Gaming Rig advice - Smoke45's

[Smoke45]

I've been reading different threads on here and have been deciding on parts for a gaming rig, and I figure its time that I make a thread of my own to get some advice.

My big question is which motherboard should I get? Any advice is appreciated as I am new to building these things.

A lot of the parts, as you can see, are things you all have recommended in other threads. I've sat down with a few friends who have built rigs before and they agreed that these parts are great, except I have gotten different references to different motherboards.

I am interested in which motherboard should I get and why? As you can see I will probably be spending around $1500 give or take some.

CPU - i7-2600k

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

PSU- Corsair CMPSU-750TX

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8G

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Hard Drive - Western Digital Black

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Video Card - EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570

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

Mother Board - ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Case - not really sure, I've allowed $150 max for it.
Monitor - not sure either, I've allowed $200 for it. (In the future I plan to go with two monitors)

Thanks for the help guys! Again, any advice is appreciated.

[Khalil]

I would lower the processor to a 2300 and get the GTX580 if I were building for gaming, if budget allows and you can keep the i7 then go for it. When building a gaming rig, the video card is paramount!

[glc]

I would use a Z68 motherboard, not a P67. Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI are the preferred brands.

[Smoke45]

Thanks for the help! I've decided to drop down to the i5-2500k and also switched to a Z68 mb as recommended, and I have a quick question about the EVGA GTX 570 and 580.

From what I understand, the GTX 570 will allow you to play WoW on ultra just fine but not something like Crysis 2 right?

Anything else that I should reconsider besides the video card at the moment?
(Haven't tossed out the idea of upgrading to the 580 just want to learn more about it first.)

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

PSU- Corsair CMPSU-750TX

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8G

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Hard Drive - Western Digital Black

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Video Card - EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570

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

Mother Board - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard


Thanks again.

[Khalil]

It depends if you are going to have your graphics maxed out or not. Those Intel CPUs will not help much to give you the highest graphics.
The 570 is an excellent card and will make a great gaming rig however it is not going to give you maximum quality with games like Crysis 2. To be honest not even a 590 or 6990 can if many players are present and you have effects and AA all cranked up.