Advice on build, 2560x1600 setup, $1500

[panzerfan]

The system is to drive a 3008WFP and a 2408WFP. The use will be multimedia/browsing, gaming, and some photoshop, any maybe 1 VM. I am not looking for crazy full eye candy, just playable 30 fps at 2560x1600. Since I am not a hardcore FPSer, so response time is not vital.

OCing ambition wise, reach 4.4GHz or so without the whole rig sound like a barnstorming cropduster. I may SLI at a later date, or have a second card used for PhysX or something like that (assuming if more titles actually use PhysX.) I originally think that 760W might be sufficient... anyways.

I want to hear if I should bother with Ivy or just hunt down some Sandy Bridge 2600K Z68 setup instead, since PCI-E 3.0 is really not important for now, and that mobo+cpu as it is takes 40% of the total system expense...

EDIT: I read in some sources where it's recommended to get the 4GB v. of GTX 670 given the resolution of the 30"er. Is that really something I should consider? If so, would I have a harder time hunting down a matching card to SLI with later down the road?

EDIT2: Is 256GB for SSD better off for me, or should I go with 128GB and spend the remainder on yet another HDD? I really can't make a call on this...

3770K
Sabertooth Z77
Corsair H100
GTX 670
*Xonar D2X (from old rig)
Corsair HX 850W
16GB 2x8GB 1600 DDR3, Ripjaw
Samsung 380 256GB as Boot drive
*1x 1TB WD Black (from old rig)
*1x 1TB WD Green (from old rig)
Corsair 600T white

[dandelioneater]

Your specs look good. If you can find a good deal on Z68 stuff then that may be a good route to take to save some money. The Z77 sabertooth is a great board though.

[Chareon]

Personally I'd say go with the 256GB SSD for sure, however I don't even have a HDD in my desktop, so that is probably influencing my SSD considerations.

As for the 2GB vs 4GB 670, from what I've read, at least with current games the 670 tends to run out of actual processing power before it runs into issues with memory at that res. This will be especially true if you turn down/off AA, as it is one of the biggest memory users.

[Dzzope]

I would stick to the 256GB ssd.. even if you won't fill it with your programs it's nice to have some wiggle room..
and SSD's have come down in price ALOT recently so they will probably level off around where they are or slightly lower..

For that res grab a 680 or 7970 if it's in your budget.. again, you may not need it all now but it's not leaving you much wiggle room if you go 670.. Though it will suffice.
As said above, it's not worth getting a 4GB 670 as you run out of power before buffer.. and it makes the card very close to 680/7970 in price.

From what I've seen of pricing, new sandy or Ivy are VERY close in price... a sandy chip will oc more but the ivy will give you better performance clock for clock..
If you only want the 4.5 GHZ point I would go Ivy.. if you want more go sandy and get 5GHZ

[Stukka]

Im not sure if the difference between i5 and i7 matter to you but you could get a 3570k for similar performance and $100 cheaper. From what ive read its a great overclocker too. Use that $100 towards more gpu as that is what matters most for your build.

[panzerfan]

What I've been reading suggest that 670 is 95% of a 680, and I would need a 690 to see a true doubling in pure rendering power...
I know that a board such as the Z77 Sabertooth would work up to 2 way SLI at x8, but I can technically get 3-way/4-way boards such as the Z77 FTW.

This begs the question: Is it really sensible to rock 3x 670 say in 2013/14, for a non-bencher such as I?
3x2560x1440 (most economical of >1200p) can be powered by this, but anything beyond 2-way SLI is not terrifically efficient...

about i5 vs i7. I am still sitting on the fence. I don't really do that much encoding or multi-threaded work for one. Come to think of it, when I look at the Sandy Bridge performance, I actually feel that maybe get some lower-priced SB and then wait for Haswell is better off...