Critique new $1500 gaming build!

[cardking08]

Hello all. I've visited the forums for over a year and am finally ready to build my new PC. I've done a bit of research, and am happy to accept any advice anyone can offer. If you do offer advice over something I chose please provide a reason why a part is better than another; half the fun of building a pc for me is getting my knowledge level back up. (computer science major back in the day) Thanks!

Approximate Purchase Date: this week


Budget Range: ~1500, no set budget


System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, very light photoshop/vid editing, standard usage


Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitors, software


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com


Country of Origin: US


Parts Preferences: by brand or type: prefer intel + nvidia, somewhat quiet system overall is preferred


Overclocking: Yes (light OC'ing to start, then more as I get comfortable)


SLI or Crossfire: To start no, but in the future or if I decide to try out surround then yes


Monitor Resolution: 1920 x1080

Parts:
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

GPU: EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593

Proc + RAM: G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) + I5-2500k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.644259

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229

PSU: CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

HD's: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151222

Please let me know of any problems you see with this build. The only upfront questions I had were is it relatively easy to OC the gpu I chose, and with this rig/powersupply would it be relatively quiet? Thanks!

 

[mjmjpfaff]

gpu 6950 2gb- http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Radeon-256bit-Mini-DisplayPort-H695FN2G2M/dp/B004S9JXTS/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1306900873&sr=1-10 it gets the same performance in cf compared to gtx 570 sli for 200$ less or if you want you could grab that msi version (reference one) and unlock it to a 6970
hyper 212 plus 28$ at amazon
why the blu ray drive?
ssd- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227729
hdd- spinpoint is 5$ cheaper at amazon
the haf series is bad they suck in way too much dust and the paint chips off over time get this case- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108395

 

[cmadrid]

Get this case

http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Steel-Computer-Window-RV02B-EW/dp/B004BDOGSO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1306903032&sr=8-1

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128488 $154.99 FREE SHIPPING
GIGABYTE GA-P67X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Spinpoint-Cache-Desktop-HD103SJ/dp/B001U3S5S0/ref=sr_1_1?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1306935828&sr=1-1 $60.93 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Samsung 1 TB Spinpoint 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.5 inch Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive HD103SJ

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1306935885&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

 

[boiler1990]

^+1. I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon since they ship for free (I have a free year of Prime as well... )

I also agree with the different motherboard. If you have the money, I'd also recommend the UD4; it's a great board, has all the features of the Extreme4, but has a better warranty and better layout of the ports (I have 2 PCI, 1 PCIE x1 and 1 PCIE x16 devices, with room for a second GPU w/o moving anything). The UD3 is newer, I believe (wasn't out when I was upgrading 3-4 weeks ago), but probably competes with the Extreme4 well.

I'd personally get a different SSD. Intel and OCZ use the better Sandforce controllers, which have better speed, reliability, and firmware. Get the Intel 320 3rd Gen, 510, or OCZ Vertex 3 series drives. They'll be in the same price range(ish).

 

[cardking08]

Thank you everyone for your input.

mjmjpfaff - I grabbed the blueray player because I currently dont have one, and planned on using my pc as my movie center and hooking it up to my 52 inch lcd tv. Any reccomendation on a different one? Can you post a link to the reference one card you mentioned? I had originally debated going that route, but I wasnt sure which cards were easily flashable now. With the 6950, are those oc'able as well? Havent done much research on that yet.

Why_me and boiler - thanks for the mb and hd suggestions. I'll take a look at both. I was using toms review on the ssds which is how I originally found it.

Any other reccomendations? I'm curious if anyone else has had bad luck with the HAF series, as well as if my PSU should be sufficient for everything with dual cards. Thanks!

 

[mjmjpfaff]

get the corsair force 3 ssd it is cheaper than the solid 3 now and faster
ur blu ray drive is fine then
with 2 6950's the tx 750 is fine so ya you'll be ok
case- nzxt phantom