New Gaming Build (About $1000-1200)

[Brownie4life]

Approximate Purchase Date: Probably sometime this week. Not sure if I should wait for Radeon 78xx series for lower prices.

Budget Range: $1000-1200. I really don't wanna go past 1200. It's a strict budget.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: (e.g.: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS): Need everything but OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg, Microcenter, Amazon

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: The Best Parts. System being built around 2500k though.

Overclocking: Hells yea

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future.

Critique build

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K LGA 1155. ($195 with sales tax)
Microcenter. Already picked this up

Mobo: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 (Really not sure which mobo to get. Biggest question for me) ($150)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

Hard Drive (SSD) Crucial m4 64 gb SSD. (Plan to use my old 250 gb hdd, and upgrade when prices drop.) ($80)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 ($47)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W (Overkill maybe?) $(150)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

GPU: MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB (Radeon or nvidia?) ($259)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127608

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 ($100)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

Monitor: ASUS VH232H Glossy Black 23" 5ms Widescreen Full HD ($160)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236079

Total (With Shipping): $1164 (and 70$ mail in rebate).

So, any critiques on the system? Maybe some combo deals so i can save a little dough or better products. Anything would be helpful. I'm new here and I appreciate the help

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Enthusiast-Certified-Performance-CP-9020003-NA/dp/B005E98FVS/ref=sr_1_16?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1329548373&sr=1-16 $114.49 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Enthusiast TX V2 Series 750-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified High Performance Modular Power Supply CP-9020003-NA

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 $121.99
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401 $209.99
GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-RC-922M-KKN1-GP-Black/dp/B0026FCI2U/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1329548689&sr=1-2 $89.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master HAF ATX Mid Tower Case, RC-922M-KKN1-GP (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Computer-Cooling-R4-LUS-07AR-GP/dp/B002LE8BJA/ref=pd_sim_pc_4 $14.60 Free Standard Shipping (3-5 days
Cooler Master Computer Case Cooling R4-LUS-07AR-GP (Red)

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1329548785&sr=1-3 $24.27 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1

http://www.amazon.com/ML228H-22-Inch-Ultra-Slim-Widescreen-Monitor/dp/B00413PHEQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329549014&sr=1-1 $154.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
ASUS ML228H 22-Inch Ultra-Slim Widescreen LED Monitor

 

[Brownie4life]

So you think the Proffesional version is overkill then? Won't lie, I really dig modular PSU's.

In terms of the Extreme 4 Gen 3 vs Extreme 3 Gen 3. I'm not really sure on the differences between the two.

With the video card, Gamings huge for me, so the increased core clock and shader clock on the msi, and not to mention 2 gb vram really makes a difference imo. Course, I might be wrong, in which case, going with your gpu saves me a solid 50.

 

[Why_Me]

So you think the Proffesional version is overkill then? Won't lie, I really dig modular PSU's.

In terms of the Extreme 4 Gen 3 vs Extreme 3 Gen 3. I'm not really sure on the differences between the two.

With the video card, Gamings huge for me, so the increased core clock and shader clock on the msi, and not to mention 2 gb vram really makes a difference imo. Course, I might be wrong, in which case, going with your gpu saves me a solid 50.

The Corsair psu I posted is modular and it saves you some $. As far as the vid cards go...the only time the extra gig of vRAM will make difference is if you were running at a higher resolution....like 1920 x 1200 or higher and those shader and core clocks you mentioned are made to be over clocked. Download MSI after burner...works on all brands of vid cards and crank it up. It might take you a few minutes to find the sweet spot over clocking that card without upping the voltage and you just saved yourself more $$$.

Now with the boards there is some differences. The main one being that the P67 you linked has a front USB 3.0 header for two front 3.0 USB ports along with the standard two 3.0 USB ports in the rear, and the one I linked doesn't have the front 3.0 USB header but does have the standard two 3.0 USB ports in the rear. Both have the same phase configuration and both will give you a decent over clock ...although anything over 4.4Ghz on these 1155 boards nets you zero extra gain.

Just some idea's I threw out there that will cut some of the cost without cutting any of the performance. Saved money gets you a larger SSD is another way of looking at it.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236 $142.99 FREE SHIPPING OUT OF STOCK. ETA: 02/20/2012
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

[unanimous415]

Had the Frozr II was a very well performing card for myself. Looking to get it again.

 

[Brownie4life]

Awesome man, Thanks a lot Why_Me. I didn't realize that there was a modular version of the Enthusiast version. So i'm guessing the professional is indeed overkill.

As for the Mobo, I was actually thinking of overclocking it to the ballpark of 4.6 or so. Do you think the motherboard and 212+ could handle that?

Im probably just gonna get the case and cpu fan from newegg, and pay the extra 10 bucks just because of newegg's great customer service.

Now for the Video card, You don't think the msi would overclock to a higher core and shader than the evga card? My other option is going for a 6950 for $250 which i've heard incredible reviews on.

 

[Why_Me]

Awesome man, Thanks a lot Why_Me. I didn't realize that there was a modular version of the Enthusiast version. So i'm guessing the professional is indeed overkill.

As for the Mobo, I was actually thinking of overclocking it to the ballpark of 4.6 or so. Do you think the motherboard and 212+ could handle that?

Im probably just gonna get the case and cpu fan from newegg, and pay the extra 10 bucks just because of newegg's great customer service.

Now for the Video card, You don't think the msi would overclock to a higher core and shader than the evga card? My other option is going for a 6950 for $250 which i've heard incredible reviews on.

As far as those cards go, the Gigabyte cards have almost the identical cooling set up as the MSI cards. Both cards exhaust into the case and not out the back like reference cards, but both over clock much better than a reference 560 ti. You can get an MSI 560 ti 1gb for around $225 and free shipping off of newegg. With the 6950 ...those are great cards also...they run a little hotter than the Nvidia cards but their gamers. Just make sure you get one with non reference cooling if you do go the AMD route. Similar cooling like what those Gigabyte and MSI cards have. You can't go wrong with either choice imo.

For a better cpu cooling set up then check out the EVO and add another fan to it. The thing about 4.4Ghz though is you usually don't have to up your voltage.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 $34.99
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

And here's the add on fan for that cooler that gives you a "push - pull" effect to take our temps down even more. It clips right on to the other side of that cooler. n You can find this same fan on amazon for about half the price of what newegg charges.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103069 $11.99 FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER R4-BMBS-20PK-R0 Blade Master 120mm Case Fan

 

[Brownie4life]

Well I do plan on raising the vcore to about 1.33-1.38 depending on what my cpu will be stable at and how good the cooling is. My main concern is if the mobo and case are capable of getting it to 4.6 ghz. I was planning on seeing if I could get the bad boy to 4.8 but I figured i'd just take it easy and leave it at 4.6.

As for the video cards, I'll go with the gigabyte as I'm probably gonna stop at 1 ghz core, and the gigabyte seems pretty good in stability.

And thanks for the fan idea. Any extra heat I can get rid of is huge and that seems like a good idea if it really does make a difference.

 

[Brownie4life]

Best answer selected by Brownie4life.