Advice/Thoughts on my new build

[benstark]

hey all i found the new build template on here somewhere so i'm just going to use that and chuck my questions in at the end. Here goes:

Approximate Purchase Date: Within two weeks (Already purchased Case and PSU)

Budget Range: Around $1500 but don't really care (1500 not including case and psu)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: CAD/Inventor, Blender, Sony Vegas, Gaming (skyrim, crysis 2, BF3 ect), watching movies & connected to home theater

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, PSU, case

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: pccasegear.com.au

Country of Origin: Australia

Parts Preferences: Brands I prefer Asus, Gigabyte and Corsair for no apparent reason

Overclocking: Maybe, one day

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe, depends on what card setup i choose

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (im guessing, HDMI into a 2010 50" panasonic neoplasma)

Already Have:
Case: HAF X
PSU: Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 1000W
CPU: Intel i7 2600k - fairly set on this unless someone can put up a good alternative
Motherboard: ASUS Z68 Deluxe - but would consider any decent Z68 board especially by asus or gigabyte
RAM: 16gb corsair vengance open to suggestions
GPU: Here is where i am completely undecided - sli 2x 560's, CFX 2x 6950's, one or possibly two in CFX 6970, GTX 580
HDDs: 3x1TB samsung F3
Cooling: Corsair H60 or H80
I also wouldnt mind reccomendations on a wireless card

thanks for any help in advance

 

[BohleyK]

For roughly $10 more you can get a better board from As Rock that is pretty much identical to an Asus ROG board and it supports PCIe 3.0 dual slots. Also, single GPU rigs are always more reliable. I'd go for a single GTX 580.

ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263

ZOTAC AMP2! GTX 580 3GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500201

I'm aware you're from Aussieland. Just thought I'd throw the parts out

 

[casualbuilder]

Is the reason you are going for a Water loop for your cpu because of sound or performance? if you dont mind a little fan noise, and if you arent OC'ing much if at all, either stock HSF or a Hyper 212+ EVO would do you just as good.

I think a P67 board would do you just as good, if not a GEN 3 board from Gigabyte or Asrock, i think they go for around $145.

A single GTX580/590 is suggested, as said above, a single card is better performance wise than SLI of 2 lower end cards. you can always add a second card afterwards, but you have to replace your whole setup if you SLI early and dont have enough to begin with.

Lastly, i know CAD programs are a little rough on systems, but is 16GB necessary for your system? if so, make sure you get 2 sets of 8GB (2x4) of the same exact type/model/brand, as they usually sell cheaper than either 2x8 or 4x4 sets.

 

[bennaye]

Hey there fellow Aussie!

For a budget that big, I'm surprised to see no SSD. You can buy a 60-120 GB SSD and chuck your OS along with any of your editing programs on it. Just a thought, and up to you.

And single card systems are much more stable and easier to implement. Go for the 580.

 

[casualbuilder]

^ Good point, but only to a point.

Quite frankly, i am a firm believer that SSD is a bit "overrated" for most users. In this situation, i think that you would highly improve performance.

My recommendation would be a Crucial M4 128GB SSD. It is big enough to hold all you would need, and if more space was needed, you could transfer older files over to your HDD. Since the HAF X has hot swap drives, this will make it easy to keep all your information transferred off your SSD so you can maintain top grade performance.

Anything over 128GB with the ability to transfer over to a 7200, or even 10000 rpm HDD is uneccessary. M4's are the best out there, as they keep their listed speeds through higher data amounts on the disk, as well as reliablitiy.

 

[benstark]

Thanks for all the replies guys!
Bohleyk, I was leaning toward a GTX 580 so thanks for the vote of confidence!! Any brand/model you would recommend? I like the specs of the gigabyte UD 3gb, thoughts? And il make sure to have a look at the asrock board! If pci 3.0 is on it's way I might as well try stay ahead of the curve
You also have some good thoughts casualbuilder and I might not need all the ram now but for a couple of bucks it's not going to hurt is my theory, and I did look at the 212+ evo but I am aiming for as quiet as I can
And between you and bennaye your probably right I should consider a SSD for my OS but I'm just not 100% sure whether their benefit is worth their cost, do you have any reviews or anything in mind that would show me why they are so good?
Thanks, much appreciated

 

[casualbuilder]

Tom's has plenty of benchmarks listed, if you go into the Storage section of the forums, you should be able to find anything you need to get information. Frankly, i dont believe they are there yet, especially with a Good 7200rpm or even a 10k rpm running you half the price relatively to storage. I feel that these drive speeds are very adequate for most things, and you can buy 2+ for RAID, and increase the performance as needed. If you are looking at the GTX580 series, i am in love with MSI's Twin Frozr II's. They have the best cooling system on them out there, for great performance. EVGA, ASUS, and PNY are my next in line. I personally own an ASUS gpu. If you are aiming for "quiet", with your budget, go with an H80 or H100. Even if HSF's have quiet motors, the good ones are loud due to the air they push.

 

[benstark]

Best answer selected by benstark.