Building a new computer.

[Whitlam]

Building a new system and would like some advice on the parts I've selected before I finalize my purchase.
My budget is AU$ 1200-1400.
Don't really have any exceptional requirements, except that I'd like to stream/upload videos occasionally (though I hear streaming is mostly limited by upload speed, youtube etc). And I'd like it to be able to play current games on not the lowest settings, medium/high would be nice.

I've somewhat followed chaud's build of the month but some parts aren't accessible where I live so some have been replaced.

What I have so far (all costs in AU$):

Processor: INTEL CORE i5 2500K 3.3GHz 6MB RETAIL BOX $228
Aftermarket Cooler: COOLERMASTER HYPER 212 EVO CPU COOLER $45
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H B3 DESKTOP MOTHERBOARD $155
Memory 1: G.SKILL 8GB KIT DDR3 RIPJAWS X C9 1600MHZ $69
Hard drive 1: WD CAVIAR GREEN 3.5" 1TB 7200/64MB/SATA3 $139
Graphics Card: EVGA GTX560 TI 850M/4104M 1GB/DVI/HDMI $289
Optical drive: ASUS 24x SATA DVD-R/RW/DL BLACK $32
Sound card: CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER VX 5.1 PCI SOUNDCARD $34
Power Supply: COOLERMASTER EXTREME POWER PLUS 700W $109
Network: ASUS PCE-N10 WIRELESS N LITE 150M PCI-E ADAPTER $29
OS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM OEM/64BIT $99
Power Protection: POWER SHIELD 6 WAY SURGE BOARD BK $29

Total: $1228

Wondering if anything is missing and also if the sound card/network cards are necessary or if they're integrated onto the motherboard or something (yes, i r total nub).

Apologies about the terrible formatting, couldn't figure out how to get tab spaces to work

Prices sourced from here.

[Rorzz]

You wont need the sound or network cards, also those power supplies have some negative reviews (the 600w version can only draw 450w safely etc), looking at that site I would go with a corsair hx650 instead.
Also the 560 TIs seem to be out of stock, you may want to look into 6870 or 6950 as replacements, unless you have another site to order from

[Whitlam]

Okay, here is an updated version, there is also no motherboards of the current type, is there a recommended substitute? Or should I just backorder and wait?


Processor: INTEL CORE i5 2500K 3.3GHz 6MB RETAIL BOX $228
Aftermarket Cooler: COOLERMASTER HYPER 212 EVO CPU COOLER $45
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H B3 DESKTOP MOTHERBOARD $155
Memory 1: G.SKILL 8GB KIT DDR3 RIPJAWS X C9 1600MHZ $69
Hard drive 1: WD CAVIAR GREEN 3.5" 1TB 7200/64MB/SATA3 $139
Graphics Card: EVGA GTX560 TI 850M/4104M 1GB/DVI/HDMI $289
Optical drive: ASUS 24x SATA DVD-R/RW/DL BLACK $32
Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W HX-650 MODULAR POWER SUPPLY $155
OS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM OEM/64BIT $99
Power Protection: POWER SHIELD 6 WAY SURGE BOARD BK $29

Total: $1240

Also, the case I plan to use is the BitFenix Colossus, I doubt there will be a space issue and I think it should be okay for cooling.

Thanks

[Nellah]

Don't get a Green drive, at least not as your boot / program drive. They're just fine for file storage, but they're engineered to be energy efficient, and they get that way by being anywhere from a bit slower to ridiculously slow on seek times and random read/writes. Go for a 7200RPM drive (the Black line is preferable if you stick with Western Digital as the manufacturer) or even an SSD depending on your storage needs.

EDIT: The web site says the Caviar Green is 7200 RPMs? Someone got their facts wrong when building their database... everywhere I see says it uses "Intellipower" or spins at 5900RPMs. I'm not sure whether it changes speed depending on drive use, but I can say for certain that the 800GB WD Green drive in my HTPC is miles behind my 1TB Caviar Black storage disk in my main PC.

[Whitlam]

Ahh, I was wondering what the difference was between the different coloured hard drives.

I was thinking about getting a relatively small SSD for my OS. Is there anything else that would be better put on an SSD than a mechanical hard drive? And also what is an acceptable size?

I was thinking CORSAIR FORCE 3 60GB 2.5" SSD SATA3 550/490 ($124) considering I have about that much to play around with. Would larger be recommended or is that fine for what it needs to be?

[Nellah]

Ahh, I was wondering what the difference was between the different coloured hard drives.

I was thinking about getting a relatively small SSD for my OS. Is there anything else that would be better put on an SSD than a mechanical hard drive? And also what is an acceptable size?

I was thinking CORSAIR FORCE 3 60GB 2.5" SSD SATA3 550/490 ($124) considering I have about that much to play around with. Would larger be recommended or is that fine for what it needs to be?

60GB will give you almost no headroom. My Windows 7 folder is 32.7GB... I'm sure I could get it smaller with some tweaking (and probably should) but 20GB seems to be the minimum people are citing for Win7. WoW takes up 16 gigs minimum from what I hear... it benefits a lot from being on the SSD, and my WoW folder is also north of 25 gigs. You want to leave 15% free space or so for wear leveling on the SSD, which pretty much runs you out of room right there. I'd recommend 120GB+ or not getting one at all.

As for what to put on the SSD, that's up to you. What I do is install a program on the SSD, then if it doesn't seem to benefit from it I'll remove it and reinstall on my mechanical drive. Most of my programs are fine on the HDD, there are only a few that seem to really benefit from the SSD.

If you're just going to use it to boot Windows and other stuff that loads on boot (that's what I've done) then 60GB is fine; honestly, none of the games I play seem to benefit at all from the SSD. SC2 loads maps faster, WoW gets the initial load done a bit faster (but once it's in my wife's 640GB WD Caviar Blue keeps up with it), EVE Online got zero speed increase, and everything else was iffy.

[Halabash]

Okay, here is an updated version, there is also no motherboards of the current type, is there a recommended substitute? Or should I just backorder and wait?


Processor: INTEL CORE i5 2500K 3.3GHz 6MB RETAIL BOX $228
Aftermarket Cooler: COOLERMASTER HYPER 212 EVO CPU COOLER $45
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H B3 DESKTOP MOTHERBOARD $155
Memory 1: G.SKILL 8GB KIT DDR3 RIPJAWS X C9 1600MHZ $69
Hard drive 1: WD CAVIAR GREEN 3.5" 1TB 7200/64MB/SATA3 $139
Graphics Card: EVGA GTX560 TI 850M/4104M 1GB/DVI/HDMI $289
Optical drive: ASUS 24x SATA DVD-R/RW/DL BLACK $32
Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W HX-650 MODULAR POWER SUPPLY $155
OS: MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM OEM/64BIT $99
Power Protection: POWER SHIELD 6 WAY SURGE BOARD BK $29

Total: $1240

Also, the case I plan to use is the BitFenix Colossus, I doubt there will be a space issue and I think it should be okay for cooling.

Thanks

I think this build is fine, The hdd is a bit much for your primary os but i see you have advice on that already. The only part I see as "optional" is the aftermarket cooler. Intel chips don't run crazy hot unless your overclocking and with a high air flow box your not going to fry it using a stock fan. Intel engineers are pro with their own fans. Your video card is solid, I like radeon though (looking drivers is a pain, so I don't blame you going nvidia). Also the motherboard your looking at getting is pretty rad, I'd still recommend that be your focal point in this build aside from the v.card + processor =)

[Nellah]

Yeah, all a stock fan will do is limit your overclock ceiling. I can do 4.4GHz on stock cooling or 5.0GHz on a half-decent (but not great) aftermarket cooler, but the 24/7 overclocks between the two only differ by 200MHz (4.0 vs 4.2.) If you do plan on getting an aftermarket cooler it's better to get it with the rest of the system so you don't have to take the motherboard back out to install the third-party back plate.

The case you're using has a cut-out to put the back plate on without removing the motherboard, but so does my Storm Scout and I still had to remove the mobo. That case looks like the hole is in a better spot though.

[iggie]

Ahh, I was wondering what the difference was between the different coloured hard drives.

I was thinking about getting a relatively small SSD for my OS. Is there anything else that would be better put on an SSD than a mechanical hard drive? And also what is an acceptable size?

I was thinking CORSAIR FORCE 3 60GB 2.5" SSD SATA3 550/490 ($124) considering I have about that much to play around with. Would larger be recommended or is that fine for what it needs to be?

You will hate yourself in a few months if you buy a small SSD. 120G min.