Solid 2600k build? yea or nay?

[YojimboDuderoni]

Solid build? yea or nay?

This is for a multi-tasking, productivity PC, but oddly enough I am constrained by a customer that has to have a 2600k. I understand this is overkill for surfing the web and making powerpoint presentations...See add'l comments below.

Open to any comments on anything. Thanks for the help.

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Approximate Purchase Date: Today or Tomorrow before 2pm (delivered by 23 Dec 2011)

Budget Range: <$1500 and less $$$ is better

System Usage from Most to Least Important: ...productivity apps, basic video editing (trimming, keying, converting), some CS5, no games at all

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Set on 2600k with SSD for "snappiness". Mobo = ASUS or gigabyte, Vid Card Mfr = evga, sapphire, or xfx, HDD mfr = Seagate. It should have a smallish conservative-looking case (no fancy lights, mid-tower or smaller).

Overclocking: Maybe, only if easy, no prior personal exp w/OC

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 (x 2 monitors)

Additional Comments: This is a build for father to replace xx-year old PC (has an athlon 64 single core). He is extremely frustrated by slowness of current PC so he wants to replace with fastest out there, and is dead set on a 2600k CPU because of marketing. This PC has to have dual monitor functionality.

Can't convince myself that Intel 3000 graphics is a "better" option over a discrete GPU in the near future in terms of compatibility with programs (i won't be around to troubleshoot after build). Also, I can't bring it upon myself *not* to have a decent GPU in a PC with specs like these. Maybe you could help convince me. It should have a smallish conservative-looking case (no fancy lights, mid-tower or smaller).

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Include a list of any parts you have already selected with descriptively labeled links for parts.

CPU) Intel i7 2600k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819115070

Fan) CM Hyper 212+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Mobo) ASUS P8Z68-V PRO GEN3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

SSD) Crucial M4 128 GB SATAIII
Bracket) ICY DOCK 2.5-3.5 HDD adapater
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442

GPU) Sapphire HD6850 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.784659

OS) Win7 Pro 64-bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

HDD) Seagate Baracuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6.0gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697

PS) CORSAIR HX650 Pro Series 80 plus bronze
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

Case) Antec 300 ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

RAM) CORSAIR Vengeance 2 x 4 = 8 GB DDR3 1600 in blue color
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.784659


DVD)ASUS 24x DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
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Total ~ $1450

Am i forgetting anything?

 

[abekl]

You want to replace the CM 212+ with the Evo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I'd replace the 212 212 EVO with the 612 .... $16 more gets you 5-7C of extra cooling. The 612 comes within a degree or so of the top coolers made:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103103
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=797&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=4

The Crucial M4 at 128GB is a tier 5 unit for $196 ..... The Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 120 GB ($210), OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120 ($204) GB, Patriot WildFire 120 GB ($215), Samsung 830 SSD 128 GB ($230) are tier 3 units which according to THG are about 21% faster.

Video Editing applications benefit from CUDA which is an nVidia only thing

http://www.elitebastards.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=732&Itemid=29
http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2009/12/14/adobes-mercury-playback-engine-for-cs5-is-cuda-only!.aspx
http://blogs.adobe.com/premiereprotraining/2011/02/cuda-mercury-playback-engine-and-adobe-premiere-pro.html

List of GPU accelerated cards
http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/tech-specs.html

List of CUDA supported cards
http://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-gpus

How to unlock CUDA in non "officially supported" nVidia cards
http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

The 560 Ti would be the budget equivalent of the 6950. I'd suggest a factory OC'd model as they are the same price as reference models and have more robust VRM and cooling. I'm partial tot he Asus model

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=560%20Ti%20900Mhz&bop=And&SecondSearch=1&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

Barracuda XT = Great HD .... Barracud (No XT) not so much. For video editing, I recommend the XT's
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=708&Itemid=60&limit=1&limitstart=10

HX650 is a great PSU but won't handle adding a 2nd GFX card later on. The HX850 will and get's a 10.0 jonnyguru rating but it's $150....the XFX Core Edition is only $90 and get's a 9.5 performance rating.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207011

RAM - Ya wanna lose the tall, toothy heat sinks as the will interfere w/ ya CPU cooler. The heat sinks are there for looks only, DDR3 frankly doesn't need them

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233199

Case - The 300 is a great lil case ..... but it's a lil case. Check this one out
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&Itemid=61&limit=1&limitstart=5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=100006519&isNodeId=1&Description=500R&x=0&y=0