[New Build] $1200 Gaming PC Help

[EnteEnte]

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15180214

Above is the wishlist.

Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime this week

Budget Range: (e.g.: 600-800) $1000 -- $1500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and movie watching.

Parts Not Required: A desk and chair... I got nothin'.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or any reliable site.

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Intel CPU and nVidia GPU

Overclocking: Maybe/ in the future

SLI or Crossfire: Yes, in the future

Monitor Resolution: 1920 and above.

Additional Comments: I want to slowly add and make this better over the school year because I will have 2 jobs over the school year and none in the summer. By this I mean add a second GPU and other upgrades. This explains why the case is overkill for the time being.

The only questions I have is about the PSU, CPU, and GPU.

For the PSU I was wondering if it is enough for future upgrades. Should I worry about it now or just wait until the time comes?
For the CPU, is it a good idea to get a overkill CPU for gaming in order to help 'safeguard' it against the future, or should I just get a cheaper CPU like an i5 and upgrade it when the time comes?
Lastly, I am stuck on getting the 680 and a second one when I save up enough or should I help cut the price and get the cheaper 670?

Any advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[super-smashman]

Well the CPU is technically overkill but you need to think about scaling in the future. As long as you have the clocks to keep up with the game, the GPU is the one working hard, not the CPU. BUT if you are planning SLI, you need more horsepower to "feed" the GPUs so plan ahead. Hyperthreading is the major difference between i5s and i7s and it holds no value for games however the i7s are usually the highest clocked AND the best binned chips that overclock the best so it may be worth it depending on how far you want to take it.

I have two GTX 680's in my system and my last one that I recently sold had two 560ti's. One major difference between the two builds was power. I used a Cooler Master 700W non 80plus PSU that just wasnt able to keep up with the 560tis. Any kind of overclocking and I had to tiptoe around power consumption or my system would hard crash. Basically, decide NOW how much power you will ever need because running out when you've already bought the card is no fun.

I use a 1200W Platimax and I don't have to worry now. I everything spread across the rails and I can push 1.5V CPU and 1.09V overvolts with no worries.

I don't like the X77 platform for what you're intending. It has too many drawbacks to a user planning on upgrading. Go X79. You get a lot more PCIe lanes so you can stack video cards as you need more power and you can overclock the chips a lot harder. If you're looking to spend 1500 right now AND upgrade you really need to look into the enthusiast side of Intel.

 

[Zero_]

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[Why_Me]

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Mid-Tower-Gaming/dp/B006I2H0YS/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336635806&sr=1-8 $75.84 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Mid-Tower Gaming Case - CC-9011014-WW

http://www.corsair.com/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case.html <----- another look at that case

or...

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Tower-Gaming-Computer/dp/B0055Q7BR4/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336886252&sr=1-4 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - CC-9011011-WW

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/carbide-series-400r-mid-tower-case.html <----- another look at that case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703027 $109.99 - $89.99 after mail-in rebate card FREE SHIPPING 15% off w/ promo code PCPMK15OFF, ends 5/21
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.910431 $364.98 save: $10.00 FREE SHIPPING
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z77%20Extreme4 <----- another look at that board along with the latest bios update

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/asrock_z77_extreme4_review,1.html <----- review of that board w/benchmarks

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336617964&sr=1-7 $34.95 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220570 $41.99 FREE SHIPPING
Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory with heatshield Model PSD38G1600KH

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW/ref=sr_1_5?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336761767&sr=1-5 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-AD-7280S-0B-Internal-Drive-Black/dp/B0057FRTPW/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1336879031&sr=1-2 $17.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive (Black)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127675 $399.99 FREE SHIPPING
MSI N670GTX-PM2D2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-670-review-feat-evga <---- review w/benchmarks of the gtx 670

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Builder/dp/B004Q0PT3I/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_b $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VS228H-P-21-5-Inch-Full-Monitor/dp/B005BZNDOO/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336879305&sr=1-3 $129.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
ASUS VS228H-P 21.5-Inch Full HD LED Monitor - Black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226236 $102.99 FREE SHIPPING
Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)