Absolutely Almost Sorta Confident

[Solelen]

This will be my first venture into building a gaming rig. I feel the parts combo is solid but I’m still new. I went full tower for the added room and cooling capabilities. The biggest issue/concern is if the Mobo is the right one for the case I chose and if the SSD has somewhere to sit in the case. I already own one of the EVGA GPUs so I'm rather solid on keeping them SLI. Please feel free to feedback Positive and/or Negative.


Approximate Purchase Date: (January 15)

Budget Range: ($1000-$1300)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: (Gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies)

Parts Not Required: (1TB HDD)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (Newegg.com)

Country: (US)

Parts Preferences: (Intel / Nvidia Other parts Namebrand)

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: (1680x1050)

Additional Comments: (I will be reusing my current HDD)

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119213

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512

GPU: SLI EVGA GTX 460 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Memory: G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

SSD: OCZ Agility 60GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725

 

[Cripple13]

Looks fine, pull the trigger

 

[blacksci]

Looks good to me.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Looks good tho slightly unbalanced..... you have a 10.0 rated PSU eating up a significant portion if ya budget.

PSU - is $120 ....save $30 buying the 9.5 jonnyguru performance rated XFX Core Edition 850 ....(could get the 750 but it's same price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

RAM - I drop from 16GB to 8GB as the extra helps only in non-gaming applications. Save $3 buying the Corair Low Profile Vengeance set
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

I'd spend a bit ($20) of the above savings on a different MoBo.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

SSD- I'd try and find some way of moving up to a 120 Gigger

By January 1st, expect your build to change

 

[Solelen]

Awesome input, thanks JackNaylorPE


I mainly went with the Corsair because of the 80+ Silver rating, is Bronze still good enough?
The Sniper RAM is deffinately not a personal requirement and i'll swap to the Vengence!
I have qualms forking out $20 for a better Mobo
Is there a spefic reason for jumping to 120GB other than the obvious space?

 

[Onus]

Unless you plan on a monitor upgrade, your resolution may not need SLI; you might try just your single card and see how it does before deciding to spend money on another card. I'd be infuriated with myself if I spent $165 on a second GTX460 and then saw a benchmark showing something from the new GTX600 line coming out in the $200 range that matched or beat my SLI setup.
Coolermaster is on my personal "Do Not Buy" list for dishonesty. This isn't about quality; some of their PSUs still have liar labels on them, or claim protections they lack (fact, not opinion; reviews at HardwareSecrets). IMHO, a company that does that does not deserve anyone's business. Fortunately, you need not take a hit in the wallet or get less quality by choosing a competitor. Rosewill offers some very nice cases, as does Enermax; both have been well-reviewed, including full tower models.
For the SSD, I think 60GB is too small. For a primary drive, I would not choose anything smaller than 80GB, and there are some reasonably priced 120GB-128GB SSDs available now too. Check out this 90GB Corsair: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233205 or this 120GB Corsair: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233191

 

[Solelen]

Coolermaster is on my personal "Do Not Buy" list for dishonesty. This isn't about quality; some of their PSUs still have liar labels on them, or claim protections they lack (fact, not opinion; reviews at HardwareSecrets). IMHO, a company that does that does not deserve anyone's business. Fortunately, you need not take a hit in the wallet or get less quality by choosing a competitor. Rosewill offers some very nice cases, as does Enermax; both have been well-reviewed, including full tower models.

Have you had or heard of many problems with their cases though ?

 

[jdenova007]

You forgot to buy a CPU Cooler.... and some arctic silver... does that motherboard support SLI in 8x 8x.... ?

 

[Solelen]

You forgot to buy a CPU Cooler.... and some arctic silver... does that motherboard support SLI in 8x 8x.... ?

I switched to the Asus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792 recommended by JackNaylorPE and it does.
Should I get an aftermarket cooler? I have heard the stock cooler/compound is more than efficient.

 

[Dacatak]

A more efficient 700W PSU would be better than a less efficient 750W PSU.
This would be a better PSU and it's slightly cheaper (as of this posting):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104099

For the parts you selected, going full tower is completely unnecessary and much more expensive than need be if you're looking for ample space and good cooling. That said, I highly recommend this case for all but the most extreme builds:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216

(Can't say much about their PSUs, but Cooler Master makes some of the best cases out there in terms of quality and value and the same can be said of their aftermarket CPU coolers.)

You can use all the money you saved just now to get a good aftermarket CPU cooler, which I would consider a must for a build like this. One of the best air-coolers out there for the money is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Now you can overclock your i5 2500K and game even higher.

DON'T make the mistake of buying a closed-loop liquid-cooling solution like the Corsair H80. They perform on par with the Hyper 212 EVO yet cost about three times as much. Translation: ripoff.

Also, which thermal compound you use is irrelevant. The compound that comes with the 212 EVO is a good quality compound. Don't waste money for no reason.

If you're going to spend more money, do it on a better fan. Equipping the 212 EVO with one of these will make it better than the Corsair H80:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

Newegg's current savings on the G.Skill DDR3 1866 set makes it only $3 more than another suggested Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 set.

DDR3 1866 > 1600. The extra speed is definitely worth the extra $3 and may even allow for higher OCs.
Save money where it actually counts.



There. Now you have an awesome system and you saved mucho dinero.

 

[Solelen]

PSU: I think i'll eat the $15 and keep the Corsair
CASE: I like the HAF 932's open design and USB3.0 support
RAM: Good idea on that RAM, always a critical decision
COOLER: I think I'll spring for the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103089&Tpk=cooler%20master%20v6 if everyone thinks it'll fit under/around that GSkill RAM

 

[madchemist83]

seems like u can get way better GPU for that budget

 

[Solelen]

seems like u can get way better GPU for that budget

Maybe, But i already have 1 GTX460 and i'm going to add annother

 

[madchemist83]

yes and that will get u lot's of wonderful microstuttering

 

[Solelen]

Updated listing....
Approximate Purchase Date: (January 15)

Budget Range: ($1000-$1300)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: (Gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies)

Parts Not Required: (1TB HDD)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (Newegg.com)

Country: (US)

Parts Preferences: (Intel / Nvidia Other parts Namebrand)

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: (1680x1050)

Additional Comments: (I will be re-using my current HDD)

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119213

Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

GPU: SLI EVGA GTX 460 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130571

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072

Memory: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139010

SSD: CORSAIR Force Series 120GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233191

CPU: COOLERMASTER 212 EVO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

 

[Dacatak]

Looks like you're all set then.

There's still this tiny nagging voice in my head that says the V6 GT won't quite clear the G.Skill Sniper RAM. You may end up having to go with the lower profile RAM after all.
I have a Hyper 212 EVO with low-profile RAM and the fan just barely clears it with a tiny bit of wiggle room (I'd say about 0.5 cm). However with the 212 you can adjust the height of the fan making RAM clearance a non-issue. I don't think you can do that with the V6 GT.

 

[Onus]

Have you had or heard of many problems with their cases though ?

Almost every Coolermaster case I ever bought had trivial and fixable (but tiresome) quality issues, like untapped screw holes, minor panel misalignment, maybe a missing fan; something. All could be fixed, but I got tired of it. I switched to Rosewill, and have had none of those problems. Check out the new version of their Challenger case. It has USB 3.0 ports. Read some of the case reviews at HardwareSecrets for some good alternatives.
In any case, my gripe with Coolermaster is NOT about the quality (even though I've found it lacking), it is about the FACT that they are a dishonest company, which means they don't deserve business. Even if their quality were impeccable (it's not; for that get Lian Li) I could not recommend them.

 

[Solelen]

Best answer selected by Solelen.