My First DIY Gaming PC Component List (@ $1600) - Please Advise

[Silentchild87]

If this is the wrong section of the forum for this kind of question, let me know and I'll move it.

This is my first PC build; please volunteer as much info as possible.

First, here is the current list. Feel free to comment if any problems jump out at you. My specific questions will follow.

Motherboard - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.o) - $199.99
Processor - Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3Ghz - $229.99
Power Supply - CORSAIR TX750 - $99.99
Case - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 - $104.99
RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaw X 8GB (2x4GB) - $46.99
SSD - OCZ Vertex 3 2.5" 120GB SATA III - $189.99
Graphics - EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 580 1536MB - $509.99
Optical Drive - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $18.99
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium - $199.99

HDD - My Passport Essential USB 1TB (already owned)
Monitor - 23" 1080p (already owned)
Mouse - Logitech USB (already owned)
Keyboard - Logitech USB (already owned)
Speakers/Headphones (already owned)

Total (Before Taxes and Shipping): $1,600.91

All right, here are the details and questions.

What I want (in order of importance):
1) Run current gen games (e.g. BF3, StarCraft II, SWTOR) at settings that (I don't know how else to say this..) beat PS3 and XBox 360 without dipping below 30fps or lagging. With PC exclusives, I just don't want to feel shortchanged - want to run these on High-to-Ultra.
2) Be future-proof for 5-10 years so I can add/replace individual components (e.g. upgrade to two GTX 580s SLI) to handle the next gen without having to throw out old components.
3) Overclock my CPU (if necessary) safely.
4) Learn enough through building the PC myself to monitor, diagnose, maintain, and upgrade the machine.

Onto the components...

Motherboard - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.o) - $199.99
Questions: 1) Should I be concerned that this does not have PCIe 3.0 support? 2) Should I go with the P8Z68-v (which has 3.0 support) instead?

Processor - Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3Ghz - $229.99
I plan to use the stock fan for now; can always upgrade later. Problem?

Power Supply - CORSAIR TX750 - $99.99
I really am lost when it comes to the power supply and those online calculators aren't helping. Is 750 enough for my needs? What if I go to two GTX 580s?

Case - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 - $104.99
I wants lots of room in the case to make the installs easy, this being my first build.

RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaw X 8GB (2x4GB) - $46.99
What's the difference between this Ripjaw X and this one? Also, is PC3 12800 better than PC3 10666 for my purposes?

SSD - OCZ Vertex 3 2.5" 120GB SATA III - $189.99
Is this designed for laptops? Is there a less expensive solution? A faster solution? Again, I am quite lost when it comes to SSDs.

Graphics - EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 580 1536MB - $509.99
One question: do you see a bottleneck anywhere that would keep me from hitting the numbers I'm looking for?

Optical Drive - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - $18.99 I will use this mostly for installing games from CDs, converting audio from CD to mp3, and ripping DVDs.

Anything else I need in order to run this rig?

Please do not be shy with the criticism/advice.

Just in case anybody cares, here are my previous gaming/computing machines...
MacBook Pro
PS3
Xbox 360
Alienware Aurora m9700

 

[sosofm]

This PSU will keep easy your system even with 2x 580 and is modular.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139029
Its a good build.

 

[vaipogaming]

The stock cooler for the i5 should do just fine as long as you don't overclock

Yes tx750 will be fine for now but not for SLI, an as sosofm said, get a 850m because it'll most likely hold 2 gtx 580s aswell as its modular.

I don't think the gtx 580 actualy requires a 3.0 pci slot, says 2.0 so you'll be fine.

The SSD as far as I know, they are all 2.5" so this is both a laptop and computer SSD. But don't quote me on that one.
But If you use that as an internal drive, I wouldn't recommend using that old 1TB usb hard drive for storage. I'd change that ssd to mabe 80gb and then buy a 500GB 3.5" internal hdd (yes that'll cost a bit of money, but will be more reliable)
The reason for this is running through a usb (unless its usb3.0 in which case this old hdd prob dosnt support it) is probably around 10X slower then through SATA.

Good luck

 

[fatfatr]

Windows Home Premium OEM is only $100.
You're PC will be outdated soon, Intel is notorious for changing sockets. Don't think about future-proofing, save money and don't buy a motherboard with features you don't need. PCI-E 3.0 is of no use, your GTX580 is no where close to maxing out the 2.0 bandwidth.
Concerning the memory, the latter is low voltage (1.35V).
If you're intrested in rebates : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162073 The OC on the EVGA superclocked version is shameful, 20MHz more isn't worth mentioning and the $10 premium is laughable IMO.

 

[Silentchild87]

Thank you all very much for the input. Quick question about the RAM: would I see any performance difference between the two? Which would be a better choice and why?

 

[Silentchild87]

If you're intrested in rebates : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162073 The OC on the EVGA superclocked version is shameful, 20MHz more isn't worth mentioning and the $10 premium is laughable IMO.

Please help: EVGA vs Galaxy. Galaxy seems like it would run cooler because it has three fans, but EVGA seems to be the go-to for nVidia. This is the most expensive piece of the puzzle, so I don't want to skimp on quality. Thoughts?

 

[Silentchild87]

Also, Galaxy seems very thick. Problem for SLI setup?

 

[soullStream]

Just personally i would go with some corsair vengence, but thats just my preference. Also, tell me if im wrong, im pretty sure you wont see a difference between clockspeeds of your ram really

 

[angaddev]

EVGA is more well known, but if you have more cooling you can OC it more.

 

[Silentchild87]

Best answer selected by silentchild87.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey