First build in 6 years

First off I built my one and only system 6 years ago on an ancient Athlon 754 socket. Since then I have not kept up with all the changes in technology so I barely know what's going on with the new tech these. That being said, I've done some mega research and this is the system I would like to build:

i7-2600k
OZC Vertex 3 120GB (2) RAID 0
Corsair Vengeance 4 X 4GB 1600
Corsair HX850 (enough for eventual SLI?)
Corsair 500R Case
EVGA GTX560 Ti (eventually SLI)
Samsung Blu-ray 12X

Now the big question is the Asus Maximus IV or the Asus P8P68 series board. I've read that both (depending on model) will support the new Ivy Bridge when it comes out this year. I have no intention right now of moving onto Ivy Bridge until the price drops and it proves itself. I just want a system that is open for upward mobility unlike my old socket 754 system.

Which will be better for longevity between Maximus and P8?
Is that a decent enough PS for two GTX 560s?
Does the case provide enough air flow?
Do I need liquid cooling for the two GPUs?

I have no intention of overclocking if it means water. I know the 2600k can easily hit 4.5-5GHz on air, but won't the system be hot enough running 2 GPUs (that I won't OC) as it is? I've done the research, but I haven't found answers to these questions. Thanks in advance for your time.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Mr_Ford

Is this build just for gaming or are you using it for other things?

Also, how many monitors do you use? And what resolution?

What is your total budget?

------------------------------ Intel Core i5-760 @ 3.4Ghz / Noctua NH-D14 / Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB 1600Mhz / Palit GTX 460 1GB / ASRock P55 Deluxe / Fractal R3 / Samsung 830 128GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB / Seasonic X-560
Reply to jmsellars1

Most now days are using the z68 motherboard. I would drop down from the 1600 ram to 1333 for http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] tel-speeds Unless you want to buy the extra protection plan from intel for 20-35 bucks as ram higher then 1333 voids your regular cpu warranty.

A new thing you may want to consider is the ssd hard drives for operating systems as they are faster then use a regular hard drive for saving other things on. The z68 seem to work best for sli and crossfire. Not every one uses water cooling most just buy a good after market cpu cooler for over clocking. With a good case with plenty of air flow plus a good cpu cooler you should be fine with crossfire/sli.

Reply to zolton33

CPU - The i7-2600k is a great processor, but it won't game any better than the i5-2500k. Be sure you are doing work that will take advantage of hyperthreading before spending the extra money.

CPU Cooler - Hyper 212 EVO. No reason not to expect 4.0+GHZ..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103099

SSD - I like OCZ, but with the bad press about firmware consider going with a pair of Crucial M4 SSDs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148442

MEM - Skip the tall heat spreaders and keep in mind that 16GB of memory is a LOT! It is cheap so if you really want it then pull the 16GB now... Otherwise consider going with 8GB now and upgrading to 16GB later if needed. The important part is using 1.5v modules in "standard" height to avoid clearance issues with some aftermarket CPU coolers.

CASE - Good choise and all, but there are a lot of good options under $100. For example the HAF 922 for $90 shipped...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119197

PSU - 850w is a good size for planning SLI down the road. I don't put too much stock in modular power supplies in a typical build. There is plenty of space to route extra cables in a typical case and most people will keep the extra modular cables in the case so they don't get lost. Kinda defeats the purpose... The XFX Pro850W is on sale for $100 after rebate.

MB - If you are already planning on an Ivy Bridge upgrade be sure to look for a motherboard that supports PCIe 3.0. The ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 is a great board!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131790

GPU Cooling - No need for liquid cooling. Just make sure you have exhaust fans on the side, top and rear as well intake on the front and bottom (if applicable) to promote good airflow.

Reply to sadams04

For the SSD I would recommend either corsair force gt series or samsung 830 series. Both are good and there have not been near the amount of issues as with the OCZ ssd's. Just remember when you put them in Raid 0 you will not have TRIM support.

Going with a z68 MOBO is a very good idea. And there is defiantly no need to water cool those GPU's.

Other than those few things looks like a great build and 850W PSU should be plenty for a future card.

Reply to xtremcarl

Do you really need Blu-ray? I wouldn't RAID0 a pair of SSD's without having a mechnical drive for backup and files which don't really need SSD. A fully Maxed out 560TI uses ~200W. so a pair would need 400W + the rest of the system load. An 850 W. PSU will be more than enough.

Reply to DelroyMonjo

Mr_Ford wrote :

First off I built my one and only system 6 years ago on an ancient Athlon 754 socket. Since then I have not kept up with all the changes in technology so I barely know what's going on with the new tech these. That being said, I've done some mega research and this is the system I would like to build:

i7-2600k
OZC Vertex 3 120GB (2) RAID 0
Corsair Vengeance 4 X 4GB 1600
Corsair HX850 (enough for eventual SLI?)
Corsair 500R Case
EVGA GTX560 Ti (eventually SLI)
Samsung Blu-ray 12X

Now the big question is the Asus Maximus IV or the Asus P8P68 series board. I've read that both (depending on model) will support the new Ivy Bridge when it comes out this year. I have no intention right now of moving onto Ivy Bridge until the price drops and it proves itself. I just want a system that is open for upward mobility unlike my old socket 754 system.

Which will be better for longevity between Maximus and P8?
Is that a decent enough PS for two GTX 560s?
Does the case provide enough air flow?
Do I need liquid cooling for the two GPUs?

I have no intention of overclocking if it means water. I know the 2600k can easily hit 4.5-5GHz on air, but won't the system be hot enough running 2 GPUs (that I won't OC) as it is? I've done the research, but I haven't found answers to these questions. Thanks in advance for your time.

Both motherboards are great except for the price. If it is within your budget go for the Asus Maximus its good for future upgrades.

Reply to aqe040466

In terms of the PSU, a good quality 650W unit would be fine, 700-750W if you want more headroom.

------------------------------ Intel Core i5-760 @ 3.4Ghz / Noctua NH-D14 / Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB 1600Mhz / Palit GTX 460 1GB / ASRock P55 Deluxe / Fractal R3 / Samsung 830 128GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB / Seasonic X-560
Reply to jmsellars1

I have 2 1TB USB 3.0 drives and a 2TB eSATA external for backup so no worries there. I've got plenty of space.

I rip alot of my bluray movies to .mkv because I'm constantly traveling and the drive is only $64 so why not

Monitor I have is a 23in HP maxed at 1920x1080 so that will be the highest I play. I like the way it looks so no need to run higher or buy new monitors.

RAM is just so cheap right now that I might as well get 16GB. It isn't much more for it either and I planned on getting the shorter RAM due to the expected CPU cooler.

I really don't plan on gaming all that much as I do more apps than anything.

I'll look into the Crucial drives. I have an Agility 2 in my laptop right now for the last 8 months and had ZERO issues so far. I have the original HDD just in case the SSD fails.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll research the parts and I'll more than likely build it this summer. In the last 2 days the 2600k went from $325 to $314 on Amazon. I'm always price watching and everything I listed (buying from Amazon and Newegg) was $1606.19 shipped) is a pretty good deal. The other GPU will come at a later date when I feel it needs it.

Reply to Mr_Ford

With the recommendations of everyone on here I was able to knock price down by a nice margin.

CPU - 2600K
Case - Cooler Master HAF 922 (like it alot better than the Corsair unit)
MB - Asus P8Z68 PRO/GEN 3
RAM - Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2 X 4GB)
PSU - XFX ProSeries 850W
SSD - Crucial M4 (2)
GPU - EVGA GTX 560Ti SC
Optical - Samsing Black Blu-ray 12X

Everything on that list was WAY cheaper on Amazon (save for the Blu-ray drive and the RAM) and all total including shipping is $1478.96. That's easily doable with a tax return, leaves two DIMM slots open as well as headroom for a CPU cooler, 2nd GPU and MAYBE 3rd SSD. I think two is honestly plenty though. By July all these prices should have dropped some as well so I might get lucky and get a sub 1400 build. The advice was great guys thanks alot!

Reply to Mr_Ford

The only thing I can really comment is the SSD, DO NOT GO WITH OCZ!!!!! I have had 3 of them, and every single one wen't bad within the first 9months.

I ended up going back to a standard HDD (Samsung F3 drive)

But if you are dead set on a SSD then I would recommend going with intel.

Reply to Dewm

Intel are pretty top notch for reliability but are very expensive, Samsung and Crucial are also pretty reliable and tend to make faster, cheaper drives.

------------------------------ Intel Core i5-760 @ 3.4Ghz / Noctua NH-D14 / Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB 1600Mhz / Palit GTX 460 1GB / ASRock P55 Deluxe / Fractal R3 / Samsung 830 128GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB / Seasonic X-560
Reply to jmsellars1

Prices dropped again on the 2600k and it's now at $300. Read a review today on the i7-3820 and that has piqued my interest quite a bit. Amazon has it at $319 right now and it really seems like the way to go. I do more video encoding thah anything and the reviews point to that as being the better CPU for the job. With that said, the ASUS P8Z68 Pro/GEN 3 board I had my eye on doesn't support the new CPU according to the ASUS website. I had no intention on running 8 DIMMs of memory nor do I ever plan to. X79 is the eventual next step but it seems too new to make the plunge. Overall it would add about $100 to my build, but is that $100 worth it? Not being a cheapskate my any means I'm just trying to figure out the best way to spend my money and get the longevity out of the system.

I'm going to eventually want PCI-e 3.0 and I know i'm gonna need an i7-3xxx series CPU to do so to keep it future proof. I also know If I keep holding out for the new stuff I'll never get this damn thing built. I know the 3820 won't reach the higher clocks of the 2600k but seems pretty stable around 4.3GHz which is plenty enough for me. The more I type this the better the 3820 sounds. Going this route though is micro ATX alright for dual SLI? I know I won't have that much room for other PCI cards but I really doubt I'll add another card (unless it's wireless n) and that's debateable.

As far as the M4 vs 510 debate, it looks completely 50-50 on every review I've read, including here. Seems like the Intel will last longer but the M4 is faster (slightly). I'm still dead set on running RAID 0 so I might go for the Intel ($90 premium for both). Too much tech, not enough brain.

Reply to Mr_Ford

IMHO, stick with an i7-2600k. The i7-3820 would be a minor upgrade, but fast is still fast and they both fit the bill. Overclock the 2600k to 4.5GHz and don't look back...

Reply to sadams04

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