building a new SB Rig

[maverick786us]

I will be upgrading my old Pentium D rig (not mentioned in my sig) into a new Quad Core gaming rig

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
A: Multi Purpose Gaming, Movies, Porgramming, Photoshop

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
A: It can Vary from 1500 - 2000

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
A:
a) CPU: 2600K I would like to OC it @ 4.5 to 5.0 but want to keep it stable and long lives

b) Mobo: want a good OCing board with good cooling / Fan mechanism. So it going to be Asus P8P67 Pro / Deluxe or Gigabyte P67A-UD7??
I won’t consider spending more than 250 bucks on a Mobo

c) RAM: 2 X 4 GB 1600 RAM with good speed, good latency and shouldn’t be pricy, the best option I consider is G-Skill Ripjaw or Corsair Vengeance.
Note: Apart from gaming I will do programming and most often use Virtual PC with Visual studio and Share point, that’s why need 8GB RAM

d) GPU: I want to play games @ 2560 X 1600. So the best options that I consider are
i. HD 6950 (later X-Fire)
ii. HD 6970
iii. GTX 560Ti SLI

e) Display: Dell u3011 or HP ZR30W

f) HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB. Right now SSDs are still pricy. If I want to go for an
SSD I won’t consider anything less than 128 GB. So I will buy an SSD 6-8 months down the line when their prices further go down

g) PSU: Corsair AX850 or HX850 ?

h) Case: 650D or 800D. Since I want a solid case with enough airflow so that multiple GPUs get enough room to breathe, and it should be stylish in look and feel.

i) Heat Sink: Again I want my CPU to be under stable voltage, live longer life, I know CPU life is longer, but I don’t want it to start degrading somewhere within 5 yrs or so if I OC it @ 4.5 – 4.8 GHz.

In order to keep CPU healthy a good heat sink in order to keep its temperature low. Now the options I am considering are
i. TRUE 120 (Air Cooling)
ii. TRUE Venomous (Air Cooling)
iii. Corsair A70 (Water Cooling)
iv. Corsair H50 (Water Cooling)
v. Corsair H70 (Water Cooling)

j) Audio: Corsair 2500SP or a Sony home theater System (that would cost almost the same)??

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
A: Power Supply, Case, display and Heat Sink (if possible)

6) Will you be overclocking?
A: Want to OC while gaming and while performing any high end task. But for normal usuage it want the frequency to be low for longer life

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
A: 30 Inch

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
A; March / April

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
A: All

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
A: No but I can purchase one on student's Account for Windows 7 64-bit Home

 

[Finisher]

Horrible color scheme, hurts my eyes trying to read this

 

[tiraides]

Seriously, which features do you need in a motherboard? "All" doesn't help us and we understand that you want a board you can overclock with.

Better yet, revisit this thread about three weeks before you plan on starting to build.

 

[maverick786us]

1) RAID: I will put my primary Hard Drive on RAID. I guess now a days every good Mobo comes with RAID0 and RAID1
2) Firewire: Its not a need but sometimes there are some external devices that are fixed on Firewire port
3) Crossfire / SLI: In order to game @ 25X16 resolution no single GPU can play today's game t this resolution with all the settings high, therefore I need to SLI or X-Fire
5) USB 3.0? Since the launch of SB, USB3.0 and lightpeak will become the new standard making USB2.0 Obsolete.
6) SATA 6Gb/s? Just like USB 3.0 every new storage is desinged for Sata 6GBPS standard.

I think the 2 mobo choices I've listed should contain most of these features. I have to pick one of them therefore need your suggestion

 

[Dangman]

I have to pick one of them therefore need your suggestion

Well the problem is that you're planning on buying in Mar/April. So basically, whatever parts recommendations we make today will probably not be the same parts we recommend in Mar/April. Especially due to the all teething issues that many Sandy Bridge setups are now facing.

In other words, no point in making a recommendation right now when you're 90% likely to end up with mostly different parts in April.

Now if you were planning on buying in January, I probably would recommend the Pro. But there might be better Asus mobos 3 months from now judging from the current lineup and issues.

So your best bet for UP TO DATE advice would be to ask again 2-3 weeks before you actually buy. If you want OUT OF DATE advice then by all means continue with this thread.