Recommendation on parts (~$1800 - Gaming/CAD)

[hittingray]

Hi guys, I'm building a new computer which will be used for general work, heavy gaming, engineering design (hence the 16GB of RAM) and the occasional video editing and audio editing. I need this computer to last for a few years. I'm on a budget and I'd like to stick around the $1800 mark (I'm in Australia, so please take this into mind; prices are > than the US). I've researched and this is the build I've come up with. I'm open to any suggestions and incompatibilities you may find. Here is what I plan on:


$105.60 Two of: 8GB (4GBx2) 1600 G.Skill Ripjaws-X
$38.00 Two of: Samsung SH-S223F
$92.00 Samsung 1 TB HDD
$205.00 Asus P8Z68-V-PRO
$390.00 Two of: Gigabyte GTX560
$19.00 NZXT Fan Rifle Bearing 14cm Fan
$50.00 Two of: NZXT Fan Rifle Bearing 20cm Fan (No LED)
$89.00 Noctua NH-D14
$159.00 Silverstone Strider Plus 850W ST85F-P
$169.00 NZXT Phantom Black
$110.00 OCZ SSD 60G Solid 3
$332.00 Intel Core i7-2600K

Total: $1823.60

I don't require a mouse, keyboard, monitor (this runs at 1920 x 1080) or any other peripherals. I would prefer to stick with nVidia, as I have had multiple bad experiences with ATI. I will be overclocking to as high as possible.

Thanks.

 

[danraies]

If you want a high overclock, I would advise against the P8Z68-V Pro. It's a good mobo (I have one myself), but not great for overclocking. I recommend the ASRock Extreme4 Gen3.

I think you should downgrade your CPU to the i5-2500K. Since you listed gaming as your primary usage, this downgrade will let you upgrade your graphics to two GTX560ti. There is no performance difference between the 2500K and the 2600K for gaming.

I recommend the Crucial M4 64GB over the OCZ. They're just as fast, but the M4 is more reliable. Also, SSD's are expensive, but a lot of people who buy 60GB or 64GB SSD's find themselves wishing they'd gotten 120GB or 128GB drives. 60GB is just not quite enough.

This is a little thing, but you should buy one 4x4GB kit instead of two 2x4GB kits. When you buy them all together you're guaranteed that they will come from the same batch and are timed to perform better together. This isn't a huge deal but they're usually the same price.

 

[Emelth]

He will need the i7 for CAD and the 16GB of RAM

I do agree with getting 560 Ti's or 6950s, and the Crucial M4 SSD. I do know that the OCZ had issues but got fixed a couple weeks ago but still I would go with the M4.

Motherboard is good but if you want to save money you can drop it down to the $150 area and still get a good board

 

[hittingray]

I decided I'd post over at OCN after not getting a reply here after 24 hours. Yielded nearly exactly the same results. Oddly enough, the 4x 4 GB was more expensive than two 2x 4 GB, so that's why I chose it. I'll take it into mind, though. Thanks.

 

[Emelth]

no problem