Quiet mid-range system

Budget: $2000ish

Expectations:
Quiet (but need not be silent, will be under a desk in the living room), good performance on high (not max) settings, potential to swap parts/expand to extend end-of-life, not blowing hot air onto my legs (will be under a desk...).

Usage:
Gaming and general use (high memory is for non-gaming). I tend not to play too many FPS, but there will be some, and similar games (Diablo 3, Arkham-style, etc.) Single 24" monitor, likely 1920x1200.

Special Needs:
Five particular questions:
1) How is the Obsidian case? It's indicated to be quieter, but everyone seems to suggest the HafX.
2) I see the Intel SSD recommended more than the Corsair; does it have benefits I haven't noticed?
3) What are the benefits of the 750W Corsair HX vs. the 800W Corsair? I see the former suggested more; is that due to its higher efficiency (less heat) and more rails (greater stability?)?
4) Could this PS take another 570 for SLI? (e.g., to extend the system's usefulness in 3 years)
5) Am I doing anything foolish with this build? (e.g., hamstringing great parts with poor ones)

Thanks!


Saved Ticket #: 664972

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Cooler Master 942 HAF X
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 (Intel Z68 Chipset)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified
Power Supply: 750W Corsair HX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Corsair) (Model: Force GT Series CSSD-F120GBGT-BK) (SATA 6Gbps)
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital Caviar (7200 RPM) (Model: Black Edition)
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Internet Access: Wireless PCI 802.11n Up to 300Mbps (Supports 802.11n/g/b) (Model: 3FMPCIMWN-R)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB (Includes PhysX Technology) (EVGA 012-P3-1571-BR)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: Standard Factory Heat-sink and Fan (Not Recommended for CPU Overclocking)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Standard Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Automatic Overclocking
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)

Originally posted by dcb Five particular questions: 1) How is the Obsidian case? It's indicated to be quieter, but everyone seems to suggest the HafX. 2) I see the Intel SSD recommended more than the Corsair; does it have benefits I haven't noticed? 3) What are the benefits of the 750W Corsair HX vs. the 800W Corsair? I see the former suggested more; is that due to its higher efficiency (less heat) and more rails (greater stability?)? 4) Could this PS take another 570 for SLI? (e.g., to extend the system's usefulness in 3 years) 5) Am I doing anything foolish with this build? (e.g., hamstringing great parts with poor ones)

Let's see.

1) The HAF X 942 is recommended for its superior cooling capability while remaining relatively quiet. The noise you'll typically hear off this case (or any titled "silent" cases) will be from your video card. It's possible the Obsidian has a better construction to help reduce the internal fan noises, but the HAF X's fans are barely audible and, as said, it provides the best air cooling of the cases listed.

2) The Intel 520 series SSD is pretty equivalent to the Corsair Force GT series, with each company purporting to tweak their respective firmwares for performance, longevity, etc. I don't know enough about SSD architecture to really recommend one over the other, except to say that the Intel one is favored by many of the benchmarking sites.

3) Bpratt answered this pretty succinctly, nothing to add.

4) Also answered by bpratt =)

5) You could stand to drop from 16gb of RAM to 8gb, unless you're doing some memory-intensive tasks outside of gaming, i.e. video editing/rendering, large photo editing, and similar high-end tasks. Given the rest of the setup, I assume no, so you really only need 8gb of RAM. If gaming is all you will be doing on this computer, you could even feasibly drop to the i5 2500K for about $100 less and get 90-95% of the performance of the 2600K. Also, bpratt's recommendation of the Stage 2 Air via the Noctua DH-N14 is a good one, it helps to squeeze out some more life and performance from the 2600K/2500K.



All that said, like bpratt stated,  Nvidia will be releasing its Kepler-series cards in the coming weeks, which seem to be very worth waiting for.

Also, in the coming couple months, Intel will be releasing the Ivy Bridge chips, which boast ~10-15% improvement over their Sandy Bridge siblings, at the same price points, so if you don't really need a new PC now and can afford (or stand ) to wait that long, it's another consideration to keep in mind.

Hi dcb...Thanks for the update.