First build and questions conerns

[Hibari]

Hello so this is the gaming build ive been thinking about some things may go a bit far and some not so much. I want to buy all the stuff from one source Newegg. Dont want to go above 1550$ this will cost ( i think ) 1200-1300$) probe alittle over counting shipping and handling.

Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

MSI 990FXA-GD80V2 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

CORSAIR HX Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8150FRGUBOX

SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128D/AM 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Desktop Upgrade Kit

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

My goals: Have an awesome Gaming PC at the start, Have a great amount of upgrade space for the future so i can keep this computer awesome for what i want.

Questions: This mobo... it will be able to do crossfire right? The video card could be better but can it run Arma 2 maxed out ive searched for the answer but have not found one... . Am i forgetting anything? Thanks for any help please if you want me to change something tell me why.

Most of all let me know how well this build will work for my goals

 

[ss202sl]

I wouldn't recommend crossfire for a new build. Take your video card budget and buy the best card you can afford now. Then in 2 years if you feel you need a speed boost to play new(two years from now) games, then you can buy another card -hopefully cheaper and then crossfire. The 7870 is a good card and should be able to run anything pretty well at 1080. How many monitors and what resolution?

 

[moornix]

For gaming, I recommend an i5-3570k and AsRock Extreme 4 mobo instead. Right now, Intel beats AMD in most games.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

You don't need 16 GB of RAM unless you do lots of video editing/rendering etc. 8 GB is plenty for years to come.

If you can afford it, I suggest pushing for the GTX670, which is the best card at its price point.
This article is worth looking into:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

 

[Hibari]

I wouldn't recommend crossfire for a new build. Take your video card budget and buy the best card you can afford now. Then in 2 years if you feel you need a speed boost to play new(two years from now) games, then you can buy another card -hopefully cheaper and then crossfire. The 7870 is a good card and should be able to run anything pretty well at 1080. How many monitors and what resolution?

I just wanted to make sure it could use crossfire thanks for the tip though. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153 This i was thinking to buy with it and if i liked it i would get another for dual screens or something.

 

[Hibari]

For gaming, I recommend an i5-3570k and AsRock Extreme 4 mobo instead. Right now, Intel beats AMD in most games.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

You don't need 16 GB of RAM unless you do lots of video editing/rendering etc. 8 GB is plenty for years to come.

If you can afford it, I suggest pushing for the GTX670, which is the best card at its price point.
This article is worth looking into:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

The mobos look about the same but yours dose have 3.0 pci ex 16 when the one im looking at has 2.0 .. but the quad core cpu you recommend is 20$ more then the 8 core im thinking of... this dose not make sense to me someone please tell me why.

 

[moornix]

The reason for the price increase is for the unlocked overclocking multiplier. If you don't plan to OC, then an i5 3450 costs $20 less than i5 3570k.

Per core performance, Intel beats AMD, and most games do not usually require more than 1 or 2 cores. The extra cores don't do anything for a gaming build. Extra cores usually help out in video editing and rendering.

This chart shows the i5-2500k out performing the FX 8150 in most things, especially games:
*Note the i5-2500k is the previous generation version of the i5 3570k, where the 3570k is faster.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=434&i=327.328.329.330.331.332.333.2.5.3.4.6.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.46.344.345.53.54.55.334.60.61.62.129.336.337.338.339.340.341.342.342.343.335

This monthly article by tomshardware gives the monthly update/review of which gaming CPUs were best for a certain price range.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

 

[Hibari]

The reason for the price increase is for the unlocked overclocking multiplier. If you don't plan to OC, then an i5 3450 costs $20 less than i5 3570k.

Per core performance, Intel beats AMD, and most games do not usually require more than 1 or 2 cores. The extra cores don't do anything for a gaming build. Extra cores usually help out in video editing and rendering.

This chart shows the i5-2500k out performing the FX 8150 in most things, especially games:
*Note the i5-2500k is the previous generation version of the i5 3570k, where the 3570k is faster.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=434&i=327.328.329.330.331.332.333.2.5.3.4.6.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.46.344.345.53.54.55.334.60.61.62.129.336.337.338.339.340.341.342.342.343.335

This monthly article by tomshardware gives the monthly update/review of which gaming CPUs were best for a certain price range.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

Ok im highly reconsidering my build with the cpu and mobo you recommend. Will i need to make any other build changes... also i think ill change my ram to G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL What do you think?

*edit* Also ill look into the video card you recommend

 

[moornix]

If you do plan to get G-skill Ripjaws, consider the Ripjaws X series. Its the same specs and price, just newer with a different heat spreader. However, most suggest that you look into low profile RAM like Corsair Vengeance Low Profile, or Gskill Sniper to fit under the CPU cooler. Personally, I don't think it makes much difference if you intend to stick with 2x4GB.

The video card I recommended is significantly more expensive (~$400). It's really more of a dream card.

I suggest waiting on buying any video card for about a week. The new Nvidia 660ti is due out at the end of this week, which may or may not lower the prices of other video cards. I would also wait on the benchmarks for that card to compare to the 7870 to see which is better at its current price point.

 

[Hibari]

That timing works out for me i cant buy anything untill this week is over anyways. i think for memory ill go with CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9 now lol.

 

[Hibari]

I did forget to mention one thing... My new desktop will be mainly running of wifi and im concerned it may be a performance hit for online gaming... also i was thinking of buying this for it

ASUS PCE-N15 Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n PCI Express 300/300Mbps Transfer/Receive Rate 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPS support

I have a Cisco router will there be problems with that?

 

[moornix]

I personally use the Dlink Xtreme 556 Wifi Card.
http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-DWA-556-Express-Desktop-Adapter/dp/B000N4WRFY

Wifi hasn't impacted my online gaming at all. However, I do not generally play multiplayer very often, so can't 100% vouch for quality. There is no reason for the card you chose to have any issue with a Cisco router, but I am not an expert on networking hardware.

 

[Hibari]

I personally use the Dlink Xtreme 556 Wifi Card.
http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-DWA-556-Express-Desktop-Adapter/dp/B000N4WRFY

Wifi hasn't impacted my online gaming at all. However, I do not generally play multiplayer very often, so can't 100% vouch for quality. There is no reason for the card you chose to have any issue with a Cisco router, but I am not an expert on networking hardware.

Cool ill look at it. btw i chose the gtx 670 FTW edition card. do you think i should stick with buying that one? Oh and when i decide exactly what i want in my computer you will be the best answer you've helped alot thanks for this. im near done; just the WiFi card and video card left to be chosen.

 

[moornix]

The card sounds good, and thanks for the best answer.

 

[Hibari]

Best answer selected by Hibari.