Looking for opinions on a build

[Hoffman]

So my... 6 year old computer is in the process of dieing horribly.  Poor case design and high end gaming has seen it melt 3 video cards, and it's time to upgrade the case to something that actually has airflow, so if I'm swapping out the case, I might as well upgrade stuffs since I'm going to have to tear it all apart anyways, but once I realized that in order to upgrade stuff I'd need a brand new motherboard..  I decided to just get a new computer and scrap the old one.  I'm keeping my dual monitors, keyboard, mouse, and hard drives. (7200 RPM SATAs, 256Gb that has the OS on it and a 1TB for storage)

This is what I've come up with so far... 

The goal is a computer that will eat games for breakfast and allow me to do some nice video editing for lunch.

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($212.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 54.4 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.51 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card ($489.99 @ Amazon)
Speakers: Corsair Gaming Audio Series SP2500 High-Power 2.1 PC Speaker System ($199.99)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($90.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 660W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / ($169.74)
EPS12V Power Supply Optical Drive: LG UH12LS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($65.20)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (32-bit) ($89.98)
Total: $1702.32

Opinions please, before I spend a terrifying amount of money?

[Bizman]

Looks like a serious gaming rig 

If you want to cut the price down without sacrificing anything crucial, a couple of suggestions come into my mind:

• Intel stock coolers do the job quite well in a well ventilated case, reasonably quietly, too. If you don't plan to overclock right from the start, buy the Noctua when you really need it.
• Do you really need $200 speakers for gaming? They seem to be very good and if you use your computer for watching movies and serious music listening, don't hesitate.
• Antec Three Hundred is a good case, too, for half the price @Newegg. It doesn't have USB 3 ports, though.

[Debrody]

I would be VERY happy with a rig like that  
One thing:
I would save 80$, and get an even better video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413
Unless you prefer NVidia for a very good reason, of course.

Oh and, please do NOT buy the 32bit version of the Win7!!!!!

[BoilerDown]

Oh and, please do NOT buy the 32bit version of the Win7!!!!!

I don't see any obvious mistakes in your build.  But obviously you meant to post the 64 bit version of 7 since you're getting 16GB of ram.  Make sure you do, because 32 bit Windows 7 will only use 4GB of your 16, 2GB after the video memory is assigned.

And that will be a pretty bad-ass build.  I wouldn't go with AMD though for your video card, they are really behind in driver support.  If they work fine in Aces High and that's all you care about, then I guess its fine, but Nvidia runs on less power, which will save you money over the long term, and their support for new games is always better than AMD.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I don't see any obvious mistakes in your build.  But obviously you meant to post the 64 bit version of 7 since you're getting 16GB of ram.  Make sure you do, because 32 bit Windows 7 will only use 4GB of your 16, 2GB after the video memory is assigned.

And that will be a pretty bad-ass build.  I wouldn't go with AMD though for your video card, they are really behind in driver support.  If they work fine in Aces High and that's all you care about, then I guess its fine, but Nvidia runs on less power, which will save you money over the long term, and their support for new games is always better than AMD.

Traditionally AMD has always given more bang for buck. Where did you read that stuff from? Nvidia newsletter?

[guncrasher]

yeah get the 64bit version of windows.  and I would stick with an aftermarket cooler like the one you have listed.

research the blue driver reader, I dont own myself and never looked into it but I seem to recall somebody saying that you may have to buy software to make it run.


get an extension for the 8 pin connector, it's not like you need it but it comes in handy as you wont have to remove the motherboard to change the power supply or do further cable management.  they're only like 4 bucks.


midway

[BaldEagl]

As others have mentioned Windows 32 bit will only utilize 4 GB of memory which includes video memory.  Either scale back to 2 GB RAM, drop video memory to 1 GB and use 3 GB of RAM or use 64 bit Windows.

You mentioned video editing.  The Core I5 is better suited to gaming while the Core I7 is better suited to video editing.  Decide which you want to do more of and purchase accordingly.

[Bizman]

Geez, I was too fast again giving the first answer! Of course, the 64 bit Win7 should be your choice with that configuration. That's the choice of longevity.

[Hoffman]

Yeah, whoops, pushed the wrong button on the OS, thanks for pointing that out!

And I prefer EVGA cards whenever possible, their build quality has been worth it for me in the past, and I'm familiar with their software.

My Current speakers, which have moved through... 4 computers, and 15 years now?  Are in the process of dieing horribly as well, time to replace them with a nicer setup.

[cattb]

IN MY OPINION,
 If you have a micro center by you, there are better deals there to be had for a CPU and motherboard.
The 3570k model is the unlocked version. ( i didn't see a k behind the 3570, but then not sure what your after) There are differrent models of the 3570. ( i'm sure you know this)

[morfiend]

 I would add to all the opinions, I might search out a different MB. The sabertooth is nice but you could get a Z77 board and save almost 100 bucks. I got a gigabyte Z77 for around 145 about 6 months ago.

   Also I like the choice in PSU but I think I would go with abit higher power for future upgrades.

  YMMV.



   

[Denniss]

You should get a better Win7 than Home - this is limited to 16 GiB RAM max.
Try to get 2x8GiB RAM instead of 4x4 even if it's slightly more expensive. Get RAM that achieves it's designed/advertized speed on standard voltage of 1.5V.
Do you really need this expensive cooler? Boxed cooler should be good enough.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

You should get a better Win7 than Home - this is limited to 16 GiB RAM max.
Try to get 2x8GiB RAM instead of 4x4 even if it's slightly more expensive. Get RAM that achieves it's designed/advertized speed on standard voltage of 1.5V.
Do you really need this expensive cooler? Boxed cooler should be good enough.

16 gigs is way more than anyone will need currently and in the near future. Most people never crack 4Gb memory consumption.

[Bizman]

I would add to all the opinions, I might search out a different MB. The sabertooth is nice but you could get a Z77 board and save almost 100 bucks. I got a gigabyte Z77 for around 145 about 6 months ago.

I'm not up to date about which motherboards are good, but this tip is timeless: If a certain motherboard has several sub-models, they don't differ in speed. The price difference comes from added features such as raid or WiFi. If you won't use those features, why pay for them?

 

 Also I like the choice in PSU but I think I would go with abit higher power for future upgrades.

There's been warnings on this board about too big PSU's causing trouble. E.g. here: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,337662.msg4456432.html#msg4456432 and especially this:

Too big of a power supply can work against you, depending on the supply design.  Switcher power supplies work best when they are under about 80% load.  Less than that and you start getting more ripple in the supplied voltage which can actually cause components to run hotter than they would normally run.  Hard drives make a little more noise, fans are not as quiet and so on.

[Bellator]

Do not get the Windows 7  32 bit OS. It will only support 8 gb of physical memory.
Get the 64 bit windows.
Windows 7 Pro 64 bit will support 192 gb of physical memory.

<S> Bellator