Check this build for me? :)

Ok, I'm about to pull the trigger on this system. Before I pull though, does anything here look like it's going to bottleneck performance? I'm hoping this is a solid enough rig to handle my hardcore gaming addiction as well as my video editing addiction.

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB
CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz LGA 1156
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
ASUS P7P55D-E LX LGA 1156 Intel P55
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
Rosewill ARMOR Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ,Full mesh design front bezel, comes with Six Fans

I personally would go with the new Sandy Bridge processors, even if it did mean waiting until March or April for more availability.

I thought about that too. The Sandy Bridge processors do seem enticing, however I am on a budget, and the i-870 is known to perform just as good if not better than its 9XX brothers (sans the 975k).

Well, even on a budget, you're spending more than a Sandy Bridge would cost. But, whatever suits you. The i7 870 is definitely a good chip.

I know but isn't the Sandy Bridge cpu's for OC'ing? I don't OC ever. I know that its biggest factor is full control over the Overclocking process but I don't really need that. Is the i7-2600k faster than the i7-870?

Thoughts:
- Sandy Bridge is faster, and I think cheaper. It's the next generation chip, it's not for overclockers. The K varient (from memory) is unlocked in some way to make overclocking easier.
- WD Blue? Really? Get WD Black or Seagate Barracuda. 500GB is pretty small unless it's just a boot disk. Multiple disks are a key requirement for a fast machine. Not sure the best setup for video, but disks for OS, source material, and destination material would be a minimum I guess.
- Sandy Bridge has a GPU inside it. You can add a card if you're a gamer.

Get more than one hard drive

Your power supply is a bit overkill. That setup would be fine with anything 450-600

Well that's fantastic. When I read the review for sandy bridge I read it was only capable of Direct X 10.1. it was misleading in that I thought my GTX570 would be useless. If that's the case then I'll wait for a good sandy bridge cpu/mobo to compliment the video card.

As for the drives, you're right. It is strictly for boot/storage. All actual work is performed on a solid state drive that isn't listed because I already own it.

I don't get it. If this is for video/photo editing why the Lynnfield processor?

If you're not overclocking (which you probably should be), why not get an i5-2400+H67 mobo for better performance and pocket the savings.

Also, that ram is mediore. I would get a set of G.skill 1333 Cas 9 1.5 voltage.

PSU is pretty lame as well. For the same price you can get an XFX Black Edition 750 which is significantly nicer.

Sp1207 wrote in post #11829695
I don't get it. If this is for video/photo editing why the Lynnfield processor?

If you're not overclocking (which you probably should be), why not get an i5-2400+H67 mobo for better performance and pocket the savings.

Also, that ram is mediore. I would get a set of G.skill 1333 Cas 9 1.5 voltage.

PSU is pretty lame as well. For the same price you can get an XFX Black Edition 750 which is significantly nicer.

It's also for gaming. I'm very into PC gaming and the Lynnfields are apparently best (according to toms hardware). But now with Sandy Bridge I'll have to do a bit more research before pulling the trigger on the i7-870.

The ram is mediocre, I have changed it since to Corsair DOMINATOR with Cas 9 1.65 voltage.

Only thing I can't say I agree with you on is the PSU. I've felt that Corsair and Antec are the only "super quality" PSU's out there. XFX used to be a company called Pine Cone and they were known for making crap and not honoring their warrantys. I appreciate you input though, thanks for the RAM catch, didn't realize how mediocre XMS is.

Also took your advice and switched to Caviar Black. Didn't realize the Blue was only a 16mb cache.

august23 wrote in post #11830237
It's also for gaming. I'm very into PC gaming and the Lynnfields are apparently best (according to toms hardware). But now with Sandy Bridge I'll have to do a bit more research before pulling the trigger on the i7-870.

The ram is mediocre, I have changed it since to Corsair DOMINATOR with Cas 9 1.65 voltage.

Only thing I can't say I agree with you on is the PSU. I've felt that Corsair and Antec are the only "super quality" PSU's out there. XFX used to be a company called Pine Cone and they were known for making crap and not honoring their warrantys. I appreciate you input though, thanks for the RAM catch, didn't realize how mediocre XMS is.

No I mean Sandy Bridge is faster anyway so why bother with an i7-870.

And the ram is still bad because it's 1.65 volts and Corsiar (which means worse statistical reliability than G.skill). The actual speed of the ram past 1333 doesn't matter for gaming or photoshop, as it's only reflected in synthetics. 1.65 voltage ram is dangerous for your IMC (especially if you're smart and move to Sandy Bridge).

Actually, all of Corsair's high end units (gold and silver efficiencies) are made by Seasonic. The others are made for them by PCP. The XFX black editions are also made by Seasonic, and are equivalent in internals to the 750HX on Corsair's side, but are cheaper as they avoid the Corsair tax.

Thanks for the tip Sp. I'm switching to the 2600K Sandy Bridge CPU with an Asus P67 motherboard (post-SATA recall). Which means I'll have to wait a bit longer for the new boards to ship out. I also switched to the G.Skill ripjaws series, which is apparently designed specifically for the P67 Sandy Bridge series. How does that sound?

Which Ripjaws did you get? These are the ones I got for my SB build: http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6820231426

Also in regards to the 16MB cache vs 32MB cache, you'll hardly ever be able to distinguish a difference. Past 8MB/s, it's all about the same. The WD Black will perform better due to more power consumption and platters, not the cache.

ProwlingTiger wrote in post #11832613
Which Ripjaws did you get? These are the ones I got for my SB build: http://www.newegg.com …aspx?Item=N82E1​6820231426

Also in regards to the 16MB cache vs 32MB cache, you'll hardly ever be able to distinguish a difference. Past 8MB/s, it's all about the same. The WD Black will perform better due to more power consumption and platters, not the cache.

Thanks for the info. I went with the same Ripjaws except the one I'm going with is 1600 instead of 1333