i7 Build Need Help.

[neosteve]

Hello Everybody.

I need a few opinions on what hardware to get next.
My budget is 15K
I want it to play Battefield 3 and Diablo 3 mainly.
I want to the CPU at 4-5GHZ 24/7 so I need a good CPU cooler that can do the job nicely.

Here is what I had planned.
CPU
Intel Core i7 2600k Processor - 3.40GHz, Socket 1155, 8MB L3, 2.0Gb/s DMI Interface

Motherboard
Asus P8Z68-V Pro Intel Z68 Chipset ATX
or
Asus P8P67 Pro Rev-B3 Intel P67 Chipset ATX
or
ASUS Maximus iV Gene-Z Intel Z68 Chipset M-ATX

Which one should I take?
Graphics Card
MSI HD6950 2GB TWIN FROZRIIIPEOC AMD HD 6950 GPU
or
MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III Power Edition/OC GTX570 1280MB nVidia GeForce GTX 570 GPU

I want to get a 6950 and unlock it to a 6970 if thats still possible to do?
Otherwise I will just get the 570GTX.

Ram
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8 Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Please advice on which RAM would be best suited to Run the CPU at 4-5GHz.

Power Supply
Corsair GS700 Gaming Series 700W PSU

Will this be enough to run the system?

CPU Cooling
Corsair H80 Hydro Series CPU Water Cooling
or
Zalman CNPS9900 MAX Blue LED 6 x Circle Composite Copper Heatpipe
or
Noctua NH-D14 (Dont know where to get it from)

Hardrive
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB Sata 6G 7200RPM 64MB Cache

Considering also getting an SSD drive to boot up from. Please advice me on a good brand and which model would be good to get with good performace but not to much

Case
Coolermaster RC-692-KWN2 CM690 II Advanced with Window Side Panel no PSU

Thanks,
Steve

[StarBound]

Scrap the single card solution and go for a SLI/Xfire setup instead. Either 560ti in SLI or 6870 in crossfire. Next increase your psu to about a 750W. As for SSD bootup even a kingston V+ 64gb or 32gb will do. Remember to run the ssd in AHCI mode.

[KALSTER]

FYI: PC International has a special on an ASUS 6970 for R3300 and then you can get the Asus GX900 gaming mouse for R228.

[Slimshaedy]

Awesome choices bro! I'd get the P8Z68-V Pro. You could get the 6950 and unlock to 6970 as you suggested or go the sli route that starbound suggested. But if you get the 6950 it always leaves you headroom to add another gpu later on if you choose to do so. If you choose sli straight away then I'd suggest 560ti. Those two cards side by side are AMAZING!! The ram is perfect. Get the H80 cooler, that will keep your cpu at a comfortable temp when you run it overclocked. And as starbound also mentioned, try not save money on the psu. The psu could possibly take down your entire system if it were to fail, Worst case scenario...I'd suggest the Corsair TX750W psu. Its top of the range quality and performance. Your HDD is a good choice! And finally the SSD... You could get the Kingston as starbound mentioned and remember your mobo supports Rapid Storage Technology, and Marvell Hyperduo. Both are systems that use your ssd as a cache buffer. So you could keep it at 64GB, or pair it with your hdd in a RAID array and have 1TB running at 80% the speed of an ssd. I personally haven't tested it but I hear its Kinda buggy. Oh and your case is a very good choice:)

[neosteve]

Thanks for the help guys.

Im gonna get two 560ti's in SLI.
Which 560ti cards should I take?
Asus ENGTX560 Ti DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 1GB nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU (900Mhz core)
or
MSI N560GTX TI-Hawk 1GB nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU (950MHz core)
or
MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/SOC 1GB nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU (950MHz core)

And Which PSU would be the best out of these 3?
Corsair AX750W 750W Dual Eps12V with Full Modular Cable Management PSU
or
Corsair TX750W 80PLUS Certified for Energy Saving 750W PSU
or
Corsair TX750W 80PLUS Certified for Energy Saving 750W PSU

[Slimshaedy]

I'd get the Asus 560Ti' gpus. The MSI comes factory overclocked but there have been issues where they have crashed, meaning it wasn't 100% stable. You can get the Asus version to 950mhz and beyond if you like:) . And as for the psu.. The TX series have top quality capacitors and bearings, the AX series is modular meaning you can unplug the cables you're not using but this leaves bare plugs on your psu and doesn't look too nice (in my opinion). A modular psu makes cable management a breeze, where as the TX series has full length cables and getting all those cables behind the motherboard takes two people, trust me;)

And you posted 2 TX series psus? I'm guessing they're meant to be version1 and version2? So in that case get version2 because they run more efficient:)

[zimmer-frame]

I can vouch for the Corsair TX series...I have the TX850, and love it. Unless you want a show-off-the-insides, the extra price for the modular PSU's aren't worth it.

For cooling, the H80 would be a good buy, or even a H70. I use a H70 on a i7-950 running 4Ghz 24/7 and under full load hits 72'c. Normal gaming like BFBC2 it sees 65'c..

Otherwise everything looks rock solid but I tend to agree on getting a SLI video card setup..

[neosteve]

Sorry the other option was the Corsair HX750W Eps12V with Modular Cable Management PSU.
Its the same price as the Corsair AX750W 750W Dual Eps12V with Full Modular Cable Management PSU.

I would like a modular PSU so which one of those 2 would be the better option?

I have also decided on going with the Asus Cards to match the motherboard.

Now for the CPU cooling I have been thinking of getting the new Corsair H100 Dual Rad instead of the H80. Will it fit in the CM690 at the bottom.

Here is the current setup as of now.

Intel Core i7 2600k Processor - 3.40GHz, Socket 1155, 8MB L3, 2.0Gb/s DMI Interface
Asus P8Z68-V Pro Intel Z68 Chipset ATX
Asus ENGTX560 Ti DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 1GB nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU
Asus ENGTX560 Ti DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 1GB nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8 Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB Sata 6G 7200RPM 64MB Cache
Coolermaster RC-692-KWN2 CM690 II Advanced with Window Side Panel no PSU
Corsair AX750W 750W Dual Eps12V with Full Modular Cable Management PSU
Corsair H100 Hydro Series CPU Water Cooling

[Slimshaedy]

In that case go for the AX750W. As far as I know yes the H100 will fit. And I understand there's a 3-4 degrees difference in temperature between the H80 and H100, so if your willing to pay extra for the H100 then go for it:) Im replying on my phone via GPRS so googling is a bit of a mission. But if it doesn't fit at the bottom. It'll fit on top:)

[KALSTER]

A quick Google suggests you might have to remove the bottom part of the HDD rack to fit the rads and you might need to buy extra tubing, as the standard tubing is pretty short apparently. Also, you might need a reservoir. LINK

I have no experience to impart in this area though.

As for the rest: Killer system! What screen will you be using?

[Slimshaedy]

The bottom rack is easily removablen its just held on by screws... And may I ask why do you want the rad on the bottom? If it were on top it should fit perfectly:)

[StarPhoenix]

User requirement:

I want it to play Battefield 3 and Diablo 3 mainly

CPU spec. :

want to the CPU at 4-5GHZ 24/7

Why?

[RuadRauFlessa]

User requirement:

I want it to play Battefield 3 and Diablo 3 mainly

CPU spec. :

want to the CPU at 4-5GHZ 24/7

Why?

My thoughts exactly. For BF3 you can get away with a mediocre laptop and D3 won't be processor intensive. You might as well run a Q6600 for all intents and purposes.

[neosteve]

If the rad doesn't fit at the bottom then ill try fit it at the top. The top can also supports 120 / 140 mm fan x 2.
I am also a bit concerned if the water cooling pipes on the H100 will reach the CPU.

[Slimshaedy]

They should reach if the rad is on top. But the bottom is quite a stretch hey... If I'm not mistaken the cm690 ll Advanced supports 2x 140 fans on top. Where as on the bottom it supports 1x 120 and 1x 140.

And you might wanna listen to Starphoenix and RRF's argument. If you want to only play those 2 games then you could be saving a load of cash here bro by buying something a little cheaper. Also if you want to overclock to the extreme then the watercooling is the right option,but if you want to save money you could try aircooling? I have my 2600K at 4.6Ghz 24/7, max temps at 68-71 (depending on ambient temp) under full load. So my temps aren't bad at all. I can reach 4.9ghz but that's my benchmark clock,the temps are too high for a 24/7 clock...

So give that a thought... If you want to save some money but still run your games perfectly then I'll help you save where you can:)

[neosteve]

I was thinking of getting the best bang for buck PC like i5 2500k and OC it with a nice air cooler on the Asus P8P67 Pro, but I think this will last me much longer like my trusty Q6600 has so far for the last 2 years.

I do alot of multi-tasking also I have 2 screens which this will be connected to. A 32inch Full HD LCD TV and my Samsung 22inch screen. I like to watch movies and play games at the same time so I think the i7 will do nicely and if its not speedy enough I always have the option to overcloack my cpu.

[StarBound]

You should buy the August PCF and see the article on AMD/Intel upgrades.

[*Pilgrim*]

Don't sell the 2500k short, it is an awesome chip and more than capable to handle anything you through at it currently and I think it will be for some time to come as well. The only advantage you might get from the 2600k is the HT, but currenty there is not that much software than can fully exploid this.

I can strongly recommend the GTX570 you mentioned, it is really a fantastic card. Getting one of them now and then perhaps a second one for SLI in a few months will "future proof" you for some time to come.

I gather than you will be overclocking the CPU and then the GPU/s as well? Not to sure about what the power requirements will be for this, but it might be worthwhile to look at a slightly bigger power supply, perhaps 850w.

I'm also looking at the Corsair H80/100 with the same case you are looking at. The H100 will most definitely not reach if you mount the rad at the bottom, will have to go on top. I still want to take some measurements to see if the case will take the rad with a push/pull setup.

Well enjoy choosing the components and post some pics and benchmark scores when you have everything up and running.

[Slimshaedy]

Pilgrim I rate 750W is right hey... I wouldn't spend that extra money for an extra 100W that actually isn't going to be used. And you're right about the 2500K its an awesome chip:)