Critique this gaming build please.

[BruceG87]

With reviews for IB being released, most people who waited seemed to abandon ship for for proven i5 2500k, I am doing the same. I am using the GTX 680 as a placeholder for the time being while I decide for myself between a 7970 Lightning vs GTX 680 Twin Frozr II.

Build is focused on playing newly released game titles at max settings on a 1920x1200 resolution with a $1700 USD Budget. I may possibly be looking into a second monitor in the future.

The build below has all I need EXCEPT a Z77 motherboard.
I was comparing the ASRock Z77 extreme4 vs the extreme6 mostly. The Asus Sabertooth Z77 caught my eye with it's unique design. However, I am relatively bad at shopping for MOBO' since I have a hard time telling what I need vs what I do not. I was hoping to get some suggestions on a solid Z77 motherboard

Things I will be looking into in the future.
Possibly a second monitor.
PhysX dedicated card?

Could not post pcpartpicker link.. :/

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($78.47)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Low Voltage Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($124.99 )
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card ($547.86)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.98)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 660W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($124.99)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($17.99)
Total: $1374.25
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-24 07:31 EDT-0400)

[vesseblah]

Looks ok, more or less.

You can forget PhysX card, it's beyond useless since the list of supported games can be counted with fingers of one hand.

If you aren't planning on SLI or Crossfire you can use just about any motherboard you like, but if you are considering it, you'll need to pay bit more attention to the options. Also for SLI/CF you'll need bigger PSU. ASRock Z77 Extreme4 seems like a good all-around choice, but if you're planning to do some extreme overclocking or SLI/CF with high end cards, then you can look into more expensive models like Extreme6 or Sabertooth.

[rinleezwins]

If you play wow, drop the gtx680 for something cheaper and get a better cpu.

[hapylol]

If you play wow, drop the gtx680 for something cheaper and get a better cpu.

I agree with the 1st part but not the 2nd. If you only play WoW, D3, LoL, the 680 is pretty overkill. If you want to spend the money on it go for it, but if you want to use that money towards 2 monitors that might be the better route.

You could drop down to a 7850 and be perfectly fine on the games I listed above.

[BruceG87]

Build is focused on playing newly released game titles at max settings on a 1920x1200 resolution

If I planned on just WoW and D3 I would've dropped the GPU to a GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr III.

[hapylol]

MoP, D3 are NEWLY RELEASED GAME TITLES AT MAX SETTINGS.

[Deleted]

Your build looks great, as mentioned if you're going to SLI/CF 680/7970 anytime you'll want more powerful PSU, HX850, AX850 or Seasonic X860 comes to mind.

Z77 Extreme4 vs Z77 Extreme6

If you're not going to SLI you could even drop down to an Asrock Z77 Pro3 (has CF support, though it's with a x4 slot).

If you don't mind the higher price and if you like the thermal armor look I'd go with the Sabertooth from ASUS.

[BruceG87]

While I want nvidia driver reputation/history, I am still unsure of buying a reference GTX 680.
On the other hand, I love the non-ref 7970 Lightning.. but AMD's driver history scares me.

I am now also considering other cards. I want something that will perform most new GPU intense titles at max settings (Given 1920x1200 resolution) while giving me great FPS. It's hard to tell where a good cutoff is vs what would be absolute overkill. A ref 680 is probably overkill at this time, as well as a 7970 Lightning.

I noticed some cheap ($300-350) 1.5MB GTX 580 Lightning's hitting the market. Otherwise I have been looking at the 7870 Twin Frozr III. Most benchmarks show the GTX 580 outperforming the 7870 by a small margin. However, I wonder how the 580 Lightning would compare to a 7870 TFIII after OC'ing.

I am so lost here. Damn it :/

[Joxer]

If you play wow, drop the gtx680 for something cheaper and get a better cpu.

The i5 2500K will be the best choice for him.. A i7 2600/2700(K) will only make a noticable difference in price, not in performance.
(http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287)

[Deleted]

While I want nvidia driver reputation/history, I am still unsure of buying a reference GTX 680.
On the other hand, I love the non-ref 7970 Lightning.. but AMD's driver history scares me.

I am now also considering other cards. I want something that will perform most new GPU intense titles at max settings (Given 1920x1200 resolution) while giving me great FPS. It's hard to tell where a good cutoff is vs what would be absolute overkill. A ref 680 is probably overkill at this time, as well as a 7970 Lightning.

I noticed some cheap ($300-350) 1.5MB GTX 580 Lightning's hitting the market. Otherwise I have been looking at the 7870 Twin Frozr III. Most benchmarks show the GTX 580 outperforming the 7870 by a small margin. However, I wonder how the 580 Lightning would compare to a 7870 TFIII after OC'ing.

I am so lost here. Damn it :/

Honestly don't buy any old generation card at this time, Nvidia will be releasing more, you already have the option of 7870, 7950, 7970 and 680. If you're so scared of AMD driver history stick with 680 when you can find one in stock. If not go for any of the AMD's in your price/performance range.

7870 vs 580

7950 vs 580

[Tulion]

Are you looking to overclock? How far/hard? If your serious about it ivy bridge will significantly outperform SB if you take off the the integrated heatspreader (IHS) and directly mount your cooling solution by going lidless.

Reasoning for this is ivy has been held back by using TIM instead of flux-less solder to limit the heat transfer (and thus stop cannibalism of SB-E). Light OC Ivy wins due to preforming better @ same or slightly lower clocks. Any moderate OC however and SB does pull ahead.

Just remember to place this against price and features as well, you can usually pick up SB chips for quite a deal however you don't have access to the extra lanes *which a 680 can't take advantage of unless your running 3+ cards* along with MVP features (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rk,3174-2.html)

Either way I'd wait until the 29th when the chips actually launch, I'd love to hear intel didn't run for the money bags and actually use solder on IB for retail chips and TIM was only for ES.

[glo]

While I want nvidia driver reputation/history, I am still unsure of buying a reference GTX 680.
On the other hand, I love the non-ref 7970 Lightning.. but AMD's driver history scares me.

I am now also considering other cards. I want something that will perform most new GPU intense titles at max settings (Given 1920x1200 resolution) while giving me great FPS. It's hard to tell where a good cutoff is vs what would be absolute overkill. A ref 680 is probably overkill at this time, as well as a 7970 Lightning.

I noticed some cheap ($300-350) 1.5MB GTX 580 Lightning's hitting the market. Otherwise I have been looking at the 7870 Twin Frozr III. Most benchmarks show the GTX 580 outperforming the 7870 by a small margin. However, I wonder how the 580 Lightning would compare to a 7870 TFIII after OC'ing.

I am so lost here. Damn it :/

1. Nvidia had the worse launch by a mile this generation, drivers had tons of problems, and they STILL don't have a proper driver release for the 680. You're stuck with beta drivers with numerous issues.

2. Non-reference 7870s spank the hell out of 580s. Overclocked (factory OC'd or on your own), they blow the 580 out of the water. The 7xxx line's OC scaling and total potential is just that much higher.

[Tulion]

^this I'd much rather have a 7870 over a 580 not to mention much less power/heat