Advice/Suggestions on Performance build

Hello andymars;

If you fill out the form in*How To Ask For New Build Advice* you'll answer all the standard questions that help us get started.

Is there any reason you're not able to discover that type of business yourself?

If you can save us from working up suggestions that aren't what you're looking for I think we'd all appreciate you saving our time.

Approximate Purchase Date: The sooner the better but no hurry.

Budget Range: maximum 2000 australian (could be convinced to go to 2500)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, multimedia (movies and web browsing)

Parts Not Required: speakers, mouse.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any good international stores (must ship to australia), www.i-tech.com.au

Country of Origin: Australia

Parts Preferences: Am thinking at the moment of Intel Core i5 2500K processor and ASUS P8P67 Pro motherboard. Also leaning towards Nvidia GeForce GTX570 graphics card but open to suggestions.

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: I don't care about appearance, needs to be reliable and high performing, preferably without overclocking but I might look into it in the future. I don't really know what international stores are good, that is why I was hoping for suggestions on good reliable Australian companies. currently I am going to get either i-tech, pcz4u or principal computers to build it.

i5 2500K and GTX 570 is an excellent combo for 1920x1080 gaming and all around general PC computing.

Using http://www.pccasegear.com as the primary source of parts:

Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo), Quad Core CPU $259AUD
Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler $75
ASUS P8P67 PRO Motherboard B3 $255
G.Skill Ripjaws X 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM kit F3-10666CL7D-8GBXH (2x4GB) $125
~$714

Storage and grapics options. If you don't have plans for Blu-Ray movies you can sub in any 24X DVD burner.

Corsair Force 60GB SSD $165 OS boot drive and frequently used programs
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HD103SJ HDD $69
Samsung SH-B123A 12X Blu-ray DVD Combo Drive $99

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 1280MB Overclocked $399

~$732
@$1446

XFX 850W Black Edition power supply $209 sized for 2x GTX 570.
CoolerMaster CM Storm Scout $115

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit $105
Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Keyboard $49
Hauppauge MCE Remote Control Kit USB $49
~$527

~@$1973

You probably want to compare prices and shipping charges: http://www.shopbot.com.au/

Before you take your parts to the shop for assembly it's a good idea to take an inventory (with serial numbers for parts that have them) and take pictures of the parts.

While you're waiting for delivery you can download the online version of the motherboard manual and start getting familiar with it. Same for the other parts you want to order if they have install guides or manuals available.

I have been doing some research and have come up with a few changes. The first one is to remove the CPU cooler, as I probably will not be doing any overclocking and if I do it would only be very minor. the second one is to replace the Blu Ray drive with a DVD drive. The third is to remove the SSD drive as I already have one. (80GB Intel SSD, cant remember the model number). And would it be a good idea to replace the Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 with a superoverclocked GTX 560 Ti. This would then allow me to buy a 24inch LCD monitor and get it built (with warranty) for a bit under $2000. Any suggestions/hints?