Need Input on Sandy Bridge build

[mikeohara]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming with occasional music listening

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500 before Taxes and Shipping

3) Where do you live?
Texas

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, Mobo, RAM, Video Card, SSD, possibly a new case suggestion (mid-tower or higher)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Corsair H70 Watercooling Setup (w/ P55&X58 retention and Scythe Kaze fans), Memorex DVD drive, 1 Terabyte WD Black and 2 Terabyte WD Green HDDs. Also have a pair of Plantronics headphones.

6) Will you be overclocking?
absolutely

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
23" with no further plans to upgrade

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP (waiting on next round of refund money from college)

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
SLI/Crossfire Support, USB 3 would be nice to have.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No

 

[luluthemonk]

i5 2500K + GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3 $325
G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $80
6950 1GB $213 AR
Corsair Force 120GB $230
SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W $80
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit $100
Fractal Design R3 $110
Total: $1138 AR

Came in a little low. You could always go for an SLI setup, but for a single 23" monitor seems kind of overkill. Or bump it up to a 6970 or 570. Could also get a larger SSD in the 240GB range. Also look into the HAF series of cases for some other options.

 

[Dangman]

My main issues with luluthemonk's build:
- The listing of the AR price. More of a pet peeve actually. Anyway, rebates aren't guaranteed discounts. As such I see no reason to factor them into the total overall cost before the rebate is actually in your hands.

- That Corsair SSD is based on the Sandforce SF-1200 controller which has been shown to have lower real world performance than the stated specs. This is a big contrast to Crucial or Intel's SSDs where their real world performance matches their stated specs. In addition, the SF-1200's real world performance is significantly lower than Crucial's or Intel's SSDs. And then there's the lower overall quality of the SF-1200 controller. So while their price is good, thats about it.

- That PSU, while an excellent PSU, isn't a good choice for the money at $90 shipped. There are similiar quality yet higher wattage/amperage rated PSUs out there with a much better price to performance ratio. I.e the Antec TP-650 650W PSU for $80 or the XFX 650W Modular PSUs for $100.

Here's my recommendations:
$225 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
$250 - MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard + G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$85 - G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$283 - XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card
$255 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC0128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SSD
$136 - XFX Black Edition P1-750B-CAG9 750W Modular PSU
---
Total: $1234 plus tax and shipping.

Case wise, I recommend the following cases:
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - NZXT Tempest Evo TEVO-001BK ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$106 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$165 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$220 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$220 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$290 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case
Cases (ATX w/PSU):

 

[tonytnnt]

Here's my recommendations:
$225 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
$250 - MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard + G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$85 - G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$283 - XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card
$255 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC0128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SSD
$136 - XFX Black Edition P1-750B-CAG9 750W Modular PSU
---
Total: $1234 plus tax and shipping.

+1 to this. You could also consider upgrading the graphics card to a Radeon 6970 and still be under budget (depending on your case selection.) However, at 1080p a 2GB 6950 is a great card.

 

[tiraides]

Stick with Danny's recommendations. If you don't like the concept of onboard sound while listening to music, head to the Computer Audio forum for some sound card recommendations.