Multiple questions regarding this gaming system

[Ken812]

I've spent the last couple days pouring over various forums trying to figure out what I need for maxing out games such as FSX, maybe leaving it open for future additions such as another gpu, and also not buying parts that are too powerful for my needs. So my questions are:

By the time the computer warrants another 4gb 680, would the other components require updating anyway, making the option to sli irrelevant?

I'm looking to max out FSX, total war titles, ...will this spec be ok for this and future titles, or should i go with the 3570k for future overclocking?

Is there any point in getting the 3770 for the additional power/future proofing, or is the use of more than four cores in gaming just too far away?

I'm at my budget limit, so overall what are your thoughts on the system?

Uses: Gaming (main use) and possibly a small bit of video editing (nothing too serious). Thanks in advance lads!


Case
ZALMAN Z11 PLUS BLACK MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£86)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
2 PORT USB 3.0 INTERNAL PCI-EX CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
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
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (£19)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,239.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-ivy-bridge-pc/A4vsYUtU8T/

 

[Toxophilix]

Well, if you are gaming on a single monitor then I would go for the GTX-670 or the 2GB GTX-680.

The SLI question is a difficult one and hard to predict. I feel that it steers one towards the 670 because that way you have less invested in the original card should you decide, further down that line, that you don't want to add a second one but rather just replace it. At the same time it offers most of the performance of the 680.

The >4 core game question is another hard one. It would be interesting to know what proportion of new PCs are shipping with greater than four cores (physical or virtual). I guess that games will appear to exploit those systems once they become sufficiently widespread. (And, of course, many games are GPU-bound anyway and probably don't use more than two cores. But the Total War series and FSX are as CPU-dependent as anything, afaik.)

I would have thought that the Total War style of game could be amongst the first, though, as they seem to be CPU-bound.