judge my new system

[krnmastersgt]

As I said the 650W is powerful enough for your system, I just suggested trying to get the 750W as it was like a 7% increase in cost for a PSU that has a decent amount more overhead in case you upgrade.

 

[lehtv]

Still waiting on that list of answers to the sticky

 

[omghaxcode]

I've really answered all the questions individually but since I've already filled it out in a previous thread I'll repost it just for you

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

gaming

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

at most $2500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

none

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

nothing

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I'm interested in overclocking but I've never done it so we'll see

8. What resolution will you be using?

1920x1200

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

over the next few weeks

 

[lehtv]

OK thanks. At that budget I'd upgrade the monitor and get 670 SLI. Alternatively use your current disaply and get only single 670, otherwise identical system. 670 SLI isn't needed to drive 1920x1200 60hz, not yet anyway.

CPU 3770K $180 + Hyper 212 Evo $35 or NZXT Havik 140 $60 (depending on OC)
Mobo GA-Z77X-UD3H $150
RAM Samsung 2x4GB 1600 $50 (more is not needed)
GPU Gigabyte 670 SLI $800
SSD Crucial M4 128gb $130 or Crucial M4 256GB $204 (the bigger drive is kinda optional, game loading times are already pretty short on a modern 7200rpm drive)
HDD Seagate 2TB 7200 $108
DVD Asus DVD burner $17
PSU NZXT Hale82 650W $81 ($51 AR)
Case 600T $160 (from your case thread)

= $1711 to 1810

Monitor
Yamakasi Catleap 2560x1440 IPS from eBay $300-350
Asus VG236H with 3D Vision kit $360
BenQ XL2420T 120hz $391
Dell U2711 2560x1440 IPS $850

 

[omghaxcode]

what does that motherboard offer more than this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157293

 

[krnmastersgt]

Theoretically it offers better performance with SLI. Not sure how PCI-E lanes work anymore, having 8x/8x SLI used to just mean it was being treated 8x electrically and that performance didn't see any hit. Now however I believe for some reason it does matter? In which case the Gigabyte board offers 16x/8x opposed to the ASRocks 16x/0x or 8x/8x.

 

[lehtv]

Z77X-UD3H will also be x8/x8. http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Gigabyte-Z77X-UD3H-Motherboard/1520

Z77X vs Extreme4
- x4 PCIe slot in addition to x8/x8
- displayport (can run 2560x1440 with integrated graphics)
- gigabyte's BIOS implementation is rather cool, not sure what the asrock uefi bios is like
- chipset heatsink should be better, i've read of high chipset temps on the z77 extreme4

On the other hand, Asrock offers two more 6gb/s ports and Realtek ALC898 audio (though the VIA chip on the Gigabyte board is also 8-channel, could be just as good). In any case, it won't make much difference which one you get, maybe go with looks?

 

[omghaxcode]

Theoretically it offers better performance with SLI. Not sure how PCI-E lanes work anymore, having 8x/8x SLI used to just mean it was being treated 8x electrically and that performance didn't see any hit. Now however I believe for some reason it does matter? In which case the Gigabyte board offers 16x/8x opposed to the ASRocks 16x/0x or 8x/8x.

is there a 16x/16x then? should I be looking at that?

 

[lehtv]

There is x16/x16 in very high end motherboards like P8Z77-WS (because of doubling in available lanes, hence also compatible with quad sli x8/x8/x8/x8). It wouldn't make one bit of difference to your 670 SLI performance.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Some of the super high end boards offer that, I've no idea if it does affect performance because based on my knowledge it shouldn't even matter. But some people say it does, I have no experience with it so not sure what to tell you.

Also VIA's control panel/interface was quite weird the few times I've had to use a board with it. I prefer Realtek's despite also hating Realtek's

 

[mfenn]

Some of the super high end boards offer that, I've no idea if it does affect performance because based on my knowledge it shouldn't even matter. But some people say it does, I have no experience with it so not sure what to tell you.

It x8 vs. x16 doesn't really affect performance at all. We're talking 1-2%, well into the range of measurement error.