Feedback on relatively high-end sexy new build

[14k]

Hi, I've just moved to the US and need to replace all my home office equipment which I sold or gave away before I moved over from the UK. I have been doing research over the last few weeks but still find myself moderately uncertain about a few parts. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date:
Over the next few days

Budget Range:
Would like to keep this under $1500

System Usage from Most to Least Important:
■Home Office: Endless hours of web surfing for research, work, accounts, investment trading, reading. I'll need to be able to multitask with e-mail, reading charts, writing reports, etc.. Will be getting a 24” monitor initially and then another a few months down the line.
■Gaming: I'd like to get into the latest stuff, but my hardcore gaming days are in the past! When I have my dual (maybe 3) monitor setup running I want to be able to play games on one screen, but at the same time be able to keep an eye on my windows desktop on the other screen for messages, alerts, notes, etc.
■Music, movies, video/photo editing

Parts Not Required:
Will be buying keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, etc. seperately.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:
Cheapest and most reliable. Have been using newegg mostly for my research.

Country of Origin:
Texas, USA

Parts Preferences:
The only parts I'm pretty much set on at the moment are: I5-2500k, Mid size tower case, 8GB RAM of some sort, and I think a P67 board.

Overclocking:
More than likely; No

SLI or Crossfire:
Maybe, but not for a few years

Monitor Resolution:
1920x1200. Will be buying a Dell U2412M soon, and 6 months from now possibly another U2412M. If you think this monitor is a mistake please let me know.

Additional Comments:
Would like a quiet, reliable, stable and energy efficient PC as it could possibly be left on for extended periods. Also fairly future proof. Bling is unecessary, but I do like things to look and be neat.


My current thoughts are as followed. I think these parts are compatible but please let me know alternative suggestions.

CPU: 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
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ue&Keywords=(keywords)&Page=57#scrollFullInfo
$220

Motherboard: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265&Tpk=p67%20Extreme4%20Gen3&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=kk1cchrxajmp
$160

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-231-445&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=16#scrollFullInfo
$80

Case: Any suggestions? I would like something clean and compact looking like the Lian Li PC-9F but some of the reviewers are saying the cables for the I/O panel are too short. Also not sure about the PSU on the bottom layout. Will this cause problems with power cables reaching things, etc.? Would also like a case with USB3.0 on the I/O panel.

$140 if Lian Li PC-9F
Also like the look of the Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) at $190, but it looks on the large size with 4 drive bays... confusing as its also mid-size tower.

SSD: OCZ Solid 3 SLD3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227729
$190
Any other 120GB SSD suggestions?

Graphics: MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr II OC GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127564&cm_re=N570GTX_Twin_Frozr_II-_-14-127-564-_-Product
$350
I'm wondering if this is a little overkill at $350? Any other suggestions?

PSU: SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087
$160
Again any other suggestions? I would prefer modular and 750W should future proof me. Is it worth going gold certified over bronze for example. As stated stability and minimising electricity bills are a priority for me.

DVD/BlueRay Drive ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135252
$95
Just picked the first one that seemed to do the job. Will be looking at burning blue-ray discs in future. Any other suggestions please let me know.


Total on this looking at about $1400, with monitor, keyboard, etc.. hopefully can get in around $2000.

Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[starravier]

Meh, your builds fine. the Graphics card isnt really overkill, if ur looking for save money id get a 6950 or 6870 tho. But what you have will work just fine.

For the mobo i'd get a
ASUS P8P67 LE or
MSI Z68MA-G45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel Z68

If your overclocking i'd get a aftermarket cooler

but in all honesty, PC building comes down to preference.

 

[beyblade5566]

How about a Fractal Design case? I think they look nice and clean, but I'm not sure about the actual reviews. Just thought I'd bring it up.

 

[Jds515]

I think the 650D is a good choice for the case. As for the GPU, wouldn't you want to use an AMD card, like a HD 6950, if you want to run multiple monitors without multiple cards in SLI?

 

[kajabla]

^+1. Xfire has better multi-monitor stuff.
I believe you can get perfectly nice BR drives for $65 on Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151222).
At that GPU price point, go 6970.
Yep, you'll need a heatsink. I'd recommend either the Hyper 212+ or the Xigmatek SD1283.

 

[14k]

Many thanks for feed back.

I don't think the suggested Samsung BR drive burns BR discs, just reads them..?

The HD6950 looks like a good alternative and for $50 less. I initially thought going the nVidia/SLI route would be better because of the intel CPU (nVidia works better with Intel and ATI with AMD?) Eyefinity options look good; will go the ATI route

I do like the tidy and compact look of the Fractal cases (especially this one: Fractal Design Arc Midi Black High Performance PC Computer Case w/ USB 3.0 and 3 x Fractal High Performance 140mm fans
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352007)
Only reservation is; is it too small?. I'm hoping i'll just need to use one 5.25" drive bay, but will have at least 3 hdd's inside.

Will I need an aftermarket heatsink, despite not overclocking?

 

[mjmjpfaff]

Case: Silverstone Raven RV03 http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Extended-90-Degree-Motherboard-RV03B-W/dp/B004X19B02/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312856866&sr=8-1 140$ cools better than the haf x thanks to its unique design

it is a full tower though here is anothe case than cools better than the haf x and it is a mid tower- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107&Tpk=rosewill%20blackhawk 100$

Another good option if you like the looks of the fractal cases it the nzxt h2- http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=nzxt+h2 90$ 100$ for the white one shipped at amazon....

i really like your motherboard selection. ready for ivy bride. another option is this gigabyte z68- http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Intel-DDR3-Motherboards-GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3/dp/B00518M74I/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312857235&sr=1-3 160$

the cl8 ram is a waste of money when right now you can get 1866mhz ram which is faster for 65$ after promo code- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455

Gpu- ya for that price i would go with this 6970 since they are more powerful http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125395 only one left in stock 350$

PSU- i would go with something 850w so you can easily crossfire http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-ATX12V-EPS12V-Silver-ST85F-P/dp/B00307RLZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312857481&sr=8-1 150$

Monitor- i do think the dell's are a little pricy here is a 27.5" hanns-g 3ms 1920x1200 monitor for 270$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254052&Tpk=hanns%20g%2027.5

 

[14k]

But would the 1866mhz ram run on the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ? Just wondered because the motherboard suggests I need to "overclock" to achieve this? (which I don't want to do).

 

[kajabla]

You don't need such fast RAM. Really, you won't notice a difference even between 1333 and 1600.

 

[Joel@boat]

i'm building a pretty similar build

I chose the fd define r3 and asrock extreme4 as it comes bundled with a Front USB 3.0 Panel

"The Front USB 3.0 Panel supports 2 x USB 3.0 ports and provides a 2.5” SSD/HDD rack."

for psu i chose the xfx 850 black edition http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=165

and no, you dont need a aftermarket heatsink if you're not overcloking

 

[mjmjpfaff]

You don't need such fast RAM. Really, you won't notice a difference even between 1333 and 1600.

exactly. i wouldnt even go to cl8 if it is a gaming build

 

[mjmjpfaff]

But would the 1866mhz ram run on the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ? Just wondered because the motherboard suggests I need to "overclock" to achieve this? (which I don't want to do).

and yes it would just go into the bios and choose 1866mhz ram....

 

[jackspeed]

for the case you could get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 100 90 after rebate. +1 to the msi board my board is the p67 version but it works well.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

for the case you could get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 100 90 after rebate. +1 to the msi board my board is the p67 version but it works well.

screw the haf series this mid tower case cools better than the haf x at t he same price of the haf 922- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107&Tpk=rosewill%20blackhawk
here is the data if you dont believe me- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/dragon-rider-chaser-mk-i,2992-8.html

 

[jackspeed]

so it is a better case cool. I do disagree with you on the looks though but the haf does not have usb 3.0. so sure it is another good option.