Did I set fire to a large sum of money or will these parts work well together?

Not really a "Rate my setup" post because I've not even set up the PC yet. I've simply ordered the pieces with the recommendations of a few friends. I've not pieced together a PC since 2003, so I may have overlooked something. Since I've not touched the pieces yet and can certainly return and replace pieces if needed, let me know if there's any changes I need to make or weak areas I definitely need to improve in the future. I did go kind of cheap on the monitor, but only because I plan to add a second in 3-6 months. If this isn't the thread for questions like this, let me know.

EVGA 04G-P4-3687-KR GeForce GTX 680 FTW+ w/Backplate 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

HP ZR2440w Black and Brushed Aluminum 24" 6ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED-Backlit IPS LCD Monitor 50 to 350 nits cd/m2 1000:1 (static) / 2000000:1 (dynamic)

ASUS Maximus V FORMULA/THUNDERFX LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000

CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) 1200W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - OEM

G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 High-power 2.1 PC Speaker System

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition RC-932-KKN3-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior and Four Blue LED Fans-1x 230mm front fan, 1x 230mm top fan, 1x 230mm side fan, and 1x 140mm rear fan

Pioneer Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 10X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Internal BD/DVD/CD Writer

Logitech G9x Black Two modes scroll USB Wired Laser 5700 dpi Gaming Mouse Microsoft

SIDEWINDER X4 Keyboard

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

Its all compatible. No issues.

did i skimp too much on the monitor? i feel like i spent a lot on the CPU and GPU, and potentially bought a monitor too modest to appreciate the motor under the hood.

This is the other monitor I was looking at.

The HP is an IPS panel. The BenQ is a 120 Hz panel. The technologies are mutually exclusive.

I prefer IPS panels since you can get benefits of their superior color reproduction outside of games. The BenQ's 120 Hz has super smooth motion, especially during faster games like FPS.

The BenQ isn't "better" its just different.

To some extent, if you can afford it, its probably better to have both. IPS monitos are much, much, much better secondary monitors due to superior viewiing angles. The BneQ *might* be a better primary monitor if you particularly like the fluid motion effect.

would running two monitors simultaneously halve the performance of the GPU?

would running two monitors simultaneously halve the performance of the GPU?

OODALOOP

If you intend to use nVidia Surround or AMD's Eyefinity in order to trick windows into thinking your two monitors are actually one giant one, then yes it will strain your GPU a lot more if you play a game that spans both monitors.

If you dont use that feature, each additional monitor will consume about 12 MB of video memory. On a GPU like yours with several GB's of VRAM, its not an issue. Games will be limited to only one monitor.

would running two monitors simultaneously halve the performance of the GPU?

OODALOOP

That makes sense. Thanks for the tip. I'll likely look into buying another monitor, strictly for gaming, within the next couple months. Then keep the IPS for simultaneous running of my desktop.

CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200 (CMPSU-1200AX) 1200W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

OODALOOP

You plan on running 3 GTX 680s in Tri-SLI? That PSU is a waste on your build. If you don't plan on doing anything else with your system, like adding a second or third GPU, then drop back to a solid 600-650W at the most. You'll have plenty of power for your system and plenty of headroom if you want to overclock.

I know it was mentioned already, but 32GB is a waste of money if you have no way to utilize it all. 16GB would be a waste for most people. You could have saved a few bucks getting 8GB if you just plan on gaming with your system.

Why hasnt anyone said its been proven that having mor than like 8GB of ram actually decreases your games performance.

People have linked and talked about it on here at length and basacaly what we have seen is that more than 8/16GB of Ram actually drops game performance.

Granted its only like 3-5FPS just saying. also 8GB would have been plenty for you. probbly should drop back to 8/16GB and get 1866MHz Ram.

Why hasnt anyone said its been proven that having mor than like 8GB of ram actually decreases your games performance.

People have linked and talked about it on here at length and basacaly what we have seen is that more than 8/16GB of Ram actually drops game performance.

Granted its only like 3-5FPS just saying. also 8GB would have been plenty for you. probbly should drop back to 8/16GB and get 1866MHz Ram.

hofuldig

If that's the case, I'll probably return it. Do you have any articles or studies on it? Thanks for the tip. I had no idea; it just happened to be a good deal and I figured why not.

Also, what do you all think about getting a GPU cooling fan, like the Arctic Accelero Hybrid? Needed if planning to OC, just plain needed, or waste of money?

http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/arctic-accelero-hybrid-review-with-nvidia-gtx680/

If you mainly want to game, you just burned more money than necessary.

The Asus Maximus V Formula motherboard is something for enthusiats who intent to highly overclock their systems on water cooling.

A 3770K CPU is good if you do lots of office stuff, running highly threaded applications, but no gain in gaming over the 3570K.

A 1200W PSU? You could power 2 gaming rigs with that. 600-650W will be more than enough for one GTX680.

4x8GB RAM modules will be slower, as you loose the dual channel speed bonus. With 2x4GB you'll have "alot" of RAM, 16GB is already considered

overkill by some.

If you want to save a big wad of cash you should swap a couple of the parts. But if money is no object then keep everything and enjoy your new, massive e-peen.. Bragging rights inclusive! And make sure to post up some pics.

If you mainly want to game, you just burned more money than necessary.

The Asus Maximus V Formula motherboard is something for enthusiats who intent to highly overclock their systems on water cooling.

A 3770K CPU is good if you do lots of office stuff, running highly threaded applications, but no gain in gaming over the 3570K.

A 1200W PSU? You could power 2 gaming rigs with that. 600-650W will be more than enough for one GTX680.

4x8GB RAM modules will be slower, as you loose the dual channel speed bonus. With 2x4GB you'll have "alot" of RAM, 16GB is already considered

overkill by some.

If you want to save a big wad of cash you should swap a couple of the parts. But if money is no object then keep everything and enjoy your new, massive e-peen.. Bragging rights inclusive! And make sure to post up some pics.

Sturmfuehrer_

Will 2x8GB RAM be good, or will that also make it slower?

Why hasnt anyone said its been proven that having mor than like 8GB of ram actually decreases your games performance.

People have linked and talked about it on here at length and basacaly what we have seen is that more than 8/16GB of Ram actually drops game performance.

Granted its only like 3-5FPS just saying. also 8GB would have been plenty for you. probbly should drop back to 8/16GB and get 1866MHz Ram.

hofuldig

Because a 3- 5 frame drop from a GTX 680 is gonna be around a 1% to 2% difference.

Also, his concern was compatibility, not value. He could get 95% of that system's performance for 80% of the price if he just dropped one tier down on most components. But thats his choice.