$1500+ System in the works (Opinions)

[jfranc84]

Let me preface this by saying I haven't built a system since before Core2 Duos were being talked about. Any and all advice I could get regarding this build would be appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date: Next 3 Weeks

Budget Range: ~$1500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming , Photoshop, Office,

Parts Not Required: Keyboard/Mouse, OS (W7 Premium 64bit)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com

Country of Origin: United States

Parts Preferences: No brand preference

Overclocking: CPU - Maybe; GPU - Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1080p

Additional Comments: Want to try and keep this system as quiet as possible, while maintaining some power doing it all via space management and air cooling.

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Case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower $59.99

Motherboard: BIOSTAR TP67XE (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 $124.99

PSU: Antec HCG 750w $99.00

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 $44.99

Optical Drive: Asus Blu-Ray Drive $54.99

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB $199.99

Storage: Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB $69.99 (got it on sale a few weeks back)

CPU Cooler: XIGMATEK Durin D982 92mm Rifle $27.99

CPU: Core i5-2500k $219.99

Sound: HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels $73.99

Monitor: ASUS VS 21.5" $154.99

GFX Card: ??? Thinking

EVGA GTX570 HD $329.99

But I am open to suggestions here, $340 is the upper max of my budget here.

Current Build is $1460.89

Purchased some sound dampening materials through AcousticPC.

Any suggestions, improvements would be appreciated.

 

[michxymi]

Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352003

SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151088

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271&Tpk=asrock%20z68%20extreme%203%20gen3

Mushkin Enhanced Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model 996770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095

EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130613

Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CT040G3B5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167045

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=samsung%20spinpoint%20f3%201tb

1124$ without MIR

 

[genghiskron]

case: i love my antec 300 illusion. you may want to add 2 additional 120mm fans to the antec 300, but that can always be done later.
mobo: i dont know much about biostar, but some people really seem to hate them. id go with the similarly priced asrock z68 extreme3:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271&Tpk=z68%20extreme3
id grab this cpu cooler + cpu combo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.728340
the hyper 212 is also a good choice, but this is going to give you the best performance for $30, when you consider the combo.

assuming you are planning to SLI, you will want an 850w psu.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011
id consider a pair of hd6950 2gb's to be a better value:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945

i dont think you need a sound card, but you may be an audiophile

id go bigger with the monitor, although it may help to look at some in person to help you decide.

 

[jfranc84]

michxymi: Thanks for the info. The 40gb SSD won't be enough for my needs as I intend to use it as a home for my OS and applications. Not too hot on that case, any reason why you chose that one?

genghiskron: The graphics card/psu combo i'm looking at now, is strictly for a single gpu setup, sometime in the future I will upgrade the psu and add another GFX card, thinking a year or two down the road, when it becomes a necessity.

Mobo: asrock z68 extreme3, i'll check it out, esp. since both of you recommended it

CPU Cooler:I looked at the hyper 212 as an option, but the durin has a pretty low noise threshold, I may overclock this thing to 4ghz tops.

Sound Card: I may not *need* it, but I love music. (192kbps doesn't cut it for me, I hate warbles and that under-the-sea noise) Don't want to skimp too much here. I'm not exactly an audiphile but dislike bad audio.

Fans: Ordered 2x 120mm Slipstream fans, and 1x 140mm Coolermaster low noise fan. On the same page you are in that regard.

GFX: The core clock on the 6950 is higher than the 570 stock, but would OC'ing the 570 to bring the core up to 800 (if at all possible) be a better bet as far as getting the most value out of the card? How is the noise under load of the 6950?

Thanks again.

 

[jfranc84]

After looking at the case closely, i see why you chose the Fractal Design model, thanks for the heads up!

 

[008Rohit]

Processor : i5 2500K - $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

MoBo : ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271&Tpk=ASRock%20Gen3%20Extreme3

RAM : G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

Hard Disk : Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200rpm - $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=Spinpoint%20F3%201TB

SSD : OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III - $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=swbenfsk1ni6

Graphics : GIGABYTE GV-R697OC-2GD Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 - $360
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125371

Case : COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case - $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

PSU : SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W Modular - $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087&Tpk=Seasonic%20750W

Optical Drive : Asus Blu Ray Drive - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135247

Total : $1376 after rebates

The board has PCIe 3.0 slots and will support future Ivy Bridge processors. The HD 6970 is a beast and can maxx out any games at 1080p alone. If you need more power, you can always add a second one.

 

[michxymi]

michxymi: Thanks for the info. The 40gb SSD won't be enough for my needs as I intend to use it as a home for my OS and applications. Not too hot on that case, any reason why you chose that one?

40GB is for caching. This will give SSD perfomance on your HDD thank to Smart Cache. The main reason you get a Z68 motherboard.

I choose these case because when you need silence it's clearly the winner!

 

[008Rohit]

40GB is for caching. This will give SSD perfomance on your HDD thank to Smart Cache. The main reason you get a Z68 motherboard.

I choose these case because when you need silence it's clearly the winner!

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