Upcoming IB build, looking for feedback

[ohlmsjm]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming and surfing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$2500-3000
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
O'Fallon, MO
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.
Case, CPU, Motherboard, Memory, Video Card, Cooling solution both for whatever case I choose and the CPU, HDD, DVD/Burner, and the PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I won't be reusing as this is a new build
6) Will you be overclocking?
I'm not an extreme oc'er but I will probably go with some basic oc'ing
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1600 - 24"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within the next 2 months
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
I don't currently need CF or SLI support but it's something I'm looking into in the future. I would like USB 3.0/Sata 6gb/s but have no need for eSata at this time. Onboard video is a nice to have, not a must.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 pro - 64bit

I was thinking the following:
$239 - ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$169.99 - CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 (CMPSU-850HX) 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
$159.99 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - This will be my OS drive exclusively.
$124.99 - CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10 - I'm a bit unsure on this particular memory because I do not know what the IB is going to be looking for.
$109.99 - LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner with 3D Playback iHBS212-08 LightScribe Support

Along with the potential items above I'm also still unsure on the following:
A single GTX 680 video card but unsure on which brand to pick up.
Still haven't settled on a reliably fast and responsive 1TB/1TB+ HDD for my games.

In terms of cases I was looking at possibly:
$189.99 - COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
$259.99 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

I haven't done much research on the cooling aspects but I was sort of leaning towards one of the following for the CPU:
$114.99 - CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
$94.99 - Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

Fans for the case will depend on which case I go with but I will probably lean towards:
Noctua Fans
Scythe Fans

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dangman]

Note that my recommendations are only good for this month as I may not be recommending some of the parts two months from now:

GPU wise, go for eVGA, MSI, Gigabyte, or Asus.

I recommend these two drives:
$120 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$120 - Hitachi Desktar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive

As for cases, definitely the 800D hands down. The HAF X is fugly and isn't worth the price.

 

[ohlmsjm]

Thanks for the feedback Danny. I notice that you recommend those drives quite often yet quite a few of the reviews I've been reading have me worried about quality control and having to replace them fairly soon after purchase.

The other components listed though were sound?

 

[Dangman]

Thanks for the feedback Danny. I notice that you recommend those drives quite often yet quite a few of the reviews I've been reading have me worried about quality control and having to replace them fairly soon after purchase.

The Samsung has over 2000 Newegg reviews with a 72% 5 star rating. That's fairly good for a hard drive on Newegg.

The other components listed though were sound?

Sorry I was in a rush yesterday:
- Can't really comment on the quality of that motherboard since not many reviews of that mobo is out. Nor are there many reviews of other Z77 mobos out. With that said, from what you've answered in question 6 and 9, the Sabertooth seems to be overkill.

- RAM wise, you're right: We don't know what IB will be looking for in terms of RAM. Though it is a little unlikely that it'll see performance increases with higher speed RAM. But we won't know until the reviews comes out. With that said, for gaming, 8GB of RAM would be enough.

- How serious are you about Crossfire/SLI? I ask because as of now, a 850W PSU is overkill for that setup. You would be fine with a solid 650W PSU. If you are serious about Crossfire/SLI, then the 850W isn't overkill.

- Cooler wise, I'd go for the Noctua if you want the most cooling possible. If you want the WOW factor, then go for the H100.

IMO, wait another month or so before starting to plan. As you have now noticied, there's not enough info to definitely say which parts will be fine.

 

[ohlmsjm]

The following is pretty much what I have decided on but wanted to get some final feedback to eliminate as much potential buyer's remorse as possible. I'd like this build to last me as my main system for a good 5-6 years.

Any feedback would be great and thanks again!

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($349.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ CompUSA)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($235.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($124.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Hard Drive: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($78.95 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card ($507.55 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 800D ATX Full Tower Case ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHBS212-08 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($112.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64-bit) ($138.99 @ B&H)
Total: $2141.40

 

[Dangman]

For your usage scenarios, you would be just fine with the i5 3570k. You didn't list video, audio, or 3D editing/rendering under question 1, usages that would definitely justify the 3770K. However if you want a bigger epeen and/or really want to spend money go for the 3770K.

Hard drive, I would go with this significantly faster Samsung drive:
$120 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Any particular reason why you chose Windows 7 Pro over Windows 7 Home Premium?

 

[ohlmsjm]

For your usage scenarios, you would be just fine with the i5 3570k. You didn't list video, audio, or 3D editing/rendering under question 1, usages that would definitely justify the 3770K. However if you want a bigger epeen and/or really want to spend money go for the 3770K.

Hard drive, I would go with this significantly faster Samsung drive:
$120 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Any particular reason why you chose Windows 7 Pro over Windows 7 Home Premium?

Thanks for the feedback Danny! I was looking at some different HDD comparisons and I don't see where the F3 was significantly better performing than WD. Data I was looking at.
I've had good luck through the years of dealing with Western Digital but zero experience with Samsung outside of their televisions which I love! So if you've got some supporting info I wouldn't mind taking a look! =)

The reason I chose Win7 Pro over Home was primarily for RDP since I remote in from work.

 

[Dangman]

Thanks for the feedback Danny! I was looking at some different HDD comparisons and I don't see where the F3 was significantly better performing than WD. Data I was looking at.

Huh. I could have sworn the WD1002FAEX was slower than that. In any case, your site does show the F3 being faster than the WD. Maybe not significantly depending on your metric for significant but still faster.

The reason I chose Win7 Pro over Home was primarily for RDP since I remote in from work.

Fair enough.

 

[E4g1e]

Huh. I could have sworn the WD1002FAEX was slower than that. In any case, your site does show the F3 being faster than the WD. Maybe not significantly depending on your metric for significant but still faster.

I have both of those drives. I took a look at the average sequential transfer speeds of both drives. The WD Caviar Black, despite its SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, averaged only about 105 MB/s in my systems while the Samsung F3 with its SATA 3.0 Gbps interface averaged about 115 MB/s. Furthermore, my particular Blacks barely topped 130 MB/s on the outer tracks while my F3s fell just shy of 140 MB/s on the outer tracks.