Gaming>Multi-purpose build, feedback on setup?

Hey all, have been lurking for quite awhile now and have been trying to get together a project list to build a setup that will be mainly used for gaming, but will also be a used for other programs (mainly ArtCAM (CADCAM program), photoshop; then some light autocad, video editing).

I'm trying to stay around the $1,500 mark to start, and was hoping to put together something that will allow me to keep up with most games coming out and allow me to OC (ex. I'm likely going to buy another GPU in the future to run SLI once price drops on the card to keep games running at max settings)

MOBO:
GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $189.99
Or
ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $239.99
Or
ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $219.99

CPU:
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K - $328.99

PSU:
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V - $69.99 (after mail-in rebate)
Or
CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 - $119.99 (after MIR)

RAM:
G. KILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH - $149.99

GPU:
EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 - $329.99 (after MIR)
--Don't know if it will make that much difference in having the Physx for the CADCAM stuff

SSD (OS and select programs/games):
Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC - $134.99

HDD (music/photo/etc storage):
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s - $89.99

DVD:
ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk – OEM - $18.99

CPU Cooler:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 – $42.55

CASE:
COOLER MASTER HAF X - $159.99 (after MIR)


I'm completely open to any suggestions on different parts (especially the MOBO and GPU (looked at ). Eventually I'm thinking of adding another 570 GTX if/when the price drops, so that also leads me to be unsure of which PSU to buy now (the 850 might be pushing it if I go SLI and OC a year or two from now, but the 1200 seems overkill for the time being).

Everything check out okay? Any better choices out there? Or are there any items in there that might bottleneck?

Thanks much!

Didn't read lol. 850 watt psu should be fine. I'd go with the p8p67 deluxe mobo.

Excellent build
I like the Giga board. Others will disagree.

Either PSU will be sufficient. If you want to go multi graphics cards maybe in the future, go higher wattage.

UD4 and 850tx. U really dont need 4gigs of ram but others will say u do. Everything else is perfect

Excellent build. I like gigabyte.

Good luck with your build.

DR DEUCE said:

UD4 and 850tx. U really dont need 4gigs of ram but others will say u do. Everything else is perfect

Click to expand...

You mean 8?

I have 6 and I'm seriously considering going to 12. Also want to go to 2000Mhz C7


What if I want 48 programs and two games running at the same time? You only live once.

Go for the 8GB OP. RAM is too cheap to honestly care that much at this point IMO. 4GB is $50 and falling.

Lol i mean 8 and go for 8 then OP

by the time u want to sli, there will be better cards out there. and i would take 1 great card over 2 good cards anyday, even if they perform the same.

as for the ram i would go 4 as well, unless ur ocnoob and have 100 apps open at once,lol

this is pretty good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...322&cm_re=4_gb_g.skill-_-20-231-322-_-Product

Looks good. Any of those motherboards will do. If you are doing the CAD stuff you will likely want 8GB anyway. Outside of that, very few people can actually use 4GB, none the less 6 or 8. Others seem to think that faster and more memory costing $100+ over a perfectly functioning setup is worth it for an additional 1 FPS. Not me, and not many others feel that way though. its up to you.

If you are only going one video card, I wouldnt get anything more than that Corsair 650TX/HX PSU. 850W is massive overkill for zero gains.

Thanks for all the feedback, very much appreciated!

I've been going back and forth about the MOBO thing for the past few days and had one more question. Basically, I keep coming back to the UD4 simply because of the pricepoint and the specs comparable to other boards in the $150~$250 range. I'd like to get as much life out of all the components as possible, so the only real changes are to the build are the PSU (likely going with a Cooler Master 1000w Gold) and am going with a EVGA GTX 580.

Eventually (year or more down the road), I will likely buy another 580 to run SLI and add a second monitor -assuming prices on the 580 drop by then. With all the MOBO's out there, does it make the most sense to just go with a Gigabyte UD4? I'm trying to look ahead for when I eventually go with an SLI setup and with the whole 16x/16x vs. the 8x/8x (guessing that in less than a year the P67 boards will have more options for the 16x/16x setup).

Any suggestions for changes to the MOBO selection, or should I just stick with the UD4 since the 8x/8x isn't really an issue with the SLI?

bigdfootball89 said:

by the time u want to sli, there will be better cards out there. and i would take 1 great card over 2 good cards anyday, even if they perform the same.

as for the ram i would go 4 as well, unless ur ocnoob and have 100 apps open at once,lol

this is pretty good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...322&cm_re=4_gb_g.skill-_-20-231-322-_-Product

Click to expand...

Two 400MB images open in photoshop, 3 downloads, 3 Chrome windows, torrents, messenger, a movie editor, and a demanding game will very quickly leave you with no paddle if you're running 4GB. With 6 the paddle is very small.

Different strokes (and amounts of RAM) for different folks.

Given that it is April 1, I am now advocating 16GB as a BARE minimum for casual use, like media streaming, surfing, and email/chat. 16GB 2133Mhz should have you set for at least 3 or 4 Chrome windows and maybe MSN messenger. Also, everyone should be on AM3 and I love Opteron.