New rig, please help with some pro advise :)

[murjo]

Hello guys,

I've decided to build a new system and I am still not decided on some of the parts. I'd greatly appreciate your advice as I can see most of you are real pros.

My budget is up to US$ 3K and main usage will be gaming and HTPC.

Here is what I've chosen so far:

LIAN LI V-2110

INTEL Core i7 "Bloomfield" 950, 4x 3.06GHz

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 or
Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME or
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5

TAGAN PipeRock TG1300-U88 BZ or
CORSAIR HX1000W

OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 6gb kit

ASUS ENGTX295 TOP/2DI/1792MD3 or two GTX285

PROLIMATECH Megahalems + 1 of 2 Noctua 120mm fans

Haven't decided on the HDDs yes, but I'm thinking of getting one smaller for the OS and then several 2TB ones as I'm mad on HD rips

I'd greatly appreciate your feedback on the suggested build.

 

[Lunyone]

Personally here is what I'd be concerned with:
* The i7 950 is quite spendy and you can just OC the i7 920 to 3.6-3.8 ghz with some additional cooling, so why spend ~$300 more for something you can do for quite a bit less. You can also use the $300 elsewhere in your build too.
* Depending on your monitor resolution a AMD 5870 would be plenty for most needs.
* If you stick with 1 GPU you can just get a 500w-650w PSU to power your system. I'd recommend the Corsair 650tx/Antec New TP-650w-750w/Seasonic or even PCP&C PSU's.
* If you go with 2 x GPU's you might consider 2 x 5850's, and then go with the Corsair 750tx or even the Antec New TP-750w PSU's.
* Haven't looked into the Lian Li case, but I'd suggest at least the Cooler Master 690/Scout/HAF 932 for starters. They come with bigger fans and quite a few too.
* As far as HD's are concerned, I'd consider getting a SSD for your primary HD and then use your larger drives for storage (which you have mentioned).
* I would assume that your going to use Windows 7 64 bit for your OS, especially since it's being released towards then end of this month (22nd IIRC).
* Consider the mobo below, it has good reviews and doesn't cost a bunch of $.
~$178 - $10 MIR = $168!!!
ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Questions:
* What resolution is your monitor at? If your buying with this build than I'd consider something around the =>24" range for maximum effect. If your resolution is around 1680 x 1050 or less than a single GPU will do you just fine.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

If you plan on overclocking, that can change the whole landscape of your build. If you are not, than the 950 will be, eh, ok as a purchase.

1333 CL6 will do you good unless you really need that ~ 5% synthetic difference in performance, let alone real world. Read more and make your decision.

With a 3k budget AND overclocking, i'd go with the Classified 760 & a i7 920; if no overclocking, i'd suggest the Asrock Extreme & your i7 950. My personal experience with the X58 Extreme Asrock has been great. There are also other good boards out there but this board only cost me 169$

Lian Li is a great great case maker. I own 3 My 4th is a Lian Li Rebadge ABS Black Pearl that cost 99$ - full tower, all aluminum construction A+++

Go to JonnyGuru and educate yourself on PSUs - you will want low ripple, clean power (signal) from your PSU - Do Not slouch on a good PSU by getting something that will destroy your hardware.