new setup be anywhere as loud?

3) Is it worth the money to get the sound blaster card? or is the on board sound good enough? I currently only use two desktop speakers and a sub, or my headset.

4) Will the power supply be enough to run the installed components? Will I need different PSU?

5) Since the video cards will be in SLI, will I need an SLI bridge? or have they done away with that?

6) Will the motherboard be able to support all of the ports in the front panel of the case?

7) Is it better to plug both displays into the same card? or is it better to separate them?

8) Does anybody see any potential conflicts with these components?

 

[mightymaxio]

For one, why would you purchase out of date equipment? the i7 2600k gets better benches than a i7 980 even in multithreaded applications because of the clock per clock speeds, and the overclock potential of the I7 2600k is way way better than the 980. If your building a server but then i would recommend a EVGA SR-2 if you have that kinda cash but even thats an outdated technology. Another is your sound card is outdated, wait till the new creative labs sound card thats coming out this year, supposed to have alot of new tech.

 

[xanterra66]

For one, why would you purchase out of date equipment? the i7 2600k gets better benches than a i7 980 even in multithreaded applications because of the clock per clock speeds unless your building a server but then i would recommend a EVGA SR-2 if you have that kinda cash. Another is your sound card is outdated, wait till the new creative labs sound card thats coming out this year, supposed to have alot of new tech.

I didn't know the CPU was outdated. Is intel coming out with any new CPU's before the end of the year?

Do you think I need a sound card at all? I only use it for two speakers and a sub, or my headset.

 

[mightymaxio]

The I7 2600k is the best on the market at the moment, thats the second generation of I7's while the I7 980 is the first generation. The socket 2011 might come out this year but it looks like next year for sure. So if you cant wait i would go with a Z68 motherboard and a I7 2600k which gives you the ability to upgrade to the midrange ivybridges that come out next year too because they are going to have some I7 ivybridges on socket 1155.

You dont need a soundcard if all you have is a headset and two speakers, although coming from owning an Xfi for 5+ years i do notice quite a bit of difference from a realtek onboard to the nice DAC in the Xfi.

 

[xanterra66]

The I7 2600k is the best on the market at the moment, thats the second generation of I7's while the I7 980 is the first generation. The socket 2011 might come out this year but it looks like next year for sure. So if you cant wait i would go with a Z68 motherboard and a I7 2600k which gives you the ability to upgrade to the midrange ivybridges that come out next year too because they are going to have some I7 ivybridges on socket 1155.

You dont need a soundcard if all you have is a headset and two speakers, although coming from owning an Xfi for 5+ years i do notice quite a bit of difference from a realtek onboard to the nice DAC in the Xfi.

Changing the processor to the 2600k raises a new problem. No 1155 motherboard has 6 ram slots( at least on newegg). so now the most ram i can get is 16gb, or pay $900 for 3 8gb sticks.

 

[morgoth780]

What are you planning to do on this computer? cause 24 gb is a lot of ram...it's even hard to justify 16 gb, let alone 24

 

[xanterra66]

What are you planning to do on this computer? cause 24 gb is a lot of ram...it's even hard to justify 16 gb, let alone 24

World of Warcraft, Star Wars the Old republic, Mass Effect 2 and 3, Battlefield 3, Counter strike, Starcraft 2.

I thought more RAM would mean that more textures would load faster, which is needed in an MMO.

 

[morgoth780]

You would be perfectly fine with 8gb. Heck, even 4gb would do just fine playing those games. 24 gb you honestly only need for servers or computers doing extremely complicated rendering and editing. I'd recommend just using 8gb, as that's the standard for gaming rigs now.

 

[mightymaxio]

Honestly if your that interested in it you could upgrade to 32 gb of ram now that cosair has their 8 gig single ram sticks, but be warned they come at a hefty price.

 

[morgoth780]

If you want to get the 24gb ram kit, you can. Having way too much ram isn't a bad thing. And it's only $100, and ram is super cheap. However, you really should switch i5 2500k or i7 2600k. Most likely the i5, which means you would want a z68 board. And those only have 4 ram slots, so you would be stuck at 16gb. Still, you would be able to run everything perfectly fine with 16gb of ram for years, especially since the most extremely ram intensive games only recommend 4gb.

 

[xanterra66]

After reading some more, I think I will just wait till December and get the Core i7-3960X.

What's a good place to get started if I was going to overclock this processor? What kind of performance increase can I expect from an over-clocked processor? How big of a risk is it?

 

[mightymaxio]

Theres always a risk when it comes to overclocking, most places will not warranty anything if its overclocked. If you do it right you might gain a 5-10% performance gain.

 

[xanterra66]

Theres always a risk when it comes to overclocking, most places will not warranty anything if its overclocked. If you do it right you might gain a 5-10% performance gain.

Meh. I don't think that's enough to justify even louder fans in the case. I think I'll pass with overclocking.