$1500 Gaming Rig: Getting the most power for the price

[shusterb]

This is my first build and I would love some feed back on where to spend my money. I would cash in a warranty on my $1500 ASUS G75VW gaming laptop. I already have a samsung 840 pro ssd 256 gb and a 24 inch monitor so I'm not including those in the price of my build.

I'm pretty set on SLI'ing GTX 670s to overkill most games, a HUGE upgrade from my 3gb 670m card. However, it feels weird going with an i5 when I'm currently using an i7-3610 mobile. One question I have is whether I should save money on the GPU's and look at 670 chip sets that are not clocked as high as the ones below which are (1.02GHz). Any help or advice at all would be appreciated! Thanks!


CPU
Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core

CPU Cooler
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing

Motherboard
Asus P8Z77-V DELUXE ATX LGA1155

Memory
Corsair 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600

Storage
Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM

Video Card

Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 2GB

Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 2GB

Case
MSI TC- (Black) ATX Mid Tower

Power Supply
OCZ 600W ATX12V / EPS12V

Total Cost: $1488.88

 

[EzioAs]

Why not a 3570K? If you're overclocking the CPU later, get a 3570K. If you're not, get an H77 motherboard. Most people don't need the Deluxe board.

Z77 Motherboards recommendations:
-----------------------------------
ASRock Z77 Extreme6
Asus P8Z77-V
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
MSI Z77A-GD55

H77 Motherboards recommendations:
-----------------------------------
ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP
Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H
MSI H77MA-G43

I wouldn't get an OCZ psu. There are better units out there.

Corsair TX650 V2
XFX Core Edition 650
Corsair TX750 V2
Corsair HX750
SeaSonic M12II 750
SeaSonic X750

Just naming a few. 650W will be enough for 2 670s though.

You don't need 16GB RAM if your main purpose is gaming. 8GB will be more than enough. If you don't mind it though, 16GB isn't entirely TOO overkill. It's still overkill though.

For coolers, I generally recommend these four for overclocking. Not that there aren't better coolers out there but for the price and performance, I think they're one of the best

Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Thermaltake Frio
Noctua NH-D14

There's also the Scythe Mugen (slightly better than Hyper 212) and the Phanteks TC14PE (performs around the D14)

For video cards, I don't know much about Galaxy. MSI and EVGA makes great Nvidia cards though so you should look into them as well

 

[shusterb]

Thanks! I forgot to type the K. I' probably do plan on overclocking. And for the coolers what type works best for the cost? I don't know much about them I just wanted save money on one.

 

[EzioAs]

If you have a good motherboard and a good binned CPU, the Hyper 212+/EVO will be sufficient. I have the hyper 212+ cooling a 3570K (@4.5GHz with 1.18 CPU voltage) with an MSI Z77A-GD65 motherboard and max temps running prime95 is 76c. It's a bit on the high side but it's decent. If you're planning on getter better clock speeds or better cooling, the Thermaltake Frio, Noctua D14 or Phanteks TC14PE are better choices