$1600 gaming build advice

[marshall2011]

Approximate Purchase Date: 12-8-11

Budget Range: $1500 - $1600

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming only
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, win7 64 bit
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg

Country: usa

Parts Preferences: my build so far $1505.90 + shipping

cooler master haf 922 = $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119224

ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS = $209.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701

HIS IceQ X Turbo H695QNT2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity = $269.99 x2 = $539.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161372

Thermaltake Black Widow W0319RU 850W ATX 12V v2.3, EPS 12V v2.91 CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply = $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153106

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K = $214.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL = $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive = $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM = $20.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Antec KUHLER H2O 920 Liquid Cooling System = $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209054

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: My goal is to run any game at the highest possible settings. Not worried about load times but will probably add a second hard drive in raid 0 when prices are not insane. I have been reading every build article and forum post I can. I really like the great feedback I see. Any help, comments, or alternate ideas would be great.

 

[marshall2011]

does that icon to the left on the forum page mean no one can post a reply?

 

[Emelth]

Do you really want to do watercooling?

Everything else looks good I would go with an Antec, XFX, or Corsair.

I would go with a Z68 motherboard over P67 (personal preference)

 

[marshall2011]

was just going to use a cooler master hyper 212 or something, but the water cooling is not very expensive. the the antec 620 is only $72. would there be much of an overclocking difference? I picked the p67 because it was a toms hardware approved award on newegg and i dont need onboard video or a SSD. but the z68 motherboards seem to be less expensive. do you think the z68 would give me any frame rate difference?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Case was one of my favorites....till USB3 came along .... still no front USB3 port so it's off my buy list. Suggest Antec 902 V3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

The card you picked is 10Mhz slower than the Frozr


Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$ 240.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.50 - $ 0.63
$ 205.00 560 Ti (455/792) $ 0.45 - $ 0.52
$ 320.00 6970 (526/825) $ 0.61 - $ 0.78
$ 215.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.43 - $ 0.50

So two the HIS IceQ X Turbo's will get ya a bit less than Frozr's 759 fps outta the box. The 560 ti (900 Mhz) will get ya 862 fps for $110 less

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006662&IsNodeId=1&Description=560%20Ti%20900Mhz&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

Great MoBo .... many peeps will suggest Z68 and if ya go that way recommend the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

Decide which way to go here:
http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/difference-between-h67-p67-z68-and-h61-chipsets-a-22.html

Skip that PSU......The XFX Core Edition's 9.5 performance rating at jonnyguru and the $90 price to hard to pass.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

RAM - Corsair Vengeance low profile
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196

Cooler - The 920 is a bit loud but the 620 is nice......hit the top SLI card however in my son's build so I traded it in for a Silver Arrow

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=721&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=5

 

[marshall2011]

thanks jack! that is exactly the kind of advice i was looking for. i think i will stay with the p67 mobo after reading that article. im still researching the rest of your ideas. no silver arrow on newegg or amazon : )