New Gaming PC ~$1500 Budget {Help Needed}

[Krayzee]

Hey everyone! As you can see i plan on building a new computer from scratch, i will however not hesitate old parts if they are still useful (PSU, HDD, etc). I am also by no means an expert on this subject, so forgive me in advance if i get to you by asking too many questions

Purchase Date: Within 2 weeks if the total is no more than $1300 (AUD); However my budget will increase by $100 per week after the 14th of December.

Budget Range: As per above.

System Usage: Gaming, running games such as Skyrim, COD, BF3, etc. It will also be used for normal day-to-day things such as surfing the net

Parts Not Required: ■Keyboard (Currently using G15)
■Mouse (Currently using a logitech anywhere mouse mx; I am however open to suggestions on this)
■Headset (Currently using Turtle Beach Ear Force Z6A; Unsure if i need a sound card to help enhance this, any help on this would be greatly appreciated)
■OS (Currently running Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate)

Country: Australia

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf
(I realise this makes it alot more difficult, however this store is about a 20 minute drive away and is easily accesible by me, if someone would like to suggest another website (such as newegg) please make sure they do ship to Australia !)


Parts Preferences: No preference whatsoever, i am after what will give me the best gaming experience within my budget.

Overclocking: Possibly. If i were to overclock it would not be for at least another 3 months minimum, as i am yet to educate myself on how to do this

SLI or Crossfire: Not as of yet, i would like to however leave this option open for the future.

Monitor Resolution: Currently at 1280x1024. However, i am looking to upgrade my monitor too.

Additional Comments: The following is a complete list of all the parts i will need as well as what i currently have. (please let me know if i have left anything out! )
■CPU (Using AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition) Really keen on i7-2600k as i hear its really decent for gaming
■Motherboard (Using Gigabtye MA74GMT-S2) Would like a future-proof mobo (Something that supports the latest technology perhaps?)
■Graphics Card (Using Nvidia GeForce GTS 250)
■PSU (E85-550 - Aerocool. I believe this is only 550W)
■Case (Xblade - First one that pops up on google images)
■RAM (Installed 6G of ram - 4GB is DDR3 1333 DIMM Transcend stick, while the other is a Kingston 1333 DDR3 2GB stick) This isnt optimal from what i understand?
■Fans/Cooling systems (Unsure where to find info on these, however i have not installed any extra fans or cooling systems on this rig)
■SSD (I have read up on these, however i dont know if they will really benefit me, any help with these would be appreciated)
■HDD (500GB Caviar Green Hard Disk Drive - Bought it about 2 years ago)
■Monitor (Currently using a BENQ FP91G+) For this i would like something that would make things look pretty, nothing overkill though. (Overkill is 30+ish inches i guess? )

Thats all! Thank you again for any help, everyone is welcome to provide their input

 

[Emelth]

If you want to build a new system here is a short listing of parts

Case: Whatever you want
CPU: i5 2500k (~$220)
MoBo: Z68 motherboard (~$125 you can get a better one if you want it will handle SLI/CF)
RAM: DDR3 1600mhz, dual channel, 1.5V, 240-pin
GPU: Its possible to fit 2 560 Ti's or 6950s in a 1.5k budget but it up to you you could buy a GTX 570 or 6970 and SLI later down the road (~$250)
HDD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda (~$140) use your other HDD for like pictures, movies, music, docs, etc. and use the new one to put your games on it)
CD/DVD: You can reuse your old one if you want or grab a new one for around $20 or a bluray one
PSU: if you got for a the 560 Ti or 6950 and want to SLI/CF in the future go with a 750W if you go for a 570 or higher to SLI/CF later down the road when more money comes get an 850W)

 

[Krayzee]

Wow, that was a quick reply!
I will most likely go with a GTX 570 and SLI later on, or would a duo 6970 be more powerful?
Also, would going with an AsRock Fatal1ty-Z68-Pro motherboard be overkill or is there something cheaper that will satisfy my needs?

 

[Emelth]

GPU Benchmark check it out about the 5970 and other GPUs:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/188

Cant find the motherboard your talking about on newegg, can you post a link

 

[Krayzee]

Newegg link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157263

Overview http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen3

Also, any suggestions on what monitor i should get?

 

[value21]

Your rig already pretty good. You dont need to upgrade that much at all. I say use the old rig and get yourself a 560 ti and a 23-24 inch monitor. All you really need till the new hardware comes out. Even then that card is more than capable of handling future games. No need to play at ultra max settings.
Medium to High settings will work just as smooth.

Worst time to upgrade right now if you can hold off

Ivy Bridge is just around the corner and its going to blow away sandy bridge from what I hear. Not to mention the geforce 6000 series and ati 7000 series video cards.

In my opinion all this future proofing stuff is crap. Buy what you need now. With the way technology has been going the high end stuff now becomes reasonably cheap in a couple of months anyways. Not to mention how fast technology moving already.

 

[value21]

Also Instead of upgrading the cpu just overclock it now. Thats what those Black Edition where meant for anyways. Might as well learn how to do it now.

 

[Krayzee]

So you think i should wait on upgrading my mobo + cpu until ivy bridge comes out? That sounds awesome, especially considering the ivy bridge will supposedly out-do the sandy bridge and it gives me time to let more cash in .
What do you reckon of me just buying a monitor + 6950 card for now then?

 

[value21]

Yep monitor and new video is where you will see the huge improvements. 560 ti already high end for the gaming your doing right. 6950 might be overkill not to mention Im not too sure your psu can handle the 6950. It only a little faster but more expensive. Also the new series of video cards are coming out soon too.

 

[value21]

Edit 560 ti already high end for the gaming your doing right now.

 

[Krayzee]

Alrighty then, i'll be getting a 560 ti + a new monitor. Thanks for all your help!