Help with my 2500k build

[Zinn]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, streaming videos
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
MAX $1300 (no tax and free shipping kthx Amazon Prime )
3) Where do you live?
Bay area CA
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.
Mobo, CPU, RAM, GPU, PSU, HDD(s), Case, Cooling, Displayport video switch
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Keyboard and mouse. Have a GTX 560 Ti lying around, so wanted to get another for SLI vs. more expensive cards. Have an external USB DVD drive as well.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Maybe a little. Would be happy with 4.0ghz.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Already have a 24" Apple Cinema display. Since it only has one input and I have a laptop hooked up to it, I need to get an external Displayport switch and cables. Primary GPU must have Displayport.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Now
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
RAID and SLI / Crossfire.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, have W7 Home Premium retail license

Specific questions:

• Is the GTX 560 Ti SLI an okay choice for 1920x1200 gaming?
• Since my cinema display is displayport only, the GPU must be displayport. The only GTX 560 Ti w/ Displayport I could find anywhere was this Zotac GTX 560 Ti. Will it be a problem to SLI this with my existing EVGA GTX 560 Ti? (I know it's technically possible, but does anyone know if this will be glitchy in practice)
• Will the Cooler Master Hyper 212 be sufficient to run the 2500K at 4.0ghz 24/7 at reasonable voltage?
• Is a Corsair 850TX V2 sufficient for all of this?

Here's the build so far:
(includes boring parts necessary to connect two computers to one Apple display)

• $209.99 - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 LGA 1155
• $219.99 - Intel Core i5-2500k Retail CPU
• $57.99 - Corsair Vengeance Blu 8 GB (2X4GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz DDR3
• $239.99 - Zotac GeForce GTX 560 Ti
• 2x $67.72 - Western Digital Caviar Black 750gb (RAID0)
• $134.99 - Corsair Enthusiast 850TX V2 Power Supply
• $145.49 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T Mid-Tower Gaming Case
• $27.99 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU Heatsink
• $9.95 - Zalman ZM-STG1 Thermal Paste
• $86.46 - StarTech VS221DP 2-Port Displayport Video Switch
• $9.99 - StarTech 6ft Displayport Cable
• $9.13 - StarTech DP2MDPMF6IN 6-Inch DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort Adapter
• $6.98 - 6ft DisplayPort Male to Mini DisplayPort Male cable

Total: $1294.38

So that's barely within budget by a hair. Two things I'm a little disappointed on: 1) no SSD, 2) the CPU cooling. Any recommendations for alterations while staying within $1300 budget? Thanks in advance!

 

[Dangman]

Ditch those Western Digital drives for this significantly faster HDD:
$60 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

From what you've written so far, doesn't sound like you need that Asus mobo. So go for this MSI mobo instead since it meets all the requirements stated in your answer to question 9:
$170 - MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard

Ditch that Zalman thermal paste: No need for it as the stock thermal paste that comes with that Coolermaster HSF is pretty good as is.

Now if you only get one Samsung F3 1TB drive as well as the rest of the above changes, that frees up more than enough cash for a SSD. I recommend this SSD:
$110 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SSD

The split SSD + HDD setup will be far faster than a RAID 0 regular hard drive array.

To answer your questions:
1) Yes it's an okay choice
2) Shouldn't be any issues
3) Yes
4) Yes. In fact it's a little overkill.

 

[Sycraft]

I'd think about not doing RAID-0. It is, well, twice as likely to fail as one drive. Even if you maintain regular backups (which you should no matter what) it is a pain to have your system go down and have to wait while a new drive is shipped to you. I speak from experience on this one .

Now you could think about the SSD + HDD route, but I'm not a big fan of that either. The reason is unless you use very few apps, you are going to have to store them on the HDD. Well that doesn't do you a ton of good. I mean ya it's cool that your system boots a little faster but do you really care that much? For me, I care if my apps and games launch and respond quickly, which means I'd want them on SSDs. I do have all my stuff on SSD and for me, the boot time really isn't all that much faster. The BIOS/UEFI takes up so much time it didn't speed up a whole lot. What is noticeable is how fast apps launch, now responsive the system is. You have to have your programs on the SSD, not the HDD, to really get that.

If you think that will work than do a realistic assessment of what you need on the SSD. Take your Windows directory (if you don't have Windows yet figure 15GB to be safe), add in your Users directory (this can vary, could be only a few hundred MB if you are real, real careful, but more like a 2-4 GB), and the size of any apps and games you'll want to use frequently and/or to be fast. If you aren't under, say, 60GB then a 64GB SSD is probably not a good idea for that configuration.

Instead you could consider the Z68 route, if you get a Z68 board, you can have it use an SSD as cache for your HDD which speeds everything up. It isn't perfect, but you get a pretty good speed/responsiveness increase, and it applies to everything on the HDD more or less. You may be able to fit that in your budget. The MSI Z68A-GD55 isn't too expensive, Newegg has it for $150 right now and has a $20 rebat on top of that. Amazon wants $180 for it though.

At any rate that would be the way to go if you want faster speed, but cannot afford the vast expense of a big enough SSD to hold all your apps and games. I wouldn't do RAID-0.

If you don't want to do that, maybe just get a 2TB drive and call it good (bigger HDDs are faster than smaller ones because of a higher areal density and 2TB drives aren't much these days) or simple get a Z68 and 1TB drive and wait until later to get the SSD.

Also, take a look at Newegg before you buy. While I suspect most things will be cheaper from Amazon because of tax n' shipping, some may be cheaper. Sometimes one or the other has a much cheaper price, like the MSI I listed. Even if you had 10% tax in your city, it would be cheaper from Newegg without the rebate. Just check before you order.

 

[Zinn]

Now if you only get one Samsung F3 1TB drive as well as the rest of the above changes, that frees up more than enough cash for a SSD. I recommend this SSD:
$110 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SSD

Thanks for the info. Would this Corsair Force 3 60gb be a good choice? The one you linked isn't Amazon Prime so I'd have to pay a bunch to get it delivered in time with my other parts. I heard the Corsair Force 3 series was recalled in June, but I'm guessing anything on sale now are going to be updated parts.

I'd think about not doing RAID-0. It is, well, twice as likely to fail as one drive. Even if you maintain regular backups (which you should no matter what) it is a pain to have your system go down and have to wait while a new drive is shipped to you. I speak from experience on this one .

Now you could think about the SSD + HDD route, but I'm not a big fan of that either. The reason is unless you use very few apps, you are going to have to store them on the HDD. Well that doesn't do you a ton of good. I mean ya it's cool that your system boots a little faster but do you really care that much? For me, I care if my apps and games launch and respond quickly, which means I'd want them on SSDs. I do have all my stuff on SSD and for me, the boot time really isn't all that much faster. The BIOS/UEFI takes up so much time it didn't speed up a whole lot. What is noticeable is how fast apps launch, now responsive the system is. You have to have your programs on the SSD, not the HDD, to really get that.

If you think that will work than do a realistic assessment of what you need on the SSD. Take your Windows directory (if you don't have Windows yet figure 15GB to be safe), add in your Users directory (this can vary, could be only a few hundred MB if you are real, real careful, but more like a 2-4 GB), and the size of any apps and games you'll want to use frequently and/or to be fast. If you aren't under, say, 60GB then a 64GB SSD is probably not a good idea for that configuration.

Instead you could consider the Z68 route, if you get a Z68 board, you can have it use an SSD as cache for your HDD which speeds everything up. It isn't perfect, but you get a pretty good speed/responsiveness increase, and it applies to everything on the HDD more or less. You may be able to fit that in your budget. The MSI Z68A-GD55 isn't too expensive, Newegg has it for $150 right now and has a $20 rebat on top of that. Amazon wants $180 for it though.

At any rate that would be the way to go if you want faster speed, but cannot afford the vast expense of a big enough SSD to hold all your apps and games. I wouldn't do RAID-0.

If you don't want to do that, maybe just get a 2TB drive and call it good (bigger HDDs are faster than smaller ones because of a higher areal density and 2TB drives aren't much these days) or simple get a Z68 and 1TB drive and wait until later to get the SSD.

Also, take a look at Newegg before you buy. While I suspect most things will be cheaper from Amazon because of tax n' shipping, some may be cheaper. Sometimes one or the other has a much cheaper price, like the MSI I listed. Even if you had 10% tax in your city, it would be cheaper from Newegg without the rebate. Just check before you order.

All good points. Unfortunately tax and/or shipping almost always makes Newegg a worse buy than Amazon Prime for me. Recently Amazon has gotten really aggressive on their hardware pricing (a year ago they were way too expensive)

I've been using SSD's for years in my other computers and so this one would have been the first I would run without one. I like putting the OS and some of my commonly used apps on the SSD and running everything else (games, etc.) off the mechanical drives. Most games don't see a big advantage from SSD, but the difference in OS responsiveness is very noticeable. So I definitely think it's worth tweaking the build for a small boot SSD.

I think I'd rather stick with P67 than Z68, although Smart Response sounds cool. I just don't know if it's worth the extra $30 - $40 these boards seem to cost vs. P67 boards.

Is it kosher to update these threads with build pics? I'm going to pull the trigger soon and Amazon Prime tends to be pretty quick

 

[Zinn]

OK I cheated just a bit. Kept everything as is but threw that SSD on as well, so much for my budget. Parts will be here tomorrow

 

[tonytnnt]

Is it kosher to update these threads with build pics? I'm going to pull the trigger soon and Amazon Prime tends to be pretty quick

Yes it's kosher to post build pics. It is your build thread after all

 

[Dangman]

Thanks for the info. Would this Corsair Force 3 60gb be a good choice? The one you linked isn't Amazon Prime so I'd have to pay a bunch to get it delivered in time with my other parts. I heard the Corsair Force 3 series was recalled in June, but I'm guessing anything on sale now are going to be updated parts.

Check that SSD link again: It's straight from Amazon.com now. And no, still would not recommend taht Corsair Force 3 SSD as it still uses a Sandforce controller. As such, it still has an inherent BSOD issue

OK I cheated just a bit. Kept everything as is but threw that SSD on as well, so much for my budget. Parts will be here tomorrow

So you didn't make any changes then?

 

[Zinn]

Check that SSD link again: It's straight from Amazon.com now. And no, still would not recommend taht Corsair Force 3 SSD as it still uses a Sandforce controller. As such, it still has an inherent BSOD issue



So you didn't make any changes then?

Well I did make some changes, but not exactly what you recommended. I stuck with the WD Black RAID-0 because of brand loyalty And the ASUS board looked too cool to pass up. (Stupid and vain, I know) I did ditch the Zalman STG-01. Then I piled more hardware on top of it (2 WD Greens in RAID-1)

I really wish I had taken your advice not to get that Corsair SSD. Turns out I ran into the SF-22xx issues with it, even when the first thing I did was upgrade to the latest firmware. Was scratching my head with weird system instability for days before I realized that plenty of other people on Corsair's forums were having exactly the same issues. Back to Amazon with it.

I just replaced it with a Crucial M4 128gb (stepped up from the 64gb you mentioned) and so far everything seems solid, although still in the process of installing my stuff.

For now, everything stays at stock clocks until I am sure that this system is rock solid. The intermittent crashing with that Corsair SSD gave me a few gray hairs.

Thanks for the advice, and sorry for ignoring some of it.

Here are the pics from the build: