Building new computer - Is this OK?

[flyingturtle]

I need to upgrade one of my computers. I've got a first gen i5, a Q6600, and a E8400.

Most likely upgrading my old E8400, so I picked out these parts.

Let me know if it's OK. My budget is around $800, but I had to go a little over.

Vid card: $419.99
EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW 2048MB GDDR5 256bit, Dual Dual-Link DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, 4-Way SLI Ready Graphics Card Graphics Cards 02G-P4-2678-KR/

16GB ram - $97.01
Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM Dual Channel Memory Kit CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9B

CPU - $219.99
Intel Core i5 3570K Processor 3.4 4 BX80637I53570K

Mobo - $149.99
Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA 1155 AMD CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI W/ HDMI,DVI,DispayPort Dual UEFI BIOS ATX Motherboard GA-Z77X-UD3H

Total: $886.98

I'll be using my case and SATA drive from my E8400 computer, and I think the PSU is OK, but I'll have to double check.

I had good experiences with Gigabyte mobos so i just choose that one

I also picked the Nvidia 670GTX as it seems like it's fairly good buy for your money, and I heard the EVGA is decent?

The CPU, I won't be overclocking, so let me know if that one is a good choice or I should go lower, or higher, again sticking with a $800 budget range for all components.

But any advice would be appreciated. If I can get better and cheaper on any components, that would be great.

I wanted to budget in an SSD drive, but don't think I can, but if someone recommends cheaper stuff, maybe I can (and which SSD drive should I look at?).

I'm looking to use it for Photoshop and programming, but the main reason for the upgrade, is of course for gaming. I've been playing The Secret World MMO (closed beta) and I'd like to play it at high settings on a 23inch LCD screen (1920 x 1080), or at the very least on my other LCD screen (1600 x 1200). Thanks!

 

[Dangman]

What case will you be using?
What PSU will you be using?
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.

Since you're not overclocking, the regular Core i5 3450 will be enough for your needs.

 

[flyingturtle]

What case will you be using?
What PSU will you be using?

Case: An ANTEC model that I bought in 2008 (recommend from here), but if I have issues, I can use my Coolermaster case I bought a last year:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227

PSU:
Corsair HX520 modular:
Corsai HX520

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

US, California, Los Angeles area

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

In a week or two. Preferably during or before July 4th weekend

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.

Not particular if it has any of this. If it does, then it's a bonus. Mainly looking to improve FPS speed in games.

Since you're not overclocking, the regular Core i5 3450 will be enough for your needs.

That's great to hear!

 

[Dangman]

Case: An ANTEC model that I bought in 2008 (recommend from here

Which Antec? That Coolermaster isn't too great of a choice unless its packed with fans.

PSU:
Corsair HX520 modular:
Corsai HX520

Old but usable.

US, California, Los Angeles area

Ahh hence the Amazon.com links.

RAM wise, you really won't notice a difference between DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600 RAM. So you can save $13 if you drop the RAM down to this setup:
$84 - 2 x Patriot Signature 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

As for your mobo choice, you don't need such a high-end mobo. You'll be fine with these mobos:
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-...8&qid=1340675496&sr=8-2&keywords=MSI+Z77A-G43
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-LGA1...UTF8&qid=1340675538&sr=8-1&keywords=Intel+H77

Your best bet for a SSD would be the Crucial M4 128GB for $120:
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-I...F8&qid=1340675686&sr=1-1&keywords=CT128M4SSD2

 

[flyingturtle]

You rock, Danny! With those quick replies.

If I wanted to go with i5 2500k Sandy Bridge, instead of Ivy Bridge, any advantages in terms of pricing? I've heard the Sandy Bridge is a little bit more mature (and stable) and if it's cheaper (mobo, memory) I may consider that route, too. I know the i5 2500k is about the same price of the 3570 (but more than the 3450).

 

[Dangman]

You rock, Danny! With those quick replies.

If I wanted to go with i5 2500k Sandy Bridge, instead of Ivy Bridge, any advantages in terms of pricing? I've heard the Sandy Bridge is a little bit more mature (and stable) and if it's cheaper (mobo, memory) I may consider that route, too. I know the i5 2500k is about the same price of the 3570 (but more than the 3450).

You answered your own question. The 2500K is priced the same as the 3570K so no real advantage in terms of pricing there. The Core i5 3450 is cheaper than the 2500K. A solid H67 mobo will cost the same as the H77 mobos I listed above. Memory will be the same.

 

[plagas]

Do you really need 16gb of ram? lol.

 

[flyingturtle]

Do you really need 16gb of ram? lol.

Yeah, perhaps it's overkill, but I do a lot of Photoshop work with large images (we're talking huge wall and floor banners for conventions).

Also I do a lot of programming and those IDEs can eat up memory, like Visual Studio, which the latest iteration is major resource hog.

When I do web development, I'll often have lots of apps running at the same time, and I figured the extra ram couldn't hurt. RAM is so cheap. Under a $100 for 16GB is pretty sweet.

I figure with the extra RAM, I could make a RAM disk, and make compile times quicker for programming and applying filters for photoshop stuff etc.

I remember when I had to pay $1600 for 32megs of RAM. I kid you not, that's one thousand six hundred dollars for only 32 megabytes (not gigabytes, but puny megabytes) so I could run Photoshop faster on my 1st gen Pentium Windows 95 machine. I was so happy that it took only 15 minutes to open my hefty photoshop print-ready file instead of the usual 40 minutes.