NEED ADVICE: BUILDING MY GAMING COMPUTER 2011-2012

[sayge]

Hello Toms HardWare community! I've been trying to self-educate myself on building my very first computer, and i managed to pick out a few products. Id like to know if i made good choices, and i would really appreciate anyones opinion, advice, nd support to help me ensure myself this thing is gunna fit togather and turn on without any problems. Id like to build the ultimate GAMING Desktop for my price range, that will last me a very long time, and will have room for future upgrades. i need the best bang for my buck, without anything being bottlenecked.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: NOVEMBER
BUDGET RANGE: $1100 - $1200
SYSTEM USAGE: GAMES GAMES GAMES... ND GAMES
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: mouse, keyboard, speakers, monitor
PREFFERED WEBSITES FOR PARTS: Newegg.ca, amazon.ca
PARTS PREFFRENCES: i perfer intel CPUs, and Nvidia graphics cards, ill want to Crossfire 2 graphics cards (but how much watts . would crossfiring need?)
OVERCLOCKING: Id like to overclock my GPU and CPU if possible

I looked around newegg, and picked out some parts i thought looked shiny, i really have no idea on if im getting what im paying for or not. I specially have no idea if these parts will even work togather nicely.

Motherboard:
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730
CPU:
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
GPU:
EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1573-AR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130622
CASE:
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197
POWER SUPPLY:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=CORSAIR%20Professional%20Series%20HX850
RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314
HARD DRIVE:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
OPTICAL DRIVE:
SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner 22X
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151233

TOTAL = $1213 +shipping included

So:
Will my motherboard support this CPU?
Will my power supply be enough to power my case fans, gpu, cpu, etc.?
is my GPU + CPU equal in power for gaming?
im pretty oblivious someone please tell me what im gettin into here!

 

[etk]

Will my motherboard support this CPU?
Yes.
Will my power supply be enough to power my case fans, gpu, cpu, etc.?
More than enough.
is my GPU + CPU equal in power for gaming?
What is your resolution?

 

[sayge]

i play with two 19" monitors, 1440x900 each, thanks for the reply! is there any parts out there you recommend will offer better performance at a cheaper price, ( i kinda picked what ever looked appealing) , ? Can the gpu and cpu be overclocked without causing to much stress?

 

[chuglife]

The 570 has pretty good headroom for overclocking. You might want an aftermarket cpu cooler, look up the hyper 212 evo. ~30$ on newegg, it will keep your temps way down letting you overclock your cpu much better.

 

[sayge]

okay, does any of the components i picked give out unnecessary power that my other parts cant keep up with? (bottle necking) I want to make sure my graphics card is a bit more powerful then my cpu but dont want anything to be bottlenecked, is my system evenly compatible?

 

[cutebeans]

I'd go with this site. FREE SHIPPING!

http://www.directcanada.com/

 

[Zero_]

Check my sig

 

[flong]

Hello, welcome

1. Since you are going SLI I would strongly suggest that you move up to the Corsair HX 850 - it is actually CHEAPER than the HX 750 at Newegg right now. The link is here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=corsair%20hx850

I own this PSU and it is simply amazing in every sense. It is modular and comes with a 7-year warranty. It also is over 90% efficient for a build with your capacity. It will be silent with one GPU and quiet with two and it will run cool and not heat up your case.

2. Stick with the 2500K it is the perfect choice for your build

3. Since you have an $1100 budget you might want to look at an 120GB SSD. You can save some money on your HDD by going to the Samsun F3 Spinpoint. Don't get less than a 120 GB SSD.

4. Your 570 is very expensive - look for some sales. A 2GB 6950 is around $230 after rebates. You could buy two 6950s for $110 more than one 570. I did read that you prefer Nvidia but I thought I would point this out

5. Take a look at the Corsair Carbide 400 and 500 cases and the CM 692 II. These are budget cases that really perform. The Corsair 400 and 500 cool VERY well - they are top performers. Their downside is that they are a little loud. The HAF 922 is good also. The Carbide cases apart from the noise issue are amazing cases.

6. Since you are only going to game, you could save some additonal money to put towards an SSD by going to a P67 board. They are about $40 cheaper than the Z68 boards and for gamers there is little or no difference.

 

[sayge]

Woah, great support comin from this site! big ups to THW!
1. cool, ill check out that free shipping site thanks
2. zero, i checked your 1000$ sig link and would like to see what you guys think about switching the motherboard i picked:

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730

with

ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Z68 SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 ATX Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 2200 Intel Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EV1R34?tag=widgetsamazon-20&camp=213761&creative=393545&linkCode=bpl&creativeASIN=B005EV1R34&adid=1G3AF3XCFE94XM395A7C&

thoughts? opinions? Pros? cons?

edit: still looking into the p67 boards.

3. Hey flong! thanks for your time spent in writing that essay all for me
im not jumping to SLI riight now, but i deffinatly want my computer to support it when i do, so i updated my power supply link to the 850W. by the way its the same one you linked but on the canadian site.
3.1 could you shed some light on the SSD cards? i know these things are new, but why is their maximum space so little. 120 doesnt hold to much,there must be some sort of advantage to it that i just dont see here.
3.2 okay im going to look into a better deal on my GPU, would it be smart to put all my money towards one graphics card now, then have room for SLI upgrade when needed in the future? or buy 2 graphics card right now, still in my price range.
3.3 ou im very interested in the Corsair Carbide Series 500R u suggested, but i was wondering the differences between the 2 cases, i looked at specifications comparing the 2 but didnt find much difference. Would this case provide better cooling then the HAF 922?( i personnaly could care less about the fan noise, i tune it out with music etc. rattling tho can be DEADLY.)
3.4 cool ill also look into the P67 motherboards. Main reason for the board i picked was that there was an feature to overclock your CPU right on the board + its high ratings,
something keep in mind, the last thing i want to upgrade is my motherboard, and im planning on adding + upgrading stuff in the future, so will the P67 motherboard handle these upgrades?

 

[sayge]

I found a deal with the GPU i picked that comes with a 850w powersupply, saving 30 dollars. should i go for it?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.749986

 

[sayge]

also, my friend told me that the 570 gpu will not fit in a med tower like the one i picked, i dont know if i believe him. is it true guys?

 

[sayge]

also, my friend told me that the 570 gpu will not fit in a med tower like the one i picked, i dont know if i believe him. is it true guys?

 

[cutebeans]

It will fit.

 

[flong]

Hello again

Yeah, I try to be more thorough in my posts than the typical "text" format. Hopefully, it makes things clearer and not boring ha, ha.

1. The best setup right now is to run your operating system and your most important programs off of your SSD and install one or two 1TB HDDs for everything else. This is by far the best way to arrange your system because it makes your computer far quicker than running it off of an HDD. I just built my first computer with the Corsair GT 120 GB SSD and I can tell you that there really is no comparison - everything happens almost instantly on my computer. Most gamers and performance builders are using this setup. Right now the cheapest fastest 120GB SSD on Newegg is the Kingston Hyper X Extreme ($180). It is probably the third fastest SSD available.

2. Please stick with the Corsair HX850 instead of saving $30. There is a lot of difference between the TX 850 and the HX 850. The HX850 is modular, has a seven year warranty, is more efficient and the cost difference is not a lot. If you just can't afford it for some reason, the TX850 is a solid PSU, it is just not as good as the HX850.

3. Here is a summation by Hardware Heaven on the differences between the Carbide 400 and the Carbide 500: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-Carbide-Series-500R-Case-Review/1406/7

4. I like the Carbide 500 better because of the fan controller and the removable hard drive cages. Both cases are good. The 500 is worth the extra $30 I think.

5. YESSSSS both the Carbide 400 and 500 cases are amazing coolers. The 400 will compete with the HAF 932 if you install a 120mm top fan. If you install a top fan in either the 400 or 500 and remove one HDD cage to promote front to back airflow, I believe that they will be among the best cooling cases available. Without the top fan the Cooler Master 932 beats them by about 2C-3C which is not much. The Cooler Master 922 is probably about equal to the 400 and 500 in cooling, but I don't think it is equal in overall quality (I did own the HAF 942)

I have the Corsair 650D and it is an amazing case and it cools well but it does not have a side fan (it does have a top fan). I think that the 400/500 will easily beat the 650D with a top fan installed. Corsair makes great cases.

6. If you are going to do any video editing, then the Z68 boards are the way to go. If not the P67 boards are equal in performance and are cheaper. However the cost difference isn't much.

If you can afford it I would recommend that you go with a motherboard that is compatible with Ivy Bridge and is PCI-E 3.0 compliant. Gigabyte, AsRock and MSI all have put out boards like this. I own the AsRock Extreme 4 Gen 3 and I can recommend it - it is very good.

7. I know that you like Nvidia but with your budget you may want to look at running two ATI 6950s in crossfire. I am not a gamer, but Tom's Hardware recommends this configuration here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card-gaming-performance,3042-6.html

They do recommend the GTX 570 as the best "single" graphics card here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card-gaming-performance,3042-5.html

You can get the 6950 for around $230 and so for $460, you could crossfire two cards. This will be a faster than a single 570 and it costs $110 more than the 570 you chose. However, there are probably cheaper 570s available. Either choice is good and the 570 is definitely the stronger single card - but not by much.

Good luck with your build

 

[sayge]

Best answer selected by sayge.

 

[Snutze]

Can anybody here explain to me how this rigg at this price is possible ? Arent premade usually more expensive ?!

http://computers.toptenreviews.com/gaming/cyberpower/cyperpower-pc-black-pearl-details.html