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Newbie Builder Looking For Tips!

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Hello all!

This is the first computer I've ever built, i'm really very tired of my little HP notebook that I use for paper and such, so i'm looking to end that with a bang-for-your-buck gaming computer.

Heres the specs of what I have on my list at the moment:Approximate Purchase Date: (e.g.: this week (the closer the better))

Budget Range: 1200-1500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I'm not picky, but Newegg sells quality products, so i'd prefer them or something close

Country of Origin: US

Parts Preferences: No preference.

Overclocking: Maybe eventually, I think I want the i7 2600K, so the potential is there if I decide that's what I want.

Monitor Resolution: 1600/1200

Additional Comments: I have a basic map of what I have so far, but I could use tips to either fill it out or tone it down:

Processor:
Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz Quad Core 8000K

Mobo:
ASUS P8H67-M PRO,H67

Memory:
(2x) 4GB DDR3 1333 DIMM memory kits

Video Card:
GeForce GTX 570 1280MB

HDD:
1500.0GB Western Digital Green SATA2 UDMA 300 64m cache

Optical Drive:
LG 24x SATA DVD Recorder +R/RW -R/RW

Sound Card:
On Board

Network Card:
On Board (LAN)

Cases:
I'm not sure about this yet. I don't want to spend too much money here. I want an aesthetic one, but I also want one that serves cooling purposes.

Power Supply:
The wattage amounts actually confuse me. A friend of mine said a 700 Watt should do, but I could use some advice here.

OS:
Windows 7 Home Premium

My questions:
Is there anything on this list that isn't necessary for performance?
Is there anything that would increase performance substantially if I upgraded price effectively?
What should I do about an affordable, functional and/or aesthetic case?
What should my power supply be?

Cheers everyone.

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Drop down to an i5 2500k for gaming.. you wont get the extra $100 worth from the 2600k for gaming. Are you going to use more than 1 monitor? If not consider going down to a 560ti or 6950 GPU. Use the money saved this way to get a SSD. Get a 60-120gb ssd (unless you have plenty of $ for a bigger one) for your OS and some games.

As for the case and PSU. If you aren't going to use more than 1 card I'd go with a Corsair HX 650 or AX 750. I highly reccomend the Raven rv02-e case. They just did a case review on tom's, and its listed in it if you want a little info
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Already happy I posted here, I didn't know the 2500k and the 2600k performed the same in gaming. I vaguely remember looking at a pair of i7s and not understanding the difference tech wise, but I've honestly looked at so many processors, I don't remember if it was that couple.

Thanks so much for the advice.

You updated your first post while I was typing my first post! ;) 

Be sure you get a p67 motherboard, not an H67. You cant really overclock on h67. The ASUS p8p67 pro or the ASRock extreme 4 are both pretty good.. I think I would go with the asrock mobo myself, but some are put off by their shorter warranty

cmadrid said:
the 2600k has hyper-threading.. thats the biggest difference. Great for rendering/encoding etc, not so huge for gaming. More of a workstation functionality



I see, thats awesome that I can get the same performance processor-wise and maybe do some upgrades elsewhere. Any more suggestions for some more punch performance-wise? I've looked into the solid state drives, and now I think i'll do that with the extra money.

Is there another significant use of SSDs besides putting my OS on it?

mgf derp said:
Going to a GTX 560Ti or 6950 will have less performance then a GTX 570 but if you overclock the 560Ti it will usually perform the same as a nonoverclocked 570


Thanks for clearing that up. This leads me to my next question:
What kind of cooling do I need if I'm to overclock the graphics card?

Generally you want a case with a lot of ventilation for one and then you want the graphics card you buy to have a non referance cooler. For the GTX 560Ti look at the MSI Twin Frozer II http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168.... If you are planning on getting a GTX 570 look at either the MSI Twin Frozer II http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... or the Asus DCu II http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168.... Hope this helps.
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