Build it

[BrownMasterV]

My CURRENT setup at home:
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 @ 2.66GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB
Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 790i SLI FTW
Power Supply- ULTRA 750 WATT ATX POWER SUPPLY
DVD/CD Drive- Sony DRU-V200S DVD/CD-RW Drive (SATA)
Tower - ULTRA GLADIATOR ATX Mid-Tower PC Case

Built this one over 2 years ago.

[b]EDIT 4/1[/b]: Looks like everyone is telling me to go for a 2500k.

Help me build a gaming/high spec system that will be up to new game spec requirements for the next 2+ years.

And if you do have the patience and time, please explain to me what I should be looking for when I decide on these

[b]REQUIREMENTS AS PER FORUM STICKY:[/B]
REUSABLE- HDD, OS (Win7 ultimate x64)
[b]BUDGET- $1200[/b]
APPS&GAMES
-Should support games like Crysis 2 on high settings (which shouldn't be too much of a problem, as my current build is able to do this)
-video editing, watching 1080p .mkvs and Bluray rips.
-Photoshop
MONITOR'S NATIVE RES: 1920x1200 <-- I'm going to need a new monitor, though, so suggestions please (preferrably a 24" to 26" one, as I sit far away from my monitor while watching shows) [b]<--BUDGET NEED NOT COVER MONITOR COST[/b]
LOCATION- California, USA
EXTRAS:
-a WIRELESS keyboard and mouse with decent range.
-Decent speakers (doesn't need to be one of those huge subwoofer + base systems, just two simple speakers should be fine)

[b]NOTE:[/b]I use CoreAVC to watch HD .mkvs, and this program is only available for NVIDIA cards, so I would prefer and NVIDIA GFX card if possible. (Correct me if I'm wrong, though. If there are GFX cards out there that don't need CoreAVC to flawlessly play these files, then by all means suggest them.)

[B]EDIT:[/b]
I am NOT upgrading my current setup. That setup is going to someone else.

[del][B]EDIT 3/31/11[/B]:
[b]EDIT 4/5[/b]:[/del]
[del]EDIT 4/10[/del]:
[b]EDIT 4/18:[/b]

[b][ordered] CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K[/b]
[b][ordered] Heatsink/Fan- COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7[/b]
[b][ordered] Mobo- MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard [/b]
[b][ordered] PSU- CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply[/b]
[b][ordered] GFX- MSI N570GTX-M2D12D5/OC GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card[/b]
[b][ordered] Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB[/b]
[b][ordered] Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922[/b]
[b][ordered] RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B[/b]
[b][ordered] CD/DVD Drive: LG Black GH24NS70 SATA DVD Burner[/B]

[FalcoLombardi]

Honestly just overclock your CPU. Get:

Hyper 212+
GTX 580/AMD 6970

[Prometh3us]

Considering you want a big monitor and you live In California, you won't get as good of a rig.

And a Q6700 would bottleneck the 580. My 570 bottlenecks my Q6600.

[FalcoLombardi]

MSI N580GTX Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127567[/url]

Also not sure about the PSU. Might need to upgrade ($115).

[BrownMasterV]

Sorry guys, I hadn't mentioned that I'm [b]not[/b] upgrading my old build.
This will be a brand new one
Edited first post mentioning the same.

[FalcoLombardi]

Ok $1000 budget, and you want at least a 24 inch monitor?

[Prometh3us]

[QUOTE=FalcoLombardi;28886995]Ok $1000 budget, and you want at least a 24 inch monitor?[/QUOTE]Keep in mind, California. Newegg charges tax.

[FalcoLombardi]

Oh, so builders should aim for $900ish

[BrownMasterV]

Uhh...then let's cut the monitor out.
Edited first post. Budget now covers only the system.

And I'll bump the budget up to $1100

[BrownMasterV]

Sorry for the double-post, guys, but here are some updates:

I've decided on:
[DEL]Motherboard - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131636[/url]
Processor - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103894[/url][/del]
PSU - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171056[/url]
GFX (maybe will SLI later) - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130622[/url]
[del]CPU cooling - [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018[/url][/del]

Edited the first post with this as well.
Open to more suggestions on any of these, though.

[Armotekma]

You can probably fit a 2500k into $1100.

[BrownMasterV]

I think I'll stick with the Phenom II processor. Any suggestions on the rest of the build?

[Armotekma]

Don't bother. Go with Intel or wait until Bulldozer.

[Prometh3us]

[QUOTE=BrownMasterV;28922133]I think I'll stick with the Phenom II processor. Any suggestions on the rest of the build?[/QUOTE]Phenom II gets blown away. Either go 2500k or wait till AMDs next gen CPUs.

[BrownMasterV]

What makes the i5 better than the X4 970?

[Prometh3us]

[QUOTE=BrownMasterV;28923422]What makes the i5 better than the X4 970?[/QUOTE]It blows it away in performance. Given it's a gen ahead of the x4, it's still worth getting it on a high budget.

[url]http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/186?vs=288[/url]

[BrownMasterV]

Okay, assuming I do switch to the i5 2500k, now I have to go look for a new mobo and cooling. Any suggestions?

[Prometh3us]

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130574[/url]

and a Hyper 212+ or Freezer 7 Pro rev.2

[BrownMasterV]

Grahhh...no x16/x16 mobos (in my price range) available for SLI-ing two GTX 570s

Going intel is making the mobo more expensive :(

[Prometh3us]

[QUOTE=BrownMasterV;28924203]Grahhh...no x16/x16 mobos (in my price range) available for SLI-ing two GTX 570s

Going intel is making the mobo more expensive :([/QUOTE]Here is a x8/x8, all you need.

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128478[/url]

[BrownMasterV]

^Just looked up a SLI scaling page, and yeah x8/x8 seems sufficient

What about this board? Is this SLI-capable?

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130582&Tpk=MSI%20g45[/url]

[Prometh3us]

x8/x8 would be best. That board is x16/x8, but from looking around x8/x8 and x16/x16 are the best.

And yes, it can SLi. But won't scale as better as the one I posted.

[Reapaninja]

[QUOTE=ClaBrendon;28924812]x8/x8 would be best. That board is x16/x8, but from looking around x8/x8 and x16/x16 are the best.

And yes, it can SLi. But won't scale as better as the one I posted.[/QUOTE]

uh no it's 16x for one slot used 8x/8x for two
and how would 16x/8x be worse than 8x/8x

[Prometh3us]

[QUOTE=reapaninja;28930909]uh no it's 16x for one slot used 8x/8x for two
and how would 16x/8x be worse than 8x/8x[/QUOTE]Then my sources from google were idiots, in turn I am one. My bad. Thanks for clarifying

[BrownMasterV]

The board that I linked to:
Will I have cooling problems if I SLI? Is it big enough?

[Armotekma]

You'd have to have some really bad airflow/sandwiched cards to have cooling problems.

There's enough gap inbetween the two slots, you'll be fine.

[BrownMasterV]

Alright. And the mobo I linked to, what does it offer in terms of upgradeability? Are there better LGA 1155 mobos out there for the same or lower price?

[BrownMasterV]

Anybody?

[BrownMasterV]

Bumping this thread again.
Still looking for help on:
-CPU cooling
-Case
-Case cooling
-CD/DVD drive

Still open to suggestions on mobo, processor, PSU, and GFX.

1st post edited with what I have so far.

[Macktastic]

How about this [URL=http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.622006]CPU/motherboard combo[/URL]

The [URL=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212-_-35-103-065-_-Product]Hyper 212+[/url]

The [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&cm_re=haf_922-_-11-119-197-_-Product]HAF 922[/url]

Pick a free shipping DVD drive of your choice, and case doesn't need additional fans, although if you want some get yourself some gentle typhoons

And finally, this is just my opinion, but I think you're spending too much on the power supply. Something like the [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256034]Silverstone 800W[/url], the [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171053]CoolerMaster 750W[/url], or the [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207015]XFX 750W (modular)[/url] should be enough for multi-GPU

[editline]wef[/editline]

as for the GPU, factory overclocks are easy to match, so I suggest you pick from one of these

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127568&cm_re=gtx_570_msi-_-14-127-568-_-Product[/url]

or

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127552&cm_re=gtx_570_msi-_-14-127-552-_-Product[/url]

They're both cheaper than the superclocked one, but if you want EVGA's lifetime warranty just go for their regular versions