SLI is more than one video card. Usually added later to add 50% more graphics performance.

Yeah, future proofing has been out the window on the intel platform for quite a while unless you upgrade every year. But those of us with a more sensible upgrade path always needs to get a new motherboard, processor, and occasionally memory. DDR4 is slated to arrive with the new processors, so goodbye DDR3 we hardly new you.

So id suggest you get the Xeon E3-1230V3 instead of 4770K - its 1:1 same cpu, except it doesnt have integrated graphics card nor can you overclock it -> but its cheaper.

I personally think SLI/crossfire are bad ideas. Especially for futureproofing. its simple and better value to just buy next gen GPU later on. less trouble. Can also get some money back by selling the old GPU.

But how about the case, do you have any particular reason to get ATX size over smaller ITX?
So what would you use the second PCIe slot for if not for other GPU? 99% do not need it.

What do you need the 2 extra memory slots for? save few bucks?

And they are NOT too expensive, nor the cases.

I am gaming on one myself. Bitfenix Prodigy. not the smallest ITX, but can fit anything there i could ever want.

Mine has a wireless card, but there are some people that do not like onboard sound. Some people use video capture cards. I could use one of those USB wireless adapters, but I find their range and bandwith is crippled and the last one I had didn't start with windows half the time.

Memory slots: if price drops to dirt cheap levels I will be buying an additional set.

Case: the last ITX I built required a non-standard power supply. I do not like that at all.

I agree; ITX is for applications that require a case too small for microATX and can be contained completely on the motherboard and a small-form-factor GPU. Otherwise, it is more expensive than microATX, and the need for proprietary or micro power supplies in ITX cases completely defeats any high-performance uses. Need to add a NIC or a sound card or a Firewire port or a capture card to an ITX case? Forget it.

MicroATX is good if you do not need SLI, Crossfire, or a lot of expansion slots. But there are not many good microATX motherboards being built now. It's a good choice if you are building an AMD FM2 system. But not for LGA 1150.

I cannot find fault with the OP's decision to use a full-size ATX motherboard. The one he chose is excellent.

I'm learning some interesting things here, thanks to all for posting.

With regard to the Xeon E3-1230 V3 processor, it is $96.00 cheaper on the site i am buying the system. If not overclocking is the only issue here, i should buy it?

I also like the idea of Crossfire - when i feel the pressure to upgrade again, i can learn how to do it, buy the same (old by then) graphics card which should be very cheap and away i go for another couple of years!

Edit: I wonder if crossfire is the reason so many people are buying the 2G graphics not the 4G.... i should do that too?

Alot of recommendations you got tend to go for overclocking.

If you want to do this you will need a better CPU cooler than the boxed one, if you dont want to overclock, you could go for a way cheaper motherboard and a cheaper CPU (without the K) or the Xeon 1230 v3 which is even cheaper and only a bit slower.
The saved money I would put into a bigger SSD as the ones with lower capacity usually tend to be alot slower in writing compared to the higher capacity and SSDs go down in price alot lately. Especially the brand new Crucial 550 looks quite promising.

So in that case what i am looking for is a system that does not need to entertain overclocking and it does not require any superfluous capabilities aside from crossfire, but at the same time is very close to as powerful as my stated system?

I may also like to have capacity to put faster RAM in the future, but that is not very essential.

Recommendations?

Overclocking is ONLY for power users for whom overclocking is within their comfort zone. If it is not, and you have said it is not, nobody has any business telling you that you should, and you should stop listening to those people.

Even if you are not overclocking, questions like "do I need an aftermarket cooler" and "what motherboard chipset is best for what I want to do" are valid.

Stock coolers (the ones that come with the CPU in a boxed set) are the minimum the manufacturer can get away with. They are good enough to run the CPU at its stated clock speed and power, in an ordinary home or office environment. But they are also cheap, flimsy, and noisy. Intel's "pushpin" design is especially troublesome; sometimes it is hard to mount, and it often makes you feel like you're about to crack your motherboard trying.

For Intel sockets, an inexpensive cooler of a design that has a backplate is a good investment in peace of mind and ease of assembly even if you are not going to overclock.

Intel motherboards are available with a bewildering variety of chipsets. The chipset determines things like how many PCI-Express lanes are available to the expansion slots, what version and how many USB connectors you can have, as well as whether the motherboard will do SLI or Crossfire or overclocking.

For Haswell (LGA 1150) CPUs, the compatible chipsets are:

H81: bare minimum, for low-cost systems only. Only 6 PCI-Express 2.0 lanes for peripherals. No PCI-e 3.0 at all. Only 2 RAM slots.

B85, Q85: step up for low-cost systems. Adds PCI-e 3.0, 2 more PCI-e 2.0 lanes, 2 more USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 ports. 4 RAM slots.

Q87, H87: another step up for low-cost systems. More USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 ports (6 of each).

Z87: preferred for high-performance systems. Supports 2 or 3 PCI-e 3.0 slots for SLI or Crossfire.

For a system you do not intend to expand, especially since you are reusing older disks that won't gain from SATA 3.0, motherboards with B85 and Q85 chipsets are usually the best value.

The Xeon E3-1230 is a good choice for an 8-hyperthread CPU without the useless integrated graphics. $96 difference is a very good deal indeed.

The problem with doing SLI or Crossfire later is they require a pair of similar or identical graphics cards. If you figure on going SLI next year or later, the graphics card you have now will be out of date and hard to find a match for.

Anyway, 2GB vs. 4GB is simply a question of cost. 4GB of GDDR5 is more expensive, and it makes the card more expensive. It's mostly important if you are going to run very high display resolutions, like 2560x1440.

Thanks for that information, i think i understand enough to list an alternative system, i will go and work on that right now.

Ok i checked it out and honestly, I did not really find alternatives i liked where the price difference was significant enough to bother changing it.

So far with advice here, i have changed the power supply and the CPU, so that looks like it i think?

Ah what the heck, changing Graphics to Gigabyte Geforce GTX770 OC Edition 2GB Graphic Card GV-N770OC-2GD
(with the 4G RAM one, i'm probably paying for extra RAM i will never utelize)

Total price now AUD $1500

Edit: oh forgot to change the SSD, ok i'm off again.....

ok, here it is:

CPU = Intel Xeon Quad core E3-1230V3 3.3G LGA1150 - BX80646E31230V3 $299

GRAPHICS = Gigabyte Geforce GTX770 OC Edition 2GB Graphic Card GV-N770OC-2GD $429

MOTHERBOARD = ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard - Z87 Extreme4 $189

RAM = Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4G) 1600Mhz DDR3 CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 $115

PSU = Antec EA-650 Platinum Power Supply - EA-650 $138

HDD = Samsung 840 EVO Series 250GB SSD MZ-7TE250BW $189

CASE = Aerocool Strike X One ATX Case - Strike One $65

OS = Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM - GFC-02050 $115


GRAND TOTAL = AUD $1539.00

Seems to be looking good now?

I am not sure about the case - i could not verify compatibility?

Compatibility is not usually an issue with cases. An ATX case, ATX motherboard, and ATX12V or EPS12V power supply are made to go together without any hassles.

It becomes a question when you have a combination like a small case and a large graphics card, or you have an especially bulky CPU cooler or water cooling system. Or sometimes the case is designed so badly that disk drives interfere with the graphics card.

There are a few models of the "Strike X One". None will raise a compatibility issue.

Glad about that, because the Antec cases of similar price look exceedingly dull.

Altogether i like it more :)

One thing you could think of is putting another 2TB or even more HDD in to boot from the SSD and have the programs and games you use most on the SSD and install the others on the HDD. My steam library alone is 1,5TB and I dont even play much ;)