New rig and game performance

[lipaliko12]

Hello there i'm willing to buy in the near future a new rig to replace my old faithful Barton 2500+ Mobile version and 6800 GT graphics (better not to mention ram 1,5 GB).

Interested in getting:
i5 2500k
2 x 4 GB RAM (Kingmax or Kingston, maybe Mushkin Radioactive version @ 1600 Mhz)
650 or 750W PSU
Asus P8Z68-V PRo or that cheaper one of ASUS without Z68 support
and finaly i'm doubting what to get regarding GPU.
Mentioning that i'll play on 1440 x 900 resolution, not planing to buy new monitor but considering it as an option.

Thinking of MSI 560 Ti Twin Frozr III Hawk (in the future upgrade it on SLI mode) or Radeon MSI 6870 Hawk in Crossfire.

I know i will get the major boost with just one of this cards i know the differences between nvidia and ATI but ATI's cards are better regarding the price and power consumption so overall i'll pass through cheaper.

I'm seriously thinking 'bout going SLI or Crossfire and i'm willing to hear some thoughts 'bout that and possibility of microstuttering is this true or false, truth or lie?

What kind of performance will i get in WoW on single card and/or SLI, what 'bout other games?

Also i'm willing to spend 'bout 1200$ on this new rig.

Is this the right time to buy it or wait for newer cards/processors?

 

[Bunhead]

One 500 Ti of 6870 is overkill for that resolution you should buy a new monitor

 

[Bearded Clam]

Microstuttering is most definitely real. I have witnessed it first-hand on my friend's PC with CF 6870s. I wouldn't bother with crossfire/sli at your resolution anyways; something like a single 6870 or 6950 would probably be more than enough to handle your monitor. This is definitely a good time to build a PC, there is no point in waiting when there will always be something new right around the corner.

 

[Sprayyyyyyy]

You need at least a 32" LCD to harness the power of an SLI/CrossFire configuration. I'm on a 24" LCD and I'm blasting through games on a 4870 512MB. Besides, an Dual card configuration won't run smoothly if your PSU is lacking. BTW, I recommend you go for the TX650 if you go single card. That's more than enough for your setup.

 

[cj3waker]

You need at least a 32" LCD to harness the power of an SLI/CrossFire configuration. I'm on a 24" LCD and I'm blasting through games on a 4870 512MB. Besides, an Dual card configuration won't run smoothly if your PSU is lacking. BTW, I recommend you go for the TX650 if you go single card. That's more than enough for your setup.

screen size has nothing to do with it, unless you mean with a bigger screen you will have less DPI so you would have to use more AA/AF to get a comparable image

 

[Sprayyyyyyy]

I play with 1920x1200 resolution with max 16x anistrophic filtering, but with AA turned off. AA makes my games blurry. With it off, it's crisp is clear. Don't understand why people use it.