(Hope For It To Last For 6-8 Years Without Upgrades)
Your system will likely still be usable in 6-8 years if you don't touch it, but if you're expecting to play with all of the eye candy at 2560x1440, with smooth frame rates for 6-8 years, that is likely not possible.
1. The Blacks have a 5 yr warranty compared to the Blue's 2 yr. I heard Hard Drives only last ~3-4 years. Also, the Blakcs cross ship.
The blacks do have a longer warranty, and some people value the longer warranty higher than the $20. That's a decision you have to make, but there isn't much evidence that longer warranties correlate with longer lifespans. Some hard drives will be DOA. Some will die shortly after moving all of your data to them. Some of them will still be happily ticking away 8 years later.
2. Doesnt the 840 have "rapid" mode which makes it much faster?
RAPID mode will improve your benchmark numbers. But what it does is steal a bit of RAM from the OS, use that RAM for caching, RAM that the OS is already using to cache writes anyway. It also leaves you at much greater risk of data loss if you're operating without a UPS. RAM is volatile, so anything in the RAM cache that hasn't been committed to disk during a power outage will be lose. Samsung makes great SSDs, but I don't think RAPID makes the EVO worth the price difference from the Crucial MX100.
3. I heard very bad things about ATI. I answered the same question on bit-tech, tomshardware, etc and they all said buy the nvidia if you have the extra money.
There are good and bad things about AMD and Nvidia. The real difference right now are in high-end stock cards. AMD's stock cards are pretty hot and loud, while Nvidia has invested significant time/money/energy in making their high-end stock coolers very nice. Board partners for both companies make great cards. If you absolutely 100% want a blower-style cooler, I'd go with Nvidia, but if you're open to any of the non-stock designs, there are excellent gpus from both. Additionally, right now AMD offers better price/perf at most points in their line-up.
4. IMHO, that RAM looks kind of ugly to me. I guess it wont matter since I dont have a windowed case. I never heard of Team either.
Frankly, it is kind of ugly. It is very reasonable priced though
. If you'd like something a little prettier, the ones you've found work, and
here's a pair of Crucial for $79
5. I have the money for the i7, the extra isnt worth it?
It is a tough call. It fits into your budget, but the difference is going to be very slight, doubly so at your resolutions. At 2560x1440 you're almost certainly NOT going to be CPU bound at all, so it becomes smart to save a bit of money on the CPU in order to consider a 2nd GPU. GTX 780 SLI or Crossfire'd R9-290's might be a good call for your budget at that resolution.
One more thing, here's a PSU upgrade.
Here's a 750W Rosewill Capstone for $80 AR
Here's an EVGA SuperNova 750W for $87 AR
The CX series are fine, the Capstone and Supernova are top notch. They have excellent warranties, and high efficiency, and at the same price point as the CX series, they're easily the better pick.
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