Advice on new build

Sand

Im planning on building a new PC for the first time because I cant justify shelling out a couple of hundred euro extra when everyone tells me all the time how easy it is. Given I've never done this before, Id appreciate some input on my choices below for the build.

I plan to use the PC for pretty much entirely gaming. I do not plan to overclock anything so additional cooling or overclocking potential isnt a concern. I dont really care about watching bluray movies(hence the DVD player), and my sound needs are just that it doesnt sound awful (hence the soundcard). I do want something thats reasonably futureproof. That said, Ive picked out the below from hardwareversand.de, which clocks in at about 1380.

Intel Core i7 960 / 3.2 GHz processor
ASUS Sabertooth X58 - Motherboard
6 GB Corsair XMS3 memory DIMM 240-pin – DDR3
WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX - hard drive - 1 TB – SATA-600
ASUS ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD5 - graphics adapter - GF GTX 580 - 1.5 GB
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Full Tower Computer Case
Corsair Professional Series HX750W - power supply - 750 Watt
ASUS DRW 24B3ST - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM drive - Serial ATA
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI Express - sound card
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium – 64-bit

I suppose my main concerns are around the RAM and the PSU. I went with Corsair because it was reputable and cheap. Is there a better choice?

On the PSU Im planning to get another GTX 580 when they drop in price, so to save cost and effort later I should spend the extra 100 to get a better PSU now, right?

And given were talking about the GTX 580, the ASUS version currently appears to be out of stock on hardwareversand.de - worth waiting for it to come back into stock and/or ordering it on overclockers.co.uk instead? Or is there acceptable alternatives from the other manufacturers (I would tend to go with ASUS because of the brand quality overall - the others I dont really recognise).

Monotype

The 2500K and a 1155 motherboard is better value at ~€70 cheaper for the processor. Performance is better in most cases as well. Get the 2600K which is still cheaper if you want hyperthreading to completely overtake the 960.

Overclocking with the 2500K is very easy and very cool with people going into the 4GHz with the stock cooling (from 3.3).

I wouldn't worry too much about the PCI-E bandwidth as I would think the benefits of the newer platform are greater.

Sand

Thanks - Ive taken a look into it, and youre right. Back to the drawing board for me. The i5 2500K seems to be the way to go.

IrishMetalhead

need help speccing out a set up?
or do you feel you can spec one up yourself?

Sand

Advice is always appreciated - its already saved me from buying the wrong CPU. Anyway this is the current thinking:

Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155
ASUS Sabertooth P67 Rev 3.0, Sockel 1155, ATX, DDR3
Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower
ASUS ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD
Seasonic X-750, 750 Watt
2 x Seagate Momentus XT 7200.1 500GB 32MB 6,4cm (2,5")
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL8
ASUS DRW-24B3ST Bulk SATA
Creative SB X-FI Xtreme Audio PCI-E

MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version

Thoughts are appreciated, especially on the PSU (considering I want to add another GTX 580 when they dont cost as much) and the hard drives. The cost of SSD seems excessive for saving a few seconds booting up windows so I went with these "hybrids". Is going with a small SSD/ huge standard drive the better option even it costs more? Also on cooling, the case comes with 4 fans, and Im not planning on overclocking to any great extent so I presume that will be sufficient. Right/wrong?

seyeM

That looks like a very strong build.

This article compares the hybrid drives with SDDs including raid setups http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/seagate_momentus_xt_500gb/
They claim that the 2 of them in raid nearly match an SSDs performance, but the SSD is ahead in some benchmarks. You could get a 60gig OCZ vertex 2 and a 1tb samsung for €160.

I have a Creative XFi pci-e card, and find their software and drivers to be poor. I've heard many good things about Asus's Xonar soundcards, this one should be a good alternative http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=29792&agid=768

If you're going to add a second GTX580 at some stage, I would recommend a 900-1000W PSU just to be on the conservative side. That will allow some overclocking headroom for the CPU and the GPUs. Nothing worse then having to pay to replace a perfectly good PSU just to increase the wattage. These aren't quite up to the quality of a Seasonic, but will serve you well.

Corsiar HX 1000W

Coolermaster Silent Pro 1000W is cheaper, but get the corsair if you can afford it.

That case will definitely have enough cooling for your needs

You should throw in a CPU cooler too if you dont have it taken care of already.