My new 2011 gaming and media PC Build

With my current system struggling with The Witcher 2, I have decided to upgrade my PC with the latest and greatest Bang for Buck Gaming and media orientated hardware.  Here is what I have selected and some reasons for doing so:

Intel Core i7 2600K $319.00

I was deciding on this or the 2500k, probably won't make that much difference to be honest but at least the 2600k will have some decent longevity.  The 2500k and 2600k are currently the gamers CPU due to being able to easily hit overclocks of 4.9ghz on Air cooling.

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Motherboard $199

To go the Extreme 4 or Extreme 3, that is the question. Further inspection revealed the Gen 3 doesn't gave USB3 pins on the mobo so I grabbed the gen 4.  It costs an extra $50 in Australia though its worth it to have the front mountable USB faceplate.

CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler $33.00

Appears to be the best AIR bang for buck overclocking option in order to achieve those 4.5 - 5ghz speeds with the i2600k.

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HD103SJ $69.00

Will be using my current hard drives with this as an added extra, may just use this for my Steam install. I was tempted to go SSD though other than windows starting up quicker I cant really see that much of a benefit. My current Steam games load in a timely manner – maybe in the future.  I have an existing Seagate Barracuda ST3320613AS which averages 120ms read for my OS install.

G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $65.00

Most suggestions for a gaming config suggest buying the cheapest possible ram option at 1333mhz though I decided on the 1600mhz at $7 more, I could have also gone for lower latency for about $20 more but the performance advantages hardly seem worth it looking at available benchmarks.

Silverstone Strider Plus 750W ST75F-P $145.00

Gives me room for SLI in the future without overdoing it.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM $105.00

A second copy will come in handy.

Silverstone Fortress FT02B with Window USB 3.0 $259.00

My Silverstone HTPC case was the deciding factor in purchasing a premium case design – yes it costs a premium but the build quality over the $100 over dollar cases is justification enough.  Hopefully unlike the last few dodgy cases I have, this will last me quite a few years of PC upgrading.

I am going to try see how my existing 9800gtx goes with this system in the meantime as I really want to hold out for one of the next gen video cards. If it is too much of a bottle neck I'll go and buy a 9950 at MSY or similar.

Future plans:

AMD Radeon 7000 series

Due out between now and the end of the year, Can I hold out that long with my ageing overclocked 98000gtx?

Samsung S27A950 $500

A 1080p 120hz 3D monitor, not sure about this though it is hugely popular - in fact it is sold out everywhere.  No nvidia 3D though it makes use of AMD's variant AMD HD3D.  Not too fussed about the 3D aspect though 120hz is definitely where it is at in regards to gaming.

As per usual, my current unused PC hardware will be integrated into my HTPC bringing it up to a gaming spec system. (once I remove the current overclocking profile)  Will post some unboxing pics when I get this delivered.