$1500 PC build. Thoughts?

Hello Gamespot community! I'm a first time builder and I am looking for critique on this build.

I wanted to also clarify that I am choosing GTX 660 Ti for 2-Way SLI. I hear it's better performance-wise versus a single GTX 770. They are open-box, and I plan to RMA them if they are dead on arrival.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! All critique is welcome. I never built a PC before, so I don't want to screw up by buying garbage parts.

PCPartPicker part list:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sPxB

Price breakdown by merchant:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sPxB/by_merchant/

Benchmarks:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sPxB/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)

CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($93.22 @ NCIX US)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($207.99)

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($207.99)

Case: Corsair 500R White ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Microcenter)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC)

Monitor: Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor ($159.99 @ Microcenter)

Total: $1413.11

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-30 16:10 EST-0500)

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sRLz

GPU power = GTX780

GPU shows dual 760? At 500 bucks I would almost just go with the 780 to save the hassle (If you want Nvidia).

There are others on the site that are better with the breakdown.

A GTX 780 SC ($500 card) will offer like 10-12% less performance than a GTX 690 which is 2x680s (I would FOR SURE ditch the 660ti and get a 780 SC).

Drop the Z87 motherboard to a single slot board (will save you $60 and still allow to overclock) and ditch the 2x660ti's ($420 for both) and just pay $20 more overall for the GTX 780 SC

Paying a premium for a SLI board when your only gaming at 1080p is kind of pointless (1080p on a single strong card is easy as hell to do). SLI is more designed for high-end resolutions (1440/1600p or multi monitor displays).

@mastershake575: I made a few changes based on some suggestions I got from other boards and friends and such.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sTGX

Any suggestions for the motherboard?

Here's a build... LINK.

I don't agree with the SLI 660's but sounds like you're set on those

I would say drop the H60, get a 212 evo or move up to a NH-D14, H100, Phantek, Silver Arrow

I would go for a single card 780. I've never had good luck with SLI and those 660 TIs are old. You're better off getting a single card that has better performance and possibly SLIing that later on down the road.

Yeah like what's with getting 1 GPU, 1600Mhz RAM with 160$ MOBO?????

you can go low with it as 35$ low

@PredatorRules: I plan to get another GPU later down the line since I can't afford more than around $1600. Any suggestions for the motherboard? I've been told that 1600MHz RAM would be fine and 1866MHz wouldn't be noticeable. Are you saying 1600MHz is too much or too little?

1600Mhz is recommended for gaming; it's neither fast or slow

watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWgzA2C61z4

basically you want faster speed with lower cas (CL) as much as possible

Did you watch the clip?...

"The frame's per second didn't change"... "As you get a higher frequency you sacrifice latency and as you lower the frequency you get better latency so the two cancel each other out."...

Personally I didn't need linus to point that out to me system RAM going from DDR2 to DDR3 offered negligible performance increases for gaming... Look below.

Right now ram for gaming is down to two things:

• Amount 4GB is a minimum... 8GB is perfect... 16GB is future proof.
• Does the colour match my motherboard.

16GB/24GB/32GB DDR3 RAM at 1600-2400Mhz gives you no extra performance in gaming over 8GB DDR3 1333Mhz... You would just be wasting your money if all you do is game on it.

2x4GB DDR3 RAM at 1333Mhz is all you need anything more for gaming is a absolute waste.

Still, you try to get lowest CL with highest Mhz as much as possible with the budget you have. It's like comparing 2 screens within your budget limit - if the one has 2ms and the other has 1ms, you know you'll go with the lowest one