New pc build - i5 2500 w/ 570 and SSD

[digi7al]

Looking for comments and advice on a new pc I am planning on building this month, I play quite a few games.. BF3, Starcraft 2, and planning on trying the new Counter-Strike.

I have the following questions on this build, (parts I've chosen are listed below)

Will any of my parts bottleneck the performance?

Will I get over 100 FPS in most games to make a 120Hz monitor worth it?

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Approximate Purchase Date: This month

Budget Range: $1800

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes



Parts to Upgrade: Not upgrading, it's a new build from scratch

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Location: Michigan

Parts Preferences: Intel and EVGA preferred

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in future

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

--

Motherboard: EVGA Z68 SLI 130-SB-E685-KR LGA 1155 Intel Z68
Power Supply: COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS700-PCAAE3-US 700W ATX
Processor: Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost)
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Video Card: EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-256G 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[DeusAres]

:O

You can get a much better build than that at that budget.

Try this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($407.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Eleven Hundred ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer GD235HZbid 120Hz 23.6" Monitor ($284.84 @ B&H)
Total: $1573.74
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-13 18:42 EDT-0400)

If you get the case I suggested, you'll want to get a couple extra 120mm case fans to help with airflow. The Antec 1100 only comes with two exhaust fans. One of those fans has blue LEDs. Feel free to change the case to whatever suits your preferences. Just make sure it has high airflow, good cable management, and makes you happy. Remember, you're gonna be staring at this thing while using it nearly everyday.

With your original build, I highly doubt you'd achieve 100 fps on a 120hz monitor. This depends on the game though. Even with my build, it may prove difficult to achieve 100 fps. I believe you'll need at least two gtx 670s in SLI to achieve this feat.

I typically don't recommend buying OCZ products. They seem to be rather unreliable. However, for under $200 for a 256gb SSD it's difficult to pass up. I'd so go for it. The vertex 4s are supposed to be much improved...especially with firmware updates.

 

[digi7al]

Good advice but I need a OS, mouse, keyboard, mousepad and headset.

This adds $331.95

I also read bad reviews on that monitor, something about input delay, so the one I am looking at is from BenQ for $100 more

 

[DeusAres]

Don't trust customer reviews. They're generally biased. And of course you're gonna run into input lag...especially if they were using a hdmi. HDMI doesn't have enough bandwidth to transmit images at 1920x1080 @120Hz. You'll need a dual link dvi cable for this to work with any 120Hz monitor.

Most people who give those reviews complain about technology they don't understand.

Try this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($77.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($407.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Eleven Hundred ATX Full Tower Case ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer GD235HZbid 120Hz 23.6" Monitor ($284.84 @ B&H)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.86 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Logitech G110 Wired Standard Keyboard ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Wired Laser Mouse ($47.99 @ Dell Small Business)
Total: $1677.58
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-14 12:29 EDT-0400)

 

[digi7al]

Not bad, is that version of windows OEM or Retail?

 

[DeusAres]

I think that particular copy may be OEM. Not sure. If it's a problem, just add $10 to it and buy the full retail version.

 

[digi7al]

Do you own this monitor? Any issues?

Monitor: Acer GD235HZbid 120Hz 23.6" Monitor ($284.84 @ B&H)

 

[DeusAres]

No, not this particular model. But I have worked with them in the past. They do their job fairly well. Shouldn't have any trouble.