Looking for a critique of my potential build

[Jittles]

Not my first build, but it's been nearly 10 years since I last built myself a computer. I have done my research to get myself up to speed and this is what I came up with.

First off...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Gaming - SC2, BF3, etc. Miscellaneous engineering programs, but I won't kid myself, it's mostly for the games


2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

I have budgeted up to 1500, but I would prefer to keep it down around 1000-1200.


3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

U.S. - all online purchases. Difficulty: I live in Alaska so shipping can really kill deals quickly. 2-day air shipping is usually the only option. Amazon is very good about honoring the free super saver shipping to AK even, so I have priced some components from there.

All items listed are from newegg unless noted otherwise. The case I managed to find at amazon with free shipping, otherwise they tack on about 45 bucks extra to ship from newegg. Monitor was also $20 bucks shipping vs $47 at newegg.


4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

No preference


5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Reuse keyboard, mouse, optical drive, and hard drive until prices come down


6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

Yes.


7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I would like to do a reasonable OC. Nothing that requires a fancy cooler/case to get done. I will do both CPU and GPU.


8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

Whatever the monitor I get supports. 1080p? That seems to be what I see listed on monitors as I look.


9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

ASAP.




So here is what I have so far:

Case:
Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case (RC-912-KKN1)
$60 with free shipping from Amazon

Mobo:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$125

CPU + RAM combo at newegg: $242

CPU:
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

RAM:
PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model MD8192KD3-1333

GPU:
SAPPHIRE 100312-3SR Radeon HD 6950 Dirt3 Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video ...
$265 - $20 MIR (If I order it by today) = $245

PSU:
Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$70 - $20 MIR = $50

Monitor:
ASUS VH242H 23.6-Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black
$166 + $20 shipping = $186 at Amazon

SSD:
Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT064M4SSD2
$110 with free shipping at Amazon

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$99


Total from newegg: $802 + $42 shipping
Total from amazon: $356 shipped

Total: $1158 shipped - $40 MIR = $1118


I am pretty unsure about the monitor. Don't really know what I am looking at when I see specs...

Do I need to buy any case fans for the case?

Thank you in advance for any input.

 

[DominionSeraph]

That's pretty much what I came up with yesterday:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32495734&postcount=16

 

[Jittles]

That's pretty much what I came up with yesterday:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=32495734&postcount=16

I snagged the cpu + ram deal from your post. Shaved something like 15-20 bucks off what I had. Thanks!

 

[Ken g6]

As TN panels go, it's a nice monitor. Cheaper on Newegg AP AR.

You've got enough budget that someone will recommend a good IPS panel if you want one.

 

[mfenn]

You have indeed done your homework. The build looks great to me!

 

[Jittles]

A couple of thumbs up from you guys is all I need... pullin the trigger!

Thanks for glancing over my post!

I am getting all super excited now...

 

[lehtv]

Can't find any fault in that, really. Except... The 620W power supply doesn't have connectors for Crossfire/SLI. You could save $20 and go with Asrock Z68 Pro3.

Also us.ncix.com has free shipping to U.S. on >$50 orders, not sure if that applies to Alaska as well. If so, you could look for alternatives from there to save on shipping costs. And if you want to go dual-GPU some day, you could keep the Extreme3 and snag an XFX Core 750W $70AR (order today). Good luck!

 

[Jittles]

Can't find any fault in that, really. Except... The 620W power supply doesn't have connectors for Crossfire/SLI. You could save $20 and go with Asrock Z68 Pro3.

Also us.ncix.com has free shipping to U.S. on >$50 orders, not sure if that applies to Alaska as well. If so, you could look for alternatives from there to save on shipping costs. And if you want to go dual-GPU some day, you could keep the Extreme3 and snag an XFX Core 750W $70AR (order today). Good luck!

I doubt I will go with a dual gpu at any point... by the time I upgrade again there will be something out there that will be far superior. If that's the only difference, I will probably downgrade to the pro3 and save myself a few bucks.

 

[lehtv]

The Pro3 is not Gen3, meaning it doesn't support PCI Express 3.0 with an Ivy Bridge CPU. But you'll probably skip Ivy Bridge anyway, and PCIe3.0 probably won't be relevant until GTX700 / HD8000 series (which is nearer to Intel Haswell release date). I think that and the dual-gpu support are the only differences. Pro3 Gen3 costs $10 more and $7.56 shipping.

 

[mfenn]

The Pro3 is not Gen3, meaning it doesn't support PCI Express 3.0 with an Ivy Bridge CPU. But you'll probably skip Ivy Bridge anyway, and PCIe3.0 probably won't be relevant until GTX700 / HD8000 series (which is nearer to Intel Haswell release date). I think that and the dual-gpu support are the only differences. Pro3 Gen3 costs $10 more and $7.56 shipping.

I agree that PCIe Gen3 won't be relevant for a long time. It'll be a while before video cards support it and even longer (like 3-4 years) before we will exceed the bandwidth of Gen2.