Planning new build for around $1700

[Bomino]

Hi all, I'm planning on building my first computer in the near future and wanted to get your opinions on my parts of choice. I'm posting this so anyone can offer advice on a different part to choose, and whatnot.

Case: Corsair White 600t - $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139005&cm_re=600t-_-11-139-005-_-Product

Motherboard: Asus p8p67 (rev 3.0) - $155
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131705&cm_re=p8p67-_-13-131-705-_-Product

CPU: Intel i7 2600k - $315
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070&cm_re=2600k-_-19-115-070-_-Product

CPU fan: Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B - $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118074&cm_re=zalman_990-_-35-118-074-_-Product

Graphics: 2 XFX 6950's 2gb in crossfire - $550
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150530&Tpk=6950%20xfx%202gb

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8gb (2x4gb) - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345&cm_re=vengeance-_-20-145-345-_-Product

PSU: Corsair 850w hx - $165
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&cm_re=corsair_850w-_-17-139-011-_-Product

HDD: Western digital 1TB 7200rpm drive - $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

DVD drive: Asus drive - $21
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Wireless card: D-Link DWA-556 IEEE 802.11g/n - $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127218

Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 - $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102003

TOTAL - $1726.

Now the thing i don't like about my build is that i don't have an ssd boot drive... I'm considering downgrading the processor to i5 2500k in order to get the ssd in there. would this be a necessary tradeoff? sacrifice some processing power for boot speed? any other comments? all of these parts would be compatible with each other, correct? the cpu fan wont block the ram slots in my motherboard? are any parts unnecessary? (etc..)

 

[striker410]

The difference between the i5-2500k and i7-2600k in gaming is barely noticeable. You'd be much better dropping to the i5. I would also drop the sound card, because onboard sound has improved alot. I would also change the Mobo to a P8P67 PRO,
as it gives a 3rd PCI-e slot and some extra features:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131703&Tpk=p8p67pro

With the $110 left over, you can get a OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550&cm_re=ocz_vertex_2_60gb-_-20-227-550-_-Product

Now, you have a sweet rig that will serve you for years to come.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

For gaming very few games can use 3 cores or more; so at that point the value between the Intel® Core™ I5 2500K and the Intel Core I7 2600K comes down to 100MHz difference and the rare times that you might tap into any more than the 4 threads.
As far as the SSD Boot drive, I love them and will never build myself a system without one again. Take a look at the Intel SSD 320 80GB drive as a boot drive. It will give you the enough space that you can place a couple applications to get the better performance on access times. Also the reliability on the Intel SSDs can’t be beat.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team