Suggestions on my computer building project

[alblue]

Ok here is what I have:

Apevia xdreamer 3(already bought)

Asus p7p55d e pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621R&cm_re=asus_p7p55_e_pro-_-13-131-621R-_-Product

i5-760(already bought)

Gtx 460 1gb(maybe ill add another one later)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333&cm_re=gtx_460_1gb-_-14-125-333-_-Product

Corsair 4gb 1600mhz
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Channel-Memory-Processors-CMX4GX3M2A1600C9/dp/B002LE8D2A/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285198786&sr=8-1

Corsair 750w psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&cm_re=corsair_750w-_-17-139-006-_-Product

500gb hard drive
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Drive-WD5000AAKS/dp/B000Q82PIQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285198982&sr=8-4

Any suggestions, corrections, better deals?
I'm mainly using this for sc2 and maybe some new popular games.

 

[nmeseth]

Having a SSD will boost loading times and a lot of performance throughout the computer.

Putting your OS and a few key programs on a 128GB SSD or 60GB SSD would boost it completely.

Although it's not really needed, having two powerful hard drives and raiding them can have strong results on a less expensive scale. It all depends on how much money you [want to]/[can] spend.

I would strongly recommend having two 460's, that's always a nice performance boost, esp with sc2. You can get some very nice graphics at max settings there.

After market cooling on the processor would be good so you can over-clock it as high as possible.

 

[wielander]

There is a ridiculous deal on some higher performance Mushkin DDR3 1600 CL7 1.35v ram at Newegg if you can get in while it still lasts:

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory
$66 after a $30 rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226122&cm_re=ddr3_1600_4gb-_-20-226-122-_-Product


That open box motherboard is a great deal, but it may come without any accessories. Be prepared to purchase them separately if you need them.


If you miss out on the Mushkin memory deal, you can get higher spec corsair memory in a combo with your power supply:

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 CL7 1.65v
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W 80 Plus certified power supply
$150 after $40 in rebates
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492796


There are also a couple decent power supply combos with that Gigabyte GTX 460:

GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB

w/ OCZ OCZ750FTY 750W 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Power Supply (Perhaps not as high quality as the Corsair PSU, but it's higher efficiency and modular and has received positive reviews)
$250 after $40 in rebates
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.506119

w/ CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W 80 PLUS Certified Power Supply
$235 after $50 in rebates
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.507648

 

[alblue]

That open box motherboard is a great deal, but it may come without any accessories. Be prepared to purchase them separately if you need them.

So if the open box doent come with the accessories, what would i need to buy separately?(this is my first build)

Would it cost more to buy separately?

 

[wielander]

That open box motherboard is a great deal, but it may come without any accessories. Be prepared to purchase them separately if you need them.

So if the open box doent come with the accessories, what would i need to buy separately?(this is my first build)

Would it cost more to buy separately?

Any of the accessories could be missing (backplate, sata cables, ide cable, SLI bridge, USB & eSATA bracket). Newegg specifically states that any of them may not be included with an open box item.

If the backplate is missing, you will have a hard time just finding one that matches to buy. The sata cables are relatively cheap 4x$2. The SLI bridge is worth $10. You probably won't need the IDE cable or the bracket with the extra USB & eSATA ports.

 

[alblue]

So Im thinking $100-140ish on the motherboard.

I think these two are the best choices. The open box Asus p7p55d e pro
which could not come with accesories, or it could.

or

New Asus p7p55d pro which has all the accesories but does not have USB 3.0s.

I dont need the 3.0s now but im thinking that i will need them later if technology advances

So what do you guys think?

 

[wielander]

What about this MSI board:

MSI P55A-G55 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130292

It isn't quite as fancy, but it has all of the same key features.


I wouldn't spend that much on a new motherboard that doesn't come with USB 3.0, buy you could use the PCI-E 4x slot to add some USB 3.0 ports later on that P7P55D Pro.

 

[alblue]

It seems like a good price for all the same features.

But why is it so cheap?

On the newegg thing it says it only supports crossfire, but does it support sli too?

and i could put 1 gfc for x16 right?

 

[wielander]

It seems like a good price for all the same features.

But why is it so cheap?

On the newegg thing it says it only supports crossfire, but does it support sli too?

and i could put 1 gfc for x16 right?

It doesn't come with any of the more exclusive ports (firewire, eSATA, Coaxial Digital Audio). It comes with far fewer accessories; it only comes with one SATA cable, one IDE cable, and a molex to sata power adapter. It also doesn't have all of the fancy heatsinks that the ASUS board does.

MSI doesn't have the same reputation/prestige that ASUS does when it comes to motherboards. Their motherboards don't seem to be any less reliable, but they don't sell nearly as many of them.

It's listed as SLI and Crossfire ready on the manufacturers page.
http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=170&prod_no=2078

It has two PCI-E modes: PCI-E x16/x0 for one graphics card and PCI-E x8/x8 for two.

 

[alblue]

Best answer selected by Alblue.