G-Rig-3 (Final Components)

3. Final components

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Processor

My biuld is centered around the i5 750. So no contenders here.

Intel core i5 750.

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Motherboard

I wanted to buy the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2. But it is not available anywhere on S.P road. So I went with the second option Asus P7P55D. Which is better as I mentioned above because of the following.

Pluses
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* More expansion options. I can also use my wi-fi card in the last PCI slot with out concerns of a tight fit and the wi-fi card touching the Graphic card.
* 12+2 phase power design. Better over-clocking head room.
* Has 4 fan headers. I can use Q-Fan for automatic fan control.
* Cooling for power circuitry and nice looking heat-sinks.

Negative
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* It does not have a coaxial SPDIF out. There is only an optical SPDIF out. I don't use the coaxial out now and may not need one in the future also. So this should not be a problem for me.

So, I chose
Asus P7P55D

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RAM

My first preference is G.Skill RipJaws F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL. It was available and I got it.


G.Skill RipJaws F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

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GPU

At CES 2010 nvidia showed off working fermi based GPU, but there is no word officially on the release date or availability. I did not want to wait longer.
I was inclined towards the 5770. On the day I was shopping, XFX 5770, was priced at 10500, this is rev1.0, which I did not want to get after reading this

Warning XFX 5770 (Now only using XFX's custom PCB) - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net.

The older rev A.0 was available for 11000. The sapphire one also costs same.

The GTX 260 is slightly better than 5770. I had two options, Zotac GTX 260 ^2 and XFX GTX 260 XXX core edition. Both had free game bundle, the former came with GRID and was priced at 10500 and the later with Far Cry 2
and was priced at 11000. Both are SP216. There is no game bundled with any of the 5770 cards.

Overall the XFX GTX 260 xxx core edition is a good option considering my requirements and preferences as I mentioned in the tentative components section. I get a card 10% factory over-clocked, it is also a
core edition. Plus I get Far Cry 2 which I wanted to play and 5 year warranty. Another bonus is the card is sealed and I am the first to open the box. The rest of them were all opened boxes.

XFX GTX260 XXX core edition.
(Core: 640/Shader: 1380/Mem: 1000)

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SMPS

Corsair vx550.

Please read to the tentative components section, to know why I went for this.
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HDD

Both the 640GB blue and black were not available and I did not want to stretch my budget for 1GB Black. So
I bought

WD5001AALS(500 GB Black)
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UPS

APC 650VA
I just wanted basic protection and a couple of minutes to shutdown the machine. After reading a lot of reviews and some research on power usage of my potential rig, I felt that 650VA would be good enough, as I did not want to spend 6k on UPS.

Read the stability testing section to know if I am correct in selecting these and if my requirements are met.
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