First Time Gaming PC Build

I have been doing quite a bit of research and this is what I came up with.
I had read that it is better to go with one high end card now than SLI with lower end cards, is that true?
Do you think Noise Reduction is worth the money? I have read it creates space for dust to hide.

Budget:
$4000 (prefer to be closer to $3500)

Expectations:
Be able to play BF3, Batman: Arkham City, SWTOR, and Witcher 2 on all high settings with no hiccups at 1900x1200.

Usage:
90% Gaming, 8% Media, 2% Busy Work

Special Needs:
Recommendations on placement for ample air flow and cooling (considering how large this case is).
I also got the 1200AX Power Supply because in the future I would like to upgrade to Quad-SLI with another GTX 590.

Saved Ticket #: 650931

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Black OPS HailStorm Edition
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67 Chipset) (New & Improved B3 Revision Without SATA 3G Issue)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 2133MHz Corsair Vengeance (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 1200W Corsair Pro Gold Series (CMPSU-1200AX) (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (240GB Solid State (By: Corsair) (Model: Force GT Series CSSD-F240GBGT-BK) (SATA 6Gbps)
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital/Seagate/Hitachi/Samsung (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache)
Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 3GB (PhysX) (EVGA Classified 03G-P3-1590-BR)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H100 Liquid CPU Cooler (240mm Radiator) (Extreme-Performance Edition)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro or Deluxe Series Motherboard)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)


Thank you for any and all assistance!!!

Edited by TIMoteo87 - 02 Feb 2012 at 4:22pm

Thanks for the response!
I have some questions about your response.

1) I'm trying out some builds with that case!

2) Good to know! I figured the 533MHz difference would make everything a lot quicker.

3) If you can recall what type of issues does the Corsair have (just curious, answer not necessary)? Also, with the Intel SSDs is the difference from the Intel 320 Series to the Intel 510 Series worth the money? Is the 400MB/s that much faster?

4) Does SLI work with most games now? I had read that it is not fully supported by games yet.

5) Why would you stay away from the stage 2 liquid cooling? Is it not as efficient?

Is the X79 platform a big performance gain from the P67? I had read that an overclocked 2600k is all someone would need for gaming.

Saved Ticket #: 650966

Again thanks for the response and assistance!

Edited by TIMoteo87 - 02 Feb 2012 at 5:38pm

^ DST is rolling in his sleep right now, get rid of the fans they will replace the bigger quiter fans up top and you will have a wierd combo of red and blue lights., and the video boost its not needed, and get 2 570's one 580 is nothing compared to two 570's, 1200w is a waste. go 1050w. and go with the 320, 510 isnt worth the extra price.

Edited by Zieno - 02 Feb 2012 at 9:03pm

Two 580's are indeed faster than 570's but not by much and certianly not worth the extra hundred dollars. the only reason you would ever need 1200w would be if you had tri sli 580's with x79, and you were watercooling everything even then i doubt you would fill 1200w, hell i doubt it would reach 1100. you'll be fine with 1050.

Alright best of luck

Hi TIMoteo87...  Here's the rig I'd recommend

 Zieno and kane860 covered some good points so here's my take for whatever it's worth.

I dropped 16GB ram to 8GB...gaming can't use anymore than that.  If you have need then just plug it back in.

I put in 2 160GB 320 because you showed a needfor  that storage....I like better than 510 series. 

 

Changed your 580 to sli 570's....sli 570 way better than single 580.   At your resolution sli 570 will smoke the games with room to grow into new demands.

 3GB gpu is overkill for that resolution.   edit.....We do have a member that saw an increase in fps when upping his 570 to the 2.5 GB version on lower resoltion.

 

Upped 850TX to 1050HX to power future sli needs.  HX series has 7 year warranty, telling of its quality.

 

A70 cooler is all you need, but the D14 is tops...just more $$$ for a slight performance advantage and a little quieter.   But it is a great cooler for another $81.  For your budget I just think the money toward sli 570 a better deal, but always your decision.

 

Take a look and Have Fun

 

Good Luck

 

oops...I forgot your blue ray player.  Minor tweek.

Edited by bprat22 - 03 Feb 2012 at 9:29am

also you will see that bprat changed your HDD to the caviar black... that is also the one you will def want to go with...

You're Fired

580 will definitly handle it

Edited by bprat22 - 03 Feb 2012 at 10:24am

I just edited my previous post with raid o info.  Again, I could be wrong but good to check on first.

about the new GPU's I have heard release dates of April.. but I have also heard of release dates of "second quarter or third quarter"  so I dunno

Frank

Thanks for the response!

I was right in the middle of some research on the Intel 510 compared to 320 and am glad your response is in line with what I have been reading.
I will prob go with a single 300GB Intel 320 (cost is fine and I wouldn't like having to deal with two smaller drives).

I plan on buying a second 27" monitor so I'm a bit stubborn about the 580 card!

I have removed the fan upgrade and will stick with the factory 200mm fans.

Below you will find what I hope is the final build!
Thanks for the assistance everyone!

Ticket Number: 651258

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe (Intel P67 Chipset) (New & Improved B3 Revision Without SATA 3G Issue)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (300GB Solid State (By: Intel) (Model: 320 Series)
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Optical Drive 1: Blu-Ray Player/DVD Writer (Play Blu-Ray and Burn DVDs)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 3GB Classified Ultra (PhysX) (EVGA 03G-P3-1595-BR)
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 Extreme Performance
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red)
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz (Requires Pro or Deluxe Series Motherboard)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)

    
TIM..... real nice build       Nothing wrong with 580's.   Glad you and Frank fixed this raid0 problem. Happy Gaming

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but if your gaming on two 27's that have a 1920x 1200 on both or even 1920x 1080 you'll have... 2500x 1200? I believe, anyway if your gaming on both then yours going to run into problems with just one 580, even two may not due it.

You will have to turn settings down, Also just a warning, because i have done it and i just want to let you know, when you game on two monitors and you play a fps. Not always but there is a chance that the game will be split meaning that the reticle will be split in the sides of the screen, and its very hard to shoot and be accurate, takes away from the enjoyment.

Its also a bit wierd on racing games but not as much, Again just a warning, if you want to game on both I would move you to x79 and keep the 580 and then later down the road maybe a year or when you can, pop another two in there. Or you can wait for the 680's to come out, and if they are as powerful as rumors say, you may only need two to power both monitors.

Edit- Another option that is plausible, is stick with p67 but wait for the 680's. that way you save a good 300 bucks from buying a 3930 and a x79 mobo

Edited by Zieno - 03 Feb 2012 at 11:24pm

Hi Tim,

Two 27" monitors changes things. If you are going to buy a another monitor the new 27" monitors are 2550x1440. I guess you could look around and find another 27" that has the 1920 but it will depend on when you look. You are going to complicate the hell out of your build if you plan on gaming across two 27" monitors. Some people do game on multiple monitors but to most, like Zieno, it is better to game on one monitor. I agree with Zineo that if I was going to game across two 27" monitors I would be looking at the X79 platform. It gives you the option of going Tri=SLI. I really like your present build but it won't support Tri-SLI correctly. It all comes down to the resolution of your monitors and if you are going to game across two monitors.

Frank

Well you guys convinced me that I should stick to one monitor. Gaming on multiple monitors was not a priority for me, just an interesting idea.

bprat22 - I looked at the new ODE 4 build when I heard it had two 7970s in it. The new ODE 4 also has the X70 platform. But in this build I get a larger higher quality SSD and higher quality 2nd HD with 500GB more storage. I also get a better case for cooling and higher quality cooling with the Noctua.

Is it worth the extra money currently to get the X79 platform instead? I will more than likely stick to a single card or Dual-SLI.




Edited by TIMoteo87 - 04 Feb 2012 at 8:57am