First build - advice?

[Saffman]

Approximate Purchase Date: December 2011-January 2012

Budget Range: $1200-$1500 (a little wiggle room here)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (skyrim, FPS games, guild wars 2, etc), watching movies, maybe some music editing

Parts Not Required: DVD drive, HDD (using a Seagate 720GB 7200rpm, 3.0Gb/s drive from my old HP desktop), mouse, keyboard, speakers, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, NCIX

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: Intel, NVIDIA

Overclocking: Yes, definitely on the GPU, and probably on the CPU

SLI or Crossfire: Not for now, but would like the option down the road

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Here's what I'm looking at so far, already bought the case and CPU cooler (included in budget):

Case: Antec DF-85 Full-tower - I already bought this since it was a deal - $149.99 with free shipping. Considering buying an optional fan for the side panel...thoughts?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129087

Mobo: ASUS P8 Z68-V Pro - not sure if this is overkill
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) - seems to be the standard for a gaming CPU
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - also already bought this when it was on sale
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V - I know it's a quality PSU, not sure if I want to go with something cheaper on such an important part, but open to ideas
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 - I heard the 600 series is coming out in the next month or so. Would it be better to wait for those?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593

Monitor: Replacing my 21.6", 1680x1050 Samsung monitor (though I will likely use it as a second monitor for all non-gaming applications). I would like something at least 24" in size, 1920x1080, 2ms is ideal. I guess I would like an LED backlight, but I'm not set on the idea...what are some of the advantages/disadvantages? I'm also considering waiting until boxing week to get the monitor, since I've heard the deals are pretty good. A quality brand like ASUS or Samsung would be nice...something in the $250 or less range.

Any input/suggestions are much appreciated!

 

[Saffman]

Also, I have a EVGA GeForce GT 240 from my current system...would it be a good idea to run this alongside the GTX 570, maybe as a dedicated PhysX card?

 

[inzone]

Also, I have a EVGA GeForce GT 240 from my current system...would it be a good idea to run this alongside the GTX 570, maybe as a dedicated PhysX card?

You could if you wanted to , it wouldn't hurt .

 

[inzone]

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $124.99 and a $10 rebate for $114.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

You could save some money by going with this board and take the savings and put it towards this video card which would make a good upgrade over the one you had chosen and you wouldn't have to wait for the new release from Nvidia.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587

All of your other choices are good and you would have a nice build.

 

[Saffman]

Thanks for the input. I think I'm going to go with the ASROCK Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3 over the ASUS mobo. As for the GPU, I'm going to get an EVGA 570GTX for now and then get another one and SLI it after the Keplers come out and prices drops. I also managed to pick up a 23.6'' ASUS monitor (LED backlight, 2ms, 1920x1080, etc) with a Newegg deal for $180. Any other suggestions/criticisms on this build are welcome!

 

[Saffman]

Regarding using my old EVGA GT240 (GDDR5, 512MB) as a dedicated PhysX card, I've heard mixed things about doing this. When used with a powerful card such as the GTX 570 or 580, I've heard the GT240 can bottleneck if it's assigned all the PhysX calculations and actually give LOWER performance than if I just used the GTX570 by itself. Any thoughts on this?

 

[g-unit1111]

Case: Antec DF-85 Full-tower - I already bought this since it was a deal - $149.99 with free shipping. Considering buying an optional fan for the side panel...thoughts?

You don't really need it - Antec generally includes a ton of fans to begin with, and the DF85 has at least 5 - 1 exhaust, 1 200mm top fan, and 3 120mm front fans.

Case: Antec DF-85 Full-tower - I already bought this since it was a deal - $149.99 with free shipping. Considering buying an optional fan for the side panel...thoughts?

Yeah I wouldn't recommend that. The 570 and 580 are pretty powerful cards to begin with, using a much older card probably could hurt your new card's performance.

 

[reviver-wy]

The integrated graphics that come with the i5 are more than enough to run any modern PC game these days. I play Minecraft on ultra and that is considered an extreme benchmark.

 

[cutebeans]

The integrated graphics that come with the i5 are more than enough to run any modern PC game these days. I play Minecraft on ultra and that is considered an extreme benchmark.

Not sure if serious.. I hope for your sake you are trolling.

 

[g-unit1111]

The integrated graphics that come with the i5 are more than enough to run any modern PC game these days. I play Minecraft on ultra and that is considered an extreme benchmark.

Uh... what? You need a dedicated GPU to play pretty much any game these days and get decent frame rates.

 

[Saffman]

Best answer selected by Saffman.