Friend's Build

[Spartin503]

My friend is going to put together a computer right after Christmas, I was wondering if the price could be cut down a bit.
Build

 

[mousseng]

Since he's got a solid-state, you can cut back on the mass storage - a 1TB Caviar Blue will work just as well as the Black (a little slower, but it's mass storage; not a big deal).

Definitely cut back on the power supply - not only is the HX series expensive as it is, but 750W is more than enough for 3 vanilla 660s. If he's not planning on tossing another 660 in there, something like a Seasonic M12II 520W will do just fine. (Other quality modular options include the Rosewill Capstone 550M, PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk.III 500W, and Seasonic G-Series SSR-550RM).

 

[Spartin503]

How about this.

 

[mousseng]

It's pretty good looking; I'd swap the memory out for this, though. I'm not sure whether or not Ripjaws X heat spreaders are tall enough to interfere with the Hyper 212, and it's preferable to run memory in dual-channel mode with Ivy Bridge. (Plus, on a more anecdotal note, I've heard some bad things about GSKILL's high-density memory modules)

Also, depending on when the parts are purchased, the Seasonic G-Series I mentioned is still discounted pretty heavily right now; I'd opt for that due to its higher efficiency and lower pricetag. But like I said, it just depends on when you buy.

 

[samuelspark]

Might get a 7870 over the GTX 660. Bigger bandwidth and slightly better performance.