HELP! I need you to customize a PC with MSI 580 SLI at its heart!

[jordan911]

Here is my current rig that I'm considering buying:

MSI N580GTX Lightning -- $500

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 -- $140
Cooler Master HAF912 Case -- $50
i5 2500K -- $200
COOLMAX RM-1000B 1000W PSU -- $100
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB -- $52

I don't care about anything other than fast FPS for games. I plan to add another MSI 580 in SLI --- or --- the new KEPLER cards in SLI

Anything I should change or does everything look good?

Will I need a better case/cooling for the GPU or only when I SLI?

Thanks

 

[Ken g6]

So, you want to get a GTX 580 for $500, huh? Do you realize that for the same price you could get two Radeon 6950s or two 560tis? Either of which will blow a single 580 away? Or that for about $100-150 more you could get two 570s, which are practically as good as 580s?

The other problem with your current build is that Coolmax isn't the best PSU brand. And with $1000 in video cards you wouldn't want to skimp on the PSU. Here's a good one for $180AR.

Don't wanna spend that much? Here's a good PSU for 2 570s for <$100 AR. Get 2 6950s and you can drop to a Corsair 650 or something.

Edit: P.S. Did you remember to factor in the cost of Windows if you need it? Did you get a hard drive?

 

[jordan911]

So, you want to get a GTX 580 for $500, huh? Do you realize that for the same price you could get two Radeon 6950s or two 560tis? Either of which will blow a single 580 away? Or that for about $100-150 more you could get two 570s, which are practically as good as 580s?

Edit: P.S. Did you remember to factor in the cost of Windows if you need it? Did you get a hard drive?

Hmm... I've been reading about SLI and some people say the scaling varies on each game and that SLI isn't that great. Should I just get a 590 and call it a day until kepler comes out?

And I was thinking about getting a Corsair AX1200 PCU. I guess I should.

And yeah, I have all the hard drives and windows calculated.

 

[BoomerD]

I'd definitely advise spending a bit more on your power supply. CoolMax units are generally NOT considered quality power supplies.

 

[WT]

Make sure and add another case fan to the CM 912. I have that case and it does not do a great job of circulating air. You also have no venting on the side panel to cool the huge amount of heat that the 580s in SLI would generate. The top has plenty of vent holes, but no fan to move the air through the case.

 

[Ken g6]

Hmm... I've been reading about SLI and some people say the scaling varies on each game and that SLI isn't that great. Should I just get a 590 and call it a day until kepler comes out?

The 590 is basically the same as 2 570s in SLI, but stuffed onto one card. (Technically, it's 2 underclocked 580s, but the performance is like 570s.) I'd still go with one or two 570s or 6950s.

I have that case and it does not do a great job of circulating air.

Given that, rear-exhaust cards like the 570 I linked to would be helpful.

Oh, also, a nice CPU cooler and thermal paste, together with and aligned with that exhaust fan WT wants you to get, would help optimize your processor overclock.

 

[mfenn]

:thumbsup: to Ken as usual. Also, you can save a few bucks on RAM by getting the non-fancy version and not have to worry about clearance issues.