Advice on new build - plagiarized from Marests $1500 build

[crazyb]

I'm pretty much looking to take Marest's $1500 sample build part for part. My current system is an AMD X4 2.2ghz with an 8600GT video card (a low budget build about 3.5 years ago). I currently hit like 3 FPS when in LFR (which is odd since back in ICC I used to raid 25 man and was more consistent at 15 to 20 while raiding, but since some point in Cata things have been a bit worse - luckily my raiding switched to 10 man and I was able to participate).

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter) - if only I had a local Microcenter. this will cost me $30 more to get from NCIX.

CPU Cooler: Thermaltake CLP0564 101.6 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($166.99 @ Newegg) - Any real reason to go to a Z77 type board? Seems like the Z68 is perfect for my needs, but wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg) - Half tempted to up it to 16GB. No reason other than the Tim the Tool Man effect.

Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($116.95 @ B&H) - don't need a standard HD already have a spare for data, just the SSD for OS and game installations (my first SSD at that).

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($469.98 @ NCIX US) - running dual 25" monitors at 1920 x 1080. Also, my understanding of the Reference vs. Non-reference is weak (at best). For a planned Overclocking system, does this variant make sense?

Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($94.99 @ Newegg) - went up to the 650 (as opposed to the 550 that was in the build) due to better reviews. Am I just being paranoid?

Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($56.23 @ Amazon) - this is just to be able to watch blue rays at my desk if I want. I need an optical anyway (old computer will get passed down to my daughter), so thought I would go this route...
Total: $1291.10
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-04 14:31 EDT-0400)

Additional Question #1) Are there hardware releases on the near term horizon that indicates that I should hold off on this purchase to wait for this hardware to come down in price by 50% (exaggeration for effect here). I'm willing to spend the cash, but don't want a $300 reduction in the system the following week. I'll wait the week if there is some sort of expectation of that type of drop.

The most expensive computer I've ever purchased prior to this was probably about $600, so this is quite the jump. I have no real preference or preconceived notions about different manufacturers at this time. My main concern is regarding near-term releases of new hardware. My main usage at this time is WoW, some SCII, and Diablo 3 coming up. This build is probably pretty overkill for my needs, but I recently came into a small bit of cash and figured it was about time I bought myself a nice computer for the first time ever.

Thanks all for any thoughts

[hapylol]

1st question- None.

The build looks really solid. I would pick a different motherboard that is cheaper. Something like the Asrock Z77 Pro3 or Extreme4 would be perfect.

550W PSU was plenty

Lastly, This build is pretty overkill like you said. If you wanted to save money and have it for future upgrades you can drop down to a 7850 or 7870 video card. Reference basically means stock design/clock while non reference is when manufacturers make changes to the original build.

All in all great build and great parts just a couple changes I would make.

[vesseblah]

Z77 board because it's newer and supports some new stuff like native SATA3 and USB3.

Could easily knock off half from the graphics card if Blizzard games are your main/exclusive thing.