Do I need to change anything?

[noidis]

Alright so this being my first build, and not ever in the past having been a *hardcore* PC gamer... I'm sort of at a crossing of sorts.

I don't know if there's anything in my system that I need to add or change... Nor am I sure what my goal should be (As I've reached the prior one of building this system).


Here's my current specs with some info on how the system runs.

Intel i5 2500k (Not OC'd)
CM Hyper 212+
Asus P8P67 Pro mobo
16 GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 mhz
2x EVGA GTX 560 Ti SC's
Samsung 64gb SSD for my OS
Hitachi 1tb HD for storage
750w PSU
Antec 300 case (put in two 120mm fans in the front intake ports, but don't have anything installed for the side fan port.)

I get idle temps of between 26-32 degrees, and prime95 makes it go into the high 50's or low 60's.



So here are my questions.
1) Firstly is my build going to be good for running games?
2) Are my temps running where they should be?
3) Should I install a fan into the side port of my case?
4) I only have one single 120mm fan on my heat sink, mainly due to limitations of adding another to the opposite side... Should I work harder to get a second fan on there? Is it worth adding at all?
5) What should I run my case fans on? (I have 3 settings and don't care about the noise, but I don't wanna burn them out either =S)
6) Should I OC my CPU? Will I get any benefit from it? And is my heat sink capable of handling it?
7) Lastly, what should I be looking to add to my PC to get more out of it? (Gaming)



Sorry for so many questions,

Appreciate any input =D

 

[danraies]

1) yes, two 560ti will be very nice
2) yeah, those temps are good.
3) couldn't hurt. it would help keep the cards cool.
4) No, one fan is fine. If you're not overclocking then the stock heat sink would have been fine. Don't worry about a second fan.
5) Depends on the RPM and size of the fan, I guess. It's really trial and error. I wouldn't worry about burning them out at high speed.
6) I don't think you'll see much of a gaming benefit from an overclock - with your setup you shouldn't have a cpu bottleneck. Your heatsink can handle an overclock just fine.
7) A good monitor. You didn't list one, but it makes a big difference.

 

[danraies]

Had I gotten to you before you bought/built the system I would have recommended 8GB ram (save a little money), a Z68 mobo (personal preference is that Z68 is worth the extra cost), no aftermarket heatsink (since you're not OCing), Samsung Spinpoint F3 HDD (same performance for cheaper and quieter), and a 120GB/128GB SSD. Most people who buy a 60GB/64GB SSD for their boot drive (myself included) find themselves wishing they had bought one twice as big.

None of those things will noticeably affect your performance, though. It's a good system, for sure.

 

[noidis]

I appreciate the input! I am actually already longing for another (larger) SSD. I'm probably going to add another to my system soon.

I'm currently using a 47' HDTV (I am at a loss as to what I should have been searching for in the realm of monitors.)

It's running at 1920x1080 @1080p, but would there be a benefit from getting an actual computer monitor?

Or from running multiple monitors?


Thanks again btw, total relief that I didn't muck anything up in my purchases!

 

[AdrianPerry]

So here are my questions.
1) Yes SLI 560Ti's will give more than enough performance
2) Temps look very good
3) It would help with cooling your GPU's - especially as they're running SLI
4) Your temps look good, so adding another fan is totally optional
5) Personally noise isn't an issue for me and my fans are connected to my PSU so they run max RPM all the time with no issues.
6) 212+ is a good heatsink, you should be looking to OC to around 4.5GHz - Performance increase will be NOTICEABLE - especially during games.
7) Without buying new GPU's - there's nothing that will increase in-game performance.

Monitors are really down to preference - personally i dont like multi-monitor gaming, I use a single 22" monitor with a 32" tv as a second monitor when multi-tasking/web browsing ect.

You probably wouldn't notice any benefit from buying an actual monitor, the only up-side is usually a few milliseconds quicker response time but anything 5ms or less is fine anyway.

 

[noidis]

Last thing then, should I put the side fan to intake or exhaust?

Thanks =D

 

[AdrianPerry]

Last thing then, should I put the side fan to intake or exhaust?

Thanks =D

Intake. You wan't the side fan to be blowing outside air directly onto your graphics cards to help keep that SLI set up "icey-cool" :lol:

 

[danraies]

Intake. You wan't the side fan to be blowing outside air directly onto your graphics cards to help keep that SLI set up "icey-cool" :lol:

Yeah, intake. Just make sure there's enough exhaust in the back to push the hot air out.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Yeah, intake. Just make sure there's enough exhaust in the back to push the hot air out.

Antec 300 has rear and roof fan mounts so both of those as exhaust would be plenty

 

[noidis]

Best answer selected by Noidis.