Advice with final components for $1100 gaming build

[LOBOBAST]

Approximate Purchase Date: 2-3 weeks

Budget Range: about $1100

System Usage from Most to Least Important: BF3 max settings, movie streaming to home theater setup

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: GPU, cooler, mobo, dvd drive

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Parts Preferences: Asus for Mobo, any for GPU

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes (within 4 months)

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 2048x1152, 2560x1600 or Tri 21+" Monitors (not sure if I'm going for a 30" or Tri Monitors, these will be purchased later. My 23" Dell runs 2048x1152)

Well after 5 years I'm finally building a new gaming rig for some BF3 action. I've started buying parts already and this is what I have so far and what parts I need to finish my build.

CPU: i5 3570k ( $229 ) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

CPU cooler: ??

MOBO: ($125) ASRock Z77 Extreme4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

GPU: ($399) Gigabyte windforce GTX 670 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-125-423&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=100&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

RAM: ($90) G. Skill Ripsaw X series 16gb DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231489

SSD: ($90) SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128B/WW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163

Mass Storage: transferring my 1 and 3 TB drives to new build

DVD Drive: ?? (no bluray needed)

PSU: ($80) Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Case: ($75) Rosewill Blackhawk http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107

The prices listed above are the ones during the time of my purchase. As you can see I'm almost done. Now all I need is a little advice on what kind of mobo, cpu cooler and GPU to get to finish my new build.

1. For the mobo, I'm not interested in raid, wifi or firewire ports. I just want one suitable for overclocking. I don't want anything over $180

2. For the cpu cooler I preffer a real good heat sink and fan over water cooling

3. As far as the GPU goes I'm leaning towards a GTX 670. I will be overclocking it as well so I need advice on which brand to get that's a better overclocker.

4. For the dvd drive, nothing fancy. As long as I can burn dvds.

 

[batuchka]

For green camp just the single GTX 670 is actually playable up to 2560 x 1600 with rather high settings as well so ya u on the right track? However once u go triple displays definitely look into boards with 8/8 as 16/4 may have performance impact for multi GPU configurations. SLI/CF here would be a good idea. Lastly if this is also going to stream to other clients/machines in your place for HD videos, best results are mostly with wired rather than wireless solutions for the most part ^^

 

[LOBOBAST]

Well I found an MSI N670GTX gtx 670 for only $380 on newegg + free NBA2K11 PC GAME.

Is this a good brand of card for overclocking?

Also, looks like I'm going to get the cooler master 212 evo. Now I just need to pick out a nice mobo

 

[Dupontrocks11]

Well I found an MSI N670GTX gtx 670 for only $380 on newegg + free NBA2K11 PC GAME.

Is this a good brand of card for overclocking?

Also, looks like I'm going to get the cooler master 212 evo. Now I just need to pick out a nice mobo

If you can get one before they sell out, I would suggest buying a Gigabyte windforce GTX 670 which is $399.99 on Newegg. That thing had amazing cooling, heck the highest temp Newegg was able to get it up to was 62 degrees.

As for a mobo, I can only suggest the board that I feel in love with during my $1100 build: The ASRock Extreme4. It is a great board with a great price. It has more internal connectors than you could ever use; just read the reviews!

 

[LOBOBAST]

If you can get one before they sell out, I would suggest buying a Gigabyte windforce GTX 670 which is $399.99 on Newegg. That thing had amazing cooling, heck the highest temp Newegg was able to get it up to was 62 degrees.

As for a mobo, I can only suggest the board that I feel in love with during my $1100 build: The ASRock Extreme4. It is a great board with a great price. It has more internal connectors than you could ever use; just read the reviews!

Do you mean this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423

 

[Dupontrocks11]

Do you mean this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423

Yea that's the one. But be warned, that thing sells out like hot bread. If that is sold out I would suggest the EVGA GTX 670 which is also priced at 399.99.

Edit* I have terrible spelling lol

 

[LOBOBAST]

Yea that's the one. But be warned, that thing sells out like hot bread. If that is sold out I would suggest the EVGA GTX 670 which is also priced at 399.99.

Edit* I have terrible spelling lol

Thank you for your suggestion. I actually read the Tomshardware article about this card a few days ago and was thinking about picking this one for my new build. But when I checked newegg they were out of stock. Thanks to you I just checked again a few minutes ago and they are in stock again. I had just barely but the MSI gtx 680 on my wishlist last night.

As for the mobo, I feel like I'm betraying ASUS since they have been good to me and have never done me wrong. :lol: However, after reading through countless threads and googling it it seems to me the Asrock extreme4 is a very popular choice.

That being said, I just put in my order for the Gigabyte windforce GTX 670 and ASRock Z77 Extreme4.

Now all I need is a good heat sink and fan plus a decent optical drive.

 

[Dupontrocks11]

Thank you for your suggestion. I actually read the Tomshardware article about this card a few days ago and was thinking about picking this one for my new build. But when I checked newegg they were out of stock. Thanks to you I just checked again a few minutes ago and they are in stock again. I had just barely but the MSI gtx 680 on my wishlist last night.

As for the mobo, I feel like I'm betraying ASUS since they have been good to me and have never done me wrong. :lol: However, after reading through countless threads and googling it it seems to me the Asrock extreme4 is a very popular choice.

That being said, I just put in my order for the Gigabyte windforce GTX 670 and ASRock Z77 Extreme4.

Now all I need is a good heat sink and fan plus a decent optical drive.

Actually ASRock is a seperated branch of ASUS, so don't feel too bad! But I'm sure you will be happy with it; I sure am!

Well in my opinion, the CPU cooler market comes down to three choices (the rest suck lol).

1. Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO:
-Cheap SO cheap
-performs better than almost all other heatsinks
-reliable and popular

2. Noctua DH-N14
-A BEAST
-Cools better than ANY air cooler
-Expensive, but worth it.

3. Corsair H-100
-Best water-cooling on the market
-Easy to set up; no maintenance!
-EXTREME cooling, you can over clockto the MAX.

But these are just my opinions, some other ones to maybe look at are the rest of the Corsair H series ot the new Thermaltake Water cooling kit (blanking on the name)

And finally, if you are gunna skimp on one thing, it can be the disc drive. They are DIRT cheap right now, and basically you cant go wrong. Sony, Liteon, Asus (if you are still feeling guilty ), samsung, and LG are all excellent choice. Basically there is no reason you can't pick up a 24X speed OEM drive for under $20. Any more and you're wasting money.

I hope you enjoy your build!

 

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