Need opinion about part list for all-around computer

[SamKook]

I'm thinking of building myself a new computer very soon(as soon as I agree on all the parts) and I was wondering if I could have all of your opinions on what my inexperienced self has selected so far.

The cost is more or less important as long as it's reasonable. I'd rather spend a few bucks more for a higher quality product than have it break in 2 or 3 years(I've had my current computer for around 7 years and had almost no problems with it).

I'll use it mostly for playing HD videos, but I'll also do quite a bit of video encoding and the occasional gaming(might be more than that after I buy it since I'll actually be able to run games.).

I only need the tower(and everything that goes in it) minus the dvd drive and a couple of sata hdd which I'll transfer from my old computer. I'll use my 32" Bravia tv as a monitor and my old keyboard, mouse and speakers.

I live in Canada(Quebec) so I'd prefer to get all my parts from a Canadian dealer (newegg.ca seems to have pretty low prices).

I'm thinking of overclocking it since I never tried it before and I'd like to have something SLI ready in case I start to game more.

If possible, something quiet would be nice since I'll use it to watch TV and it will be right at my side.


Here's my parts selection after a day of research:
I did quite a bit of research on the SSD, CPU and MB so unless you have a good reason in mind, I'm pretty commited to them.
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
MB: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8R
Video: MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (5$ cheaper than the non-OC version for some reason)
PSU: OCZ ZX Series 850W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Gold High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CPU cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

I'd love to know if you think those are a good choice or if you have suggestions to make it even better.

edit: Fixed the links, I forgot the url tag didn't need " around the url.

 

[rvilkman]

Since you do video encoding, i think you should check out the ASrock Z68 Extreme 4, it's $30:ish more but for encoding video you really want the benefit of the on chip graphics of the i7.

For memory, get memory with lower profile heatsinks than the vengeances, you are bound to run into clearance issues with the CPU cooler.

Just make sure the DVD drive supports Sata, because the new boards no longer support IDE.

Other than that i think you will be quite happy with your build.

 

[SamKook]

Wow, I did not notice the board didn't have any IDE connectors. At a quick glance, I confused the FDD connector with an IDE one. Seems kind of weird to me to still keep an FDD but no IDE.

About the z68 MB, I thought about it, but I saw in some reviews that the selection for the Graphic chip was done automatically with no way to choose other than disabling the CPU one in the BIOS(so not use it to force the use of the PCIe one) and the "best selection" wasn't always choosing what's right.
That worried me, so this is why I opted for the p67 since I'm used to my encodes taking days anyway. Would it really do a big difference in encoding?

About the ram, is there a big difference between 8-8-8-24 and 9-9-9-24? It was my main reason for choosing the vengeance. I could also try to find a cooler that will fit with them, I did almost no research on the hyper 212+.

 

[SamKook]

I did a lot of research about the Z68 quick sync feature and in it's current form, it's not attractive to me at all for encoding.

First, it's only supported by 2 software(for now) and the quality is always worse than if you encode it with the CPU. So unless you want a quick encode(seems to be about 2 times faster) of something(which I never will since I want quality, not speed), it's basically useless.

Also, to have that feature enabled, you need to have a monitor plugged into it. So if I want do use my actual graphic card, I have no choice but to use 2 monitors or always plug/unplug it.

So I'm going to stick with the p67 since the z68 has absolutely no features that interest me.


Now to find a cooling solution compatible with the ram since I can't seem to find any 4GB stick of 8-8-8-24 low profile ram of 1.5v.

 

[browsingtheworld]

You can just take the heatspreaders off, they really don't do much.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233081&Tpk=xigmatek%20loki would fit anyways.

I don't see why you need a 850W PSU.

 

[SamKook]

I prefer to keep them on, just to be on the safe side, but you're probably right. And thanks for the cooling suggestion.

The 850W PSU is in prevision of the future since I may go SLI and add a bunch of drives and probably other stuff. It might still be a bit overkill, but since I don't know what I'll actually put in there, I go with the better safe than sorry strategy.
I also read about people who think that a PSU gives it's best performance when it's using only 30 to 60% of its capacity.

 

[SamKook]

Best answer selected by SamKook.