Question about a build

[kaesin]

Currently I have in my newegg cart (ordering all parts from here)

Newegg Link - https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=21236205

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133191 Thermaltake Chaser MK-I
HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533 Caviar Black 1TB
SSD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233204 Corsair Force 90GB
Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130837 EVGA GTX 660 Ti FTW
PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153106 Thermaltake Black Widow 850W Modular
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233299 Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2x8gb DDR3 1600
Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837 Asus P8Z77-V LK
CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504 i5 3570k
CPU Cooler - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099 CM Hyper 212 Evo
DvD/BD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136250 LG Black

Friend is wanting to build a new gaming PC. Figured we'd come here for a little help!

Current price is $1271.61 with an extra $65 off if I do the MiR's. Are there any noteworthy changes for upgrades/sidegrades that would be better used?

 

[quilciri]

A few suggestions

If the system is for gaming, 16 gb is overkill. 4gb is enough for all games in existence now and in the near future. 8gb will last a long time, and is the usual amount of RAM for a game system on that budget.

An 850w PSU is complete and utter overkill for a single GPU rig. Your system as built will barely draw 300w under full load. A 550w PSU will give you plenty of overhead.

A 90gb ssd will only hold a few games in addition to the OS. I'd reccommend a 120-128gb drive. A Toggle-NAND, second gen sandforce drive will be faster than that drive, and about the same price (Sandisk extreme is my personal preference). A samsung 830 is a great choice as well, though it's slightly more expensive.

I'd use the money you save on the PSU and RAM to bump the video card up to a gtx 670 or HD 7950.

Enjoy!

 

[J_E_D_70]

Guess it depends on the use - gaming I suppose?

If you just want to shave a little cost 8GB is plenty these days.

If you're not going to SLI maybe drop down to a 550-600W PSU.

Do you really need a BR burner? External storage is cheap, you can install Windows from a USB stick, and very very few games are not available as digital downloads. Discs are headed the way of the floppy rapidly. (truth in advertising - I bought a DVD burner for this new build for $25 since I was too skeered not to - but don't think it has a lot of value).

Pairing a pretty high end mobo with a mainstream CPU and GPU. Could drop down to a LK or LX version and save a bit of money and still overclock.

Great build regardless! Congrats

 

[JMer806]

Ditch the 90 GB SSD, it's too small these days. Here's what I'd get instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163 (if it comes back in stock); otherwise: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167122. It's a bit more expensive but you get twice the storage and a better brand.

Don't get that RAM, the head spreaders have the potential to interfere with your CPU cooler. Same brand, $10 cheaper, no spreaders: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233280

You don't need 850W to run that system. A 650W (like the Corsair TX-650) would be fine, but here's a very solid 750W in case you want to SLI and OC in the future: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

 

[kaesin]

Changed the RAM, but the power supply you linked is actually more expensive than the one I have listed currently due to price drops. Looking around at some different SSD's now.

 

[JMer806]

Right, it's more expensive but that's because it's a better PSU. Look at Seasonic, XFX, Corsair, and PC Power and Cooling for solid PSUs. Here's a 650W from Corsair that is a bit cheaper and will 100% run your system as is with no power issues.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

 

[kaesin]

What are the thoughts on http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231613 for an SSD?

 

[JMer806]

What are the thoughts on http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231613 for an SSD?

Hard to tell. I can't find any reviews on the product, and there are only a few reviewers on Newegg. I'd go with a brand that has more history in the SSD market, like one of the ones I linked, or maybe a Crucial M4, though their 128GB has been a bit more expensive the last month or so (around $110 compared to around $100) than OCZ or Samsung 830s.

 

[wiiweoooo]

I agree with all these recommendations, here are a couple more thoughts.

I have 16GB of ram in my system because it's future-proof and ram is not very expensive these days. 16GB may be overkill today, however this system should last for YEARS so I believe 16GB is a sound investment if you aren't paying over 200 bucks to get it.

Don't waste your SSD by putting games on it. The caviar black gives excellent performance and with the OS and virtual memory being on the SSD, I find you can put your games on the caviar and it runs great. Thus, you don't need a big SSD, just a very high performing one.

You have to be very careful when installing windows - it will spread its partitions randomly over your multiple drives, so only have the SSD connected when you install windows, so that every aspect of the OS ends up on the SSD. Once windows is fully up and running, then connect your caviar.

It's good to see you are avoiding OCZ, apparently their reliability is poor. Seriously.

Good choice: Go Nvidia for the video card. ATI cards do not perform as their average FPS benchmarks suggest. Period. For the past 15 years, very chance I took on an ATI card resulted in disappointing performance compared to the benchmark, over and over and over again.

All and all the choice of parts is exactly what you want - no more and no less. Intel, Nvidia, and Corsair FTW. No need for an i7, no need for > 650GTX,

.. and Btw, no need for Windows 8. Score Win7 while you still can.

 

[Garpatron]

Changed the RAM, but the power supply you linked is actually more expensive than the one I have listed currently due to price drops. Looking around at some different SSD's now.

I think you should go with a Corsair CX600 Its is a great PSU and I have it. So from personal experience I'd recommend this PSU.