First time builder, need part and build advice

[z1mb0bw4y]

HEDIT: Full post redone. Build semi-finalized. Checking fine details with this post.

Alright, I have my "final" build set up. I just want to check and be sure that this will all work, that I will have all cables necessary without having to purchase extra equipment, and making sure there aren't any obviously less expensive alternatives to the equipment I'm listing.

Part list dump, listing all parts I plan on purchasing.

CPU: Intel core i5-2500k
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2
Motherboard: ASRock P67 Extreme4 (B3)
GPU: EVGA GTX 560 Ti
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750 750W 80 Plus Bronze Certified
Case: Rosewill Challenger ATX mid tower (Plus buying 2 extra case fans with it)
HDD: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
DVD Drive: Lite-on Lightscribe SATA 3.0Gb/s drive
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM

Total Cost: ~$1100 with Newegg instant savings, not counting rebates.

Basically my only questions at this point are
1. amidoinitrite? (will the pieces fit?)
2. Will this include all of the proper cabling that I will need to assemble and use this system right out of the box?
3. Any cheaper alternatives for any individual pieces that would give similar or better performance?

Keep in mind that I don't want the cost to go any higher than it is, and I want a long life expectancy on this machine. I will take care of it, don't worry =P

Thanks in advance

[BicycleMafioso]

1. Yes.

2. In your resolution? As good as you secretly hope.

3. The motherboard does not support SLI. Otherwise, yes.

4. I suggest 2x4096MiB RAM. 2x2048 MiB is sufficient and will serve you well. But these days with heavier and heavier side-programs, I'd advice you to go bigger, so you wouldn't have to worry of running out of memory. (I have on several occassions used more than 4GiB RAM, both with my laptop and desktop).

[z1mb0bw4y]

As for the motherboard, is there a specific one you can recommend that would support SLI with the LGA1155 socket? And if I were to upgrade my display to a 1920x1080 resolution in the future, how much of a performance hit (from 1440x900 -> 1920x1080) would I take on this build or a similar one?

[Parietis]

As for the motherboard, is there a specific one you can recommend that would support SLI with the LGA1155 socket? And if I were to upgrade my display to a 1920x1080 resolution in the future, how much of a performance hit (from 1440x900 -> 1920x1080) would I take on this build or a similar one?

I run a system that is older but similar (i5-750 OC to 3.2ghz, GTX 460, 4GB of RAM) at 1920x1080. Every game I have tried to run, I run at 1080p, max settings and cap out at 60 fps. It takes heavy combat in a 25-man raid to even start to fall under 60, and that's more likely CPU-related and has nothing to do with my resolution. My point is if you are going to take a performance hit, you won't notice it.

[BicycleMafioso]

As for the motherboard, is there a specific one you can recommend that would support SLI with the LGA1155 socket? And if I were to upgrade my display to a 1920x1080 resolution in the future, how much of a performance hit (from 1440x900 -> 1920x1080) would I take on this build or a similar one?

The one with the most comparable price I found first is the ASUS P8P67-M.

Honestly? I can only answer for Wow, but you'd be able to play for 60+ FPS in Ultra.
The others would take a bigger perfomancehit, but can still be very playable with a single card. Turn down some of the settings if you want to keep 60+ fps. But most can be on the highest. If you're comfy with 40-50FPS, you can run full-out.

[z1mb0bw4y]

The one with the most comparable price I found first is the ASUS P8P67-M.

Honestly? I can only answer for Wow, but you'd be able to play for 60+ FPS in Ultra.
The others would take a bigger perfomancehit, but can still be very playable with a single card. Turn down some of the settings if you want to keep 60+ fps. But most can be on the highest. If you're comfy with 40-50FPS, you can run full-out.

Considering that my current setup (Macbook, inb4 hate) runs WoW at 10 FPS in a raid environment and other games at like 20 or so, I think I can handle having "only" 40-50 FPS or slightly lower than maximum settings.

Thanks for the input guys, you've made me a lot more confident about this whole thing. =D

[haxartus]

As for the motherboard, is there a specific one you can recommend that would support SLI with the LGA1155 socket? And if I were to upgrade my display to a 1920x1080 resolution in the future, how much of a performance hit (from 1440x900 -> 1920x1080) would I take on this build or a similar one?

1920x1080 is about 60% bigger resolution, so it won't be a small hit. But you won't need so much AA/AF at higher resolutions, so it's not that terrible and the 560 Ti will handle it. And the TX650 is fine.

[BicycleMafioso]

1920x1080 is about 60% bigger resolution, so it won't be a small hit. But you won't need so much AA/AF at higher resolutions, so it's not that terrible and the 560 Ti will handle it. And the TX650 is fine.

The 560Ti will handle it fine; It was designed for 1920x1080, after all. However, some games are more demanding than others. He should be able to max out (or near to it) Crysis 2 in 1080p, but that doesn't mean he can do it in Metro 2033, or S.T.A.L.K.E.R Call of Pripyat.


And where did he ask about the Powersupply?

[haxartus]

He didn't but I wanted to confirm that the components will work together. Some PSUs don't have the required connectors and etc. The 560 Ti should play at least Crysis Warhead at 1920x1080, which looks quite nice. With Metro 2033 he might get about 25 fps at max settings which is barely playable.

[Sephiracle]

I second the using 2x4gig instead of 2x2. Also, I'm running same resolution, I was playing max settings including shadows and getting 30 fps in Orgrimmar(Play on Mal'ganis btw). Instances no less than 100's, (10)raids 60+. My gfx card is also a lot older than the one you're looking into.

[vesseblah]

In addition to the other comments above... TX650 is borderline for running 560ti's in SLI, I wouldn't even try. 750W should work, 850W if you want to be safe with 560's and even bit more powerful cards in the future.

[BicycleMafioso]

In addition to the other comments above... TX650 is borderline for running 560ti's in SLI, I wouldn't even try. 750W should work, 850W if you want to be safe with 560's and even bit more powerful cards in the future.

Eh. I'd say it's pretty safe.
http://www.sweclockers.com/image/dia...8574ed55666ed2 (from the wall, entire system).

[z1mb0bw4y]

Wow, this got way more replies than I was expecting. Thanks for all of the input guys, I'll be upping the RAM to 2x4gig and changing my motherboard. Also thanks a ton for the FPS estimates on more demanding games, that is really helpful and what I was really looking for information on.

I rate this board 5/5 on helpfulness ^_^

[vesseblah]

Eh. I'd say it's pretty safe.
http://www.sweclockers.com/image/dia...8574ed55666ed2 (from the wall, entire system).

523W under load. When you overclock CPU to 4.5GHz and touch the GPU clocks a bit you'll be well over 600W already running close to 100% load which increases temperature inside case notably. Even good quality 650W PSU will die in 2-3 years max if the system is moderately overclocked, and that CPU is begging for OC.

[BicycleMafioso]

523W under load. When you overclock CPU to 4.5GHz and touch the GPU clocks a bit you'll be well over 600W already running close to 100% load which increases temperature inside case notably. Even good quality 650W PSU will die in 2-3 years max if the system is moderately overclocked, and that CPU is begging for OC.

The CPU in the test was overclocked; A Bloomfield, 930 to 3.8 with Hyperthreading on.
That's also the wattage from the wall, non-bronze, but 80+ PSU. (IIRC).
EDIT - disregard the last comment, it's a 1200w 80+gold they're testing with.

[haxartus]

2x 560 Ti use about 300W on full load, which leaves about 324W for the rest of the system with a TX650.

[z1mb0bw4y]

bump for new equipment list for re-judging. Thanks again guys!

(btw, sorry if bumping was bad and I should have just made a new topic. New to these forums >.<

[BicycleMafioso]

bump for new equipment list for re-judging. Thanks again guys!

(btw, sorry if bumping was bad and I should have just made a new topic. New to these forums >.<

Bumping not allowed, looks decent. Could cut back the PSU to a 650w and still have room to pop another card in there.

[z1mb0bw4y]

My apologies then. If I could lock or delete the thread I would, because I trust your input. Thanks a ton for taking the time to help me =)

[Uggorthaholy]

I would change the cooler.

Taken from someone who owned an original Arctic 7

It's very difficult to clip in, and the clips break quite easily.

Go with a cooler with a backplate. They are more stable, generally easy to install, and will provide better results.