Looking for input on my part list for my upcoming build. Any help is appreciated!

[Adelitas]

Hey everyone, I'm putting together a part list for my first build. I'm trying to go as high-end as I can within budget. Right now I'm hovering around $700 without a monitor, which is comfortable for me. I'd maybe go as high as $800 without a monitor for now. I feel fairly sure about my picks on some of the items, but just looking for other opinions, as well as, any insight on how well everything will work together.
I'm not putting in a GPU right now because I won't need one until after I finish grad school in March and have time to actually play games (nothing probably serious, just emulators mostly).

CPU:
Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ~$220

MOBO:
ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ~$115

RAM:
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ~$77

Storage:
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ~$80

Case:
Rosewill BlackHawk ATX Mid Tower Case ~$90

PSU:
Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ~$50

Optical:
Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ~$17

WIFI Adapter:
Rosewill RNX-N250PCe 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ~$18

TOTAL WITHOUT MONITOR: ~$665

Monitor:
No idea yet, something 22+ inches, 1080, and not over $150 would be nice.

Here is the build on pcpartpicker:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1SVMZ

My use for the computer will be a little bit of everything. It will be my primary PC and I'd like to eventually use it to record music and maybe game a bit (I won't be playing anything too graphically intense though).

Thanks in advance! Please let me know if you have any questions about my choices or if you see anything that isn't up to snuff with the rest. I think I've researched and accounted for everything, but I am somewhat new to this.

oh, and just to answer some of the things posted in the sticky:
-Parts will be bought in the US
-I'm definitely going with intel
-Planning on OCing at some point
-Building right around christmas or right after

 

[mfenn]

Your build is too far out for me to offer specific alternative pricing, but here are some general thoughts:
- You need to buy a HSF if you want to overclock. Something like the Arctic Cooling Freezer i30.
- The motherboard is way too expensive for a no-dual-GPU non-extreme-overclocking machine. You should be looking at boards in the $100-$120 range like the ASRock Z87 Pro3
- WD Blacks are not worth the price hike over the WD Blue or Seagate alternatives. You're getting for the 2 extra years of warranty and that's it.
- Spend more on the monitor. Cutting $50 from mobo makes no appreciable difference in the end machine. Adding $50 to the monitor makes a huge difference. $200 puts you squarely in ~24" IPS territory.

 

[Adelitas]

Your build is too far out for me to offer specific alternative pricing, but here are some general thoughts:
- You need to buy a HSF if you want to overclock. Something like the Arctic Cooling Freezer i30.
- The motherboard is way too expensive for a no-dual-GPU non-extreme-overclocking machine. You should be looking at boards in the $100-$120 range like the ASRock Z87 Pro3
- WD Blacks are not worth the price hike over the WD Blue or Seagate alternatives. You're getting for the 2 extra years of warranty and that's it.
- Spend more on the monitor. Cutting $50 from mobo makes no appreciable difference in the end machine. Adding $50 to the monitor makes a huge difference. $200 puts you squarely in ~24" IPS territory.

Thanks for the feedback!
-Definitely keeping the HSF in the back of my head. I know I will overclock at some point, but I may keep it at stock levels for the first couple months if it appears to handle everything fine. I'll be studying a ton from December through March so the things I will be using it for will probably be on the lighter end at first.

-The reason I chose that motherboard was because I will need WIFI. Instead of spending the money on a separate adapter, I figured I would just buy a better board that included it. The extra USB headers are also something I want since I use a lot of peripherals (which is why I picked the case with 4 front USB inputs). Also, the reviews for the 4-way optimization were really good in comparison to the stuff included with the cheaper boards, which will come in handy when I do overclock or just want that extra control.

-I figured they at least used better components or something, but I guess you are right. I'll go with the blue and put the money towards the monitor. A 24 inch IPS would be more than I could ever need for picture quality and a perfect size for my current desk

 

[mfenn]

-The reason I chose that motherboard was because I will need WIFI. Instead of spending the money on a separate adapter, I figured I would just buy a better board that included it. The extra USB headers are also something I want since I use a lot of peripherals (which is why I picked the case with 4 front USB inputs). Also, the reviews for the 4-way optimization were really good in comparison to the stuff included with the cheaper boards, which will come in handy when I do overclock or just want that extra control.

The Z87 Pro3 has enough USB headers to accommodate all 6 front USB ports on the Blackhawk.

As for WiFi, it straight up does not make financial sense to spend $95 extra on a mobo with it integrated (the $170 version does not have WiFi) when a nice MIMO card costs $18. The card itself can be moved between boards, meaning that you don't have to by a super-expensive motherboard each time you upgrade.

As for "4-way optimization", I don't know what that means in concrete terms and I doubt that anybody outside the ASUS marketing department does either. But seriously, all they're doing is branding BIOS options that every motherboard has.

 

[DSF]

I agree with everything mfenn has said. I would also argue that if you're going to spend $90 on a case without PSU, there might be better options, especially since you have time to wait and cherry-pick deals.

Not that there's anything wrong with the Blackhawk necessarily, but it doesn't sound like you're going to be doing anything that needs 4+ fans. You could go with a case designed for low noise rather than high airflow, if that's of interest to you, and/or you could look at smaller form factors.

It doesn't really sound like you'd even need to overclock. That processor is pretty darn fast. (Not that I'm discouraging it from a hobby standpoint.)

 

[Adelitas]

Just found this thread. looks like the WD blue is faster than the black in addition to being cheaper! The 5 year warranty is nice, but these drives seem pretty reliable so I'm not worried.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1297633/wd10ezex-review-wd-blue-1tb-single-platter-drive

The Z87 Pro3 has enough USB headers to accommodate all 6 front USB ports on the Blackhawk.

As for WiFi, it straight up does not make financial sense to spend $95 extra on a mobo with it integrated (the $170 version does not have WiFi) when a nice MIMO card costs $18. The card itself can be moved between boards, meaning that you don't have to by a super-expensive motherboard each time you upgrade.

As for "4-way optimization", I don't know what that means in concrete terms and I doubt that anybody outside the ASUS marketing department does either. But seriously, all they're doing is branding BIOS options that every motherboard has.

I looked at the option of buying a cheaper board in the low 100's price range and then adding an adapter, but it seemed like they all had very mixed reviews. I plan on this being the last board I have to buy with wifi since I will be moving into a house in the next year and a half so I'm not too worried about being able to transfer.
I guess I'm also drawn in by the ALC1150 audio it has too since I plan on using it to record and mix in the future.
Ya, it's totally a sales pitch term, but from what I read a lot of people really loved how many options and overall control it offers. I'm new to all of this so I can't compare it myself, but it seems like a lot of others really like what asus has put together. I'm a huge fan of tinkering so I'll want something that gives me full reign as I continue to learn and my needs for the computer change.

I agree with everything mfenn has said. I would also argue that if you're going to spend $90 on a case without PSU, there might be better options, especially since you have time to wait and cherry-pick deals.

Not that there's anything wrong with the Blackhawk necessarily, but it doesn't sound like you're going to be doing anything that needs 4+ fans. You could go with a case designed for low noise rather than high airflow, if that's of interest to you, and/or you could look at smaller form factors.

It doesn't really sound like you'd even need to overclock. That processor is pretty darn fast. (Not that I'm discouraging it from a hobby standpoint.)

A lot of the decisions I made on some of the parts were based on "future-proofing" the build. Not necessarily the best out, but things that will allow me to expand if I need to without having to buy something completely new. The blackhawk will have more than enough cooling for me upfront, but if I end up getting heavy into gaming it will be ready to go. Right now I have a laptop with a first-gen bottom of the barrel i5 in it. The thing sounds like a plane taking off any time I do anything CPU intensive so I'm totally fine with noise. I'd rather have good airflow and high performance over anything.
The other reasons I picked the blackhawk were the tons of front USB ports (wanted at least 4, with at least 2 being 3.0), top HDD dock, good reviews by others, relatively inexpensive (didn't want to spend over $100 on the case), and, in my opinion, it looks good.
I agree, I won't at first for sure since I won't even be gaming or running any intense programs until March. Also, I usually hang on to computers for a while so being able to overclock will keep me current for years to come as programs/games/etc become more demanding. I think it will be part hobby as well though since I love messing with this kind of stuff.

 

[mfenn]

I looked at the option of buying a cheaper board in the low 100's price range and then adding an adapter, but it seemed like they all had very mixed reviews. I plan on this being the last board I have to buy with wifi since I will be moving into a house in the next year and a half so I'm not too worried about being able to transfer.

So, why do you want to spend extra money to get less functionality? I'd rather get MIMO 802.11n card for $18 than spend $95 on a bare-bones 802.11n single-stream card.

I guess I'm also drawn in by the ALC1150 audio it has too since I plan on using it to record and mix in the future.

Here's the thing about audio. Either you're serious about it or you're not. If you're not, then the ALC892 integrated is fine. If you are, then you're going to be going for an outboard input device anyway.

Ya, it's totally a sales pitch term, but from what I read a lot of people really loved how many options and overall control it offers. I'm new to all of this so I can't compare it myself, but it seems like a lot of others really like what asus has put together. I'm a huge fan of tinkering so I'll want something that gives me full reign as I continue to learn and my needs for the computer change.

What makes you think that the ASRock has fewer BIOS options? Because they don't put a fancy marketing name on it?

I'm sorry, but I guess I don't understand your decision-making process at all.

 

[Adelitas]

So, why do you want to spend extra money to get less functionality? I'd rather get MIMO 802.11n card for $18 than spend $95 on a bare-bones 802.11n single-stream card.



Here's the thing about audio. Either you're serious about it or you're not. If you're not, then the ALC892 integrated is fine. If you are, then you're going to be going for an outboard input device anyway.



What makes you think that the ASRock has fewer BIOS options? Because they don't put a fancy marketing name on it?

I'm sorry, but I guess I don't understand your decision-making process at all.

Ok, just did a lot of reading and the extreme3 does seem like a better fit for me, at least for now. The difference is only ~$35 between the asrock + adapter and the asus, but I'm also not gaining $35 worth of features that I would use. I was honestly afraid of getting one of the wireless adapters since there seemed to be so many people with issues and I will really depend on it working full time, which is why I skipped over many boards originally.
Do you think that is the best wireless adapter that can be had for sub $40? It seems just about right. All I really need is the highest speed and reliability I can get.
I'll update the OP with all the new parts. I guess at this point I'm just in search of a monitor and solidifying my PSU, thermal paste, and wifi adapter choice.

 

[mfenn]

Why did you go for the Extreme3 over the Pro3 that I recommended? There's not a huge difference, especially for somebody who isn't focused on the GPU.

As for the WiFi card, it's a standard Realtek chipset, I've used plenty of them and not had a problem with the signal.

 

[DSF]

The stock CPU cooler comes with a thermal pad already applied. Any aftermarket cooler you buy when you overclock will come with some thermal paste as well. There's no need to buy thermal paste unless you just want it on hand for tinkering. (Not a bad idea to have some, but you should be aware that it's not necessary in terms of assembling the computer.)

As far as not being worried about quiet, that's fine, it's a personal choice. I hate hearing my computers run, but I know not everybody's like that. Some people want to be able to absolutely crank the graphics settings in their games, and I'm not like that. There's a certain amount of personal preference in assembling these builds that's part of the fun of DIY.

That said, just as another FYI, it is not necessary to have extreme cooling for the kind of computer you're putting together. You're not going dual-video or running an insane overclock, so any modern case with a couple (literally a couple, as in two) is going to handle it with ease from a cooling standpoint.