$3000ish build

1. blackops is more expensive and that case is more expensive also.

2. intel 320 or crucial c300/m4.

3. get a bigger ssd or you can always add more ssds as needed.

4. a70 or noctua.

5. with the p67/x79 platform you want to be at around 4.4 to 4.7GHz oc, so stage 2 oc but you need to ask for vcore lower then 1.4, thats more important.

6. 750w is a much better quality psu, the hx/ax series are known for their quality, and they have a 7 year warranty. but I have a question I will ask below, that might change things.

7. depends on your needs.

8. its upto you, we dont' know any facts yet to say one way or another.

now my question, are you expecting these builds you posted to be able to do sli?

Most important thing about a monitor is its panel, right now there are 2 major ones, TN and IPS, IPS has superior picture quality/clarity.

here is a good ips montior:

Dell UltraSharp u2312

The res is name/options, which really don't matter.

higher core then 1.4 will speed up the death of your cpu.

the difference between 580 and 570 where it counts is very little so sli 570 is pretty much like sli 580, you either go single 570 or sli 570, no point in going 580.

best option for 1900 x 1200 to be able to max out settings is sli 570.

510's main speeds like 4k are actually lower then 320/c300.

again I can't comment on your build till I know if you want it to be able to go sli or not.

I'll steal something from DST since I know he'll say it anyways, get the Cosair 1050HX PSU. Of all your parts, don't cheap out on the PSU. Better quality, more efficient and longer warranty.

For your CPU, the 3930k is technically better then the 2700k, but it is not required. Get the 2700K with Stage 1 or 2 over clocking and save some money. The Sandybridge-E line is more for people setting benchmarks or rendering. In your 2700k build that Sabertooth does not run as x16x16 in SLI, it is still x8x8 in x2 SLI like the other MOBOs in that family. Each of the lanes is x16 but running both at the same time drops them down to x8 each.

That is really one of the only drawbacks to the P67/Z68 series boards is the limited number of PCI lanes. There are only so many total PCI lanes on a MOBO and if I remember correctly the P67/Z68 top out at like 20 or 24. But just like the CPU, at your resolution x16x16 is not required. For that series of boards go with the P8P67 Deluxe.

Dont get the 2700k, I can't believe DST4ME didnt say it first but the 2700k=2600k+0.1 ghz overclock...so yeah get the 2600k and save some money

I dont know who intel is marketing towards, probably people who say "Haha! I got a 2700k at 3.5 ghz and you only have the 2600k(which could be overclocked much higher)" lol

Ok lets clarify some things.

1. x79 is for people that have a use for a 6 core cpu, or need tri sli ability, or just want the most powerful/latest tech.

2. pci lanes bandwidth does not really matter as long as you are getting x8, you don't need x16 cause x8 will give you the same performance, difference might be 1 fps.

3. when it comes to psus, always go with one that has a good track record, technps is a reseller they don't make their own psus, we don't know the real maker of the psu to know its track record, it has only a 2 year warranty, and most importantly, when it comes to psu, always go with a powerful single rail vs multi rail, last the 1050 hx has a 7 year warranty.

4. as mentioned the 2700k is nothing but 2600k with a little higher clock, but we are ocing here anyways, so why spend extra on a 2700k? both cpus at 4.5GHz are exactly the same cause they are the same cpu with a different name.

5. don't go by what the mobo says, they lie their ass off, the maximus mobo on the p67 claims it has x8, x16, x16, which is pure bs since the p67/68 platform has only 16 lanes for gpus, so it can only do single 16 or dual x8, anything above that is a marketing gimick. You need to know your platform so that you know what it can do and it can't do regardless of the specs you see here and there, or you can just come here and ask us lol.


6. the deluxe mobo has a great track record in p67/68 and if you need to reach cmos for a fix its much easier, sabertooth in p67 does not have great reviews on the net, once you go sli, if you want a sound card, wireless card, usb card, tv card, any kind of card, you need more pci lanes.

7. .Quick Sync is pointless with a good ssd and never comes into play.

now this last build you posted 621093, is nothing like ode to be honest from quality/performance point of view, your config has better case/airflow, mobo, psu, IMHO ssd, cpu cooler.

only thing about your config is that your ssd/hdd setup is wrong, if you want raid, you need to pick the 2 x c300 option for hdd1, right now you have a single ssd for hdd1 and single ssd for hdd2, you just want raid c300 for hdd1 right, no ssd for hdd2 correct? if yes then this is how you want it:

Ticket Number: 621221

but you don't need raid, keep in mind once you go raid, you can't switch back to single drive.

I would not call the ode ssd a bad one, it has a bad track record for its controller, but so far no complaints yet from people that have but it is new so we would have to wait a bit to see what its really made of.

the 510 is not recommended more then the corsair.

yes its cheaper with raid but then if raid fails you lose all data.

HDD1 = fast small drive: os/apps/games

HDD2 = regular large drive: media/personal/work file storage

why do you need such a large hdd1?

Edited by DST4ME - 23 Nov 2011 at 2:09am

It's ordered!!!  After talking with a DSO tech I went with the 300gb intel 320 SSD and only 1x570 for now.  I kept the 1050W PS for future flexibility.

Most of the games I run do not kill graphics cards (they tend to work pretty well even on my GTX260).  This way I can see how things look with one.  If it's not good enough I can wait for the price drop after the 600's launch to go SLI or just convert over to the 600 line if it's amazing.

Thanks a TON everyone for the advice.


Edited by DirkSJx - 23 Nov 2011 at 2:26pm