Some questions about an order about to be placed?!!

[NilSatis]

Hi all, looks like a great forum....am just returning to the world of the pc and gaming following a few years enjoying my xbox 360..I have some questions regarding the spec i am about to buy. I will list it below but i will be mainly gaming, and want a future proof system for the next few years. The spec i am thinking about is below:

Case
COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500 Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6950 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DirectX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable

2nd Graphics Card
NONE

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
NONE

RAID
NONE

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NONE

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£78)

Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER

Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium PCI Express (£59)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Modem
NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND

Floppy Disk Drive
NONE

Firewire & Video Editing
NONE

TV Card
NONE

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Monitor
IIYAMA E2472HD 24" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£169)

2nd Monitor
NONE

DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables
NONE

Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision
NONE

Keyboard & Mouse
NONE

Mouse
NONE

Speakers
PHILIPS SPA2602 5.1 Surround Speaker System (Special Offer) (£45)

Webcam
NONE

Headsets (VOIP)
NONE

Surge Protection
NONE

Printer
NONE

External Hard Drive
NONE

Home Installation
NONE

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

But i have some questions:

1) Can anyone recommend a better spec for what i want, the budget is at its limit!?
2) If I go with this lot, is the Iiyama monitor up to gaming?
3) Would i be better off trying to connect this lot to my samsung 40 inch lcd?
4) I used to be an nvidia man....but cant justify the extra price of the 570...would the 560ti be as good as the 2GB Radeon or am i doing the right thing for gaming at higher resolution?
5) Is that speaker set any good? I have a great panasonic home theatre system that I use for my xbox on above samsung....would i be better off using that, or would using both be a problem connection wise; use opticals for xbox 360?
6) Is the soundblaster necessary?
7) Why do i have so many questions.....this all used to be easy lol. :wheelchair:

Thanks for any who have time to answer, quick replies are good :winkiss:

 

[Gorman]

1) Can anyone recommend a better spec for what i want, the budget is at its limit!?
2) If I go with this lot, is the Iiyama monitor up to gaming?
3) Would i be better off trying to connect this lot to my samsung 40 inch lcd?
4) I used to be an nvidia man....but cant justify the extra price of the 570...would the 560ti be as good as the 2GB Radeon or am i doing the right thing for gaming at higher resolution?
5) Is that speaker set any good? I have a great panasonic home theatre system that I use for my xbox on above samsung....would i be better off using that, or would using both be a problem connection wise; use opticals for xbox 360?
6) Is the soundblaster necessary?
7) Why do i have so many questions.....this all used to be easy lol.

1) Its pretty solid, most changes would be based on personal opinion, such as going Nvidia over ATI etc. Its great as it stands though.
2)Yes, i use a 24" model for gaming and its great.
3)Thats down to personal opinion, i hook mine up to display through my monitor and tv, i game on the monitor though, anything above 28" i find too big for sitting close and gaming.
4)Again personal preference, Nvidia all the way.
5) depends on your speaker setup, it should work and i would be tempted to use the existing setup, if it isnt up to scratch place an additional order for the set in the spec.
6)not from a gaming sound point of view, the extra connectivity might be something you need to hook up your current setup

 

[Phoenix]

4) I used to be an nvidia man....but cant justify the extra price of the 570...would the 560ti be as good as the 2GB Radeon or am i doing the right thing for gaming at higher resolution?

The HD6950 (2GB) is better than the 560Ti especially at higher resolutions with the extra VRAM available.

 

[NilSatis]

Thanks for the replies guys, brilliant

I think I will go ahead and place my order....gonna go for the spec i mentioned. Looking forward to getting it already.

Cheers

Pete

Nb. Will post back when i have her all set up and running. Thanks again.

 

[NilSatis]

Just ordered and paid for.....:clap:

Just need some games to test the beast out now!

Thanks again for the help guys....

Pete