Advice/Viability Pass

[evilertoaster]

Hey all, putting together a new PC and was hoping for your gracious opinions on the viability,price ect.

Here's what I'm thinking:
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 2GB ($265)
Intel Core i5-2500K ($220)
GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 ($149)
2xADATA S511 120GB (RAID 0) ($410)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB 2133 ($99)
FSP Group AURUM GOLD 700W AU-700 ($125)
COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II ($90)
Total - $1,360

I'm holding off on my planned 2x500GB RAID 0 HDD for a bit to see if the prices re-settle ($150 each?!!, be using my existing 250gb data drive in the meantime).
I'm going for versatility here, I'll be doing gaming (1920x1080 single monitor) ,home theater-ish, light video editing, light web/file/db server, programming...pretty much anything you can use a computer for
Budget isn't too restrictive, but not looking at anything over the top besides the RAID 0 SSD fetish.

Anything that stands out as a bad choice? bottle neck? incompatibility? "Ahhh ha ha...oh wow..."?
Any feedback would be helpful, thanks in advance!

Edit: Planning very light OC's up front, and maybe heavier down the road.

 

[Mikoto]

Heres a few links to get ur product cheaper.

http://www.electronics-outlets.com/products.php?product=Sapphire-DIRT-3-EDITION-Radeon-HD-6950-2-GB-DDR5-DL%252dDVI%252dI%7B47%7DSL%252dDVI%252dD%7B47%7DHDMI%7B47%7DDP-PCI%252dExpress-Graphics-Card-100312%252d3SR-%252d%252d-0O0055L66N499%0A

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-2300-Processor-Socket-LGA1155/dp/B004EBUXIU

http://www.aaacomputersonline.com/products/Gigabyte-GA%252dZ68XP%252dUD3-LGA-1155-Intel-Z68-HDMI-SATA-6Gb%7B47%7Ds-USB-3.0-ATX-Intel-Motherboard-%252d%252d-2N5O0054BJGDH99%0A.html

http://www.alwayslowest.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=shop.dspSpecs&part=29556847

 

[evilertoaster]

Thanks for the links, although the I5 in yours in a 2300 (not a 2500K). Implying they're functionally the same for this build?
Have you ever ordered from the sites you mentioned? Just wondering their credibility/reliability vs shipping cost for the 'all in one' option from newegg.

 

[Mikoto]

Thanks for the links, although the I5 in yours in a 2300 (not a 2500K). Implying they're functionally the same for this build?
Have you ever ordered from the sites you mentioned? Just wondering their credibility/reliability vs shipping cost for the 'all in one' option from newegg.

Ordered from some, not all. One thing to keep in mind is to look for accredited things on those websites. Like Better Business Bureau and so on.

And thats completely my bad with the CPU. Heres another link

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1378560&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

Thats tiger direct and u can definitely trust them. Same price, but you get more stuff

If you scroll down, you'll see its accredited by trustmax, BBB, Visa, MasterCard secure code, verisign and systemax. If a website doesnt have any accredited thingies, you can always check the better business bureau to see how reputable the business is. Some GREAT companies arent accredited by the BBB like Newegg.

Edit: I think your build is fine and your cpu is alright. i5 2500k and i7 2600k are really good for gaming. Your graphics card is pretty high on benchmarks, so its alright for most games. One thing to note is that some games like FPS are really brutal on your graphics card. (Knowing what types of games your gonna be playing helps)

Edit edit: As far as how long the product you buy will live... I'd say that it depends on the manufacturer that makes it. Alot of people say corsair is really good for that on just about all their products and have good customer service. My RAM and PSU is from Corsair. Asus is also good, aswell as evga. Other manufacturers are horrible and give u bad products along with bad customer service that doesnt even have someone that speaks english. If you get a product from a bad manufacturer, atleast get a warranty.

 

[boiler1990]

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 2GB ($265)

I'd go for the 1GB model; the 2GB model is only beneficial with multiple monitors because that's where the extra VRAM comes into play.

2xADATA S511 120GB (RAID 0) ($410)

I'd place my faith in the Crucial M4s over anything with a Sandforce-2200 controller. There are just too many problems with these controllers, and the M4 is the most reliable SSD out right now.

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB 2133 ($99)

There isn't a big difference between RAM speeds. The gains for getting anything above 1600MHz is very cost ineffective, and the performance gains (especially in gains) are negligible. You're better off spending $40 on an 8GB DDR3-1600 kit.

FSP Group AURUM GOLD 700W AU-700 ($125)

Never heard of this PSU company. I'm assuming you did some research into the OEM?

Other than that, not much else to say.

 

[evilertoaster]

Thanks for the feedback.

Didn't think about the vram scale-ability for single monitor... I'll check the check some benches and see... I was originally tempted by the "$30 more for a chance at a 6970" mentioned in the monthly toms guide, but it may not be needed.

Seems to be the trend (M4's). I heard the latest sandforce firmware had it sorted out, but I'll take your advice. Thanks.

1/2 price on the ram seems fine to me!

I only saw it in the roundup at toms a bit ago: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/750-watt-psu-80-plus-gold,2927-4.html
Where it seemed to do well... although no idea on longevity.

Thanks again

 

[boiler1990]

The FSP looks pretty good in that review. I was just making sure you'd at least taken a look at some independent reviews (like that one) so you had an idea of what you were getting. Sometimes people piece builds together like they're just pulling numbers out of a hat...

 

[evilertoaster]

I think I'll end up going with Kingston 120GB HyperX SH100S3 for the SSD... I 'sounds' like most of the firmware/stability issues are worked out and they seem to perform slightly better based on the reviews I saw (plus a mail in rebate from newegg put 'em at under $200)...keep fingers crossed.
Thanks again for the feedback guys.