A quick once over on this build please?

[johnno]

putting something together for a friend

Nvidia GTX 660 Ti 2048Mb (GPU)
16Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 2x8Gb (RAM)
Intel i5 3570k (CPU)
Corsair Hydro Series H55 (CPU cooler)
Asus Sabertooth z77 (Motherboard)
Corsair cx 750W 80 plus bronze (PSU)
250Gb Samsung 840 (SSD)
2000Gb Seagate Barracuda 7200Rpm 6Gbps (HDD)

 

[Sleepingforest]

It mostly looks good except for a few wasteful areas:

Unless your friend is video editing, drop the 16GB RAM to 8GB (and please, not Cosair Dominators. Those are ridiculously overpriced, as is most RAM with ostentatious heat spreaders. DDR3-1600 is fine for everyone.) Get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO or Scythe Katana 4 for $30ish instead, since water cooling at that level won't contribute much to the overclock or quietness. The Sabertooth motherboard is another overpriced product that doesn't give much: the heat "shield" actually makes it accumulate dust and heat up even more than normal. An Asrock Pro3 is good enough for most and costs $100 less. For a single GPU, 500-600W is fine (500 for top-end Nvidia cards is safe; 600W is safe for top-end AMD).

With those savings, you could get a 2GB 670 (one of these was on sale for just $310 recently after rebate) or a 3GB 7970 (the better performer is the 7970, but to each his own).

 

[johnno]

Thanks for the reply, I totally agree.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Wow, people rarely agree that quickly to these kinds of revisions! They like to hang on to their bling (crazy RAMdisk builds, insisting on a $300 motherboard and 1000W PSU) at the cost of performance where it matters.

Good luck with your build, sir!

 

[mfenn]

Wow, people rarely agree that quickly to these kinds of revisions! They like to hang on to their bling (crazy RAMdisk builds, insisting on a $300 motherboard and 1000W PSU) at the cost of performance where it matters.

Good luck with your build, sir!

It's a great feeling you gear up for a fight, but it turns out to be unnecessary. :thumbsup:

 

[johnno]

I didn't say they would agree

 

[Sleepingforest]

Well, at least you agreed. That's a good start. Try pointing out how few features your friend will actually get with the over-expensive parts compared to something more reasonable.

 

[johnno]

Yes, I'm hoping the option of a better GPU will change his mind.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Try showing him a video of a game on a 660ti and a 7970, each turned up as high as the game allows, side by side. The 660ti should lag significantly more (especially with AA cranked up).