Newbie builder need motherboard advice/suggestions

[Chocolater]

Hi All! I am so excited to post today. I have trolling for quite awhile and am finally ready to take the plunge and make a post. Ok here we go! I apologize in advance for the lengthy post.

I have been an avid pc gamer and enthusiast for most of my life and now am finally in a position (done with pharmacy school...employed...etc) to get back into my hobby/learn all about it. I am looking to upgrade my old pc, rockin' a q9450 and asus p5n-t deluxe. The only thing keeping her afloat is some newer ram and a hot blooded gtx580. Anyway I am ready to take on the challenge of doing a build of my own and have a list of parts that I have selected, I am looking to go big or go home and try and future-proof quite a bit. I hate to say this but this likely will be my last big nasty desktop...with all this tablet business ( I like them just fine...I use my Ipad on my job everyday...just saying). So here is my list of parts...also I have never been classically trained with computers and am getting into overclocking (using the old pc as a guinea pig)

So for the build I am looking at some serious gaming (mulitple displays in the future) and also some overclocking as I become more comfortable.

Case: Cooler Master HAF X-RX- 942 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

CPU: Intel i7-3930
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

PSU: Corsair Pro-Series Gold AX 1200 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014

CPU cooler: Corsair Hydro series H100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181017

Hardrive: Samsung pro-series 840 256 gb (Got a 250 in the current pc going to slap that in there too)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147193

Optical drive: Blu-ray reader/writer
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136249

Ram:G-Skill Ripjaw 32gb
https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=29839008

GPU: EVGA GTX 680 FTW (this is a conundrum for me, because I will likely SLI...but I am curious about the 700 series) This is the major determinate on the timeframe for the build...I am so g-damn excited, but I am going to feel silly if the 700 series comes out and the 670/680's get way cheaper or if the 700's are just that much better(not what people are expecting from some things I have read)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130794

Ok so to the motherboard...I know this sucks but I really know nothing about them other than the need to get the right socket for the CPU and have room for SLI for the big fat GPU cards. So the way I have been looking at them as of now is look at the "best/most expensive" options on the custom pc websites and using that as a guide to the best ones. I have enjoyed my ASUS and would like to stick with that brand but I am open to suggestion(Thats why I am here)

As of now this is my selection. ASUS Rampage iv extreme
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131802

Thanks a lot guys.. again sorry for the long post

p.s. similiar setup on digital storm (I have nothing against them or anything I was probably going to purchase from them...my old pc came from cyberpower...I was happy with it.) cost 3500+... my cart in newegg 2700...lol

Also I am a newb to cooling and you will likely see me again in that thread. Feel free to note any other suggestions and if I have any glaring omissions. I am on a quest to read about/watch videos on assembling pc's and the use of thermal paste and all those goodies

 

[Knufire]

Go big or go home doesn't work in computers...the amount of performance gain you get with super expensive parts (ESPECIALLY in gaming) is almost nothing. You could literally spend half of what you just did and get nearly the same performance, don't waste your money. For example...you have a GTX580. That's still a damn powerful card compared to today's standards and more than enough for single monitor gaming. Get a computer now that can support multiple cards, which you will need for multiple monitors, but no need to get new GPUs until you actually get the monitors.

For example:

No game can use six cores, so why get a hexacore?

Why get a 1200W PSU when your machine won't ever break 650-700W of power draw?

If you're not using the ASUS RIVE with liquid nitrogen or dry ice cooling, you're not using it to it's potential.

Why a 4GB 680 when you can get a 3GB 7970 that performs almost the same for WAY less money?

When are you ever going to write Blurays?

Why get a new SSD if you already have a 250GB? (Or did I misunderstand and that 250GB from your previous computer is a HDD?

Why 32GB of RAM when you'll NEVER break 8GB for gaming?

I know you're excited and what not...but that doesn't mean blowing almost $3K on unnecessary components that you will never fully utilize is a good or responsible way to use your money.

And if you're going to go the whole "it's for futureproofing" thought process...it's not. As I said before, a $1500-1800 build is NOT significantly less powerful than the one you listed.

 

[Chocolater]

Good
This is the info that i need to make a more informed practical decision.
I do love my 580 and may just keep her around for awhile longer
As for the SSD, I was going to put both in there, I am sure with the size of games these days that I can burn up space pretty quickly.
I agree that these components are excessive and that's why I decided to post here.
Do you think games/programs will be able to utilize the extra memory/processing capacity in the near future. Or is it best to buy more realistic amounts now then just upgrade later?
So liquid nitrogen/dry ice is what that fancy motherboard can be used for huh? Well looks like i've got some reading to do.

I am tempted to just buy another 580 and slap it in my existing rig to keep me satiated for the time being, but those things are as expensive as a gtx 670. And I hate to say it but I am an nvidia man. ;-)

 

[Knufire]

You can't use LN2 or DICE for 24/7 cooling since it evaporates/melts...essentially you strap a big copper pot to your CPU, fill it up with either, and OC as far as you can before you run out of coolant or you kill the CPU. Competitive benchmarking, it's a sport.

About the build, you might want to wait another day for recommendations. Newegg is in the process of updating all their prices and sales right now, happens every few weeks.

 

[Chocolater]

Thanks for the info for now. What do you think would be a good motherboard for the time being? I have no plans to do anything like the crazy benchmarking...lol

 

[Knufire]

I'd drop to a 3570K if you're just gaming.

 

[Fever]

Yep, 3930k is overkill for today's games. You'd be fine with either a 3570k or a 3770k.

That said, I like overkill. If you do go X79, I'd suggest an MSI Big Bang Xpower 2 instead of the Rampage IV Extreme. I've had both, plus still have a Rampage IV Formula. I definitely prefer the MSI over both Asus boards, but they are all excellent.

The overclockers.com review also put the MSI ahead of the Rampage Extreme.

http://www.overclockers.com/msi-big-bang-xpower-ii-x79

 

[briansun1]

I don't really think you will need a h100. A h80 would work

 

[Chocolater]

Thanks guys. I appreciate all the advice.
I just was going all out because that's what i did in 2008 and that's why my old pc just ran far cry 3 on ultra settings pretty well(granted thats the gtx 580 which was a nice upgrade ;-) )
But i realize that just throwing money at something isn't smart

Fever your rig seems pretty tits, similiar to what i am daydreaming about.

Also I guess that for games the big determinant on their use of a system's power is based of the current generation of consoles. So I suppose that we can't expect games to utilize more ram/processor if the consoles(Including the new ones coming in the pipe-I am also excited about that.....oops PC gaming is where it is at though!) are what set the limits for game developers. At least that's what I have been told/read