Little help confirming parts for new $1500 system

[Zuallauz]

Hi all,

I'm trying to design a new gaming system for my younger brother, most likely will run it at stock speed. The monitor will be bought separately but the box and peripherals have to come under 2000 NZD (1500 USD). I've had an initial go at trying to configure something up. I get the lowest prices from Pricespy NZ.

Motherboard Asus P7P55D-E PRO Socket 1156 - $283
Power Supply Antec TruePower New Series 650W - $184 - (Calculator says 633 watts required based on two GTX 460s)
CPU Intel Core i5 760, quad core, 2.80 Ghz, Socket 1156 - $298
Memory Kingston HyperX DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL9 2x2GB - $118
Graphics card 2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Mini HDMI Dual-DVI 768MB in SLI - $620
Boot/app drive SSD OCZ Vertex 2 E Series SATA II 2.5" SSD 60GB - $245
Storage hard drive Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ 32MB 1TB - $87
Case Enermax ECA3162 Phoenix Neo (Black) - $128
Keyboard & Mouse Logitech Internet Deluxe 350 USB (EN) wired $29
Monitor will acquire separately - any recommendations for ~$300? Ideally 8bit colour, low response time, and maybe 22".
DVD Writer already got a spare one.

Total: 1992 NZD

• I'm unsure whether to get PC8500/1066MHz, PC10600/1333MHz or PC12800/1600Mhz RAM.
• Ideally would like 6-8GB RAM, but is it necessary? If we can drop the speed then I can increase the quantity.
  
• Any recommended changes to the list of parts there?

Many thanks 🙂

 

[fffblackmage]

If you're not overclocking, then just get DDR3-1333 RAM that uses 1.5V. 4GB is all you really need, but it's up to you.

I wouldn't do SLI on two cheapy gfx cards. It's just not worth it at that level. I wouldn't consider it unless the performance I wanted just isn't possible with a single graphics card. Just get one GTX470 or GTX480.

Without SLI, you don't need such an expensive mobo. You can save almost $100 with the P7P55D-E instead.

 

[mfenn]

Yeah, I agree with blackmage. Save some money on the mobo and just get a GTX 580.

 

[ScorcherDarkly]

I'm going to guess that the money he'd save on the mobo would not be greater than the money he would spend going from SLI GTX 460 768MB to a single GTX 580. I doubt he'd come out positive even if he was going with 1GB 460s.

Personally I'd buy a single 6870 and get a larger SSD. 60GB will require more planning than I think it's worth, especially if you aren't even the one using the computer. I have an 80GB SSD and I have to plan out what games I have loaded at one time. Baring that, I'd make sure he's ok with the limitations that come with a tiny drive.