Is it better to go for 2 Xeon x5650's or 1 x5690 for now ?

[watercooled]

1000w is easily enough for any configuration you have considered, way overkill for most.

[sithlord3k]

Cool, that's even better !

[Pob255]

Well for the parts your currently looking at, an i7 980, gtx 580 and half a dozen hard drives I'd say go lower wattage higher quality
750ish will be more than enough.

Say the very very very good seasonic X 760w http://www.scan.co.uk/products/760w-...h-vrm-the-best!
review here http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory5&reid=235
or the corsair AX 750w http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-...-12v-120mm-fan
review here http://www.kitguru.net/components/po...pply-review/5/ (note the efficiency numbers will be higher as kitguru is uk based 240v mains get better efficiency than 120v mains)

[sithlord3k]

Well for the parts your currently looking at, an i7 980, gtx 580 and half a dozen hard drives I'd say go lower wattage higher quality
750ish will be more than enough.

Say the very very very good seasonic X 760w http://www.scan.co.uk/products/760w-...h-vrm-the-best!
review here http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...tory5&reid=235
or the corsair AX 750w http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-...-12v-120mm-fan
review here http://www.kitguru.net/components/po...pply-review/5/ (note the efficiency numbers will be higher as kitguru is uk based 240v mains get better efficiency than 120v mains)

But. I'm going to be running 2 GTX 580s...?

[Pob255]

Personally I wouldn't, get one see what it's like before you get a 2nd

If you do have your heart set on sli gtx580 then the 850w models should be fine with a single cpu
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-...-eps-12v-x-850
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/850w-...-12v-120mm-fan

I'd only go to a 1000w really for the dual cpu + dual gpu you where first looking at.

edit: the HX is good it's just that the AX is better

[sithlord3k]

Well, if I can run my rig on 850w and save a few pennies too, then I'm all for it. I just wanted to be sure that there's enough juice for all the gpus + hdds and blur ray rewriter.

[sithlord3k]

I'm not too sure about the Hazro monitor now. After reading about quite a few people having problems, and the Hazpro sounding too good to be true, I'm thinking of maybe going for the Dell U2711.

[Platinum]

Dont get a cheap TN monitor if your splashing out on that kit, why spend all that on the kit if you get a monitor that cant display the colours correctly and has poor viewing angles?
I always say the two most important parts of a system are the PSU and monitor.

[sithlord3k]

Dont get a cheap TN monitor if your splashing out on that kit, why spend all that on the kit if you get a monitor that cant display the colours correctly and has poor viewing angles?
I always say the two most important parts of a system are the PSU and monitor.

err... I think you miss-read my post. I'm going for the Dell U2711, it's an IPS panel...

[watercooled]

I have it's little brother, the 23" one and it's fantastic. Granted you can get more expensive panels but the value for money you get with this range is outstanding.

[sithlord3k]

Sorry, 1 more question guys:

Should I be able to fit 2 Gainward 3GB GeForce GTX 580 Phantoms in sli on the Asus Sabertooth X58 ?

[Skulltrail]

The Phantoms are tripple slot, so you would need to place them in the 1st and 4th PCI slot, so it wouldn't work on the Sabertooth but it would be fine on any of the Gigabytes.

EDIT: the Phantoms are fantastic cards though

[sithlord3k]

Erm ok... I've never done sli before, so forgive my noobish question, but (apart from the sabertooth) all the mobos around the £150 (Gigabyte as you suggested) basically only give me the option to run one of the Phantoms in a PCI-E x16 and the other in a PCI-E x8 (because of the size of the card)(if I understand it correctly). I'm assuming that this will have some kind of effect on performance ?

[watercooled]

No not really, running current cards in x8 doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference to gaming performance.

[sithlord3k]

Cool!

I'm stuck now, I'd read about the Sabertooth earlier this year, when I was thinking about an i7 build. So I'm a bit perplexed about what can suffice as an alternative which is just as good, if not better, for around the same price range if possible. Hmm....

[sithlord3k]

Hmm... I just had a word with Scan (technical support), and they seem to think that 2 of the Gainward 3GB cards will fit onto the Sabertooth.