Looking for review on a first build/Liquid v Heatsink question

[ProLoss]

Hey all, I have the parts figured out for my first PC build. What I'm asking for here is if anybody sees anything that I may be overlooking or forsees any problems with the parts I've chosen (e.g. case is too small for parts I've chosen or wires for a certain model notorious for not being long enough.)
Also with this being my first build, I'm hesitant to use water cooling since I've never experienced it before and don't want to mess anything up. Would you all suggest I use a heatsink instead? Where I'll have it positioned the case will have at least a foot of clearance on all sides, minus the bottom.

Parts:
Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7303310&sku=G452-0126

Processor: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073161&CatId=6988

Case: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7108921

PSU: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4435073

RAM: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7025810

Graphics card: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6680906

Hard Drive: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=61389

CD Drive: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4964958&Sku=S203-8562%20OEM


The liquid cooling system vs the heatsink I would be using. Open to other suggestions should one of these cause a problem or anyone just thinks there's something better.

Liquid: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5267687

Heatsink: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7166022&CatId=798

The heatsink I really want, but the socket doesn't match. 1155 to 1156 would make that incompatible correct? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5550540&CatId=798

Also, with the either setup. Would I need to buy more than the stock fans in order to cool it adequately?
Approximate Purchase Date: Looking to place the order tomorrow, may push the date back if there are any problems.

Budget Range: $700-900


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming and schoolwork


Parts Not Required: Keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor?


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Tigerdirect


Country of Origin: U.S.


Parts Preferences: Intel, NVidia...no real preferences.


Overclocking: Maybe


SLI or Crossfire: The motherboard I currently have selected supports CrossfireX, but not SLI? so probably No


Monitor Resolution: 32" HDTV, so 1080p?

 

[eloric]

If you have a Fry's in your neighborhood, then buy this today:Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus for $13. I say today because the rebate is only good through April 14th.

If you can't get to a Fry's today, the cooler is widely available for $30, and comes highly recommended even at that price.

Good decsion to wait on the water cooling, although it is a blast of a hobby. When you are ready there is a brand new stickey in the Overclocking forum for just this topic: Tom's HW Watercooling- Info/FAQs/Links/Stickies

The 1155 and 1156 sockets have the same hole alignments, so the Megahalems will work - but this is much more expensive, and only marginally better than the Cooler Master. I reccomend you save your money for liquid cooling.

Edit for Megahalems.

 

[ProLoss]

Thanks for such a quick reply. Unfortunately, no Fry's in my area. With a heatsink, are extra fans recommended?

 

[eloric]

Hi Proloss,

I was looking over your configuration, and have a few questions: 1) What is your purpose for this machine? 2) Do you want to overclock to the max, or just get a reasonable bump in performance? 3) Have you considered the shipping costs, and possibly taxes from Tiger Direct in your total budget?

Extra fans are almost never a bad idea. The heat sink will have one, and that should give you adequate airflow along with the one in the case, but it may be a few degrees warmer than it could be. My advice might change depending on the answers to your questions.

Also, your power supply should be changed out - coolmax is not a very good manufacturer. I recommend Antec, Cooler master, Corsair, Seagate, Seasonic, OCZ or xfx. 500W is gracious plenty for what you have here.

 

[PudgyChicken]

I have a H-50 in my rig cooling my i7 980X, and it works dreams. The one thing you will definitely want to do if you buy this is get two aftermarket fans, the one that comes with it is meh. I got two Apevia 120mm blue LED fans, and it looks beautiful. Look around and find some 2000 RPM fans and you're good to go. If you want to shell out some extra cash, look at the H-70, which will hypothetically give you better performance than the H-50, though I've personally not had the opportunity to test one out yet.

 

[ProLoss]

The plan for this computer is pretty much just simple documents, watching movies, but mostly will be used for playing SCII and Crysis 2. I'm not sure where I want to end up with the OCing. I figured I would just let it run stock for a while to check how the temperatures run. I haven't used a desktop in almost 2 years, but when I did they always had overheating issues during the summer months. As far as I know, there will be no tax charges from Tigerdirect and yes, I've included the shipping costs.

At the moment I'm thinking that I'm set on the Megahalems with
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1621480&sku=S35-1084

Thanks for the bit on the PSU. I'll definitely look into a better brand.

 

[ProLoss]

I'm thinking:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6491961&sku=O261-6320

Thoughts?