Advice on gaming builds

[mrbowler]

Hello. I have not built a gaming pc in years, and I am trying to decide between two different builds.

BUILD 1:
Case: Corsair Vengeance Series C70
PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W
Mobo: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600
GPU: EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III
Cooling: Noctua NH-D14, or Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, or Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme

BUILD 2:
Case: Corsair Vengeance Series C70
PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W
Mobo: ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011
CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600
GPU: EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 2.5" 256GB SATA III
Cooling: Noctua NH-D14, or Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, or Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme

My reason for the two builds is that one takes advantage of the LGA 2011. I don't know if that is going to become the standard. My only hesitation is that most of the 2011 mobos are Sandy Bridge. Isn't Ivy Bridge the newer tech? (I am so behind the times.) I would appreciate it if people could critique the builds. I welcome and advice/recommendations.

I also have questions such as what heatsink should I get (preferably one that is quiet)? Should I go with a Corsair H100 for cooling instead? Is there an advantage to 16gb or RAM? Is the i7-3770k better than the i5-3570k? Etc....

Sorry for all of the questions. I just want to be thorough. Thanks in advance!

 

[excella1221]

I would go for Build#1, but drop the 680 - it performs relatively close to the 670, you'll basically be paying ~$100 for a 5% increase in performance.

Just get the Gigabyte 670 if you really want nVIDIA.
I suggest getting the 7970/GHz though since it outperforms both the 670 and 680.

There's no difference whatsoever between the i5-3570k vs i7-3770k/i7-3930k in GAMING. If anything, the newer Ivy might even give a few more fps.

Get the 212 EVO. Great performance for the price, good for up to 4.2GHz of OC in IB CPUs.

Closed loop watercoolers such as the H100 are no quiet-er than air coolers. High-end air like the NH-D14 and Silver Arrow pretty much matches its performance and are cheaper, with less risks on components.

There's no point in getting 16gb of RAM as well, just get 8. Even that you won't max out.

 

[mrbowler]

I would go for Build#1, but drop the 680 - it performs relatively close to the 670, you'll basically be paying ~$100 for a 5% increase in performance.

Just get the Gigabyte 670 if you really want nVIDIA.
I suggest getting the 7970/GHz though since it outperforms both the 670 and 680.

There's no difference whatsoever between the i5-3570k vs i7-3770k/i7-3930k in GAMING. If anything, the newer Ivy might even give a few more fps.

Get the 212 EVO. Great performance for the price, good for up to 4.2GHz of OC in IB CPUs.

Closed loop watercoolers such as the H100 are no quiet-er than air coolers. High-end air like the NH-D14 and Silver Arrow pretty much matches its performance and are cheaper, with less risks on components.

There's no point in getting 16gb of RAM as well, just get 8. Even that you won't max out.

Thanks for the great advice! I really appreciate it.
I have another question though. It's about hard drives. Should I get a small SSD (128gb? 256gb?) to run windows and games and a 10000 rpm HDD (500gb? 1tb?) for storage, or one big SSD (480gb or 512gb)? I was reading about how SSDs can wear out fast and cannot be defragmented. Is that true?

 

[excella1221]

No, SSDs are not meant for defragmenting, pretty sure it reduces the life of the SSD and possibly hurt performance.

I believe TRIM is used for managing SSDs.

128-256gb is usually more than enough for most people since it's just used for your OS and programs, it's not meant to be a storage drive.

And no, you don't need a 10000RPM HDD, it's a waste.
With a 128-256gb SSD, you'll only ever use the HDD for storage purposes, and RPM loses importance there, you can even get a 5400RPM 2TB Caviar Green instead.

 

[mrbowler]

Best answer selected by mrbowler.