I5 2500k first build advise

[luke778899]

Hi guys,
I have a budget of about $1350. I want I PC that I can game on and overclock.
So far I have decided on these parts. If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave them below.

CPU: i5 2500k
CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212 Plus
Motherboard: Asus P8P67 EVO
GPU: MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II/OC
RAM: [ Ripjaws-X ] F3-12800CL8D-4GBXM
Storage: 1* Western Digital Caviar Black 1tb (Sata 3)
PSU: Silverstone SST-ST75F-P Strider Plus - 750 Watt
Case: Cooler Master 690 II LITE Midi-Tower - Window Edition
Case Fans: 1* Xigmatek XLF-F1454 Blueline LED Fan 140mm (For roof) 1* Prolimatech BLUE VORTEX 140MM (for window)
CD Drive: I have one lying around at home...
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

The reason why I have selected such a large PSU is because I might put another GTX 560 in SLI later on down the line.
I am open to any suggestions so please feel free. Thanks

 

[Why_Me]

I call this build "Blue". Blue LED case, blue RAM, blue LED psu, blue cpu h/s... This build includes Windows 7 and it is set up to add another one of those factory o/c gtx 560's for SLI if you so choose.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097 <--- more info on that case

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ALI5KC/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $109.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Antec Mid-Tower Gaming Case Nine Hundred Two V3

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Truepower-TP-750-BLUE-Management/dp/B001RTPMM4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1298395469&sr=1-1 $89.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Antec Truepower 23754 TP-750 BLUE LED 750-Watt PSU NVIDIA SLI Certified 80 Plus Bronze Advanced Hybrid Cable Management Power Supply

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P67%20Extreme4 $152.99 @ newegg
ASRock P67 Extreme4

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 $229.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118074 $64.99 - $54.99 after mail-in rebate FREE SHIPPING
ZALMAN CNPS9900MAX-B 135mm Long life bearing CPU Cooler Blue LED

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363 $244.99
GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591429 Combo Price: $159.98 FREE SHIPPING
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Total: $1,152.91 *not inlcuding shipping, rebates, etc..

http://www.asrock.com/news/events/201102ex/warranty.html <----- Look for the B3 Stepping Chipset Logo/Sticker on the new boards

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/article/1000116#axzz1EqpvWFEN <---Review on that Asrock motherboard after the latest bios

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1098/pg2/asrock-extreme4-p67-and-fatal1ty-professional-p67-vs-x58-with-core-i7-950-review-asrock-p67-extreme4.html <---Review on that Asrock motherboard after the latest bios

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4080/welcome-to-sandy-bridge-with-the-asrock-p67-extreme4 <--- Review before the latest bios...and it still stomped the Asus and Gigabyte boards

 

[Proximon]

A few thoughts:

With the current price or RAM it is best to get a 2X4GB kit. Even if that means CL9, that's OK. Don't try to populate all 4 memory slots if you can avoid it, because that is usually difficult.

The PSU choice is fine but not a normal one, as there are usually better PSUs at the same price.

Silverstone
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256059

Antec TP-750
Built by Seasonic, partly modular, $20 cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

Corsair 750TX V2
Not a lot of info on these yet but they should be good Seasonic units
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

XFX Black edition
Probably the best deal of all if you can get past the looks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003

Edit: I see Why_Me beat me to it, and clearly followed your theme more closely. I will add that my favorite blue fans are also quite cheap, Yate Loon:

http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SM-124B-UV-Blue-Frame-with-4-Blue-leds-Medium-Speed-pr-3823.html
They come in 3 speeds and all three are quiet.

They also have a 140mm version:
http://www.jab-tech.com/Yate-Loon-140mm-UV-blue-fan-with-4-blue-leds-Low-Speed-D14SL-12-pr-4333.html

 

[luke778899]

I call this build "Blue". Blue LED case, blue RAM, blue LED psu, blue cpu h/s... This build includes Windows 7 and it is set up to add another one of those factory o/c gtx 560's for SLI if you so choose.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097 <--- more info on that case

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ALI5KC/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $109.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Antec Mid-Tower Gaming Case Nine Hundred Two V3

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Truepower-TP-750-BLUE-Management/dp/B001RTPMM4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1298395469&sr=1-1 $89.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Antec Truepower 23754 TP-750 BLUE LED 750-Watt PSU NVIDIA SLI Certified 80 Plus Bronze Advanced Hybrid Cable Management Power Supply

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=P67%20Extreme4 $152.99 @ newegg
ASRock P67 Extreme4

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 $229.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118074 $64.99 - $54.99 after mail-in rebate FREE SHIPPING
ZALMAN CNPS9900MAX-B 135mm Long life bearing CPU Cooler Blue LED

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363 $244.99
GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.591429 Combo Price: $159.98 FREE SHIPPING
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

Total: $1,152.91 *not inlcuding shipping, rebates, etc..

http://www.asrock.com/news/events/201102ex/warranty.html <----- Look for the B3 Stepping Chipset Logo/Sticker on the new boards

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/article/1000116#axzz1EqpvWFEN <---Review on that Asrock motherboard after the latest bios

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1098/pg2/asrock-extreme4-p67-and-fatal1ty-professional-p67-vs-x58-with-core-i7-950-review-asrock-p67-extreme4.html <---Review on that Asrock motherboard after the latest bios

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4080/welcome-to-sandy-bridge-with-the-asrock-p67-extreme4 <--- Review before the latest bios...and it still stomped the Asus and Gigabyte boards

Thanks for the advise, I will look into the Antec case and power supply. Only problem is that I live in Switzerland so, the prices you have given are irrelevant but thanks anyway.

 

[luke778899]

A few thoughts:

With the current price or RAM it is best to get a 2X4GB kit. Even if that means CL9, that's OK. Don't try to populate all 4 memory slots if you can avoid it, because that is usually difficult.

The PSU choice is fine but not a normal one, as there are usually better PSUs at the same price.

Silverstone
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256059

Antec TP-750
Built by Seasonic, partly modular, $20 cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

Corsair 750TX V2
Not a lot of info on these yet but they should be good Seasonic units
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

XFX Black edition
Probably the best deal of all if you can get past the looks
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003

Edit: I see Why_Me beat me to it, and clearly followed your theme more closely. I will add that my favorite blue fans are also quite cheap, Yate Loon:

http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SM-124B-UV-Blue-Frame-with-4-Blue-leds-Medium-Speed-pr-3823.html
They come in 3 speeds and all three are quiet.

They also have a 140mm version:
http://www.jab-tech.com/Yate-Loon-140mm-UV-blue-fan-with-4-blue-leds-Low-Speed-D14SL-12-pr-4333.html

Thanks for the suggestions, the fans look great! The power supply was the cheapest 8' plus silver i could find in switzerland so I think I'm going to stick with it. Do you think I really need 8gb for gaming and such?

 

[luke778899]

Does anyone know whether the Arctic cooling freezer 13 is better than the 212 plus? and also does the G.Skill ram clear the CPU cooler?

 

[aznshinobi]

You could try out my build in my Siggy. But it's basically Why_me's build...

 

[Proximon]

Thanks for the suggestions, the fans look great! The power supply was the cheapest 8' plus silver i could find in switzerland so I think I'm going to stick with it. Do you think I really need 8gb for gaming and such?

There have been a few articles on this subject lately, although I only found one on a quick look.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778.html

Based on our measurements and impressions (and taking falling prices into account), we thoroughly recommend a minimum RAM size of 8 GB. Using 12 or 16 GB only makes sense if you're planning on using 4 GB of more of this higher amount as a RAM disk, helping accelerate the reading and writing of temporary files. This applies equally to file compression, video encoding, and heavy image editing.

 

[luke778899]

Would it be OK to get 8gb of 1333mhz RAM or should it be 1600? I have found some good deals on kingston and Corsair RAM but none of it is on the QVL for the Asus mobos.

 

[aznshinobi]

1333 to 1600 is no difference. Obviously in benches it'll be superior (1600) but who cares about memory benchmarks. If your just a day to day user then the 8gb DDR3 1333 kit would be fine.