Hey I need some critiquing of my build

[Cpt Mendoza]

I've been putting this list together for a while now, mostly using pcpartpicker.com and newegg to find parts and ideas while also using tom's reviews and benchmarks for these parts as a selling point to my self.

here is the entire build excluding mouse+kb but including a monitor from pc part picker.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1hY0

I put this together with the intent of being a gaming pc and also a home studio recording pc.

I chose the i5 2500k because it is the perfect blend of price and power as far as intel cpus go, and having been bottlenecked by an i3 330m for a while now, felt I needed a quad core for all of my audio and video processing. I chose the cooler master hyper 212pro because of its best seller status on newegg and extremely high amount of ratings it had garnered.

I could probably cut down to an asrock p67 extreme4 from the asus vpro, but my friend (who got me into computer building) has had nothing but the highest praise for asus, not to mention that this particular mobo has gotten rock solid reviews with almost no bad reviews at all.

The Ram is pretty self explanatory, If you want the best it's either Corsair or G Skill, I've always heard/read great things about corsairs quality so I went with them.

As for drives, I have no real knowledge of ssds so I went for the cheapest and highest rated 64 gig I could find. I decided to go with a 500 gig hd to store my games and etc, since I have a 3tb external I use as a data drive. Might upgrade to a 1tb drive though if i find a good deal.

I don't play a lot of games, and in the ones that I do play I've always wanted smoothness over quality. I chose the 6870 because it delivers the smoothness and the quality for a relatively cheap price and will continue to give me solid performance for at least 2 years if not longer if I overclock it. I went with the HIS 6870 iceq turbo, because it scored pretty damn well on all the benchmarks that I've seen and also did it at lower temps than most other 6870's in its price range. 3dgameguys kickass rating helped sway me on that one as well.

I initially wanted to go with inwins' dragon rider case, but with further review and research found that the HAF 932 is regarded higher by most people, my friend currently owns one of these and I have gotten to inspect it pretty thoroughly. Since his build is pretty similar to mine, I decided to go with the case I knew rather than one I hadn't gotten to see for myself.

in my rough drafts of this build I was using whatever cheap 650 watt i could find, but after more research (and a very convincing newegg tv review) I decided on the OCZ modxstream pro. I still might slide down to the antec earthwatts 650 if I need to shed some pricetag.

For the optical drive I went with the sony just because it is a major brand that I've bought from in the past. definitely need some more research in this area.

All i was looking for in a monitor was 20+ inches and 1920x1080 support so I might also move down to a smaller and less pricey model of monitor, Again I chose asus mostly because of it's brand.

for a final selling price of 1260 after rebates it is not a bad system at all, though I definitely know that there are places where I could trim some fat. As I said at the top of this wall of text, I am looking for critique and suggestions to help me out. This is by no means a final draft, just another revision.

Thanks for reading this lol. TL;DR Click the link and give me some opinions/critiques of my choice of parts.

 

[Cpt Mendoza]

Anyone? Free cookie to the first person!

 

[jasonw223]

I like cookies....

OK here are my thoughts.

1) Nice choice on the 2500k and Asus Z68 Pro. I own both and love em! I like my Asus board a lot more than the Extreme 4. I used to have that one.

2) Change that SSD! It's an older one - 250mb/s read 145mb/s write.
An Agility 3 would be close in price, but give you 525mb/s read and 475mb/s write. (It will be quite a bit faster)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725

3) For that price, I'd switch your video card. Look at these maybe:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127593
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133377
They will be quite a bit faster than a 6870.

4) That Antec Earthwatts 650w is better than the OCZ modxstream pro (other than not being modular).

5) That's a massive case for what you're putting inside. I'd personally go with something like this, which is a case I really like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196
Or for that price, something more like this :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139007

Everything looks good though - good luck with the build!

 

[Cpt Mendoza]

I like cookies....

OK here are my thoughts.

1) Nice choice on the 2500k and Asus Z68 Pro. I own both and love em! I like my Asus board a lot more than the Extreme 4. I used to have that one.

2) Change that SSD! It's an older one - 250mb/s read 145mb/s write.
An Agility 3 would be close in price, but give you 525mb/s read and 475mb/s write. (It will be quite a bit faster)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227725

3) For that price, I'd switch your video card. Look at these maybe:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127593
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133377
They will be quite a bit faster than a 6870.

4) That Antec Earthwatts 650w is better than the OCZ modxstream pro (other than not being modular).

5) That's a massive case for what you're putting inside. I'd personally go with something like this, which is a case I really like: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196
Or for that price, something more like this :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139007

Everything looks good though - good luck with the build!

Yeah, everything I read has the vPro ahead of the asrock, but the asrock is always a good board for lower budgets.

I had no idea on the ssd, but I think I will take your advice on that one, its only twenty bucks more anyways.

Hmm, im going to have to research nvidia a bit more, I hadn't really entertained them as a possibility. I might just make the switch.

I have heard really good things about the EW 650w, I wasn't even sure if 700w would power the system reliably while also powering the sound system im buying and any other recording related peripherals.

As for the case, I enjoyed the largeness of it, it made putting my friends rig together relatively easy, But I have been looking at the stormscout 700w CM psu combo deal a bit, Been flip flopping between the 932 and that deal.

 

[Cpt Mendoza]

anybody else? fedexing a cookie is relatively cheap ya know.

 

[jasonw223]

Just so you know, you only need about 300w power for that machine... you could look at a smaller more efficient PSU as well if you'd like.

Your sound system will be powered from an amplifier, which will get its power from the wall. It won't put any real load at all on your PCs power supply.

 

[Cpt Mendoza]

Best answer selected by Cpt Mendoza.

 

[Cpt Mendoza]

Just so you know, you only need about 300w power for that machine... you could look at a smaller more efficient PSU as well if you'd like.

Your sound system will be powered from an amplifier, which will get its power from the wall. It won't put any real load at all on your PCs power supply.

yeah I had forgotten about that, my current speakers are powered from the computer and the woofer from the wall. I'll probably slide a bit lower down to a 550 or 500 watt so I have some headroom for o.c, fans and what not.