New to PC Building, been researching for days

[drock_78]

Approximate Purchase Date: within 2 weeks

Budget Range: $500 ish

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, home theater, surfing

Parts Not Required: Monitor, keyboard, mouse

Re using for now: 640gb sata HD, Supermulti DVD Burner, MSI nVidia GeForce GT 520 1 GB DDR3 Low Profile PCI-Express Video Card

These parts are in my current Acer Aspire AX1700

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Seriously considering the 1155 Intel socket mobo for its future Ivy Bridge upgrade and getting a i3 for now.. Thoughts? Opinions?

My original plan was to go with the phenom II 955 or 960 pcu but after reading reviews of the Intel advantages I've reconsidered

Overclocking: Yes - never done before but would like the ability

SLI or Crossfire: Yes - future upgrades

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1200)

Additional Comments:

I could easily do a phenom 955 or 960 for less money.. Are the Intel advantages worth the extra money?

Also I considered getting the 2500k i5 over the i3 but was thinking it may be worth it to just use the i3 for now and upgrade when the ivy bridge are released?

As far as mobo, I am so confused in that department my head has been spinning... I know i want crossfirex and sli support, usb 3.0 - but any further than that I just dont know where to go.

I also plan to buy an ssd as a future upgrade as well, and likely a BD player possibly burner.

I just need some advise, by budget is quite limited for the time being, but the upgrades I plan to buy them all within a couple months, 1 at a time.

Thanks in advance!

 

[kajabla]

Get the 2500K if you can afford it. It's a great CPU, and it should last you for a couple of years. Overclocked, it can handle crazy graphics setups. I don't think you'll achieve anything by waiting for IB; any savings on the performance you get then will be offset by the $120 you'll have to drop now.
What this will not do is give you a good gaming rig right now. You'll have to spend $325 on a 2500K + mobo right now, and a ~$60 PSU won't leave you enough for a graphics card that deserves the 2500K. You can't do much with $115. I hope you mean that you've got $500 to spend now and you'll be able to spend more over the next few months; otherwise the 2500K's not feasible.

 

[drock_78]

Get the 2500K if you can afford it. It's a great CPU, and it should last you for a couple of years. Overclocked, it can handle crazy graphics setups. I don't think you'll achieve anything by waiting for IB; any savings on the performance you get then will be offset by the $120 you'll have to drop now.
What this will not do is give you a good gaming rig right now. You'll have to spend $325 on a 2500K + mobo right now, and a ~$60 PSU won't leave you enough for a graphics card that deserves the 2500K. You can't do much with $115. I hope you mean that you've got $500 to spend now and you'll be able to spend more over the next few months; otherwise the 2500K's not feasible.

Hmmm - OK, im going to run some numbers using the 2500k and do some browsing and ill re post in a few.

And yes the 500 is just my current budget, I plan invest more on the gpu within the next couple weeks and the ssd, bd player over the next few months.

 

[drock_78]

mobo 149.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128498&Tpk=GIGABYTE%20GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3

cpu 219.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

ram 44.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

case 59.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147060

psu 91.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051&Tpk=EA-750%20Green%20750W

pcu cooler 29.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
Just under $600 invested now

and 1 of these within a couple weeks and a 2nd in a month or so 239.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127594&Tpk=N82E16814127594

SSD, BD Player/ Burner etc as future purchases...

 

[kajabla]

The Gigabyte'll be totally fine.
Get a better PSU if you're going to SLI/Xfire. $80 Antec Earthwatts 750W.
I wouldn't go Crossfired 6850s. That's right in the problem micro-stuttering area. Get a $225 MSI Twin Frozr 560 Ti and wait longer on the second one.

 

[drock_78]

Thanks for the help.. I do appreciate it!

I also forgot about the cpu cooler another $30

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[kajabla]

Get an EVO. $5 more and significantly better.

 

[drock_78]

Ok, maybe ill wait a week on the cooler.. Its a pretty easy install later on!

 

[kajabla]

You will have to remove the motherboard from the case, or at least do a bunch of cable management, to get the cooler in. I'd make sure you do that when you first install the CPU. Another benefit to this is that you won't have to remove the stock cooler's thermal compound before applying the EVO's.