I need advice on 1st build

[b-noq]

this is going to be my first build and need to make sure i'm on the right track

this is what i got so far!


Case :Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Unbeatable Gaming Case
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129100

Mobo : ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

CPU : Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

GPU :EVGA 015-P3-1580-AR GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587

PSU :CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 (CMPSU-650HX) 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

RAM :CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

Hard Drive :SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Optical Drive :ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135247

CPU Heatsink :COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

thinking about Overclocking


i mainly want to use this pc for gaming and recording music..

 

[tlmck]

If you needed to save a few dollars, Coolermaster has this very similar case that will work just as well. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

I can tell you are going for SLi eventually, and I can tell you that you will likely be disappointed in the results for the amount of money you spent. Having said that, the card and PSU is fine for dual SLi, but is marginal for triple, and a no no for quad. You could of course save some money there by getting a single GTX 580, and drop the PSU to 650 watts.

The motherboard is also way overkill unless you are planning on quad SLi. A Z68 board like this will do just as well. It is also one of the most highly rated right now. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

Every thing else looks excellent. I am just sorry about the hard prices due to the shortage. I got mine for $79 before the floods in Thailand hit. It is an excellent drive though.

 

[jsc]

For first-time builders, I recommend looking at these threads:

Build it yourself:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/274745-13-step-step-guide-building

And although this primarily a troubleshooting thread, the first part contains a checklist that will catch most noob mistakes:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-read-posting-boot-problems

 

[b-noq]

thanx guys.


i'm going to update my list in a bit. open to any suggestions !

thanks for showing me those threads jsc , i'm going to take a look at them now!

 

[b-noq]

i was also wondering . if i were to SLI ,, is there a big difference in performance?
and same if i wanted to OC. would there be a significant difference?

 

[b-noq]

i updated my list !
with that psu, is it powerful enough to do OC?

 

[tlmck]

You can view this Tom's chart on cards which includes SLi and Crossfire ratings and judge for yourself. My personal opinion is multi-card is not worth the expense or trouble for the gain you get. In most cases you can do just as well with a single powerful card. For me the only reason to run more than one card would be for a multiple monitor setup, or workstation cards, etc. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2011-gaming-graphics-charts/3DMark11-Gamer,2659.html

OC can improve performance, but not as much as you think. You are not going to get double the stock speed. OC can also vary from board to board and component to component, so if some other person gets 20 more points in 3d Mark with the same setup, don't be surprised. It does not mean you failed in some way. His components might just have had a little tighter tolerances or something. Such is the nature of the beast known as electronics.

You can spend hours viewing articles on Tom's and other sites comparing OC to stock speeds. It's up to you. I can tell you the i5-2500k is pretty fast at stock, and even faster when turbo kicks in.

Since this is your first build, I would simply start by getting a stock, single card rig up and running. You can worry about OC, SLi and such later.

 

[tlmck]

PSU is fine for overclock.

 

[b-noq]

will this rig run the latest games maxed out, at a decent fps rate?

 

[b-noq]

thanks btw , you have been good help! once i order all these parts i'll have to jump back on here in case i have problems. thanks!!

 

[b-noq]

Best answer selected by b-noq.