Please critique and help this new build

[Venom20]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for.
- Standard computer tasks (surfing, documents apps (libre office, texnic, etc), mundane computer tasks)
- Gaming (small variety, but often, SC2, D3, GW2, etc)

2. What YOUR budget is.
- Don't really have one, but I'd like to keep it below $2000 Canadian.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
- Canada (newegg.ca, ncix.com, Canada Computers)

4. IF YOU have a brand preference.
- i'd prefer the video card to be a 670
- absolutely no PNY products, nothing but problems in the past

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
- OS, mouse, keyboard

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
- perhaps a mild overclock, but nothing fancy

8. What resolution will you be using?
- As high as i can take her (usual gaming resolutions)

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
- I'd like to get this build within the next few weeks, but certainly on and in working order by Aug 25 for GW2


Case - Corsair 650D already purchased for $160, always wanted this case so when the price dropped i snatched it up
CPU - i5-3570k $229.99
SSD - Crucial M4 $124.99
HDD - WD caviar black 1TB $109.99, not married to this choice
Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 $19.99
Mobo - ASrock Z77 Pro4
Optical - LG dvd drive $16.99
RAM - i generally get gskill, i don't think i need more than 8gb but have no preference.
videocard - EVGA GeForce GTX 670 $399.99
PSU - i was thinking about a corsair HX650, don't need overkill, but I'd absolutely love it to be modular.
OS - already have win7
mouse/keyboard - already have G9x and G19
monitor - i'd like something in the 24"-27" range. i have no need for attached speakers but i've noticed that most in this size have speakers.

Any input would be greatly considered. Except on the case, yes it is expensive but this case is a nice treat for me, so I splurged. Other than that, please suggest and critique away. Unfortunately I will not be visiting the USA until January of 2013 and thus cannot get to a microcenter, so I'm stuck with Canadian prices which are horrid in comparison.

edit: update items

 

[fastamdman]

Crucial m4 128gb for the ssd. Amazing performance and even better stability. It's not worth the risk of data corruption to get anything subpar imo on the ssd.

As for the monitor asus vs series are amazing. For 160 this is a great monitor!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236174

Don't know if you have given any thought to the classifieds section, but you could build a 2600k system and save a chunk of change.

 

[krnmastersgt]

How would one purchase a more expensive CPU and save money on a system...

Anyways:
Case: Good to know that you found a case you really like, a bit pricey but hey its the most aesthetically important piece there is to a system!
CPU: Good choice, especially if you only want to do a mild overclock.
SSD: Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 for the overall best consumer drives around. Usually a deal pops up for one or the other, so just wait for one of those I guess.
HDD: Could save about $10 and just grab this Seagate Barracuda 1TB or for a bit more double the capacity with this Seagate Barracuda 2TB for $122
CPU Cooler: Great choice for the intended OC and pricepoint.
Motherboard: Good choice but you could grab an ASRock Pro3 for a decent amount less (about $20 less), was there something about the Pro4 that you liked?
Optical: Fine
RAM: The G.SKILL 8GB Value line should be just fine, roughly $51.
Video Card: I think you should grab this EVGA GTX 670 for $400. There are nicer cooler designs, personally I like the Gigabyte model with its 3 fans those models start around $30 more, I can't really attest to if the improved cooling is really worth almost 10% more in cost.
PSU: Can't believe this is actually one of the cheapest modulars from the big names but that's a good thing! This Seasonic M12 II 520W is an awesome unit and will cost you around $75.

Not really sure what to suggest for monitors since most TN panels end up being of roughly the same quality to look at, usually grab the cheapest in a size I like (tends to be Acer or Asus) so I'd suggest this Acer 24" for $169. I would suggest however looking into Catleaps, a single 670 maybe not be able to drive all games to 2560x1440 but still the price for those monitors is still pretty amazing (commonly ship with a few dead pixels but oh well).

 

[azeem40]

Only way is by cheaping out on the other components LOL.

 

[Venom20]

I've heard good things about that Seasonic PSU, but my concern is that the video card requires a min PSU of 500W. Is it fine to use only a 520W PSU? I'm not opposed to this Gigabyte card if there are thoughts that it may fair better. Unfortunately I'm not well versed in video cards.

I used to get Barracuda drives all the time but then had 2 die on me and 1 doa all in the span of a month. The reviews on those don't fair well either. This was my rational for getting a WD drive.

I have no attachments to the Pro4, just had good reviews and came recommended in other posts.

Yeah, I'll probably get that value RAM, it's seems to be quite reliable. Truthfully I also do not know much about the timing of ram, is 9-9-9-24 what to look for? I know 1.5V is recommended.

 

[fastamdman]

krn - I was suggesting that you go through the classifieds to find used items. Used items will be less then new items which would allow you to build a 2600k system cheaper.

Anyway, back on topic though. Cases, I love small compact but yet extremely useful cases. Example the Antec 300 illusion or regular, the antec p280s, a lot of the larger corsair cases if you are into larger things are nice, the antec 900 isn't to bad etc. It really just depends on what you want.

The thing in a case that I would recommend the most, besides air flow obviously, would be the ability to have the best cable management. Find out where your 24 pin goes on your mobo, your sata connectors etc. Then see if there are wholes in the mobo tray with rubber grommets that allow you to weave the wires behind the motherboard.

Next up the other thing you might want to think about is buying a gtx 580 video card out of the classifieds. A lot of the people that traded up to the 670s / 680s will be selling them. The 580s are amazing cards still and the 680s don't "kill" them enough in my opinion that it warrants an upgrade. If you can swing a 580 for 275 I would pull the trigger on it.

 

[DSF]

You don't have prices listed for all items, so I'm not sure how close you are to your budget ceiling exactly, but I would strongly consider bumping the SSD up to 256GB with the amount you have to spend.

As krn said, you can usually find either a Crucial M4 or a Samsung 830 on a pretty decent sale. I've seen the M4 256GB flirt with a $180 price tag now and then. (American sites.) At that price it's hard to want to go with 128GB at a significantly higher $/GB ratio.

 

[lehtv]

Case Fair enough
CPU Good
SSD Good, also $121 on directca
HDD Faster and twice as big Seagate 2TB for $110
Cooler Good
Mobo Z77 Pro3 $100 AR, the only real difference is in the number of 6gb/s ports and you'll probably only ever need one
Optical Good
RAM 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile $48
GPU Noisy and hot compared to Gigabyte 670 $400 which also has a 680 PCB with an extra power phase
PSU Modularity for a build in this power envelope really isn't needed... Antec HCG-520 $55 is plenty.
OS Good

Monitor Well, this build would so far add up to less than $1300. You could even get a HP 27" IPS 2560x1440 for $650-700 and SLI-compatibility for about $50 (mobo, PSU). Or just get a <$200 1080p TN panel, or a 120hz monitor. A 120hz would also benefit from SLI compatibility.

Your budget really calls for a kickass monitor, if you ask me...

 

[azeem40]

Now if only I can get rid of the "new" monitor my dad got me lol. It's 1680x1050 and I want a 1920x1080 or those Catleap monitors. xD

 

[krnmastersgt]

Case Fair enough
CPU Good
SSD Good, also $121 on directca
HDD Faster and twice as big Seagate 2TB for $110
Cooler Good
Mobo Z77 Pro3 $100 AR, the only real difference is in the number of 6gb/s ports and you'll probably only ever need one
Optical Good
RAM 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile $48
GPU Noisy and hot compared to Gigabyte 670 $400 which also has a 680 PCB with an extra power phase
PSU Modularity for a build in this power envelope really isn't needed... Antec HCG-520 $55 is plenty.
OS Good

Monitor Well, this build would so far add up to less than $1300. You could even get a HP 27" IPS 2560x1440 for $650-700 and SLI-compatibility for about $50 (mobo, PSU). Or just get a <$200 1080p TN panel, or a 120hz monitor. A 120hz would also benefit from SLI compatibility.

Your budget really calls for a kickass monitor, if you ask me...

That site was a nice find!

To address the issue of PSU wattage, video card manufacturers/resellers always suggest much higher wattage than is actually necessary for a system just to make sure people have ample power flowing to the card. A quality 500W PSU is far more than enough for a single GTX 670, almost enough to power SLI in fact.

Most RAM is of decent quality (if you order from the big names of which there are plenty) so typically you just want to get the capacity you need for the lowest price, in this case shoot for 8 GB for as cheap as you can find. As far as timings go, lower is better for theoretical performance but truth be told you'll have a hard time actually noticing the difference in timings outside of benchmarks.

And as lehtv pointed out, your budget allows for a really nice monitor (or a few cheaper monitors together). As for what you have the desk space for is something you'll have to figure out.

 

[lehtv]

That's what I tried with the RAM but all I could find on pcpartpicked.com/ca was a patriot CL11 kit and G.Skill Ripjaws which will minorly interfere with 212+ :<.