New build next week, should I wait for Z68?

[schitzoflink]

Approximate Purchase Date: Somewhere around the end of next week (May 7th)

Budget Range: $1200ish trying to keep it under that

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Streaming, Surfing

Parts Not Required: Monitor, Case, Optical, Mouse, Keyboard

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: none really

Overclocking: Yes but probably just the OCG me on the MSI mobo

SLI or Crossfire: no

Monitor Resolution: 1080p (HDTV)


So far here is the build, I have a couple questions

First should I hold off on the P67 Mobo since the z68 is looking so close? I want to have this done by the second week in may (friend is coming into town and I'm giving him my old guts)

Second, I will be using a SSD for my boot drive. I currently have a 500Gb Samsung that I will use for storage. How big do I need? I've seen anywhere from 60-120. I will be installing whatever game I am currently playing on the SSD. Starting out this will be Oblivion with mods, lots of mods

Finally, I have a SB 7.1 card in this mix, I would like to use a seperate sound card but is the $30 going to make a difference? should I drop another 50 and go with a better card? I'm not an audiophile and this is only going through the TV speakers right now. The main reason for the SC is to take work off the CPU.

BUILD
Mobo: MSI P67

CPU: i5 2500K

GPU: Radeon 6950 (want to flash BIOS to 6970)

SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 120GB

RAM: G.SKILL 8GB (2x4)

PSU: Corsair 750W

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212

120mm Fans: Scythe "Ultra Kaze" (5 of these to replace both case fans and the fan on the CPU Cooler)

 

[schitzoflink]

Anyone?

 

[Why_Me]

Here's a better rated psu...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021 $104.99 - $89.99 after mail-in rebate card
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.637592 $229.98 FREE SHIPPING 25% off RAM w/ promo code EMCKFHB23, ends 5/4
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
GIGABYTE GA-P67X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1304275064&sr=1-1 $29.51 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1

 

[chesteracorgi]

The Z68 platform promises to be an improvement over the P67/H67 platform. While the mono specs may be similar the Z68 will be able to switch graphics and convert graphics faster. It will also provide a means to cache a HDD to a SSD if you want to improve HDD performance without going to a large SSD. This later feature probably won't be used by most gamers as SSD drives alone are faster than a cached HDD. But the Z68 will probably bring the price of P67s down a bit within a few weeks. So a short wait may save you some money if you don't need the new features.

 

[chesteracorgi]

BTW you can do well with a 120 or 128 GB SSD for boot & games, just make sure it is a 6GB/sec model.
I use a legacy Creative Platinum 2 & Klipsch 5.1 surround speakers for great audio. It is better than the realtek on board most mobos.
Unless you upgrade your speakers a sound card is a waste.
I also picked up a GTX 470 for $150 (lightly used) & modded it with the Xs
Olma cooler. It does some sweet OCing and runs cool.