Need Some Advice/Direction on New Computer Build Please!

[DaPips]

I've decided to build a new computer after much frustration with my old college Counter Strike owning beast. As you can imagine, I've been out of the know on what parts are top of the line as well as where and where not to spend/save money. Here's my first stab on newegg...

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm sleeve CPU Cooler - $29.99-$27.99

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - $11.98

IN WIN Dragon Rider Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - $159.99-$149.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory - $124.99

Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1CCA 2.5" MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $269.00-$249.00

ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - $189.99-$179.99

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor - $314.99

Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $89.99-$79.99

ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) ATX Intel Motherboard - $179.99-$169.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - $99.99

EVGA GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 03G-P3-1584-AR Video Card - $589.99

Total: $1,998.89

I can spend up to 2k on the machine if I'd like but I'd really like to know whether this is the optimal use of the money or could I build it differently. Further, I'd also like to know if some of this is overkill and if I could spend less, say $1500 so I could get a nicer monitor or two.

I primarily use this for work that can involve multiple applications/browser windows open at once but I also game on it pretty frequently and would want to be able to run B3 (insert future graphics intense game here) smoothly. Much love for all the help advice and please go easy if I made some rookie mistakes on the first go.

[Sephiracle]

What sort of applications are you running for work? Unless its some pretty heavy stuff like AutoCAD, some 3-D rendering or folding 16gigs and the 2600k may be overkill.

Also, even if you have a rather large SSD I would still stray from any hard drive labeled as a 'green' drive, they're typically substantially lower in performance to save a small amount of energy.

[Deleted]

If performance/dollar matters to you, then yes, there are quite a few changes to be made that could end up saving you a lot of money.

In general, the performance/dollar ratio increases exponentially. So while it might cost you 500 bucks to get a system that plays BF3 @ 30 FPS, it will cost you 1000 bucks to get one that play is @ 50 FPS etc and so on.

The best places to save money are:

RAM - Yes, RAM is cheap and it won't make a huge difference but there is literally no reason to have 16 GB of RAM unless you run some kind of professional software. 8 GB is more than enough, even 3 years from now.

SSD - You have a 128 GB SSD which is dandy, but really quite a lot if you simply want to host your OS + favorite games. 80 GB are generally considered enough for most situations but then again, you can never have too much storage space I guess.

CPU - The i7-2600 is a fine CPU, but really doesn't offer gamers much of an edge over the i5-2500. You could easily downgrade to an i5-2500 without losing any significant performance.

GPU - Again, the GTX 580 is quite a powerhouse but far from a good deal. Most people consider the GTX 570 to be the best performance/dollar card for enthusiasts. It's something like 15% less performance (which is still more than enough for any games) for almost half the price.

PSU - I didn't see a PSU listed. In any case, you'll want at least a 500 Watt PSU @ 80+ efficiency ratio. More if you go with a GTX 580 or if you plan to overclock.

HDD - I saw you went with a "green" series harddrive. These generally feature low RPM (5900 in this case vs. 7200 RPM standard) and bad timings. It will seriously bottle-neck your PC at times when the SSD is not in use. You should really go with a Cavalier Black or Spinpoint series here.

[llDemonll]

US Configuration (using newegg.com)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz
MB: [Z68] ASUS P8Z68-V Pro ATX
GPU: MSI Twin Frozr II GeForce GTX 570
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III
SSD: Crucial M4 128GB SATA III
PSU: Corsair Professional HX850 850W 80 PLUS Gold
CPUHS: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
CASE: Silverstone Fortress FT02 Mid Tower
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium OEM (64-bit)
Total Price: $1718 USD
Configure More

That's my suggestion. The p67's are "outdated", may as well get a z68 at this point since most all can afford it if they can afford p67

i7 2600k is a waste for most - if you're doing rendering and video work you can keep it, otherwise i'd drop down to the 2500K

16gb RAM is too much, same as above with the processor

gtx 580 is good, you're welcome to go for it, but it's a bit overkill if you only have 1 monitor.

i'd stay away from green hard drive, caviar black is a very good, very fast drive

case you can do whatever you want, i love the one i linked though but that's all personal preference

[DaPips]

The applications for work are generally trading platforms and usually aren't the problem alone but with a bunch of chrome tabs open, skype running and trying to watch streaming videos especially online my computer now gets bogged down.

I also am not really looking for a major upgrade of this machine in 3 years and would rather this do the trick for let's say 5 years. By do the trick I mean be able to run the latest games at higher than normal settings. This I guess goes to the which GPU to buy?

I was looking at the higher end power supplies made by coursair. Is a modular versus non modular power supply worth it? Will I notice a difference in performance other than when doing some benchmarking test?

I do plan on running two monitors but I doubt I'd run them both together while playing a game but more for added landscape when juggling the multiple browsers/trading platforms.

I really appreciate all your guys advice and help. Really helps get a grip on the massive amount of opinions/information available.

[taekvideo]

The applications for work are generally trading platforms and usually aren't the problem alone but with a bunch of chrome tabs open, skype running and trying to watch streaming videos especially online my computer now gets bogged down.

I also am not really looking for a major upgrade of this machine in 3 years and would rather this do the trick for let's say 5 years. By do the trick I mean be able to run the latest games at higher than normal settings. This I guess goes to the which GPU to buy?

I was looking at the higher end power supplies made by coursair. Is a modular versus non modular power supply worth it? Will I notice a difference in performance other than when doing some benchmarking test?

I do plan on running two monitors but I doubt I'd run them both together while playing a game but more for added landscape when juggling the multiple browsers/trading platforms.

I really appreciate all your guys advice and help. Really helps get a grip on the massive amount of opinions/information available.

Modular vs non-modular isn't much of a performance difference... modular ones are more flexible and let you get rid of some cables you don't need (better airflow / more room).
3 years isn't that hard to do, but 5 years is really pushing it. Cpu's and gpu's are advancing way too fast for any computer made now, no matter how much you spend, to actually be high-end still in 5 years.
To put things in perspective, your best high-end setup 5 years ago would be GeForce 7900 GTX (was a ~$600 card) and a Core 2 Extreme X6800 ($999 processor)
Today, that system would struggle to run modern games even on moderate settings... and it only supports up to dx9 (dx10 didn't even exist 5 years ago, yet alone dx11).
Heck, nvidia/ati only started making dedicated gpu's a little over a decade ago.