Worth the money?

[Lightbulbie]

So over the summer, I'll be getting a little job to save up money for a new custom build due to my current desktop getting slow because of it's... Abuse?

Anyway, I'd like to know if this is a good setup and if it'll last me a good amount of time. ( I refuse to go AMD or ATI, I prefer Intel and NVIDIA because they both have proven themselves to me. )

CPU: - i7 3770k http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501

MOBO : - AsRock Z77 Extreme4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

GPU : - Two GTX 660's / Two GTX 660 Ti's (I don't know which to go with)

GTX 660 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826

GTX 660 TI - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130809

PSU : A friend is willing to sell me his 750w unless you guys help me with something better in mind.

RAM : G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231315

Case : I can find this.

SSD/HDD : I can find these.

Fans : Honestly.. I can use some from my older desktop.

TOTAL BUDGET : $1,500

Your opinions?

 

[Wolfshadw]

In all honesty, you should probably wait until you actually have money in hand to spend. There is no telling what the computer component market will do over the next few months and anything we recommend today could be obsolete in three months. As it looks, today, it's a fair build, but you don't mention what it's for. If it's a gaming system, (as I assume it is), you should probably drop down to a Core I5-3570K. No reason to go with the I7 processor. You should also ditch the lower-end SLI solution for a better single card solution (GTX670).

-Wolf sends

 

[Lightbulbie]

In all honesty, you should probably wait until you actually have money in hand to spend. There is no telling what the computer component market will do over the next few months and anything we recommend today could be obsolete in three months. As it looks, today, it's a fair build, but you don't mention what it's for. If it's a gaming system, (as I assume it is), you should probably drop down to a Core I5-3570K. No reason to go with the I7 processor. You should also ditch the lower-end SLI solution for a better single card solution (GTX670).

-Wolf sends

I just like planning in advance and I was told that SLI 660's could beat even a 680.. It's a gaming rig but will have some other things like Photoshop and video things. I don't exactly care for "Top notch" things, just something that'll last me a good while.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Planning ahead is all fine and well, but when you don't know if the advice you get today is going to be the same advice you get in three months, it's pointless.

As for what card(s) to get, a little more digging led me to this Tom's Hardware Article Do Two GeForce GTX 680s Beat Three GeForce GTX 660 Tis In SLI?. While the article focuses more on higher end solutions, it does cover your situation and it does show that two GTX660Tis in SLI will outperform a single GTX680. I suppose, all else being the same, you would be better off, performance-wise, to go with the two GTX660Tis in SLI.

-Wolf sends

 

[Garner6425]

SLI 660s can beat a 680 in benchmark testing but not by a significant amount. Also unless you are gaming across multiple monitors or at a resolution higher than 1920X1080, you will not notice any real world difference. And in some cases, SLI will provide lesser performance, if the game is not optimized for a multi-card setup in the first place. Plus, a single 680 can be had for $100 cheaper than 2 660 ti's.

As for the CPU (aside from the fact that Intel's new Haswell CPUs will likely be out or nearly so by the time you actually are ready to purchase), it really comes down to deciding if you are going to be doing enough "other" things besides gaming to justify the additional $100+ for the i7, because the performance difference between the two in regards to gaming is negligible. The difference between them is 100Mhz clock, 2Mb of L3 cache, and hyperthreading.

Same issue with the RAM. 8Gb is more than enough for gaming so unless you are doing a lot of other things live video editing, you won't make much use out of the extra 8Gb.

So basically, you could probably shave $200-$300 off the cost of your system without sacrificing anything significant in performance. Either way you choose to go, the system should last you for several years with at most a graphics card upgrade in a couple years just to keep up with current tech.

 

[Lightbulbie]

Okay, so I play this game and it's pretty CPU tense. I love multi-clienting on it and well, that's why I was looking into the 3770k and the 16GB. My friend said that my 1600x900 screens are too small to use all the power from the 660 Ti SLI so I'll run with a GTX 670. I just need a PSU now..

 

[jaggsta]

Well since you can't build this till summer and new Intel CPU Generation comes out in June-July i would get new Haswell i5 4670k or i7 4770k its a new socket

Just Remember not every game Supports SLI and some will only use 1 GPU.

If you are getting a GTX 670 get a OC edition one i have Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Edition Windforce 3 i like it.

I paid $370 for my Gigabyte GTX 670 OC.

EVGA GTX 670 FTW is good card also but they are $399 after rebate.

 

[Lightbulbie]

And what about cooling? I know the OC cards tend to get hot.