New Build - Looking for input/thoughts/suggestions...

It's bonus time of year at my work which means it's time for me to make a new system (yay!). I will use this for all kinds of things - Gaming, Video Editing (minor), Productivity, HTML & Coding, etc. My budget is about $2000 but of course I'd like to save as much as possible without sacrificing performance. I don't usually overclock b/c I've fried so many components, so I'm buying the best I can with my budget.

I plan to hook this up to my Plasma TV so that I can play games in 1080P from the comfort of my couch. I will also be hooking it up to a nice 7.1 receiver. I shopped out the same system at Newegg and Microcenter, and surprisingly Microcenter came out cheaper. So, here is the system I'm planning on, tear it apart and let me know what you think:

Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz LGA 1155 Processor
SKU: 425405
$229.99

Kingston HyperX 16GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800) CL9 Dual
SKU: 758268
$99.99

ASUS Xonar DX PCI Express Sound Card
SKU: 273540
$89.99

Samsung 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD256BW 256GB SATA 6.0G
SKU: 035402
$239.99

Western Digital WD Black 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/
SKU: 994442
$99.99

LG 14x Internal Blu-ray Burner WH14NS40 - Bare Dri
SKU: 897090
$59.99

Lite-ON 24X SATA DVD Burner - OEM
SKU: 446559
$17.99

Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850 V2 850 Watt ATX Po
SKU: 283440
$139.99 ($119.99 after Rebate)

Cooler Master Storm Stryker Gaming Full Tower Comp
SKU: 032250
$169.99

Microsoft Windows 8 Pro 64-Bit Full Version Operat
SKU: 042937
$129.99

MSI N680GTX TF 2GD5/OC NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Twin
SKU: 049726
$469.99

Logitech Wireless Desktop MK710
SKU: 744276
$99.99


Subtotal $1,847.88
Tax $140.81
Grand Total $1,988.69

Maybe I'm blind, but did I see a motherboard in there or are you using an existing?

Oh whooops! Yes, the motherboard I'm thinking is:

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard: $239.99

Unless you are really wanting to spend the money I would drop down to a 3570 non K, drop down to a GTX 670. I'd also just go for a 550 - 600w PSU and call it a day. Making those changes will save you some money and won't cause a noticeable performance difference in what you plan to do.

@DooKee - Good call on the PSU and GPU - but would you really drop the CPU? From the benchmarks I've read it seems like the 3770K is teh way to go.

jonesad said:

@DooKee - Good call on the PSU and GPU - but would you really drop the CPU? From the benchmarks I've read it seems like the 3770K is teh way to go.

Click to expand...

The only difference between the 3770 and 3570 is Hyperthreading. If you need 8 threads to do your tasks then a 3770 is the way to go, otherwise the 3570 is just fine. From what I can tell by what you are going to do with your system the 3570 non-K will be the way to go.

Another thing I would think about is whether or not you really need the Sabertooth since it is expensive and is really aimed at the overclocker.

Something like this would work well for you.
$125 - Asus P8Z77-V LX

$150 - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H

Thanks! The Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H looks great and you're right, since I don't plan to OC no need to get a board targeted at hard core OC'ers

I would recommend the Asus P8Z77-V LK over either of the mobos that DooKey recommended since it's gonna be more reliable than the LX and has a better UEFI than the Gigabyte's UEFI.

As for the power supply, I recommend this PSU:
$90 - Seasonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W Modular PSU

That RAM is a poor choice for three reasons:
1) It effectively maxes you out at 16GB of RAM. Which means if you want to upgrade to 32GB of RAM later on, you have to ditch all that RAM
2) That RAM is rated at 1.65V, well above the recommended 1.5V recommended for Intel CPUs.
3) It is a tad overpriced

So go with this cheaper RAM instead:
http://microcenter.com/product/4015...10_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_8GB_Memory_Modules)