Seeking Advice on Part Selection

[rukevre]

Hey, so I'm looking at building my first GAMING pc, below is my budget details / parts I'm considering.


Approximate Purchase Date: Within the next few weeks.

Budget Range: ~$2300 CAD

System Use: Primarily Gaming, Music / Movies, Web Browsing

Parts Not Required: Monitor's, Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Ncix.com

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: Intel, nVidia

Overclocking: It's a possibility, mind you I'd need to do some research etc.

SLI or Crossfire: SLI is one of my primary questions in this thread.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 x 2 23" monitor's

Additional Comments: Have used a laptop for gaming for several years and am ready to finally get a nice PC to replace it for my gaming needs. My budget isn't over the top but I would like to stay around $2200-$2300 tops. I do a lot of gaming and would like to get the most bang for my buck with current parts etc. I can upgrade in the future. I am not overly versed on hardware, which is why I've come here for some opinions. Feel free to provide insight or tell me anything I may not know.

Thank you in advance.


Processor:
Intel Core i7 2600K Quad Core Unlocked Hyperthreading Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Sandy Bridge 8MB
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=57960

CPU Heatsink:
Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H80 High Performance CPU Cooler System LGA775 1366 1156 1155 AM2 AM3
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=61379

Motherboard:
Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Z68 DDR3 1PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI HDMI SLI SATA3 USB3.0 Motherboard
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=61002

Ram: (Is upgrading it from 8gb -> 16gb worth it?)
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9 Vengeance 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1866 CL9-10-9-27 Memory Kit
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=58165

Video Card:
My largest question lies here. I want to know if I would get the most performance out of:
2x GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB PCI-E Dual DVI Mini HDMI
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=58604

Or

1x GeForce GTX 580 772MHZ 1536MB 4GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI-I Mini HDMI
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=56817

The possibility of a second GTX 580 in the future if I go that route is likely but it wouldn't be for about a year probably. I'd like insight as to which would give me the most bang for my buck. I'm going from Laptop gaming to a PC so either would likely be a huge difference, but as I have a moderate budget for this project I would really like to build a fairly high end gaming rig.

Computer Case:
Corsair Obsidian Series 800D Full Tower Case EATX 5X5.25 4X3.5 Hotswappable 2X3.5INT No PS USB 1394
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=41960

Power Supply:
Corsair Professional HX850W 850W ATX 12V 70A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply Active PFC 140MM Fan
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=38650

Harddrive:
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=65701

SSD:
Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD SATA3 Solid State Disk 525MB/S Read SandForce SF-2200
http://www.ncix.com/products/productdetail2.php?noheader=1&sku=64569

This is the build I was looking at, if you have any alternate builds within my price range or suggestions for parts I haven't listed I would appreciate them greatly. I'm very excited to finally be purchasing a dedicated gaming rig, and want to do a good job selecting my components. If you need any further information just let me know. Thanks.

Edit: Another question, would SLi enable the use of a third monitor? And would it make my current dual monitor setup work more efficiently?

 

[sosofm]

For gaming i5 2500k is the best bang for buck.
RAM : Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=57078&vpn=CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9&manufacture=Corsair $53.09
8GB is more than enough , for a gaming PC.
Buy one 580 and you can add another in the future for SLI.
Your build looks good.

 

[rukevre]

For gaming i5 2500k is the best bang for buck.
RAM : Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=57078&vpn=CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9&manufacture=Corsair $53.09
8GB is more than enough , for a gaming PC.
Buy one 580 and you can add another in the future for SLI.
Your build looks good.

Is the i5 2500k better performance wise than the i7 2600k when it comes to gaming, or is the performance to price ratio just not large enough to merit the 'upgrade'?

Could you explain the alternate RAM suggestion? I'm having trouble discerning the significant difference between the two.

 

[sosofm]

What you choosed is DDR3-1866 and what i sugested you id DDR3 1600MHZ. In real life you cand see diferences between them just in benchmarks.
In gaming 2500K is almost equal with 2600K , the advantage of 2699k is in multitasking and if you work with that CPU ( rendering ,3D and other programs ).
Here you can see the diference between them. In gaming are almost equals ,but in programs who need more calculation power 2600k is in advantage http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

 

[phenom90]

for your purpose... you won't see huge difference between i5 2500k and i7 2600k... cause the latter will only benefit from heavily multi-threaded applications... which your purposes won't... and for gpu... currently the best performance for the money is amd hd 7950 3gb... not nvidia.... i would suggest going for single hd 7950 1st as it is faster than gtx 580 and cheaper as well...

cpu: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=57962&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=Intel
Intel Core i5 2500K - $240

mobo: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=63945&vpn=Z68%20Extreme3%20Gen3&manufacture=ASRock
ASRock Z68 EXTREME3 GEN3 - $156

ram: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=60640&vpn=996995&manufacture=Mushkin%20Enhanced&promoid=1315
Mushkin Enhanced Blackline Frostbyte PC3-12800 8GB - $43

hsf: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=53612&vpn=CAFA70&manufacture=Corsair
Corsair Cooling Air Series A70 - $65

hdd: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=65701&vpn=ST1000DM003&manufacture=Seagate
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB - $120

odd: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=60680&vpn=GH24LS70&manufacture=LG%20Electronics
LG GH24LS70 - $28

gpu: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=67898&vpn=11196-02-40G&manufacture=SAPPHIRE
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 OC - $490

psu: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62223&vpn=P1850BNLG9&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1315
XFX 850W PRO850W XXX Edition - $100

case: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=63867&vpn=RV03B-WA&manufacture=Silverstone%20Technology
Silverstone RV03B-WA - $154

ssd: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=60445&vpn=CT128M4SSD2&manufacture=CRUCIAL%20TECHNOLOGY&promoid=1315
Crucial M4 SSD Micron C400 128GB - $175


total: $1571 after rebate excluding shipping.....

 

[rukevre]

for your purpose... you won't see huge difference between i5 2500k and i7 2600k... cause the latter will only benefit from heavily multi-threaded applications... which your purposes won't... and for gpu... currently the best performance for the money is amd hd 7950 3gb... not nvidia.... i would suggest going for single hd 7950 1st as it is faster than gtx 580 and cheaper as well...

Alright, I've modified a few parts based on your suggestions, as for graphics card, I plan on getting a second GTX580 for SLi later this year, and I've had really negative experiences with AMD in the past so I'm a little hesitant to go there. Could the setup I posted effectively handle 2 GTX 580's in future?

 

[phenom90]

should handle it with no problem... but since you're keen on nvidia gpu... could you wait some more time as nvidia will release its next generation graphics processor kepler sometime in march/april and that's very close from now.... but if you couldn't wait gtx 580 is good afterall....

 

[rukevre]

should handle it with no problem... but since you're keen on nvidia gpu... could you wait some more time as nvidia will release its next generation graphics processor kepler sometime in march/april and that's very close from now.... but if you couldn't wait gtx 580 is good afterall....

Well, I work away from home, so I'm looking to buy pretty soon seeing as I only have another month or two at home before being gone working most of the year. I make good wage though, so if my setup permits I could upgrade the graphics card to one of the new line ones pending they'll be compatible.

Would that be a viable option? Instead of getting a second GTX580 just upgrading to one of the cards from their new line?

 

[phenom90]

yep... it is better you go for 1 gtx 580 1st... and upgrade to the new lines one it is out in the market... don't go for sli now... because even 1 gtx 580 can handle most games well at 1080p.... one more thing... ummm... i found cheaper gtx 580 than the one you've listed...

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58688&vpn=GV-N580UD-15I&manufacture=Gigabyte
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 Fermi Windforce - $450 after rebate

this model is the cheapest one i can found... the only difference is it uses custom-designed triple fan cooler....

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=56599&vpn=015-P3-1580-AR&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1067
EVGA GeForce GTX 580 - $480 after rebate

this model uses nvidia's reference cooler and pcb... so which one do you pick.... up to you....
but mind you... the gigabyte model rebate promotion is only valid until feb 29th... so if you want... grab fast....