Experimenting with Intel Builds

CPU: You only ever need a i7 when the person will be doing video editing, 3D modeling, or any of those CPU intensive tasks, A i5 is the exact same as an i7 when gaming.

Cooler: I've heard bad things about that cooler, a cooler like the 212 Hyper, Noctua or Phanteks would be better.

MoBo : Overkill Mobo, something like the ASRock Extreme4 will do fine.

HDD / SDD: Good choice of HDD, but not a great choice of SSD. The Agility series arn't great IIRC, something from the Intel 330, Plextor Ms5, Samsung 830, or Crucial M4 would be better.

GPU: Good choice.

Case: Overpriced case.

PSU: Seriously overkill PSU, no need for it.

A build for 1,500 should be something like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nkmj

Someone else will give your more info, I'm quite busy at the moment, so I just touched on some vague points.

Main QUESTION: What is this computer used for?

95% of the population will never need a x79/SB-E set up. Stick with Ivy Bridge and a $200 motherboard. i7 for video/photo editing/rendering purpose, and i5 for gaming purpose. since you only plan on the low end SB-E cpu, the IB i7 performs pretty much the same in both gaming/multipurpose applications, but the whole system cost much less.

If this is for gaming 100% of the population only needs 8GB of ram. If you do video/photo rendering/editing then yes 16 GB 'might' be useful. Almost 100% you will not feel/see a difference in 1600mhz vs 1866 mhz ram.

Why do you need 256 GB of SSD?? Usually 120 GB is the sweet spot for all you ever need. The rest is stored on a regular mechanical HDD.

1000w psu is never needed anymore in modern computers unless you plan on adding 3+ video cards, which again is rarely needed. A psu of 650w is the 'new' standard for the new video cards. Nothing requires more than 650w if you going only 2 video card set up only.

Full tower cases are good for watercooling systems. If you don't plan on full water cooling, full tower cases are bad for air cooling with fans.

Lastly, if this is purpose for gaming, which seems like it since you are going for 7970, my advice is all the money saved... grab either two 7970s or get a gtx 690

one last thing, AMD is different from Intel. AMD loves to advertise using '# of cores', but it doesn't translate to better performance. Their top 8 core cpu performs the same as the i5 quads. They still haven't came out with a solution for the i7 or even the SB-E stuff.
Edited by mcc21 - 11/11/12 at 12:19pm

Hello! I am the guy on r/buildapc that he was talking about.

I like the x79 board because it has the 8 memory slots, which allows me to upgrade in the future. How is this one? It's the Extreme4 that someone mentioned.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157283

And I figured the 1000w was too much. Is this something that would work? It's a third cheaper than the 1000w.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182072


Now you said that case is overpriced, and I agree. What is a good case that you suggest?

You should get the K version of that processor (3570k)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

And if you can raise the money a bit try getting DDR3 1866 memory.

I personally can't imagine needing any more than 32GB RAM (4x8GB that would fit on a more common LGA1155 board), but I guess if you're keeping it for a looooong time that might be the new normal one day.

hello welcome!

as i mentioned above, what is the main purpose of this build?

x79 is not needed. if you got cash to blow, spend it on the video cards. your better off with two 7970s or two 680s.

your better off with this power supply as its on sale atm....Free shipping ... $25 off + 20 rebates... comes to $55.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371049

is you like the HAF series then the smaller one is fine. i really like their side 200mm fan, which is really handy when cooling video cards.
Edited by mcc21 - 11/17/12 at 11:40am