Advice on ~$900 PC

[TLoras]

Approximate Purchase Date: Probably very soon.

Budget Range: Around $900 after rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: x264 encoding, movies, light gaming, general usage like internet/homework.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, OS.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I'm using newegg, but I haven't really checked other sites.

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: Not sure about this, but I guess you can tell by the parts I've chosen.

Overclocking: Maybe.

SLI or Crossfire: No.

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard -- $121.99

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 -- $219.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL -- $51.99

GIGABYTE GV-R687OC-1GD Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity -- $189.99, $159.99 after rebate

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive x2 -- $59.99 x2

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply -- $139.99, $94.99 after rebate

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case -- $59.99

SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Combo Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - OEM -- $59.99

 

[abekl]

I also do alot of x264 encoding and have a very similar system (i5 2500k, Radeon 6870, same power supply, etc..) and I'm very happy with the level of performance.

 

[flashfir]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aoqm-6PvQW_OdDRiX2l3clBhUkcxc0R5cU83SFk0VWc&hl=en_US
This is my $900 build I've been working on past week or so.

Comparatively your build its allright I guess. His has more powerful graphics card and you're paying retail price for your, very solid mind you, choices in hard drives and psu. When I say 'allright' I'm running on slickdeal prices, so I'm probably a little more anal about prices than most.

I'd drop the 2nd hard drive unless you need raid 0. You could slickdeals.net your components to find cheaper prices.

8gb of 1600RAM @ 1.5v should run $40 if you choose to wait and try and find deals.
Superbiz has i5-2500k for 200 after $15 coupon until 9/19 i think.

 

[karma831]

$945.90 --> $900.90 AR

- Added a Blu ray burner instead of reader because its only $10 more
- Added an aftermarket CPU cooler because you might want to OC (you chose an unlocked CPU)
- Free bat man game and norton
- Free shipping w/ promo code EMCKAJE23, ends 9/21 (for the burner)