Corsair build

[Jericho]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, some photoshop but not much, watching movies but mostly gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1300 inc tax & shipping
3) Where do you live?
Nowhere near a microcenter
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU & cooling
Motherboard
Memory
SSD
Storage HDD
GPU
PSU
Case
Soundcard
OS
Headset
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Keyboard & mouse
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I own a 22" Samsung 2253BW 1680x1050
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
End of March/Early April
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
SATA 6Gb/s for the HDD and possibly SSD, black PCB
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Nope

Hey guys, I'd like to put together a Corsair build in the coming months. This is what I've got so far, I'd appreciate a bit of constructive criticism:

Corsair 600T
Intel Core i5 2500K
Asus P8P67
Corsair H50-1
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti SUPEROC 1GB
750W Corsair HX
OCZ 120GB Vertex 2E SSD
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Corsair CA-HS1 USB Gaming Headset
Arctic Silver 5

Was thinking of dropping the USB headset for the HS1A & new soundcard even though it works out more expensive (I got a SB Audigy 2 ZS from my old PC but that's getting on now).

 

[notarat]

H70 > H50
AX850 > HX750

Just my personal preferences, anyway...

Looks nice though otherwise

 

[Jericho]

Thanks. Do you think I should forget my Corsair dream, get budget parts and go for a Dell U2311H for 1080p gaming instead? Feeling pretty down that I got my monitor just before 1080p became mainstream

 

[1_legged_sheep]

That system is complete overkill for your monitor, you could always upgrade the monitor in the future though.

 

[Jericho]

That system is complete overkill for your monitor

The build will be replacing a P4 with a single 7800GTX which my existing 1680x1050 monitor is complete overkill for

Just a shame I can't budget for a decent PC and monitor atm

 

[ghost6303]

better to be overkill for the monitor, then to design a computer around the monitor and not be able to upgrade later.

an 850 watt power supply is way overkill. 750w is probably also. you are most likely to be pulling somewhere near 500-550w at load. wont harm anything to have extra room, but just overkill. looks good other then that.

 

[Jericho]

Ah ghost thanks you just saved me 25 bucks. I'll go for the 650W HX (really want modular). I see it's bronze instead of silver, I guess 5% efficiency isn't worth worrying about though.

 

[Dangman]

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
End of March/Early April

Too early to start planning a build then. Your best bet for up-to-date advice and the best deals on hardware is to simply wait 2-3 weeks after the beginning of the month of your actual buy date and ask for advice then.

So the following criticisms and part recommendations are only valid for this month. I may change recommendations in March and definitily April:

8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3

You don't need DDR3 1600 RAM at all when it comes to overclocking the Core i5 2500K CPUs. Nor does it actually offer any real world performance increase over DDR3 1333 RAM. So you'll be fine with this RAM set:
$95 - Corsair CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 XMS3 2x4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Or best bang for the buck value:
$80 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 Ti SUPEROC 1GB

Really bad choice fot the money: The faster HD 6950 1GB costs the same as that card. The similarily performing HD 6870 1GB costs less than the GTX 560. So unless Gigabyte and/or Nvidia has a connection to Corsair that I don't know about, you're better with a AMD HD 6870 1GB or HD 6950 1GB for best bang for the buck value.

OCZ 120GB Vertex 2E SSD

You do know that Corsair has SSDs right? Roughly the same performance as the OCZ SSDs IIRC. However if you do a non-Corsair theme, the best bang for the buck SSD out now are Crucial's C300 SSDs. They're faster than any OCZ or Corsair SSD in real world situations. However in a few months, Intel is releasing their G3 SSDs and Crucial is releasing their C400 SSDs. So if you aiming for a best bang for the buck build, avoid any OCZ or Corsair SSD.

Arctic Silver 5

Not a good choice: These are better thermal paste since they do not have a curing time:
$10 - Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
$10 - Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Compound

Was thinking of dropping the USB headset for the HS1A & new soundcard even though it works out more expensive (I got a SB Audigy 2 ZS from my old PC but that's getting on now).

Try the onboard audio first and then decide if a dedicated card is needed.

Thanks. Do you think I should forget my Corsair dream, get budget parts and go for a Dell U2311H for 1080p gaming instead?

Depends on what exactly you want: A theme based gaming PC or high resolution gaming PC.

Just a shame I can't budget for a decent PC and monitor atm

You can: Just ditch the Corsair theme and possibly the SSD.

 

[Jericho]

Now that's what I call feedback.

Taking everything you've said into consideration, here are the changes I've made:

8GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3
MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti TWIN FROZR II 1GB - Slightly cheaper option. I want PhysX for two games launching this year
115GB 25nm SSD Corsair Force
Arctic Cooling MX-2
No soundcard

Also eyeing up the Corsair 650D. Can't wait to build this beast!

Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated.

 

[Dangman]

Oh one last thing: The 1TB WD Black drives (every 1TB Black drive model) are poor buy for the money: They're either slower but cost the same or just as fast but costs more as the best bang for the buck Samsung F3 1TB drive:
$65 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

 

[1_legged_sheep]

Oh one last thing: The 1TB WD Black drives (every 1TB Black drive model) are poor buy for the money: They're either slower but cost the same or just as fast but costs more as the best bang for the buck Samsung F3 1TB drive:
$65 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Agreed and if you just keep an eye on it someplace will put it on sale for fifty something + free shipping. I think I got mine for $59 or $55 I can't remember.

 

[Jericho]

Well, the time has come. I'll be pulling the trigger on my purchase in the next few days. Here is the final spec:

Corsair 600T
Corsair H50-1
Corsair 4GB (2x2) 1333Mhz DDR3
Corsair 650W HX
Corsair SSD TBC
Corsair HS1A Headset

Intel Core i5 2500K
Asus P8P67
EVGA GTX 560 SC
Samsung F3 Spinpoint 1TB
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
Arctic Cooling MX-2
25cm NZXT Black Motherboard Power Extension Cable

Think I'll wait a little while before I consider getting an SSD.

Hopefully everything looks okay to the experts here, just wanted to say thanks for everyone's help selecting components, you've put my mind at ease. Might be doing a build log, and if I do I'll come back and link you guys up!

 

[Dangman]

At $268 shipped, that eVGA card isn't that good of a deal since the faster XFX HD 6950 1GB can be had for $253 shipped. So if you still want to stick with Nvidia, then find a cheaper GTX 560 Ti so that you're not wasting your money that badly.

Over the past month or so, Corsair Vengence RAM has dropped in price. To the point where it's only $5 more than the Corsair RAM set I recommended earlier. So while you won't notice a real world performance increase over DDR3 1333 RAM, if it's only $5 more, might as well get it on the off chance that it may make a difference some day:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144

 

[Jericho]

Here in the UK the EVGA SC card costs as much as the reference 560 Ti did at release (£200) and is the cheapest Ti for the performance. It's probably a different story over there in the states.

The Vengeance RAM isn't available in 2GB sticks that I can see so for dual channel I'll have to get 8GB. I was leaning that way with the blue Vengeance but since they're out of stock nationwide I'll stick with the cheap stuff and 4GB is plenty for gaming as far as I've been informed.

Thanks anyway DB