So I am looking for a new gaming rig to last me 3-5 years. The setup that I am looking at is as follows.

CPU: Intel i7 980 = $641.60 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-980-Proce...3930&sr=1-2

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B = $97.98 http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-...d_bxgy_e_text_c

MoBo: ASUS Socket 1366/Intel X58/Quad SLI & Quad CrossFireX/SATA3.0 = $209.98 http://www.amazon.com/X58-CrossFireX-SAT...9032&sr=1-4
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 580 3072 MB GDDR5 PCB PCI Express 2.0 = $601.37 http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Mini-HDMI-Lif...4660&sr=1-2

HD: Western Digital Blacks 1TB = $119.99 http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Ca...4808&sr=1-1

OS: Windows 7 64bit = $120.56 http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64...9303&sr=8-1

Drive: Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black) = $17.99 http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_b

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case with SuperSpeed USB 3.0 = $129.99 http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Adva...6230&sr=1-4

PSU: Corsair HX Professional Series 750-Watt 80 = $134.99 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029F2...;pf_rd_i=507846


Total = 2074.45

Part of the plan is to at some point in the future obtain a second graphics card when the price drops to an acceptable level.

Does any of this sound like a good idea? Is there any obvious error in the current set up or with the idea of adding a second graphics card?

For a gaming machine, you can save 400$ by going with an i5 2x00k CPU (like the 2500k). You'll need a 1155 socket motherboard, but the Z77 chipset is the most recent chipset, which will give you a bit more future-proofing. The liberated 400$ can be spent on a better graphics card and maybe an SSD. A good cooler, a little overclock to ~4.8 GHz and you will be smiling.

Yeah I definitely concur with the Ivybridge Sandybridge (i5-2500k) and socket 1155 motherboard recomendation, I moved to that combo from an i7-920@4ghz (which is not far off that 980) and really saw great improvement on CPU bound games like FSX, Arma2 etc.

On top of that the Ivybridge Sandybridge CPUs overclock better, run cooler and draw less power.

Agree with above CPU suggestions. i5-2500K OC is pretty much all one needs for high end gaming. Heck, my $190 OC AMD FX8150 is enough (though some would disagree ). I'm NOT suggesting you buy one -- I would if money were an issue -- but, you're going high end. Anyhow, I agree, get the i5 or i7-2600K (or Ivy Bridge equivalent) and save the money towards the GPU.

The GTX 580 is sorely out of date. Only buy one if one cannot afford one of the cards below.

GTX680, 670, HD7970 are all better. Any of those will do for a standard resolution monitor (1920x1080 or 1920x1200 or less).

If thinking 3 or 5 years ahead, then one might want to be ready for multi monitor gaming (Eyefinity or Nvidia's version). Then GTX680 or 690 (very expensive). HD7970 nearly always wins (over GTX680) at very high resolutions for multi-monitor (and 30" high-res single monitors). If a performance fanatic, then long term one may want SLI or CF.

750W is enough PSU even for SLI and CF. But, if SLI is definitely down the road, 850 would provide margin. You should be able to get a good one for $100 or less on sale at Newegg -- get single rail.

HAF932 is a great case. I have 3 HAF922. But, there is a new kid on the block -- HAF-XM. Being a new sought after product, its slightly over priced when not on sale with free shipping. May be worth a look.

HAF-XM

Yeah I completely agree on the GPU, a GTX 680 or HD7970 is a much better value for a new system than a 3GB 580 wich still go for $500+.

Also I noticed that in my previous post I had accidentally said Ivybridge instead of Sandy bridge... right now the new Ivybridge CPUs don't overclock well due to heat, so the Sandybridge 2500k/2600k/2700k are definitely the sweetspot, they overclock easy and give great performance, my 2500k is running at 4.8 on air cooler with nothing but a simple BIOS tweak.

...because Intel chose a cheap TIM (thermal paste) to put between the CPU and the heat spreader.

Thanks for the advise guys.

Im an AMD fanboy, but i also wouldnt pay $600 for a CPU when I have cheaper options that give me the same performance in the tasks I do.

i5 2500K should do the same thing for $400 Less,

$600 for an 580 is also a bit steep, get a 680 for the same if not cheaper, then down the road, grab a 4GB 680.

I wouldn't spend nearly that, I agree with Skate. You're spending top dollar, but I don't think it's going to be much more future proof than one you spend half of that on. I could still be running my AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000, which is about 5 years old, gaming-wise. Unless you do a good bit of rendering and compiling, the cpu just isn't the biggest concern. While the Intel cpu's are the current favorite, I don't think that cpu will do anything for you that a $150 AMD won't do---unless you have other uses for the pc that haven't been mentioned.

That video card could very well be outdated in 2-3 years regardless. Might as well spend half the money and buy another card down the road, as already planned--just do it as a replacement instead of going to dual cards. That would be more reliable than running dual cards (not all games respond well to that) and would keep you reliably on top of the tech curve. Doing that alone every 2-3 years could get much more than 5 years out of the rest of the rig. Instead of $600 now and $250 in a year or so for a 2nd copy of the card, spend $300 now and $300 again in 2-3 years for a replacement. A lot of overall savings, more reliable and updating your card keeps you on top of current technology. The only reason I'd possibly do what you mention is if you plan to run triple screens.
It's no fun to buy a nice new Directx 10 card just to have 11 come out a few months later. And DX12 later this year or next year. Tech moves fast in this area, planning on obsolescence is better than throwing money at the pc to bulk up and still fall behind.

Add a second "green" hard drive for backing up. Speed isn't a big issue for backup.

Just my 2˘

Yeah I am waiting to see what Intel does to resolve that, seeing that some of the guys on AVSIM have gotten great FSXMark11 performance once the TIM is replaced and they can overclock them and combine it with a PCIe3 video card like the GTX 680.

Thankfully my MB supports Ivybridge so one may be in my future sometime down the road as an upgrade if it ever makes sense, for now I am very happy with my 2500k especially at the $220 price point.