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[Echelon079]

Question. I am building a new pc here soon, and want to hook it up to a tv instead of a monitor. I am looking in the 47-50 inch range and wanted some opinions. What is the best type for pc gaming of the big screen? LED or PLasma. And if going with an LED, does the HZ ratio matter at all? Also, does anyone have any experience with PC 3d on a 3d tv?

 

[ToyMachine228]

So I'm trying to install my video card to my PC, I've been building the whole thing for the first time, so assume I know nothing. I can't get the PCI Express slots open. They have these orange things on top of them. I slide them up, push outward, nothing happens. I don't see any screws holding them in. What gives?

 

[anachronous_one]

I'm pondering a video card upgrade for my home theater/gaming PC. The problem is that my motherboard only has PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots. Currently I have a GTX 260, and from what I can tell, I can't really use anything beyond the GTX 560 Ti series due to my PCI-E slot restriction.

Seems like the MSI Twin Frozer III PE/OC is pretty much my best option, or is there an AMD/ATI alternative that is better suited for my situation?

I've got an older Core i7-920, 12GB DDR3, and a 2TB RAID 0 volume with a 1TB backup drive.

I would basically like to be able to play current and future games at 1080p on my television at high detail and be able to stay around 60FPS, as well as doing DVD/Netflix/Blu Ray playback. Thoughts?

 

[beje]

So I'm trying to install my video card to my PC, I've been building the whole thing for the first time, so assume I know nothing. I can't get the PCI Express slots open. They have these orange things on top of them. I slide them up, push outward, nothing happens. I don't see any screws holding them in. What gives?

A pic of the whole board and a detail of those orange things would be interesting to help.

 

[kharma45]

I'm pondering a video card upgrade for my home theater/gaming PC. The problem is that my motherboard only has PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots. Currently I have a GTX 260, and from what I can tell, I can't really use anything beyond the GTX 560 Ti series due to my PCI-E slot restriction.

Seems like the MSI Twin Frozer III PE/OC is pretty much my best option, or is there an AMD/ATI alternative that is better suited for my situation?

I've got an older Core i7-920, 12GB DDR3, and a 2TB RAID 0 volume with a 1TB backup drive.

I would basically like to be able to play current and future games at 1080p on my television at high detail and be able to stay around 60FPS, as well as doing DVD/Netflix/Blu Ray playback. Thoughts?

Do you mean you feel that PCIe 2.0 is a restriction? If so it's not, only the 690 really needs 3.0, you'll be fine with pretty much any card.

 

[t-ramp]

I'm pondering a video card upgrade for my home theater/gaming PC. The problem is that my motherboard only has PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots. Currently I have a GTX 260, and from what I can tell, I can't really use anything beyond the GTX 560 Ti series due to my PCI-E slot restriction.

Seems like the MSI Twin Frozer III PE/OC is pretty much my best option, or is there an AMD/ATI alternative that is better suited for my situation?

I've got an older Core i7-920, 12GB DDR3, and a 2TB RAID 0 volume with a 1TB backup drive.

I would basically like to be able to play current and future games at 1080p on my television at high detail and be able to stay around 60FPS, as well as doing DVD/Netflix/Blu Ray playback. Thoughts?

Your PCIe slot doesn't limit the cards you can use.

And, regarding performance even with a GTX 690:

So let’s sum this up: while PCI-E 3.0 can make a minor on-paper difference in some situations, it certainly isn’t needed to ensure your GTX 690 is the fastest graphics card on the block. If you have a PCI-E 2.0 motherboard with a decent processor, an upgrade to a Gen3 interface really isn't necessary.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...s/53901-nvidia-geforce-gtx-690-review-25.html

 

[ToyMachine228]

A pic of the whole board and a detail of those orange things would be interesting to help.

 

[t-ramp]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/RyanGCH/PCIExpress1_zps4236ddc7.jpg

You probably have to wiggle the slot covers so they break off.

 

[Claude]

After over a year of procrastinating, I decided I will finally begin to build my own PC.

I want my PC to be used primarily for gaming, with a focus on pretty graphics and a silky smooth framerate to boot. Tell me if I should change a specific part or if I am missing something important. Please bear with me, as I'm new to building PCs.

Budget: around $1,200

Parts

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card

Sound Card: Asus Xonar DG 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card

Case: BitFenix Shinobi ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer

Monitor: Asus VH236H 23.0" Monitor

 

[ToyMachine228]

You probably have to wiggle the slot covers so they break off.

All right, got the graphics card in. Almost done. The problem is, I can't screw the graphics card in, because those orange things are in the way. Do I remove those as well, or do I not need screws because I can slide the orange things down or what?

 

[t-ramp]

All right, got the graphics card in. Almost done. The problem is, I can't screw the graphics card in, because those orange things are in the way. Do I remove those as well, or do I not need screws because I can slide the orange things down or what?

It's up to you. If you can take the orange locks off and think screws would work better, go for it. But the locks might hold the card fine by themselves.

 

[Tomodachi]

Question. I am building a new pc here soon, and want to hook it up to a tv instead of a monitor. I am looking in the 47-50 inch range and wanted some opinions. What is the best type for pc gaming of the big screen? LED or PLasma. And if going with an LED, does the HZ ratio matter at all? Also, does anyone have any experience with PC 3d on a 3d tv?

I have a 47" Panasonic ST30 plasma hooked to my PC, it's really good. All I know about LEDs is to avoid the 50Hz models, especially for any kind of gaming (input lag and stuff).

The only thing to keep in mind with plasmas is trying to avoid image retention (especially since we're talking about hooking a PC, so lots of static images if you're not playing but browsing the web etc).
You'd best follow a break-in guide before using it too much. If that is too much of an hassle (I'll be honest, it can be, I obsessed like a maniac when I spent 70+ hours last month emulating Final Fantasy XII with PCSX2 about the risk of image retention of the UI, however nothing stuck permanently and it all went away in a few hours of tv watching) then go LED.

 

[chaosblade]

After over a year of procrastinating, I decided I will finally begin to build my own PC.

I want my PC to be used primarily for gaming, with a focus on pretty graphics and a silky smooth framerate to boot. Tell me if I should change a specific part or if I am missing something important. Please bear with me, as I'm new to building PCs.

Budget: around $1,200

You will want a larger mechanical HDD for storage along with the SSD. One 256GB drive alone will fill up very quickly once you start installing software, games, throw in some media...

And you probably want to get a better GPU. With a $1200 budget there's no reason you shouldn't be able to fit at least a 7950 in there. Edit: I see that's a 660 Ti, I thought it was a regular 660. Still better off with a 7950 unless you just really prefer an NVidia card for whatever reason.

Not sure about the Antec Basiq PSU (might be okay, I really have no idea) or whether or not it's worth it to get 16GB of RAM (I'd say not, but it doesn't hurt if it fits in the budget).

 

[brogan]

I really, really, really can't decide whether to wait for next gen consoles or to just get a 2500k/77850 or 7950 or something.

I've been looking at advice in here months but still can't manifest the balls to go ahead. Probably wait for next gen to be announced and go from there.

You guys are great btw

 

[garath]

Benches don't tell the whole story.

660Ti has been able to take advantage of months of Kepler driver iteration which means better performance. The 7950 scores you see are mostly on outdated drivers on or near release.

In addition to that, the 7950 has more memory bandwidth which means better performance when more memory is being used. The 660Ti for all intents and purposes, is more like 1.6GB VRAM than 2GB. With this in mind, the 3GB for the 7950 gives you a lot more overhead and better prepares you for a 2ish year upgrade path.

Beyond all this, the 7950 is very conservatively clocked. It's pretty easy to get an extra 10-15% in performance without any noticeable effect on temperatures or noise. The 660Ti is pushed pretty heavily to the limits, and you're going to need to score big on chip lottery to squeeze much out of it. Most of Kepler is like this.

The only reason to go with a 660Ti is because of fear of 'lol ATi drivers!', which is a silly reason that is totally outdated.

Sorry I'm a couple pages late replying but thank you for the input. I tend to agree with you. I'm starting my research for what card. I don't really see a new "gold standard" card anytime in the next 6mo-1yr coming (with the possible exception of the new nvidia 700 series but the $300 card is usually slow to release). I am torn between 660ti and 7950.

I do lean toward nvidia not just for the drivers - which are usually better, but also for the Physx. Physx is pretty darn impressive in games like Batman and Borderlands2.

I really, really, really can't decide whether to wait for next gen consoles or to just get a 2500k/77850 or 7950 or something.

I've been looking at advice in here months but still can't manifest the balls to go ahead. Probably wait for next gen to be announced and go from there.

You guys are great btw

I don't know if it helps any, but I used to own all 3 consoles, ps3, 360 and Wii. I haven't played a single console game in around 3 years. I sold my 360 and I only use the PS3 for blu-ray and netflix. I do all my gaming on PC and I don't feel like I miss a thing. Plus I generally pay less for games than I would on the console. I have a wired 360 controller that I use for games like Assassin's creed or Sleeping Dogs and I enjoy better graphics and smoother framerates.

It's hard to go wrong moving into a PC only gaming life.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

Sapphire 3GB 7950 with Sleeping Dogs, Far Cry 3 and Hitman Absolution is $269.99 after $20 rebate at Newegg

Such an awesome deal.

 

[beje]

Yes! Definitely the problem with my CPU temperatures was the 4.4GHz OC preset from my mobo doing some funky things (probably overvolting too much). I just punched in x44 multiplier over the Standard settings and temperature won't go beyond 68ºC on average with Prime 95 doing "Blend", and voltage being around 1.28V (they were peaking at almost 90ºC before) so I can safely assume the water cooling heatsink is properly seated.

I will leave it on while I do some groceries and report back :3

 

[krae_man]

Man I should have used this thread earlier.

My PC wouldn't run Torchlight II so I decided it was time to finally upgrade. At first I just decided to buy something already built since I have no PC building experience and I wanted to play TLII ASAP. I ended up buything this from Newegg only to have it arrive in the mail defective twice.

After that I said screw this and went to a guy my grandpa knows with a shop near my house. I gave him the standard part list from this thread and he gave me a total of $600+tax including him building it and installing Windows 7.

Should have done this in the first place. Should have this thing on Saturday or Monday.

 

[ToyMachine228]

More noob PC builder questions; I thought I was all set but went to turn it on and...Nothing. First thing I think could be the problem; I have a 20-pin connector going into a 24-pin slot. Anything wrong here? Do I need the adjacent 4-pin connector inserted? I tried to get it in, but it doesn't really fit. Advice on this, or anything else to check out?

I have two cables going into the HDD. Two into the GPU. Lots of other, what I think are minor things hooked up, but I could be wrong.

 

[scogoth]

More noob PC builder questions; I thought I was all set but went to turn it on and...Nothing. First thing I think could be the problem; I have a 20-pin connector going into a 24-pin slot. Anything wrong here? Do I need the adjacent 4-pin connector inserted? I tried to get it in, but it doesn't really fit. Advice on this, or anything else to check out?

I have two cables going into the HDD. Two into the GPU. Lots of other, what I think are minor things hooked up, but I could be wrong.

Yes and insert the 4 pin before or at the same time, there is usually a little notch that allows it to sorta stay with the 20pin

 

[ToyMachine228]

Yes and insert the 4 pin before or at the same time, there is usually a little notch that allows it to sorta stay with the 20pin

Thank you, got that down. Only thing sticking out at me now is that there is a 2x2 port in the back of my HDD that doesn't have anything in it. Two other cables are in it. Is anything supposed to go there?

 

[garath]

Sapphire 3GB 7950 with Sleeping Dogs, Far Cry 3 and Hitman Absolution is $269.99 after $20 rebate at Newegg

Such an awesome deal.

It's getting harder and harder to ignore. Wonder how long the game deal is going for. I don't want to buy until xmas.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

It's getting harder and harder to ignore. Wonder how long the game deal is going for. I don't want to buy until xmas.

I doubt the Never Settle Bundle will last until Christmas, especially with Black Friday looming.

 

[scogoth]

Thank you, got that down. Only thing sticking out at me now is that there is a 2x2 port in the back of my HDD that doesn't have anything in it. Two other cables are in it. Is anything supposed to go there?

2x2? is it jumpers? like really small pins?

There should only be 2 cables, power either molex (4 pins in a trapezoid connecter) or sata (thin long cables with an L shape) and the sata data cable (the small one)

 

[MedIC86]

Maybe this isnt really the thread to ask but im still taking a shot: Who is going Windows 8 when its released? or are people waiting?

 

[ToyMachine228]

2x2? is it jumpers? like really small pins?

There should only be 2 cables, power either molex (4 pins in a trapezoid connecter) or sata (thin long cables with an L shape) and the sata data cable (the small one)

OK, then I have that right. Not sure what I'm missing. Power supply is in the 24-pin connector. The tiny power light, reset button, all those are hooked up (I think I have them in the right spots). The video card has two cables going out of it. The HDD and Optical drive have two cables going into it. The RAM is in, the CPU is in. The fan is plugged into the MOBO...Trying to think.

EDIT: Now I have something. The case fan starts to spin, then it stops and nothing else comes on.

 

[beje]

OK, then I have that right. Not sure what I'm missing. Power supply is in the 24-pin connector. The tiny power light, reset button, all those are hooked up (I think I have them in the right spots). The video card has two cables going out of it. The HDD and Optical drive have two cables going into it. The RAM is in, the CPU is in. The fan is plugged into the MOBO...Trying to think.

I think you're missing the 4 or 8 pin plug near to the CPU. PSU should be connected in two spots to the mobo: the 20+4 and the 4+4 connectors.

 

[ToyMachine228]

I think you're missing the 4 or 8 pin plug near to the CPU. PSU should be connected in two spots to the mobo: the 20+4 and the 4+4 connectors.

I don't see any other ports. I see ATX12V, COM1...

 

[beje]

I don't see any other ports. I see ATX12V, COM1...

What's your mobo model?

 

[ToyMachine228]

What's your mobo model?

ASUS P8H61-M LE

I don't know if you saw my earlier edit. The case fan starts spinning now, but nothing else happens. It looks to me like the CPU fan can't start spinning. It tries to and just makes a quick noise and does nothing.

Edit: Green light on motherboard is ON.

 

[Sullichin]

Sapphire 3GB 7950 with Sleeping Dogs, Far Cry 3 and Hitman Absolution is $269.99 after $20 rebate at Newegg

Such an awesome deal.

God damnit, I spent $300 for a 7870 in July.

 

[DJ_Lae]

I was going to just get a 7850 but that deal on a 7950 is pretty tempting.

 

[mug]

ASUS P8H61-M LE

I don't know if you saw my earlier edit. The case fan starts spinning now, but nothing else happens. It looks to me like the CPU fan can't start spinning. It tries to and just makes a quick noise and does nothing.

Edit: Green light on motherboard is ON.

I'm assuming the CPU fan is plugged in on the motherboard where it says CPU fan? Also there is a light blue connector (4 pin) that should be plugged in using the cable from your PSU.

 

[ToyMachine228]

I'm assuming the CPU fan is plugged in on the motherboard where it says CPU fan? Also there is a light blue connector (4 pin) that should be plugged in using the cable from your PSU.

CPU fan is plugged into the motherboard, yes. Unsure of this light blue connector. I don't see one.

EDIT: Are we talking the ATV12V port? I plugged a four-pin into that just now. And now the fans don't even try to start spinning when I try to power on.

 

[Thraktor]

Sorry I'm a couple pages late replying but thank you for the input. I tend to agree with you. I'm starting my research for what card. I don't really see a new "gold standard" card anytime in the next 6mo-1yr coming (with the possible exception of the new nvidia 700 series but the $300 card is usually slow to release). I am torn between 660ti and 7950.

I do lean toward nvidia not just for the drivers - which are usually better, but also for the Physx. Physx is pretty darn impressive in games like Batman and Borderlands2.

For what it's worth, it's possible to get PhysX in Borderlands 2 working on machines with AMD cards, and apparently it actually runs better because it's offloaded to a CPU thread which would otherwise be idle. Personally I'd just ignore PhysX support anyway, as I don't like being forced into buying a particular manufacturer's hardware for a feature that could just as well be platform agnostic, but that's just my own opinion on the matter.

 

[beje]

CPU fan is plugged into the motherboard, yes. Unsure of this light blue connector. I don't see one.

EDIT: Are we talking the ATV12V port? I plugged a four-pin into that just now. And now the fans don't even try to start spinning when I try to power on.

I assume you have this one:

http://img.misco.eu/resources/image...60-G0EAY00Z//90-MIBF60-G0EAY00Z_1600x1600.jpg

There should be two different cables coming from your PSU, one of them is 20 or 24 pins (in a 20+4 fashion) which goes to the light blue connector on the right part, and there should be a different one either 4 or 8 pins (usually 4+4) that goes to the top left blue port by the CPU. According to your posts, I think you're either missing a cable from your PSU you're not seeing, or using that 4 pins cable to mistakingly convert your 20 pin into a 20+4. Those two blue ports in the mobo MUST be connected to the PSU.

Also, make sure the CPU fan is inserted in the top right connector labeled CPU_FAN (duh) and not in CHA_FAN by the bottom left of the CPU. Also, please forgive if some things sound condescending but it's easy to overlook seemingly obvious stuff

 

[Infinite Justice]

Sapphire 3GB 7950 with Sleeping Dogs, Far Cry 3 and Hitman Absolution is $269.99 after $20 rebate at Newegg

Such an awesome deal.

Yea that is pretty awesome.

 

[ToyMachine228]

I assume you have this one:

http://img.misco.eu/resources/image...60-G0EAY00Z//90-MIBF60-G0EAY00Z_1600x1600.jpg

There should be two different cables coming from your PSU, one of them is 20 or 24 pins (in a 20+4 fashion) which goes to the light blue connector on the right part, and there should be a different one either 4 or 8 pins (usually 4+4) that goes to the top left blue port by the CPU. According to your posts, I think you're either missing a cable from your PSU you're not seeing, or using that 4 pins cable to mistakingly convert your 20 pin into a 20+4. Those two blue ports in the mobo MUST be connected to the PSU.

I definitely have the 20+4 one in right. And I now know that the other light blue port your talking about is the one marked ATX12V, correct? I plugged a 4-pin into that. It was a 4+4, but I separated it so it fit into the 4 pin. Tried to boot once I plugged that in and now the fans don't even start like it was before.

 

[mkenyon]

Okay, I need some advice about how to set up my storage solution for the long term.

I currently have four 2 TB external hard drives. One is for my movie backups, and one is for the rest of my media (photos, music, home movies, recorded television, etc.) The other two are backups for the first.

There are two problems:
1. This isn't easily scalable because I am now out of USB ports on the PC
2. Backing things up is a manual process and takes a long time

I've looked into a RAID1 setup, but the options I've seen for that seem to only allow you to connect 2 external drives. Is there any way to have something scalable up to 8 drives? (2 for movies, 2 for other media, and 4 as backups?)

Thanks in advance!

Look at NAS solutions from WD, Synology, and Qnap. RAID 5 is what you are looking for.

Question. I am building a new pc here soon, and want to hook it up to a tv instead of a monitor. I am looking in the 47-50 inch range and wanted some opinions. What is the best type for pc gaming of the big screen? LED or PLasma. And if going with an LED, does the HZ ratio matter at all? Also, does anyone have any experience with PC 3d on a 3d tv?

PC 3D requires 130hz, and there aren't any 230hz TVs. The ones that say 130hz use post processing to blur the image to make it look like 120hz. All it does is add input lag.

I'd search AVS forums for a TV with really low input lag and nice colors.

Plasma still has image retention, which makes it a bad fit for PCs.

 

[beje]

I definitely have the 20+4 one in right. And I now know that the other light blue port your talking about is the one marked ATX12V, correct? I plugged a 4-pin into that. It was a 4+4, but I separated it so it fit into the 4 pin. Tried to boot once I plugged that in and now the fans don't even start like it was before.

Those two are definitely correct. Maybe try with the other 4 pin half just in case, but those go there 100% sure. Re-check that the CPU fan and the back exhaust fan are connected to CPU_FAN and CHA_FAN respectively and correctly. Also make sure the RAM is correctly seated because retainers at both sides of the sticks should go into position by themselves when you push the RAM down.

 

[ToyMachine228]

Those two are definitely correct. Maybe try with the other 4 pin half just in case, but those go there 100% sure. Re-check that the CPU fan and the back exhaust fan are connected to CPU_FAN and CHA_FAN respectively and correctly. Also make sure the RAM is correctly seated because retainers at both sides of the sticks should go into position by themselves when you push the RAM down.

Could the problem be that my PSU isn't strong enough? It's a Corsair 430w. I have an i-5 CPU and a Radeon 6870.

 

[mkenyon]

When I said 130hz above, I meant 120hz. Posting from phone.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Alright, goddamnit. I give up. I'm gonna get onemofmtose 23in Samsung 120hz monitors.. The only question now is which one.

 

[diztrukted]

Alright, goddamnit. I give up. I'm gonna get onemofmtose 23in Samsung 120hz monitors.. The only question now is which one.

120hz Samsung monitors? I need a link asap.

 

[beje]

Could the problem be that my PSU isn't strong enough? It's a Corsair 430w. I have an i-5 CPU and a Radeon 6870.

That PSU should be enough for an i5 and a single 6870 I think, those two combined plus the rest of the system might take 350W at max more or less. Make sure you've also plugged ALL the neccessary power connectors to the graphics card too.

 

[diztrukted]

what do you guys think about this build? (I'm going for a Red/White/Black theme)

Its going to be my new Gaming PC.... staying under $2500 is the goal here.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Formula ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4GB Video Card ($424.86 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 600T White Graphite ATX Mid Tower Case ($148.15 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: OCZ ZX 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1852.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[Shambles]

Holy crap I just realized that PCPartPicker worked for Canada. And from what I can tell comparing it to shopbot.ca the pricing is accurate. Cuts out a lot of 'back and forth' you have to use when using a generic price comparison website.

Edit: Bah, the pricing on PartPicker is lacking after comparing several more products. Still useful to start a build but you still end up doing the point and click adventure of finding the lowest price on the web.

 

[beje]

what do you guys think about this build? (I'm going for a Red/White/Black theme)

Its going to be my new Gaming PC.... staying under $2500 is the goal here.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Formula ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 4GB Video Card ($424.86 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 600T White Graphite ATX Mid Tower Case ($148.15 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: OCZ ZX 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1852.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

As stated several times through this thread, if you're doing a gaming build you should stay with LGA1155 and Z77 chipset (with either an i5 3570K or i7 3770k). Going LGA1156 or 2011 will only make you spend a crapload of extra money for almost neglige benefits. Same goes for RAM speeds, unless you're going to use the PC for hardcore benchmarking anything above 1600 is diminishing returns. Put that extra money in something like a 680 instead.

For the black-red-white theme, get an Asrock Fatal1ty or Asus Maximus mobo.

And about the Power Supply, I'm more than sure it can be scaled down a bit unless you plan on adding a second GPU later down the line.

Anyway, you have the final word but at the very least, I'll say that the mobo you chose is extremely overkill and overdimensioned unless you're going to install those 4 GPUs it allows.

Edit: sorry, but I'm still wating for feedback about this particular PSU:
http://nox-xtreme.com/en/power-supply/hummer-m-550w

 

[Mangotron]

Couldn't unlock my Sapphire Dirt3 6950. Boo.

 

[diztrukted]

As stated several times through this thread, if you're doing a gaming build you should stay with LGA1155 and Z77 chipset (with either an i5 3570K or i7 3770k). Going LGA1156 or 2011 will only make you spend a crapload of extra money for almost neglige benefits. Same goes for RAM speeds, unless you're going to use the PC for hardcore benchmarking anything above 1600 is diminishing returns. Put that extra money in something like a 680 instead.

For the black-red-white theme, get an Asrock Fatal1ty or Asus Maximus mobo.

And about the Power Supply, I'm more than sure it can be scaled down a bit unless you plan on adding a second GPU later down the line.

Anyway, you have the final word but at the very least, I'll say that the mobo you chose is extremely overkill and overdimensioned unless you're going to install those 4 GPUs it allows.

Edit: sorry, but I'm still wating for feedback about this particular PSU:
http://nox-xtreme.com/en/power-supply/hummer-m-550w

I must have missed that part, I apologize. I originally had the SABERTOOTH Z77 as my mobo but was told to "jump to a 2011 platform instead of 1155 which will be ending this year as this year ivy bridge is the last supporting cpu." also for better overclockability :-/

I do plan on adding a second gpu later on

After doing some reading its seems to be generally thought that the best thing to do is buy for what you need now since there's no real "future proofing". That being said between my previous build with the Z77 and Rampage IV Formula my build total was about $60 difference.