Build me a PC!

[slowgawd]

Hello Tomshardware forums! Brand new to the forums, lookign for some help.

I'm trying to get pieces together to build a PC for audio recording/production. I'm completely new to building PC's, budget is about $1k, I mainly need help determining if there are any 'conflicts' with some of the pieces i've got detailed here.

I want this thing to scream, as it will have heavy sample use, plugin use, etc..! I have Win7 Ultimate (64bit) and I'll probably use Reaper for recording.


Processor:
$300 Intel i7-2600 3.4Ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115071

MOTHERboard:
$135 GIGABYTE:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=GA-P67A-UD3

Harddrive (SSD primarily for OS only) I have 4 1TB WD drives for storing/backingup my projects:
$229 Intel X25-M:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167035

RAM: (8GB):
$84 G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231311

Powersupply:
$90 Corsair CMPSU 550W:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139004

Cooler:
$30 Cooler Master Hyper 212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065

Case:
Need some help here, how about this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147107

some of these things are out of stock, but total price $870 without case or DVD for what seems to be a pretty kick ass system. I will most likely need some USB/Firewire expansion cards in the future and a DVD/CD burner.

The audio chipset on the motherboard is a Realtek, anyone familiar with DAW's that could comment on the impacts to recording/output to studio monitors? I'll most likely use a M-audio or MBOX audio interface with firewire.

Are there any other incompatibility issues that people can see, I would love to get this thing ordered up!!!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Kurt

 

[dalauder]

You should be able to get a Corsair or equivalent (Antec, Seasonic, Silverstone, XFX) 550W for $65 or so.

Consider this:
$65 ($50 AR) Antec 550W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
$65 Antec 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

 

[dalauder]

If you're gonna get a P67 (overclocking) motherboard, you may as well get an i7-2600K. It may cost you an extra $30, but you can expect more than a 35% performance gain when you decide to overclock (which is simple with a "K" series).

Also, if you get a P67 motherboard, you'll need some sort of video card, even a lousy $40 one should meet your needs if you don't play games. I'd recommend a Radeon 5670 for $65 or so though.

If you don't want to buy a video card, an H67 motherboard can utilize the i7-2600's integrated Intel HD 2000 graphics--which are almost as good as a Radeon 5550 or GeForce GT 240.

EDIT: Just so you know, you might want to wait until Z68 comes out. It's what P67 should've been.

 

[slowgawd]

Thanks for the advice, I'm not very familiar with overclocking, would that really be necessaryw ith all the fire power this processor has? i.e. when would I want to overclock?

A video card actually wouldn't be a bad idea, I'd love to be able to do some video editing with Adobe Premier (when I get around to learning it)...I'll check the Radeon 5670.

 

[dalauder]

If you get a Z68 motherboard (comes out in a couple weeks), you can use the integrated HD 3000 graphics on "K" series Sandy Bridge AND overclock. The Radeon 5670 provides everything the occasional gamer needs--including solid 1680x1050 performance in all games.

Is overclocking necessary? Is a new computer necessary? No, but it will provide a significant performance boost. What would take you 4 seconds will take you 3 seconds. My i7-930 is awesome at 2.8GHz. But I run it at 3.8GHz because it's 1/3 more awesome that way.

 

[batuchka]

Since peeps been waiting this long for the top end i suggest for healthier/fatter budgets to
1. Await Z68 chipsets, Zambezi AM3+ on platform front
2. Await HD 6990/GTX 590 on the GPU front and price revisions trickle down lower down the foodchain (irrlevant in your case since DAW not GPU intensive)
3. Await the Sandforce SATA 6GB/s SSDs to hit retailers

Leaked: FAH score of a 4 way Interlagos Bulldozer
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2148217

Intel Z68 Express Chipset Preview
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68-express-lucidlogix-virtu-ssd-caching,2888.html