New member with some build questions

[Holm]

Hi guys, I am currently planning a new gaming machine based in part on the setup of the month builds but I have run in to uncharted territory.

1.
The processor I have settled on is the i5 2500k; it will be housed in a Coolermaster 922 with plenty of fans but I am unsure of how much more cooling I require. I am not planning to overclock anything, but temperature is still a concern since I live in Australia and summer heatwaves are a bitch. This has not been helped by reading reviews, as some of them have been conflicting.

Thus, can anyone recommend a solution for a non-OC rig in a generally hot ambient temperature?

2.
Radeon 6950 1Gb... ASUS or Gigabyte? XFX is currently hard to get in my area, and since the rest of the parts are all coming from the same store I figure there is not much point shipping it from interstate.

3.a
I heard a rumour that SSDs risk damage every time there is a power outage, possibly making a UPS mandatory. Is this true / exaggerated / false?

3.b
If it turns out to be necessary, I really have no idea about the UPS market, except that the standby type is probably all a non-business user would require. Any recommendations here?

Thanks to anyone taking the time to answer any of these questions.

[Uggorthaholy]

If you aren't going to OC, downgrade to the i5 2500 (non-k).
If you have very high ambients, a closed-circuit water cooling option is a wise choice. See the corsair h80.

Unfortunately, I'm not super privy on the AMD cards or the SSD information.

EDIT - just for additional information - no matter how many fans you have, air cooling can only perform so well based on ambient temperature. Indeed, the old saying of "more fans = better" is usually true, so long as they are setup properly (in take in the front/bottom, exhaust in the back/top)

[Deleted]

What Uggorthaholy said. If you're not overclocking, it really won't make much difference which 6950 you get, you aren't going to stress it enoug to require a really good custom cooler. Though if heat really is an issuse, you may want to look at the MSI Twin FrozR card, it has the best cooler fitted on it.

[vesseblah]

3.a
I heard a rumour that SSDs risk damage every time there is a power outage, possibly making a UPS mandatory. Is this true / exaggerated / false?

3.b
If it turns out to be necessary, I really have no idea about the UPS market, except that the standby type is probably all a non-business user would require. Any recommendations here?

There's no bigger or smaller risk for breaking for SSD than any other component with power surges or blackouts, that's pure BS.

If you live in area with frequent power problems you should indeed get a cheap UPS device that gives power for five minutes from lead acid battery, or at least surge protector if nothing else.

[Holm]

Thanks for your answers, especially for putting my SSD fears to rest. Good to know a protected strip will be enough.

As for the graphics card, it looks like the Gigabyte offering is in the lead thanks mostly to being cheaper, while the ASUS offers a whopping 10MHz OC for the extra price. TEN. Also Gigabyte's triple fans look cool.

Still at a loss for a mid-range cooler though...