Opinions on my $1500 Video/Image Editing and Gaming Build

[Saurheledion]

Hey guys, I would really like some feedback on my build so far. I'm pretty new, so if I made any poor choices, am missing out on some great alternative, or anything else comes to mind, please let me know. I really appreciate it.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next week.

BUDGET RANGE: 1200-1500 (After rebates, Monitor included)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Image Editing (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.), Video Editing (Adobe After Effects, Encoding, etc.), Gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Mouse, Speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: None, Newegg has proven good in the past.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: None, really, whatever's best for the tasks.

OVERCLOCKING: Probably not.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1080p monitor, 1080p 42" television occasionally, Cintiq tablet later

Current Build:

 

[Lmeow]

Looks good, although for the motherboard, an ASRock 870 Extreme3 is better as it has two PCI-E x16 slots running @ x8 (the other runs at x16/x4 which would probably bottleneck an HD 5870 CrossFireX setup) and costs $10 less.

If you're overclocking the Phenom II X6 1055T is $100 cheaper and overclocked performs just as well as the Phenom II X6 1090T provided they are at the same clock speeds.

I'd go with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus as a CPU cooler too.

Case-wise there are quite a few better choices than the CM 690, based on specs, like the CM 690 II Advanced or HAF 922.

 

[Mr Pizza]

oh, i saw the haf 922 in person yesterday, NICE CASE. Also the storm scout

I would go with 4GB of ram at first and if you need it add more l8er

 

[Saurheledion]

Thanks for the great advice guys, the storm scout looks like it might be the case for me. I've already added that cpu cooler to my shopping list to replace the other and I'll wait until that motherboard restocks before my final purchase. I do have a question about ram though. Should I go for 1 x 4 gb ram card or 2 x 2 gb ram cards? Also, should I get DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600), DDR3 1333 (PC3 10660), or DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) for that particular mobo? I don't know what the pc3 designation means I'm afraid.

You have my gratitude.

 

[Lmeow]

For the RAM, it really does not matter about speeds, they're pretty much the same thing, just rated very slightly higher or lower.

It's better to go for 2x2 GB as you'll be running dual channel, 1x4 GB will allow for more expansion though. Then again, dual channel doesn't offer that much of a benefit compared to single. It's really up to you.

 

[Saurheledion]

Best answer selected by saurheledion.