Will this SLI system fit?

[DaxInside]

Hi gents

Im new to these forums and close to ordering my PC. These forums are a great resource for pcspecialists, im impressed!

Below is my suggested system. My main question is do you think I can swap the 570's in sli for the phantom models made by Gainward?
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1280...5-gpu-750mhz-shader-1600mhz-480-cores-dp-hdmi

Its listed as taking up 2.5 slots rather than the usual 2 and I cant find any links to people that have used them in SLI in the r3 case.

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN R3 - BLACK PEARL CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 PRO (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s, CrossFireX™ & SLI
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2nd Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1.5TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1502FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
1010W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£99)
Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium (£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
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,412.00 including VAT and delivery.

My pc use is gaming. Im undecided weather to get a 27" 3d monitor or 3x 24" 3d monitors. Either way ill need some grunt which I think this system will provide.

All comments welcome. Thank you.

 

[SrgColman]

I'm sure PCS will let you purchase the cards and send them to them to be part of your computer. But contact them to be sure.

Also, if you are going with the i7-2600k, don't you want PCS to overclock it for you in the overclock section, where you will also be asked to select some Thermal paste to go with your machine.

 

[DaxInside]

I havn't seen the overclock section, must have over looked it. Im not sure I want more heat in that system as it'll be pretty cramped.

Ive emailed PCS about sending them the cards but first I need to make sure the case and motherboard can take 2 x 2.5 slot cards.

EDIT: Found the overclocked PC's. Doesn't seem to be any more expensive. Nice.

 

[DaxInside]

Another seperate question as I dont know much about motherboards.

Ive read that if you add certain number of devices into PCIe slots then they slow down from 16x.

So if I have SLI and a sound card will I lose the 16x speed?

What happens if that speed is reduced?

 

[Josh]

Another seperate question as I dont know much about motherboards.

Ive read that if you add certain number of devices into PCIe slots then they slow down from 16x.

So if I have SLI and a sound card will I lose the 16x speed?

What happens if that speed is reduced?

It will run at 8x8x in SLI which is a lower bandwidth, but will virtually make no difference to gaming. I am also going to get the 570 in SLI as it only just performs under 580 and 590 SLI, yet an awful lot cheaper. By the way have you thought of investing in an SSD?

 

[DaxInside]

Im surprised to hear it makes virtually no difference considering its less than half the max speed. Is the rest just head room?

Im not sold on SSD. I have one in my laptop which makes it nice and quick on boot up but once a game is running it does nothing. IMO they r far to expensive to be worth it.

570 in SLI is gonna rock

 

[DaxInside]

After looking a bit more into the 570's Ive decided I dont really need the phantom models as the 570 is a lot quieter than the 480 I have now anyway.

Please check over my final rig and leave comments if you have any:

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN R3 - BLACK PEARL CASE

Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz @ max 4.80GHz)

Motherboard
ASUS® P8P67 PRO (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s, CrossFireX™ & SLI

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

Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

2nd Graphics Card
1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1.5TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1502FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£48)

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

Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W TX SERIES (TX850) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£99)

Processor Cooling
COOLIT ECO A.L.C (ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER) (£49)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium (£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

Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

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

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

Quantity
1

Price: £1,474.00 including VAT and delivery.

My main consideration is the PSU. I can't decide if I should get a more powerful one for when I upgrade the GPU's in a year or 2's time. Does the power requirement go up each time a new generation of GPU's come out?

Is the Corsair pro series worth the extra money and would I be better with the cheaper but more powerful 1010w model?

Would I be better off with a different motherboard considering the cards Ive chosen? I don't know much about Mobo's.

Also wondering what its like running an overclocked CPU for an extended amount of time. Ive not overclocked anything before and don't want to worry when I leave it running over night etc.

Thank you.