Newb builder: Want high end gamer.

[swann]

Hi everyone,

Last week I installed Witcher 2 on my old HP pavilion m9150. It's a intel quad 2 Q6600. It has an upgraded power supply : VX550watt corsair, and graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512, and 8gigs (max) ram. none the less the game runs on high...but I can tell It's time for an upgrade.

To save I am hoping to salvage my Hard Drive and use it in the new build. It has windows 7-64bit. I just don't want to have to reinstall all my programs again and loose saved games and what not. If possible I'll keep using the power supply as well. Well not upping my hard drive hinder this new build ? I want to stay around 1500.00 max budget.

Here is what I have so far. Please comment on things I should change. I'm looking for a build which leaves room for future changes and will get me through the next 4-5+ years in gaming. Oh and I want to be able to run max graphics settings with great gaming performance.

COOLER MASTER HAF X Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 Newegg.com - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz Newegg.com - 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

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 24GB (6 x 4GB) Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 24GB (6 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T2-24GBRL

EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD Newegg.com - EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

There seems to be several variants of the Geforce GTX 570, I'm not to sure which to get. I want to eventually get another and run SLI.

Thanks Chris.

 

[FairPlay]

I do believe that purchasing a new Motherboard would mean you'll need to purchase another Windows licence... If it's not OEM then you should be able to tranfser it.

Most of the components are pretty hardcore and I wouldn't think about changing most of those . Have you also thought about a heatsink for your system? Wana' get some good airflow haha.

For your GPU, have you thought about a GTX 580 instead of SLI, I personally think that it may not be worth the money. ( Personal opinions of course :L )

 

[swann]

Yea your right, My windows 7 version is an ugrade from the OEM Vista...I think.. so I'll have to buy a new OS. If so... Can you suggest a nice big fast Hard Drive. So you think it's better to just run one GTX 580, rather than to SLI the GTX 570?? As for Heat reduction, I'll get to it for sure. Any recommendations? Doent Coolmaster have some nice heat sinks out.

Thanks for the input.

 

[FairPlay]

Hmm, I'm not sure as it's an upgrade edition you may have to unfortunately.

For the GPU people have different opinions obviously, so before making a decision just yet wait for some other people's input on that matter

Not sure what kind of heats you'll be getting considering your current specs, are you thinking about overclocking the CPU very far (if at all) as that may be your largest temp increase. Corsair Hydro Series are high performance CPU coolers, though if you want to come down a scale or two you could consider the Artcic Freezer 13 Pro; it is alot simpler cpu cooler haha.

 

[Roark]

You chose a 6 module RAM set in hexa-channel.
The Asus Sabertooth only has 4 RAM slots, and supports dual channel.
24GB is overkill to the extreme for most casual users/gamers.
8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 1600MHz CAS8 $100 less, should suit your needs and leave 2 slots open for future additions if you find you need them.

If this is solely for gaming/general use, I'd drop down to an i5 2500k and save another $100, features on the 2600k don't benefit gamers.

$200 saved put toward the video card will cover the difference between the GTX570 and GTX580.
(If you can trim 200 more you can snaggle a GTX590)

 

[FairPlay]

Looking at your RAM too your motherboard doesn't have enough slots for 6 sticks (only 4), and 24gb is a bit extreme to be fair haha.

EDIT: Sorry Roark, didn't mean to double up what you said, I'd already started before you posted haha (thought the new post was from swaem :L )

 

[swann]

hey, and this is why I new I should have it reviewed. thanks for the money savers!

 

[patonb]

What power suply do you have? A 2500/2600 and a 580 needs atleast 550W of quality power supply.

Truthfully, I think the 570->580 is not worth the price. You'd ve better off saving the money to get a new card in 2yrs.

Without getting a SSD for a boot and game drive, the Black western digitals are top notch.

 

[FairPlay]

Yeah patronb has a point (gpu) about the price difference, but I'm still thinking that SLI is not worth the money in that respect either.

Corsair 550w I believe, didn't expand any more than that

 

[swann]

I have a corsair VX550w .. it must be old news now. But being corsair, I am hopeing it will do the job? Enthusiast Series

Any suggestions on processor cooling/radiators ect? At least to get up and running. I don't know if I want to get into water cooling yet. Or if I even need to with the caseing Im chooseing.