Need Your Advice on $1100 build

[Neutralman]

I have the following build mapped out. Right now its $1101 total. I need the desktop asap. Please let me know where I should improve/spend more/cut some.

1. PC used for gaming (D3, Skyrimm, some shooters) on 1 monitor 22 inches 1900x1080 resolution.
2. Budget is $1000-$1200
4. I'm an AMD fan boy (my dad works for AMD lol), but I need this asap so stuck with Intel cpu.
5. Won't be using any current parts. Old desktop sold whole.
7. I plan on some mild overclocking. I've never OCed before, hopefully isn't hard.

CASE: Zalman Z9 Plus Mid-Tower Gaming Case $70
CD: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW $20
CPU: Intel(R) Core™ i5-2500K 3.30 $200
FAN: CoolerMaster Hyper TX3 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan $18
HDD: 1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD $40
MEMORY: 16 GB Corsair Vengeance Blue 1600Mhz 1.5V (compatible with MB) $95
MOTHERBOARD: Asus P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard $120
OS: Microsoft(R) Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition) $100
POWERSUPPLY: 850 Watts - NZXT HALE90 80 Plus Gold Power Supply $170
VIDEO: AMD Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card $240 <--Supporting my Dad lol
WNC: PCI Wireless 802.11n 150Mbps Network Interface Card $20
Logitech keyboard+mouse: $8

I don't intend on doing any crossfiring in the future. Gold rated PSU is important to me too and I like the Hale90! I may add a SSD in the future when the price is right. Let me know where you guys think I can improve, thank you!

 

[DaveSimmons]

- The i5 series has automatic "Turbo Boost" overclocking when not all cores are in use, so stock speed is probably all you'll need any time soon. The intel retail box stock heatsink is also good enough for a mild overclock, so you don't need that Cooler Master fan.
- 8 GB RAM is plenty, DDR3-1333 at 1.5v is all you need
- A Seasonic X650 Gold modular PSU would be a little cheaper and is enough power for any single GPU and many SLI / Crossfire setups. 850 watts is way more than you need and will waste power.

 

[LagunaX]

1) 8gb (2x4gb) of ddr3 1600 or 1866 ram
2) Cooler Master Hyper 212+ cooler if in the future you want to go closer to 4.6ghz.
3) Don't get the LX mobo - pony up $30 more for the Asus P8Z68-V - it has better capacitors and phase power management for better stability and overclocking.
4) If you have any extra leftover cash maybe a small SSD to utilize the Z68 intelliboost hybrid hard drive function - or just get a $100 64gb sandforce drive and leave the 1 TB for storage.
5) Find out from your dad when the Radeon 7000 series are coming out =).

 

[DominionSeraph]

Why is gold rated PSU important to you in a build that's only going to pull 300W under load? The difference between gold and bronze is only going to be ~20W at the outlet, and that only under full load (which will make up what -- an hour and a half a day?) Hell, there's a good chance that 750W will be less efficient at idle than a 500W Bronze like the $110 cheaper Earthwatts EA-500D.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Why is gold rated PSU important to you in a build that's only going to pull 300W under load? The difference between gold and bronze is only going to be ~20W at the outlet, and that only under full load (which will make up what -- an hour and a half a day?) Hell, there's a good chance that 750W will be less efficient at idle than a 500W Bronze like the $110 cheaper Earthwatts EA-500D.

:thumbsup:

 

[Neutralman]

1) 8gb (2x4gb) of ddr3 1600 or 1866 ram
2) Cooler Master Hyper 212+ cooler if in the future you want to go closer to 4.6ghz.
3) Don't get the LX mobo - pony up $30 more for the Asus P8Z68-V - it has better capacitors and phase power management for better stability and overclocking.
5) Find out from your dad when the Radeon 7000 series are coming out =).

I wanted 16gb of Ram since its so dang cheap now, and the 212 was too big for my motherboard to fit with the Ram.

Asked my dad about the new video cards, he's letting me trade my 6950 for one of the new ones on official release!! Good thing you mentioned it

EDIT: About the PSU, the Hale90 was free from Dad's test system so not much a choice there. I agree 850W is toooooo much for my needs.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Dang. i wish my dad worked for nVidia or Intel

 

[Ken g6]

Ah, but when do you get to trade your 6950 in? :sneaky:

HDD: 1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD $40

Where'd you find this deal?! I can't find any for <$55 on Newegg.

Speaking of Newegg, if you're buying there, realize there are combo deals that can help, like CPU+RAM or case+Win7. Or is that how you got that HDD deal?

 

[mfenn]

I wanted 16gb of Ram since its so dang cheap now, and the 212 was too big for my motherboard to fit with the Ram.

Don't get RAM with goofy heatspreaders and you wont have that problem.

Here's what I would change:
- HSF: Hyper 212+ $30
- Mobo: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 $125
- RAM: Kingston low-profile DDR3 1333 x 4 $88

EDIT: About the PSU, the Hale90 was free from Dad's test system so not much a choice there. I agree 850W is toooooo much for my needs.

Well, you should've mentioned that!

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Don't get RAM with goofy heatspreaders and you wont have that problem. !

:thumbsup: