Planning to build a gaming rig costing around USD $1880

Impossible.

Fill out this form if you want help.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgra...

theres nothing like "future proof"..

especially in technology...

except you use typewriter machine as your gaming machine...

Even if they make Octo-SLI with 4x690's it won't last that long (or will it?)

Nup. New graphics card generation every year(ish), each brings a ~10% performance boost over previous cards. So in 7yrs, low/mid range hardware will be equivalent to our current super high end hardware.

Heres a $1000+ CPU from 2008, versus a mid-range 2500k from last year.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/48?vs=288

Such is the march of technology.

What about Octo-SLI with 4x690's? LOL

A GTX690 is already dual SLI (its two GPU's in SLI on the same board). Cant get more than two 690's in one rig, as SLI currently supports a max of 4 GPU's.
Also as you add more GPU's, the performance boost each time decreases. A second GPU is ~90% boost, third is more like 60%, fourth is 20% (there are other factors involved, but generally speaking).
So even if you jury rigged it to support four 690's and spend $4000 in the process. You would not see much benefit over dual 690's. At that point if you want more performance you should be looking at distributed computing.

Not going to happen you can settle for something like this on that budget add another 670 if you are not happy with it i can't say how long it will last though no such thing as future proof!



CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($117.85 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($139.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1508.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

I personally think the sweet spot is around 1k-1.5k or around there for building a computer and make sure you build with a good case, blue ray (you get it eventually why not now), and a few other parts you will likely transfer over to a new build that is likely to last. Get all those straighten out than build a good computer and than when the time comes just rebuild it using the same case, optical drives, etc.

Or use less money in the build and just rebuild more often and overclock there is no real future proofing in computers. And if you plan it right you can get great performance out of cheap parts and OC them to match the performance of higher end builds. Thats actually seems to be what most of us here on Toms do we build and OC to get free performance and when we feel the need we rebuild and OC.

^Agreed.

If you want to "future proof" a build, the answer isn't more powerful components, but easy upgradability. I bough a HAF-X and a 750W PSU when I made my build, at the time both were unjustified. The case is massive and I didnt need that space, and 600W is more than enough for my single card. Could probably have cut down on both and gotten myself a 7950.

Then I buy a water-cooling loop, and suddenly my overkill case is useful. If I had bought a lower end case, wouldn't have been able to upgrade to W/C'ing without a new (and expensive) case.
PSU is the same thing. If I got a 600W, I would have to buy another PSU in addition to a graphics card if I ever want to Crossfire/SLI.