Considering an Epoch

So the other day I realized that my current desktop is over 3 years old and sporting a 2.6gh 1st gen i7 with only 6 gigs of 1066mhz ram. Oddly enough, the SLI 285s are still halfway decent, but certainly not sufficient for the most recent games. I decided that it might be time to consider looking at a replacement...

I'm looking for a machine that can handle both games at ultra settings on 1920x1200 and CPU intensive computations, and this is what I've come up with so far. I'm still not sure what to do for graphics though. I've had mixed experiences with SLI, some games use it, many more seem not to, and more than a few run like ass if I don't disable it. I'm also not entirely sure if I want to overclock the CPU to Stage 2: 4.5ghz, or just leave it at 4.0ghz.


Budget:
2000-2500, the lower the better

Expectations:
Remain useful and relatively powerful for 3-4 years. Dual 24 inch displays at 1920x1200, single monitor gaming.

Usage:
Gaming and academic research (numerical and virtual simulation, data analysis, GPGPU programming)

Special Needs:
SSD OS/app drive, 1TB+ data drive, 16 gigs of ram, no silly windows or case lights, as quiet and cool as possible.

Saved Ticket #: 721673

Specifications:

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Corsair Carbide 300R
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K 3.50 GHz (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core) (Requires Z77 Motherboard)
Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 (Intel Z77 Chipset) (Features Thermal Armor and Thermal Radar) <b></b>
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested) <b></b>
Power Supply: 800W Corsair GS (Dual SLI Compatible)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (120GB Solid State (By: Corsair) (Model: Force GT Series CSSD-F120GBGT-BK) (SATA 6Gbps) <b></b>
Set 1 Raid Options: - No Thanks
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital/Seagate/Hitachi/Samsung (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) <b></b>
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB (Includes PhysX) <b></b>
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 120mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler (High-Performance Edition)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a FrostChill or Sub-Zero LCS Cooling System Selected
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Enhancements: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz <b></b>
Boost Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows 7 CD)
Virus Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty