New PC Build

[rokar]

1) Figure out your budget.

$800ish to buy remaining parts

2) Figure out which components you would need for your setup.

Already Bought/Have:

Motherboard: GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
Processor: i5 2500k
Video Card: Sparkle GTX 460, using til Tax Time
OS: Win 7

Still Need/Parts I'm looking at

Case - Fractal Design Define XL Black
Power Supply (PSU) - Something beefy enough to handle a GTX 580 and possibly 2 in sli
CPU Cooler/Heatsink with Fan (HSF) - Looking at Antec Kuhler 920
Memory (RAM) - Mushkin Enhanced Redline 8GB 2 of these kits
Hard Drive (HDD) - SAMSUNG 470 Series 128gb SSD & a 2TB WD Black for game installs and such


3) Determine what the computer is going to be used for. It could be designed for one primary task, or it could be a "multitasking" machine capable of performing multiple/various tasks.

Gaming: Skrim, Civ 5, Old Republic, other random fps, rts


4) Figure out which features you want on your computer.

Motherboard supports what I need

5) Determine whether or not you are planning on overclocking any of the components.

Light overclocking is possible. CPU & Video Card

6) Determine how long you want your machine to last.

Would like it last awhile.

9) Figure out where you are going to purchase everything from.

NewEgg
Mircocenter
Tiger Direct
Amazon

Would welcome any and all input. Except I'm not going with an ATI Video card.

 

[Forceman]

Don't bother getting DDR3-1866, just get a $45 set of DDR3-1600 instead. Same performance as the higher speed stuff on Sandy Bridge. I'd look at either the Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 for SSDs - the 470 is a previous generation model. A 750W power supply is enough for a GTX 580, but if you want to run two, you are probably looking at a 1kW PSU.

Edit: Looks like Nvidia certifies the Antec High Current Gamer 900W for SLI GTX 580s.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371050

http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html

 

[Dangman]

SSD wise, I'd go for the newer, faster, and TRIM using Crucial m4 128GB instead:
$200 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD

RAM wise, I'd recommend this RAM:
$44 - G.Skill Sniper F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM

Case wise, my main issue with that Fractal Design case is the lack of free shipping. As such, it comes out to $170 shipped. IMO, not worth it at that price considering that there are other cases out there that provide better cooling or value for the price:
$120 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$133 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$137 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$143 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

 

[Deltief]

SSD wise, I'd go for the newer, faster, and TRIM using Crucial m4 128GB instead:
$200 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD

RAM wise, I'd recommend this RAM:
$44 - G.Skill Sniper F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM

Case wise, my main issue with that Fractal Design case is the lack of free shipping. As such, it comes out to $170 shipped. IMO, not worth it at that price considering that there are other cases out there that provide better cooling or value for the price:
$120 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$133 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$137 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$143 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

You really should add the coolermaster haf x to your case list, its without a doubt one of the best cases out there.

 

[E4g1e]

You really should add the coolermaster haf x to your case list, its without a doubt one of the best cases out there.

Actually, Danny did not include the HAF X because he found its build quality to be not as good as expected for the nearly $200 price that it currently sells for. Maybe if its price were no more than $150 shipped he would recommend it.

 

[Augster]

SSD wise, I'd go for the newer, faster, and TRIM using Crucial m4 128GB instead:
$200 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD

Woke up this morning and Newegg has this HD for $185 delivered. Even better! Bought it for my build.

 

[Deltief]

Actually, Danny did not include the HAF X because he found its build quality to be not as good as expected for the nearly $200 price that it currently sells for. Maybe if its price were no more than $150 shipped he would recommend it.

really, well to each their own i guess, while there are some issues with the case i think its pros heavily outweigh the few cons, yet the Silverstone FT02B ATX Case made the cut, very interesting.

 

[rokar]

Awesome ideas, Thanks! But what is TRIM? Only reason I was looking at the 470 series is because of the reviews, there where almost no negative. Compared to the other drives I was looking at. But I will read more on the Crucial. Where can I read more about what I should be looking for in a SSD?

 

[PTNL]

Awesome ideas, Thanks! But what is TRIM? Only reason I was looking at the 470 series is because of the reviews, there where almost no negative. Compared to the other drives I was looking at. But I will read more on the Crucial. Where can I read more about what I should be looking for in a SSD?

There's lots of reasons, two of which are quality and reliability. Many other SSDs look good after running brief, canned benchmark utilities but can have a high rate of failure/corruption or do not perform the same in real-world situations. Danny can go into more detail.

Also, the 128 GB M4 drive is in the [H]ot Deals section for $185. Seems like a no-brainer to spend $15 to upgrade from your original Samsung SSD to the Crucial M4.

 

[Forceman]

In a nutshell, TRIM is a way for the OS to tell the drive which data blocks are not in use any longer, so they can be preemptively erased by the drive. Without TRIM, the drive can't pre-erase unused blocks and so you take a performance penalty when you are writing to previously used space on the drive (because the drive has to erase the block, then write the new data). Not having TRIM can cause significant slowdowns with heavily used drives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM

 

[Dangman]

really, well to each their own i guess, while there are some issues with the case i think its pros heavily outweigh the few cons, yet the Silverstone FT02B ATX Case made the cut, very interesting.

Yup, to each his own. The case list I have is by no means a definitive case list nor is it purely objective as the case's looks are a factor and therefore subjective. I'm fairly sure that I've dismissed a few cases based on looks alone. With that said, quality, cooling performance, features set, ease of cable management, and space are the major factors that determines whether or not I add a case to my case list. In that regard, I did not find the HAF X to be worth adding.

E4g1e is right about my reasons against the HAF X being in my list. Looks wasn't that big of a factor considering that the similar looking HAF 932 is in my list. With that said, I have recommended that HAF X case in the past when there was a need for a case with 8 expansion slots.