[Legacy707]

I'm building a new computer used exclusively for gaming with a budget of 1,300. the only parts i currently have are 2 GeForce GTX 260's OC and I'm hoping they're compatible with my new build.
Also i would love to hear about any cost savers without sacrificing to much performance.
I plan on upgrading the cards relatively quickly I just want to know if i can use them for space holders.
I chose a few options for the simple fact i want to be able to upgrade this machine multiple times without buying a whole new computer.
Appreciate any feed back thank you.

CPU Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (open to advice the i7's are all very similar and i narrowed it down to this one)
CPU Cooler Corsair Hydro Series H60 74.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (plan on buying 2 more 8gb sticks in the near future)
Storage Corsair Force Series GT 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (plans to buy another drive and setup a striping configuration)
Case Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case
Power Supply Corsair 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

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I don't see anything wrong with your choices for the most part, but I have read that the Corsair Hydro coolers are loud and don't perform much better than most air cooling solutions. How far do you plan on pushing your CPU?

Also, what version of Win7 64 are you using? I only ask because Home Premium won't recognize more than 16 GB of RAM, so future upgrades would be useless unless you're running Professional or Ultimate.

You can get by with your SLI 260s for a while, but you're missing out on a lot of the additional eye candy that DX11 can provide such as tessellation. If you're okay with DX10 then you could probably make do, but I think a VGA upgrade is in your future regardless. GL!

[kidnova]

I don't see anything wrong with your choices for the most part, but I have read that the Corsair Hydro coolers are loud and don't perform much better than most air cooling solutions. How far do you plan on pushing your CPU?

Also, what version of Win7 64 are you using? I only ask because Home Premium won't recognize more than 16 GB of RAM, so future upgrades would be useless unless you're running Professional or Ultimate.

You can get by with your SLI 260s for a while, but you're missing out on a lot of the additional eye candy that DX11 can provide such as tessellation. If you're okay with DX10 then you could probably make do, but I think a VGA upgrade is in your future regardless. GL!

[Legacy707]

Thanks for the reply, I'm running win7 ultimate, and yes i plan on upgrading to the 570's as soon as i can.

As for the CPU I was planning on a mild overclock at around the 4g mark.
My buddy has the same cooler and doesn't have any problems but you got me thinking and
I'm researching on new egg now for a similarly priced item with better cooling performance.

My main concern was that the GPU's would run I'm a little out of the loop atm and one of the sites i was on mentioned an issue
but i think it was more of a "kinda old card not in current database" kinda thing

[Legacy707]

( http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835209049 ) would be another option.

Any other ideas for a good water cooler under $100?

[kidnova]

If 4.0 is your target on the 2600K then you'll be fine with the stock HSF. It also won't void the warranty on the CPU like an aftermarket cooler would. You can always upgrade the cooling later if you go for a more aggressive overclock or find that your temps are higher than you'ld like.

I don't see any reason why your 260s wouldn't work with your new rig as all PCI-e slots are supposed to be backwards compatible, but stranger things have happened.

Also, the 660ti is coming out soon and early reviews show it to perform on par with a 580. If that's true, then the price on 570s will likely come down in the coming weeks.

[Legacy707]

Great info thank you! I think I will stick with the stock heat sink for now save myself a few bucks,
that warranty might come in handy the first few months as well.

[Legacy707]

EDIT: Would just like to say thank you again. Concluded my build and I am very happy with the results:

Final Build:

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (taking kidnova's advice and sticking with the stock cooler until I overclock more)

Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

GPU: Sticking with my 2 260's for now will eventually upgrade to 570 or higher

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Corsair Force Series GT 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk

Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case

PSU: Corsair 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply

Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer

Edited by Legacy707, 01 August 2012 - 08:59 PM.