New mobo, processor, gcard and ram

[sadewael]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: this or next month

Budget Range: 800-1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: for gaming AND using heavy animation software

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Mobo, processor, graphic card, RAM (will reuse power supply: Xilence 750W)

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: http://www.alternate.be/

Location: Brussels, Belgium

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: need better performance for heavy programs

PARTS (Dutch website, but the most important info can be found under: "Uitgebreide Specificaties")

MOBO: MSI Z77A-GD80
http://www.alternate.be/html/product/Moederborden_Socket_1155/MSI/Z77A-GD80/661969/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Moederborden&l2=Intel&l3=Socket+1155

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-3770K
http://www.alternate.be/html/summaryListing.html?searchCriteria=i7-3770K&cat1=003&cat2=515&cat3=000

GRAPHIC CARD: MSI R7870 Hawk OR MSI N660GTX Power Edition 2GD5/OC
http://www.alternate.be/html/product/Grafische_kaarten_nVidia_PCIe/MSI/N660GTX_Power_Edition_2GD5-OC/687087/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Grafische+kaarten&l2=PCIe+kaarten+NVIDIA
http://www.alternate.be/html/product/Grafische_kaarten_ATI_PCIe/MSI/R7870_Hawk/673427/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Grafische+kaarten&l2=Alle+PCIe+kaarten

RAM: Corsair 8 GB DDR3-1600 Kit (total: 16/24GB)
http://www.alternate.be/html/product/details.html?articleId=494847&

Any advice on price/performance; compatibility, etc. is more than welcome

THANK YOU very much!

Sam

 

[malbluff]

i7-3770K would be better choice for processor, and will work better with Z77 motherboard. Also will support 1600 MHz RAM (the 2600K only supports 1333 MHz)
If you want to overclock processor, you will need aftermarket cooler, suggest CoolerMaster Hyper 212Evo. You will need to use low profile RAM to ensure there is no clash with any such cooler. Suggest Corsiar low profile, or Crucial Ballistic Sport, or GSKill Ares.

 

[sadewael]

Thanks for the reply, the other processor does indeed make more sense.. I now have the Thermal take V1 cooler, can i keep using this one with the new parts?
+do you think this is a good price for what i get? Does this configuration make sense?

 

[malbluff]

I have no personal experience of that cooler, to know if it's any good. Either way you should use low profile RAM. The high heatsinks, on the Vengeance, serve no real purpose, other than for "show", on conventional RAM. As for graphics card, both are good. It depends exactly what software, you are using, but nVidia cards tend to work better with some software. For gaming, they have similar overall performance. nVidia tend to be better in specific games like BF3, Portal 2, Shogun, and new Borderlands 2. Radeon have a more "even" performance over a range of games.

 

[sadewael]

Thank you!