First time builder. Advice and suggestions.

[pabzOr]

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP
Budget Range: <1500 Before Rebates
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, general internet use.
Parts Not Required: All peripherals
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com
Country of Origin: Canada
Parts Preferences: I would like to have a i5 Sandy Bridge setup.
Overclocking: Maybe (I'm such a n00b I have to get a PC built and setup before I can even think about doing this).
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future.
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Parts I have selected:

Motherboard: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
***I originally had my eyes set upon the Asus Sabertooth P67 or the Asus P8P67 pro/evo/deluxe edition because of the pretty, newbie friendly looking bios and cool looking boards but I have read a lot of mixed reviews about it so I changed my mind otherwise. I was also worried about dust settling in the Thermal Armor on the Sabertooth. The AsRock seems to be the best choice for me at the moment but if someone can convince me otherwise I think I am going to order it within the next day or 2.

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

Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
***I am also unsure about exactly which RAM I should get. I was originally going to get G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) but they were sold out locally, and I also like the black color theme of the corsair with the mobo and GPU i have picked out. Another question is I looked on the AsRock website and could not find the Ram I chose on the Memory Support List posted on the website for the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3. Will this be a problem?

GPU: ASUS EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5 Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX750W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

SSD: Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
***I literally only use my computer to play Starcraft II and general internet use like Tom's Hardware Forums for example so I decided to solely use a 120GB SSD for my storage. I will be installing Starcraft II's Heart of the Swarm Expansion and Diablo 3 as well in the future. If need be I can just get another SSD or a regular hard drive.

Case: Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid-Tower Gaming Case BLACK
*** It appears this case has not yet been released or else is sold out immediately. Not quite sure.... I have changed my mind many times about the case and I am dead set on this one.

*NOTE : This is my first attempt to building my own rig. I PC Game every day and it's about time I retire this old pre built and build my own!. I have been researching these parts and shopping around on the net for the best prices I can find. I have already purchased the CPU, GPU and PSU already from a local retailer for ease of shipping costs/problems and better pricing.

I would love to hear any tweaks, advice, input or suggestions anyone has!

Also being a super n00b at this it would be great if anyone could point me in the direction of any articles regarding Bios setup and general setting up of a system after putting the hardware together. Thanks!

 

[AdrianPerry]

You've come up with a pretty solid build there

Smart move looking at the GEN3 motherboards as well. However the Z68 GEN3 is only $190 and has more features that the P67 boards. (z68 is p67+h67 combined) so i'm not sure why that p67 is $10 more.

The RAM you have selected SHOULD work fine, 1.5v 1600MHz is the common choice for SandyBridge, G.Skill and Vengeance RAM especially are very common choices.

From what i can see you haven't listed a Optical Drive or HDD?
"Samsung SpinPoint F3" is usually the 1TB HDD of choice currently.

NewEgg do a great 3-part build series from start to finish on youtube. The videos are fairly long and very in depth. Part 1 is chosing components, Part 2 is building, Part 3 is installing all drivers and software ect. So i recommend checking those out if theres anything your unsure of. If you go on youtube and search "newegg how to build a computer" it should pop right up

 

[1tym]

You should check out NCIX.com for computer parts. Cheaper than newegg and they also price match too.

 

[pabzOr]

Thanks for the swift reply. I will definitely look into the Z68.

I didn't list the optical drive because I thought it was kind of an irrelevant spec to the system. I'll go ahead and post what's missing.

Optical Drive: SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model SH-222AB - OEM

Fan Controller: NZXT Sentry-2 5.25" Touch Screen fan controller
I also didn't list an HDD because as stated above, I literally only use my computer for SCII and Mozilla Firefox. So the 120GB SDD should be more then enough, with room to spare for Diablo 3 and the SCII expansions.

I also might add in a card reader so I can store pictures from my digi cam.

I did look at ncix.... and watched a ton of Linus' videos on youtube. Looks like I am going to have to order my case from there because newegg doesn't even carry it. The only other thing I need to order is my mobo which isn't available and ncix and I figure I may as well order the SSD from newegg with the mobo.

 

[AdrianPerry]

The Corsair case you've listed is very very new, which is probably why you cant find it stocked in some places yet. Also, I'm not sure how much need there is for a fan controller, since the case already has one?

 

[pabzOr]

I really don't NEED the fan controller but I think it looks pretty cool . Much cooler the tiny switch or knob that will be on the case.

So I went ahead and did a comparison of the ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard to the ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard and it seems there is very little difference. On Newegg.ca the Z68 is $35 more and the difference comes down to:

+2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s support RAID 0/1/5/10
a different LAN chipset
1 Less PS/2 slot compared to P67
2 less USB 2.0 slots compared to P67
no Coaxial S/PDIF Out (whatever that is)
and it has 1 x CIR header, which the P67 does not have
It also Supports Intel HD Graphics Built-in Visuals and Support Intel Smart Response, Lucid Virtu Switchable Graphics which the P67 does not have listed as features.

It seems like very little difference especially to a noob like me.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Ah, sorry its my fault. I was using the US NewEgg site rather than the .ca one which is why i thought the p67 was more expensive.

Your right the differences are very minor, since your adding a GPU anyway, stick with the P67

Oh and for the record, S/PDIF Out is Optical Audio port