Building again after 15 year vacation

[sv odyssey]

It has been a while since I last built. I would like advice on the following build:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sODm

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($78.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB Video Card ($231.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill BlackHawk ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On ihes112-04 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($54.99 @ Newegg)
OS: Microsoft Windows 8 Full (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1260.87

Budget - $1250 - $1350 w/o monitors

Use:
General Office Use (word/excel/pp/access/email)
Skype (will buy webcam/microphone)
Home Entertainment (videos, music, web video)
Light photo editing
Gaming (Skyrim, Civ5)

Expectation - Build lasts 4-7 years

Couple of Questions:

Opinion on Optical Drive - There are so many to choose from. Want Blu-ray playback for Home Entertainment. Doubtful I will record to Blu-ray. Currently don't care about 3D. Should I? Never purchased this brand before.

Question on Power Supply - with an increase in gaming, might purchase a second graphics card. Is this PSU OK? Too Much/Too Little? FYI: May also add additional drives as media library grows

General Knowledge Question - Do most components ship with cables, etc? Just wondering if I need to buy power and data cables for peripherals?

Opinion - What about the thermal grease for the CPU cooler, use what comes in the box or buy something else?

Are there changes that might make sense because of known reliability or compatibility issues?

 

[TheBigTroll]

will not perform that well in games or heavy applications after 3 years. heck you wont even be able to play medium settings for the most part. nothing will.

the GPU as of now should max out what you play but will not max out lets say bf4 or crysis 3 that are coming up

use what comes in the box for thermal paste. its usually good enough. max difference might be 2c

everything comes in the box. just need a good screwdriver

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sPuj

 

[smorizio]

with power supply look st the 12v plus wattage and amps. take the wattage of the cpu and gpu and add them together. make sure you stay in the 50-70 percent of the rated output of the power supply.you never want to run the ps near it max rated load.
the ssd i would use a intel or 830/840 ssd. a lot of 3 party ssd are just rebranded crap. cant get help or new firmware. ssd if the firmware is buggy you can end up with a brick. with cd-drives there two types now reads and burners. readers will just read disks.the burners can burn data disk. the blue ray burners will be able to read audio and dvd. but also burn audio and data disk. not just blue ray disk. if you cant burn disk..then you have to use usb sticks..online backup or another hard drive to make a disk image of your drive or data. when i do i build i order a spare tube of thermal paste..9.00. a box of case screws.. 10.00. also look at the case and how the drives are mounted. may need to buy longer sata data cables that are straight on both end not bent (45 deg). the only other cable that may be needed is the pci 4/8 pin power extender cable. depending on the power supply and case some of the 4/8 pin cables end up a few inches short. happened to me when i used an antec one case. with ram try and use a brand that has low profile fins. tall fins and cpu heat sinks dont work together.

 

[sv odyssey]

Thanks to all for info. Will go for the extra screws.

 

[TheBigTroll]

you probably dont even need extra screws unless you lose them

 

[sv odyssey]

According to my wife, if it's not attached to me, I lose it. How do I go about closing out this thread?

 

[TheBigTroll]

the mods can do it

 

[aquendix]

imo for that config i would go HD7970