new build-suggestions, comments welcome

[JasonG06]

I'm finally ready to update my old 3700+ and dual 7800 gtxs, and have come up with what I think is a good list. I've done a ton of reading so I feel well informed, but I by no means know all. So I'd appreciate any suggestions. I want to keep my budget about where it is, in the 900-1000 range, and wouldn't mind reducing cost a bit as long as the performance trade off isn't huge. I already have a Coolermaster Elite 430 to throw this stuff in and a 37 inch lg 1080p tv for display. Thanks in advance.

Proposed component list:
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active

LITE-ON SK-1688U/B Black USB Wired Standard Keyboard

Logitech G500 10 Buttons Dual-mode Scroll Wheel USB Wired Laser Gaming Mouse

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9

AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Disc Reader SATA Model iHOS104-08

 

[Dangman]

Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST" so that we can help you better.

Right off the bat: that setup looks very uneven and off.

 

[JasonG06]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, movies, music, web, office

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Around $1000 everything included

3) Where do you live?
Sacramento CA

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, motherboard, Ram, GPU, OS, Power supply, mouse and keyboard, hard drive, blu ray rom

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Maybe reusing Audigy 2, not looking to replace right away. I have a case.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Moderately

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
37 inch 1080p

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next week or so

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.
Don't want/need onboard video, I like crossfire as a future upgrade option, usb 3.0 and sata 6 gb/s are important, raid and firewire aren't, unsure about other features.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Do not have an OS I plan to use with this build

 

[Dangman]

First and foremost: buy as much of your parts as possible from Amazon.com since they do not charge tax to CA residents like us. We've been able to shave off $100 to $300 off California based build lists just by buying from Amazon.

Second, definitely the CPU, RAM, motherboard, and PSU will be scrapped from that list.

I'll be back in the morning with better build list. Right now too tired to think.

 

[Dangman]

A few more questions:
- Do you absolutely want blu-ray playback in that PC? I ask because, at least from what I can tell from the HTPC subforum, if you want smooth and high quality blu-ray playback, you have to pony an additional $80 to $100 for a software called Arcsoft Total Media Theatre 5. Considering that cost, you might be better off just buying a stand-alone blu-ray player for $150 to $200.

- What case are you planning on reusing?

 

[JasonG06]

I have a Cooler Master Elite 430 I picked up for a pretty good deal. Blue Ray isn't a must, more of a component reduction thought. But if it's going to require expensive software to make it usable I can do without and get a standalone.

 

[HardwareGuru]

Yeah, forget the blue ray player. Focus on trying to get an Intel Sandy Bridge build in that budget with a Radeon 6850/6870 video card. Might be able to do all this for under $1k

 

[Dangman]

$230 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
$120 to $190 - P67 Motherboard
$40 - Patriot PSD34G13332 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$250 - XFX HD695XZNFC HD6950 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$62 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$100 - Antec Truepower New TP-750 Blue 750W PSU
$27 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
$90 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM
----
Total: $919 to $989 shipped.

You will probably be over your budget once you pick out the keyboard and mouse but the above build is well worth every penny. I left out the motherboard as Amazon.com hasn't fully stocked up on P67 motherboards yet.

 

[tiraides]

Hey Danny, the link to the video card is messed up.

 

[Dangman]

Hey Danny, the link to the video card is messed up.

Thanks. Fixed now.

 

[JasonG06]

Thanks for the suggestions, much better than what I had intended on. I've been reading about the different P67 boards and the Asus P8P67M Pro seems to be a good candidate for price and features. Would this be a good choice and what else would you guys recommend?

 

[Dangman]

Thanks for the suggestions, much better than what I had intended on. I've been reading about the different P67 boards and the Asus P8P67M Pro seems to be a good candidate for price and features. Would this be a good choice and what else would you guys recommend?

Thats a good choice for a motherboard.