New build - making sure I didn't miss anything

[TheChicagoan]

Hey everyone,
I've built some systems in the past but took a break recently (last 5 years) and have decided to get back into it...

How does this look for the build - the point is a blend of speed, reliability and my personal comfort in certain name brands. But if something is glarinly wrong in your opinion, please let me know.

Case: Cosair Graphite 600T - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811139003

PSU: Corsair AX850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139015

MOBO: Asus P8Z68-V Pro - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131730

CPU: Intel i5-2500K - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB kit - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145347

Primary Hard Drive: Intel 510 250GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167043

Secondary Drives: Reuse 300GB 2.5" VelociRaptor and 1TB Seagate

BluRay/DVD/CD: Pioneer BDR-206DBK - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827129066

Video Card: Single or SLI GTX570 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130620


It's a pricey build, but one I'll likely stick with over next 3-5 years.

 

[Kukag]

Looking at your build it seems a few things are quite overkill - 16gb ram, 850w psu. I think with a few minimal changes you can open your budget up, Get a Z68 board and pair a SSD with SRT with your boot drive and really notice some speed increases =D Z68 is just about as expensive as P67.

Just a suggestion!
Kukag

 

[stahlhart]

A bit of overkill for the RAM (unless you have a specific application requirement for 16Gb) and the power supply (650W probably enough for a single 570, unless you have SLI plans further down the road). Kukag types faster than me.

 

[BoomerD]

For a single video card, your PSU is gross overkill. That build shouldn't draw more than 400-450 watts MAX...even overclocked.
HOWEVER, if you're serious about adding a second video card in SLI, then surprisingly, you may end up pulling more than that 850 can provide.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=188494&st=0

The testing at Guru3D says you'll be fine though...
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-sli-review/13

 

[TheChicagoan]

Thanks for the feedback! To answer a few questions...

1) Yes, SLI is likely in the plans. I find going overkill on the grapphics may stave off an upgrade for a while. I run graphics at 2560x1600 on a 30".

1) I selected the AX850 PSU hoping the size along with the usual conservative numbers from Corsair will provide the overhead. Not sure I plan on OC'ing unless the system is unable to keep up with something.

2) Regarding the memory, I have 8GB currently but occasionally pull down HD TV shows and such from usenet. The program I use, Newsbin, often gets my memory usage up around 7+GB. probably due to the insanely large amount of headers I pull down... Therefore, my memory options were either 12GB or 16GB. It wasn't that much more to go 16GB so I figured I'd just go that route to get it done. Actually plan on ordering to 8GB kits instead of a single 16GB kit... seems occasionally a single stick is bad and the whole kit has to go back. Hoping to mitigate that by ordering 8GB kits and then if a single stick is bad I still have an 8GB rig to work with...

3) New to SSD. What is SSD with SRT?

4) Was going with Z68 just because it's the newest/best option after reading the review here.

 

[mfenn]

If you have a 30" monitor, it's probably a good idea to trim the fat in some other areas of your build (there is quite a lot) and get SLI/CFX today.

With that in mind, here's my suggestions:
- PSU: Way overkill for your needs. Even GTX 570 SLI (which I don't recommend, see below) will barely draw 550W at the wall (500W DC). This XFX 650W provides 630W on the 12V rail alone.
- Mobo: Way too expensive for what it is. Get the GA-Z68A-D3H (combo with CPU) instead.
- RAM: Too expensive for what it is. Get two of these DDR3 1333 8GB kits instead.
- SSD: Too expensive for what it is (see a theme here ). Get the Vertex 3 240GB instead.
- GPU: Too expensive given its performance. Get two of these 6950 2GB cards instead.

To answer your specific questions.

1) SLI/CFX is not necessarily a bad choice if you're rocking a 30". However, you will want to buy it up front.

1 again) The AX850 is a good PSU, but it is not worth the asking price.

2) Yes, getting two 8GB kits is better, but it is because there is a $30 premium for the same DIMMs if they're packaged in a 16GB kit.

3) SRT is a feature of Z68 that allows you to use the SSD as a cache for a normal HDD. Not worth it since you are buying such a big SSD.

4) Yes, that is a good idea.

 

[TheChicagoan]

Thanks mfenn. I already own one of the GTX570 cards, so that matter is settled.
But I'm intrigued by that memory. What kind of OC'ing could one expect out of it? Truthfully, I'm not really into OC'ing that much - but if I were to go that route in the future, would you recommend upgrading the memory then? or is it capable of some OC?

 

[fffblackmage]

Truthfully, I'm not really into OC'ing that much - but if I were to go that route in the future, would you recommend upgrading the memory then? or is it capable of some OC?

You don't need to overclock the memory to overclock the CPU. You'll be increasing the CPU multiplier rather than the bus clock.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks mfenn. I already own one of the GTX570 cards, so that matter is settled.
But I'm intrigued by that memory. What kind of OC'ing could one expect out of it? Truthfully, I'm not really into OC'ing that much - but if I were to go that route in the future, would you recommend upgrading the memory then? or is it capable of some OC?

In that case, yeah go ahead and get another GTX 570. You'll want to bump the PSU up to a 750W unit like this EA750 though.

As for RAM see blackmage's post above.

 

[TheChicagoan]

Thanks for all the feedback! Looking forward to purchasing in a few weeks.

 

[Morg.]

Careful about the PSU, if you go into overclocking, 750W will NOT cut it imho.

With two GTX570's, you can easily go beyond 600W OC'd, add in 180+ for the i5 and boom no more psu.

however, if you don't OC your gfx and keep your i5 under 4.5 ghz .. fat chance you won't need another PSU.

Also, last word of advice, modular PSU's are definitely cool, but in the end you don't remount your rig every day . so ... spend wisely

 

[TheChicagoan]

Just built a HTPC rig too and used a Seasonic fanless PSU...really liked it. While fanless isn't an option at 750-850 watts, I'm thinking I'm going to go with either Seasonic or Corsair (heard Seasonic makes theirs) for the PSU. Quality and reputation is very important to me.

 

[mfenn]

Careful about the PSU, if you go into overclocking, 750W will NOT cut it imho.

With two GTX570's, you can easily go beyond 600W OC'd, add in 180+ for the i5 and boom no more psu.

Negatory on both counts.

First, you have to be pushing some serious volts through the GPU and CPU to get them to the power levels that you specified. Stock and normal "move the slider to the right" overclocking will not get you there.

Second, if the PSU is overloaded, a quality unit like the ones we're recommending will not go "boom". It'll shut down due to OCP.

 

[fffblackmage]

Just built a HTPC rig too and used a Seasonic fanless PSU...really liked it. While fanless isn't an option at 750-850 watts, I'm thinking I'm going to go with either Seasonic or Corsair (heard Seasonic makes theirs) for the PSU. Quality and reputation is very important to me.

Who is the manufacturer of your PSU?

 

[betasub]

Who is the manufacturer of your PSU?

:thumbsup: Nice to know what lies behind the branded sticker.