New build, need some advice

[liqdfire]

So I will start off with the required questions:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? Predominately dev work, multiple instances of VS 2012, MS SQL, etc, with some occasional heavy gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? Trying to keep it about 1200
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible. St Petersburg FL
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? cpu, mobo, ram, drives, video card
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? I just bought a SEASONIC X750
6) Will you be overclocking? Yes
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? 2560 x 1440 put a pre-order in on an Overlord 27 inch OC PP (not included in budget above)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Over the next couple of weeks (by Dec 1st)
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? MOBO is already picked
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? Win 7 and Win 8 64bit

Ok, first of all, I am building this computer as an integral part of my new desk.

Picture of desk so far for reference:
http://www.liqdfire.com/photos/desk/_DSC8238.JPG

Kind of where I am going with computer integration:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1200785/project-kapros-ikea-galant-pc-desk-mod


So these are the componets I have picked so far, I am stuck on video card, and would like input on possible performance bottlenecks on other parts. I am planning on doing a custom water cooling setup, and integrating that into the desk as well.

ASUS Maximus V FORMULA
http://www.amazon.com/Maximus-FORMU...UTF8&colid=PP24CA0D4MZG&coliid=I1PQA2J5WUT2IR

Corsair Vengeance Red 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1866 MHZ
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Venge...UTF8&colid=PP24CA0D4MZG&coliid=I2UA06H2N46365

Core i5 3570k
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5...UTF8&colid=PP24CA0D4MZG&coliid=I2KIRICD5F09X1

Crucial mSata 256Gb SSD for main OS / will probably put in another drive for storage
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-256GB...=UTF8&colid=PP24CA0D4MZG&coliid=IL4VUQIFMEFW0


Thanks in advance!

 

[Dangman]

Damn that's a bit of overspending.

So these are the componets I have picked so far, I am stuck on video card, and would like input on possible performance bottlenecks on other parts. I am planning on doing a custom water cooling setup, and integrating that into the desk as well.

GPU wise, I recommend the GTX 670.

ASUS Maximus V FORMULA
http://www.amazon.com/Maximus-FORMU...UTF8&colid=PP24CA0D4MZG&coliid=I1PQA2J5WUT2IR

Why this motherboard? What exact features does it have that you are going to fully use that justifies the extra $80 to $100 over the comparable Asus P8Z77-V, Asus P8Z77-V Pro, MSI Z77A-GD65, or Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H?

Corsair Vengeance Red 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1866 MHZ
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Venge...UTF8&colid=PP24CA0D4MZG&coliid=I2UA06H2N46365

Useless: Current Intel CPUs don't take advantage of RAM speeds higher than DDR3 1333 to DDR3 1600 in real world apps and games. I recommend this RAM set:
$70 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

Saves you $50 and gets you the same real world performance.

Core i5 3570k
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5...UTF8&colid=PP24CA0D4MZG&coliid=I2KIRICD5F09X1

This is the one area where you should have splurged on: For your kind of use, you really should be looking at the Core i7 3770. In fact, you're gonna see more of a noticeable performance increase just from this CPU upgrade alone than you would with that $280 motherboard and $190 DDR3 1866 RAM combined.

 

[liqdfire]

Damn that's a bit of overspending.


GPU wise, I recommend the GTX 670.


Why this motherboard? What exact features does it have that you are going to fully use that justifies the extra $80 to $100 over the comparable Asus P8Z77-V, Asus P8Z77-V Pro, MSI Z77A-GD65, or Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H?


Useless: Current Intel CPUs don't take advantage of RAM speeds higher than DDR3 1333 to DDR3 1600 in real world apps and games. I recommend this RAM set:
$70 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

Saves you $50 and gets you the same real world performance.



This is the one area where you should have splurged on: For your kind of use, you really should be looking at the Core i7 3770. In fact, you're gonna see more of a noticeable performance increase just from this CPU upgrade alone than you would with that $280 motherboard and $190 DDR3 1866 RAM combined.

I am not for sure a single 670 will push 2560x1440 with enough frame rates to power a 120hz monitor to it's full potential.

The Asus P8Z77-V Pro was the other board on the table, and ultimately it came down to aesthetics; however, I am not sure the the "look" is worth the $100


That ram has a lot of comments about it not running at 1600 by default, but 1333, so I am a little leary of that, will probably switch to these as a compromise:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Venge...52123646&sr=8-2&keywords=F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL


From the review I was reading I was not for sure the performance gains were worth the additional costs of an I7 vs and I5, maybe I will switch back to the P8Z77-V Pro and put that $100 savings toward the i7

 

[Dangman]

I am not for sure a single 670 will push 2560x1440 with enough frame rates to power a 120hz monitor to it's full potential.

If we're talking like 45FPS to 60FPS on average in games like BF3, Max Payne, or The Witcher 2 EE, the GTX 670 will be enough. With that said, if you have room in the budget, a second GTX 670 would help. HD 7950 CFX would also work as well.

The Asus P8Z77-V Pro was the other board on the table, and ultimately it came down to aesthetics; however, I am not sure the the "look" is worth the $100

It rarely is.

That ram has a lot of comments about it not running at 1600 by default, but 1333, so I am a little leary of that, will probably switch to these as a compromise:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Venge...52123646&sr=8-2&keywords=F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL

Good thing you're doing liquid cooling as that RAM would be a poor choice for an air-cooling setup.

Are you limited to Amazon.com or something?

 

[liqdfire]

If we're talking like 45FPS to 60FPS on average in games like BF3, Max Payne, or The Witcher 2 EE, the GTX 670 will be enough. With that said, if you have room in the budget, a second GTX 670 would help. HD 7950 CFX would also work as well.

It rarely is.

Good thing you're doing liquid cooling as that RAM would be a poor choice for an air-cooling setup.

Are you limited to Amazon.com or something?

No, I have the egg or any other online, the only think I have local is CompUSA, but tax sucks.

I was not planning on water cooling the ram though, just the cpu and video cards. My only reservation about that ram is the reviews on it not holding its clock speeds. I will go find some reviews on it tonight and do some more research.

I am thinking I will get a single video card for now and suffer on the gaming quality, as I have a lot of work I need to get done over the next couple of months, then early spring on the card refreshes for Nvidia go with an SLI of the higher end cards then.

 

[Dangman]

I was not planning on water cooling the ram though, just the cpu and video cards.

Oh I wasn't talking about liquid cooling the RAM. What I mean was that if you used a regular air cooling HSF, that tall RAM would have interfered or outright prevented you from using that air-cooling HSF.

 

[liqdfire]

Ok Danny I followed your recommendations and ordered this stuff last night:

Asus P8Z77-V Pro
Core I7 3770k
32 gigs of the Gskill ram you linked from New Egg
Samsung 830 256Gb SSD
LG 14x Blu Ray Burner

Thank you sir, I appreciate the input, and I must commend you on the amount of effort you put into helping people on this forum, I was reading your suggestions for others, good job!

 

[Dangman]

You're welcome. Good luck with the build!