Finishing up a build

[wheelhunt]

Hey, once I get paid next week I'm going to have enough money to get all this so I'm trying to finish up the specs. I've never built a computer before so I don't know much about any parts, I've just been going off what my more knowledgeable friends have been telling me. I'm in Australia, I don't wanna spend much more than $1200-$1300, and I'm just going to mostly be playing MMO's with some COD to let off steam once in a while.

I have a PCcasegear wishlist I've been using. All my mates say this is the best site for this sort of stuff in Australia.
I can't post the link though! So I will just copy the parts I guess.

CPU-Intel Core i5 3570
GPU-Sapphire Radeon HD7870 2GB GHZ Edition OC
HDD-Western Digital WD Black 1TB WD1002FAEX
Motherboard-ASUS P8Z77-V LK Motherboard
Power supply-Antec High Current Gamer 520W Modular HCG-520M
RAM-Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8R 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3

If you go onto PCCasegear and search public wishlists for mmo-champ, the only result there is mine also.


What I'm most unsure about-

- Ram. Whether its worth getting 16gb over 8, and whether its worth paying 150 bux for memory instead of paying around 60-80 (ie, if there's more to it than just latency ratings)

- Graphics card. Is there really any difference between the different makes of Radeon cards?

- SSD. I don't really want to drop another hundy just for a tiny hard drive. How much quicker will it really be? I guess a 120gb one that can fit my OS and the games I'm playing most at the time would be all I need, but is it worth it?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

Your CPU: i5 3570. For a couple of dollars you can get the K version, which is overclockable, and can easily reach 4.5 GHz. You would need an after-market cooler too, which would be between 20 and 50 dollars.

If you do that, you will need to think about different RAM, Corsair Vengeance Low Profile costs the same amount, and doesn't have those hideous (and totally pointless) cooling fins. You also may want to think about getting the blue or black version, to fit with the Asus blue motherboard.

As for the SSD: it is very noticeable. A program installed on my SSD opens immediately. A program installed on my caviar blue takes rather longer. Some people will tell you not to bother, but most of those have never used a computer with an SSD. I will never go back to using magnetic storage for my OS and primary applications.

[apepi]

If you wait a bit the black friday sales will come around and maybe something good will come on sale.