Advise/Critique my build! 900-1k gaming

[qwikk]

Approximate Purchase Date: 1-2 weeks

Budget Range: 900-1k Before / After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, work(java programmer remoted to a vm)

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

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Intel

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes (see vid card)

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200+

Additional Comments: This will be my first time with Crossfire, any information on my suggested card would be greatly appreciated. I will only be running 1 for the time being.
Also, I know I will catch grief by not choosing a ssd drive, but I will be going with one in the future, I just have a spare WD sitting around bnib, so it will be used.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Case: Thermaltake Chasar MK-1
Mobo: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
GFX: Sapphire 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850 V2 850W
Chip: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 2 OF THESE
HD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD7500AARS 750GB
Optical: LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer
HSF: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO

Overall I am pleased, I feel as if this build is a summarization of the 100 recently created threads asking for a decently priced build. Please advise if your opinion differs!

Overall wishlist can be found here on newegg.

 

[calguyhunk]

CPU: $225 Intel Core i5-2500K

Board: $115 ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

RAM: $45 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB

HDD: $95 Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s - Cavier Greens are "Eco-friendly" slow 5400 RPM laptop drives if you will.

GPU: $350 EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 570 - Bench

PSU: $60 SILVERSTONE Strider Essential series ST60F-ES 600W - A 850 Watt unit is overkill even for 6950 Xfire. 750 is more than enough for either 570 SLI or 6950 Xfire - $95 CORSAIR TX750 V2

ODD: $20 SAMSUNG DVD Burner SATA with LightScribe Support - OEM

HSF: $25 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

Case: $50 COOLER MASTER Elite 430 - side window, black interiors, good airflow and accommodates 12" long gfx cards.

Total: $985 after rebates Plus shipping.

EDIT: 'Bout the case, they've always been a matter of personal preference, but spending 15% of the budget on one is not the way I'll go. That's one's nice, but personally, I'll rather put money into the stuff that goes inside it

 

[JackNaylorPE]

On the WD's Black = Performance ..... any other color = slow

GFX - Two factory OC'd 560 Ti's in SLI get over 100 fps more in Guru3D;'s game test suite (862 fps) than twin factory OC'd 6950's (759 fps) .....they even top two 6970's (825 fps) and come up+ just short of twin 570's (873 fps)

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
$ 320.00 6970 (526/825) $ 0.61 - $ 0.78
$ 215.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.43 - $ 0.50

However the 560-448 comes out in 9 days which seems like will turn the segment on its head.....it's essentially a 560/570 hybrid at 560 pricing.

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/21520/nvidia_s_geforce_gtx_560_ti_448_cores_packs_a_great_green_punch/index.html

The TX 850 is not a bad PSU .... but the XFX Core Edition gets a 9.5 jonnyguru performance rating and costs just $90 making it a "no brainer". And if ya overclocking he CPU and GFX, yes, you'll want the 850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

MoBo gets good reviews but the chinsy 2 year warranty keeps it off my recommend list

 

[qwikk]

CPU: $225 Intel Core i5-2500K

Board: $115 ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

RAM: $45 G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB

HDD: $95 Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s - Cavier Greens are "Eco-friendly" slow 5400 RPM laptop drives if you will.

GPU: $350 EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 570 - Bench

PSU: $60 SILVERSTONE Strider Essential series ST60F-ES 600W - A 850 Watt unit is overkill even for 6950 Xfire. 750 is more than enough for either 570 SLI or 6950 Xfire - $95 CORSAIR TX750 V2

ODD: $20 SAMSUNG DVD Burner SATA with LightScribe Support - OEM

HSF: $25 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

Case: $50 COOLER MASTER Elite 430 - side window, black interiors, good airflow and accommodates 12" long gfx cards.

Total: $985 after rebates Plus shipping.

EDIT: 'Bout the case, they've always been a matter of personal preference, but spending 15% of the budget on one is not the way I'll go. That's one's nice, but personally, I'll rather put money into the stuff that goes inside it

I actually got the case at a storefront for Tiger Direct (Comp USA) on sale yesterday for $100. I just added it in there for pricing the complete build. As far as the PSU goes, I probably will come down to a 750.. I just want to leave room for a second card if needed. Good info on the HD, I will be looking at some other options for sure now. Those benchmarks you posted for the 2 cards really surprised me. Looks like I will be going back to the drawing board for a card now


I appreciate the info!

 

[calguyhunk]

Glad to have been of help. Cheers