New PC Build

[Gizmo]

Looking at Gizmo's for a reference this is what i have in my cart for my new PC build what else do i need? So far its around $2500

Galaxy GeForce GTX 680 2GB Galaxy GeForce GTX 680 2GB In stock $479.00 or ASUS Radeon HD7970 DirectCU II TOP 3GB $479
Gigabyte G1-Sniper3 Motherboard Gigabyte G1-Sniper3 Motherboard In stock $355.00
Corsair AX860i Platinum Power Supply Corsair AX860i Platinum Power Supply In stock $279.00
Corsair Obsidian 650D Case Corsair Obsidian 650D Case In stock $195.00
Corsair Hydro Series H100i CPU Cooler Corsair Hydro Series H100i CPU Cooler In stock $145.00
Intel Core i7 3770K Intel Core i7 3770K In stock $345.00
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-12800CL9Q-16GBZL 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 In stock $149.00
Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001

Cheers
Frank

Nice system Frank! Here are my thoughts for what it is worth.

I'd go with the Asus 7970 DirectCU II over a reference 680 GTX.
Shit hot ram! However it's qual channel memory which is designed for the x79 chipset and not supported by the z77. The board can support up to 2666mhz, below would be my picks
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-2133C11D-16GZL (2x8GB) 16GB DDR3 - This is the ram that I have, "only" 2133mhz however it's VERY well priced!
G.Skill Ripjaws Z F3-2400C10D-8GZH 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 - 2400mhz however only 8GB which is more than enough for iRacing. You can get two kits though
G.Skill Trident X F3-2400C10D-16GTX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 - 2400mhz and 16gb. This is good buying!
G.Skill Trident X F3-2666C11D-8GTXD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 - 2666mhz however only 8gb.

I'd go with the first or third options! Both are good value and you wouldn't really notice any different at all! One thing to note, the ram will only be detected at 1666mhz in the BIOS initially, you will need to switch to an XMP profile to get the most out of it.

Only other thing I would look at is an SSD for the OS and the odd game. Trust me when I say that this a must. You will never go back. It makes the system so fast and responsive! You will never go back! I've currently got 115bg free on my 256gb SSD. I've got Windows and all my software installed on it along with iRacing, BF3 and Crysis 3.

Apart from that it looks like a killer system! Only thing to fault is the colour of the motherboard!

[MADCAP]

Cheers Gizmo, looking at your setup i love the look, plus your feed back has be excellent.

As for mobo whats another option?

Also if i went the Mpower MSI board like yours would it still be a killa machine?

[Gizmo]

No worries man.

The G1 Sniper Motherboard is an awesome board however I just didn't like the colour of it so it didn't make my shortlist. That is a personal thing though because I was trying to get a theme in my build. If you are going to be spending that much on a motherboard take a look at the ASUS Maximus V Formula This is the board I wanted however it was hard to pass up the sheer value for money on the MSI MPower

[MADCAP]

funny you show me that link as i too noticed this mobo and liked - maybe we think the same

[Gizmo]

maybe we think the same

Well, very simular PC builds and not to long ago I was booked in to get my bike license. Was planning to get a Ducati 848 EVO after I got off the LAMS bike. A week before the first lesson I passed an accident where a guy's bone was sticking out of his leg after being hit by a car. I cancelled the booking.....

[MADCAP]

maybe we think the same

Well, very simular PC builds and not to long ago I was booked in to get my bike license. Was planning to get a Ducati 848 EVO after I got off the LAMS bike. A week before the first lesson I passed an accident where a guy's bone was sticking out of his leg after being hit by a car. I cancelled the booking.....

Ahhh man thats sux... Yes my Ducati 848 EVO is awesome to ride, almost have had it for 2 years now and still love it, haven't ridden it for about 2 weeks.. but it sits there just waiting!

The trick with ridding is always watching things around you no matter what! Otherwise you see what you saw

[MADCAP]

No worries man.

The G1 Sniper Motherboard is an awesome board however I just didn't like the colour of it so it didn't make my shortlist. That is a personal thing though because I was trying to get a theme in my build. If you are going to be spending that much on a motherboard take a look at the ASUS Maximus V Formula This is the board I wanted however it was hard to pass up the sheer value for money on the MSI MPower

hrrmmmm - still to decide

[ysu]

The one thing which lifts the sniper above the rest IMHO is the on-board creative sound chip. It's a unique value proposition (sadly!). If you have a dedicated sound card, then it does not matter, of course. But the regular realtec chips are really the el-cheapo crap category.
Also: a lot of higher-end mobos offer heaps of features which are pretty much useless to the average user. (eg; will you be able to use the dual band wifi on the asus max?) Having said that; Asus usually makes very good mobos.
Altho the G1 has such a feature, too; the PCI x16/x16x SLI capability; there is just nothing on the market which needs more than x8/x8 (which is incidentally the old x16 equivalent)
On the other hand, I'm a big fan of any mobo with a dual bios - you don't know how good it is until you need to wait 3 days for a new bios...computer not worky-worky because a bios upgrade went wrong.

So I reckon you're best off short-listing a couple of boards then reading reviews; they'll highlight shortcomings of each mobo, select which ones you can live with.
Or the colour you like best IMHO the colour of a mobo is only interesting if you go to lan parties to show off your e-peen. I'm watching the monitor screen, not the computer case when I'm using it. But each to his own

[Gizmo]

Well my GPU shit itself 2 weeks ago. Asus sent me a new one under warranty on Monday. Pretty quick turn around! Hopefully I'll see it this week.

[ysu]

that's great support, good to hear!

[Gizmo]

that's great support, good to hear!

Yeah, just sent it back to PCCaseGear. They have been great to deal with, I do not have enough praise for them!

[wobblysauce]

That they are, RMAs are a tricky thing to deal with.

[Gizmo]

Replacement card in my hands today. Great service.