New Rig Seeking Guidance

[Sambro_USA]

Hey everyone, I had a post about a week ago of a build I posted up. Made a few tweaks and wanted to see what kind of feedback I could get. Went over the guide to choosing parts, but wanted to get some outside opinion of a Motherboard and PSU. Having a hard time picking out a mobo, so like I said any feedback is greatly appreciated. Hope to hear from you, get this thing purchased in the next day or two.

Computer Goal: BF3 on ultra graphics, GW2 on ultra graphics, Skyrim HD ultra graphics.

Computer Case: Antec 900 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

HardDrive #1: OCZ Agility 3 AGT3 240GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227727

HardDrive #2: Western Digital 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-Bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106276

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

Motherboard: Need advice/input on current set up.

PSU: Need advice/input on current set up.

MISC INFO
This is the monitor I will be playing on at 1920x1080.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824116483

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Don't see the Agility .... it's an entry level SSD

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4328/mushkin_chronos_deluxe_120gb_solid_state_drive_review/index13.html

Other than a few really oddball entries, SF-2281 'consumer' SSDs come in three flash flavors. Starting on the low end, you have IMFT 25nm asynchronous flash, a budget flash used in the Agility 3, Force 3, Chronos (non-Deluxe model) and a few other drives that in our testing perform at around the same level as last year's SF-1200 controlled drives when filled to 50 percent capacity. A majority of drives use IMFT 25nm synchronous flash; Vertex 3, Force GT, S511 and so on.

Synchronous flash, also called ONFi 2.x is really the first step for enthusiasts, especially now that prices have really dropped. The final flash type used is 3Xnm Toggle Mode flash from Toshiba, a form of ONFi 2.x without the JEDEC classification. 25nm IMFT is rated for around 5K P/E cycles and 3Xnm Toshiba Toggle Mode flash is rated for around twice as many. Even though we are talking about writing a lot of data for a very long time, the 3Xnm flash will still last even longer.

$150 ain't a bad price with the rebate and all, but why pay that for a Tier 3, when ya can have a tier 1 for $180

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-benchmark-review,3237-6.html
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226226

The FTW is probably the 3rd best option.....if ya can't get ya hands on one of these:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html

+$20 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121638
+$10 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121637

The two are identical except the TOP uses specially binned chips.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-geforce-gtx-670-sc-review/23
EVGA SC Boost Clock is 1046 outta the box....stable at 1200 Mhz
EVGA SC gets 3DMark Score of 8691 outta the box and 9443 OC'd
Idle temp is 29C / load temp is 78C
Noise is 37 dBA Idle / 43 dBA under load

http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-geforce-gtx-670-directcu-ii-top-review/23
Asus TOP Boost Clock is 1137 outta the box .... stable at 1280 Mhz
Asus gets 3DMark Score of 9340 outta the box and 9839 OC'd
Idle temp is 30C / load temp is 72C
Noise is 37 dBA Idle / 38 dBA under load

That makes the Asus 7% faster outta the box than the EVGA SC, 6C cooler and almost 1/4 as loud under load (every 3 dBA is a doubling of sound level). The FTW is slightly faster than the SC, leaving the Asus model w/ just a 5% performance advantage

Ya RAM has those tall, toothy heat sinks....you want the low profile versions which won't interfere w/ CPU cooler.

I like these low voltage models
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233199

This is my entry level choice w/ SLI / CF capability Asus P8Z77-V @ $180 .... save $25 in the combo w/ the 3570k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.959052

Next up us the Asus P8Z77-V Pro which costs $20 more, but comes with $10 off w/ promo code EMCNCHF39, ends 7/30 .... save $30 in the combo w/ 3570k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.959049

Next up is the $240 Sabertooth @ $240 ..... only a $17 break on the combo here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.984663

Additional $15 off w/ promo code BTS504 on 3570k, ends 8/2

Dunno if ya can combine the various newegg combos .... but with the Pro / 3570k combo at $400 ..... minis the $10 promo on the MoBo and the $15 on the CPU....that's $375 for both which is a total savings of $55.

BTW, I love the Antec 900 ..... but if ya can squeeze an extra $25, Id recommend a step up to the 500R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139010

As for PSU......if ya heavy into overclocking an SLI setup and pushing the CPU to its max, I'd get an Corsair HX850. If not going "all out" a 750 TX750 or XFX Core Edition 750 will do fine.

HX850 (10.0 jonnyguru performance rating) 15% off w/ promo code Corsair724 + $10 MIR = $138.75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

TX750 (9.5 jonnyguru performance rating) 15% off w/ promo code Corsair724 + $20 MIR = $99.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

XFX Core Edition 750 (9.5 jonnyguru performance rating) = $90.00 after $25 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207015

XFX Core Edition 850 (9.5 jonnyguru performance rating) = $95.00 after $25 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011