Maybe check the additional comments at the end for an idea of my skill level and general idea for the machine. Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out!
Approximate Purchase Date: End of January or so; not a hard deadline, but as soon as I can reasonably afford it.
Budget Range: I'm expecting over $1,000, but I'd like to keep it as close to that as possible. If necessary, I can squeeze up to $1,300 or $1,400, but that's gonna hurt.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, gaming and more gaming. It'd be nice if it could run ProTools, as well as double as a media slinger to my PS3, but the emphasis should be on playing any and all current games at ridiculous detail settings at 1080p at super high frame rates. I want to be able to crush Skyrim with tons of mods installed at the wildest settings I can find.
Parts Not Required: Monitor (1080p monitor - I have no real interest in going higher than that for a while. I want to be able to use this thing as a monster console most of the time), keyboard, mouse, speakers, other accessories. I have most stuff, and I can make those decisions as they come up.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon.com (I live in California, so I want to use Amazon's lack of sales tax when I can. I also have some credit to use there, as well as a student Prime account, which makes Amazon very attractive), maybe Newegg if there's no other option (I'll have to pay tax on Newegg stuff). I know I use Newegg in the links below, but that's because their site is easier to use for this kind of thing.
Country: United States, California specifically.
Parts Preferences: Intel processor, Nvidia card, small SSD, relatively small data drive
Here's a more detailed breakdown: I'm thinking of getting an unlocked Sandy Bridge, but I'm not sure what the prevailing wisdom is on that.
I'm leaning towards a EVGA Superclocked 570. I'm more comfortable with someone else doing the overclocking, as I've never done it before. I'll be overclocking my CPU, but the less I have to actually do myself, the more comfortable I'll be. If there's a better option than the Super 570 though, I'm open to the idea.
My data needs are pretty small. I format very regularly and don't generally keep much media for long. I'm thinking of a 60GB Agility as a boot drive (probably for Windows 7 64, though I'm undecided) that will also hold my two or three big games I'm playing at any particular point (Skyrim, SWTOR if I get into that, etc). I want a fairly small data drive also, maybe 500GB, as I've been using about 120GB for years and am used to cleaning regularly. Speed is much more important than space, but also I'm willing to skimp in this area and put the money towards other things. I really like the idea of a small SSD though, so I want that if at all possible.
My case instinct is a Coolermaster HAF 912. Will this be a decent option if I want to liquid cool and overclock? Will be it easy enough to build in?
Overclocking: Yes, I assume so for the CPU. Some advice would be awesome on whether or not to do this, though. I have no experience overclocking, and I'm very apprehensive. I also am really interested in liquid cooling and would like to do that, unless you guys think someone with limited building experience should stay away from such things. I want to because I want the thing to be as quiet as possible, and also because it sounds just super cool. I mean, seriously, LIQUID COOLED COMPUTERS? How sweet is that? That said, I have absolutely no idea where to begin when buying a liquid cooling kit, so any education is much appreciated.
SLI or Crossfire: Yes, eventually. For this initial build, I'm thinking just one pretty monster GPU, but later I'll probably want to slide another in. Will I have enough room in the case? I'll need a 1,000 or so watt power supply, also.
Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080. Not planning on going any higher for a while, as I've already got an HD monitor I really like, and I want to be able to pipe this thing to a television, also.
Additional Comments: So I've only built one computer before, about nine years ago. It went okay, but I was pretty young. I didn't do anything particularly difficult, I just slapped a bunch of componenets that someone else gave me into a case. No overclocking, no real cable management, nothing but putting it all in a blender. This time, I want to do it right. I want to try to squeeze some real performance out of my wallet and machine. I'm down to try OCing and liquid cooling, though it scares me, and I want to have the cables not swinging through the case like freaky spaghetti.
I've done a lot of builds on cyberpower and other places, and it's usually coming out to around $1,400 for a machine close to what I want. Will I save a significant amount of money building it myself, or am I better off paying a little bit extra so someone else has to do it? Again, thanks so much for the help, guys, I really appreciate it. I've been looking forward to getting back into PC gaming for a while now. I hope I can get this started soon!
Approximate Purchase Date: End of January or so; not a hard deadline, but as soon as I can reasonably afford it.
Budget Range: I'm expecting over $1,000, but I'd like to keep it as close to that as possible. If necessary, I can squeeze up to $1,300 or $1,400, but that's gonna hurt.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, gaming and more gaming. It'd be nice if it could run ProTools, as well as double as a media slinger to my PS3, but the emphasis should be on playing any and all current games at ridiculous detail settings at 1080p at super high frame rates. I want to be able to crush Skyrim with tons of mods installed at the wildest settings I can find.
Parts Not Required: Monitor (1080p monitor - I have no real interest in going higher than that for a while. I want to be able to use this thing as a monster console most of the time), keyboard, mouse, speakers, other accessories. I have most stuff, and I can make those decisions as they come up.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon.com (I live in California, so I want to use Amazon's lack of sales tax when I can. I also have some credit to use there, as well as a student Prime account, which makes Amazon very attractive), maybe Newegg if there's no other option (I'll have to pay tax on Newegg stuff). I know I use Newegg in the links below, but that's because their site is easier to use for this kind of thing.
Country: United States, California specifically.
Parts Preferences: Intel processor, Nvidia card, small SSD, relatively small data drive
Here's a more detailed breakdown: I'm thinking of getting an unlocked Sandy Bridge, but I'm not sure what the prevailing wisdom is on that.
I'm leaning towards a EVGA Superclocked 570. I'm more comfortable with someone else doing the overclocking, as I've never done it before. I'll be overclocking my CPU, but the less I have to actually do myself, the more comfortable I'll be. If there's a better option than the Super 570 though, I'm open to the idea.
My data needs are pretty small. I format very regularly and don't generally keep much media for long. I'm thinking of a 60GB Agility as a boot drive (probably for Windows 7 64, though I'm undecided) that will also hold my two or three big games I'm playing at any particular point (Skyrim, SWTOR if I get into that, etc). I want a fairly small data drive also, maybe 500GB, as I've been using about 120GB for years and am used to cleaning regularly. Speed is much more important than space, but also I'm willing to skimp in this area and put the money towards other things. I really like the idea of a small SSD though, so I want that if at all possible.
My case instinct is a Coolermaster HAF 912. Will this be a decent option if I want to liquid cool and overclock? Will be it easy enough to build in?
Overclocking: Yes, I assume so for the CPU. Some advice would be awesome on whether or not to do this, though. I have no experience overclocking, and I'm very apprehensive. I also am really interested in liquid cooling and would like to do that, unless you guys think someone with limited building experience should stay away from such things. I want to because I want the thing to be as quiet as possible, and also because it sounds just super cool. I mean, seriously, LIQUID COOLED COMPUTERS? How sweet is that? That said, I have absolutely no idea where to begin when buying a liquid cooling kit, so any education is much appreciated.
SLI or Crossfire: Yes, eventually. For this initial build, I'm thinking just one pretty monster GPU, but later I'll probably want to slide another in. Will I have enough room in the case? I'll need a 1,000 or so watt power supply, also.
Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080. Not planning on going any higher for a while, as I've already got an HD monitor I really like, and I want to be able to pipe this thing to a television, also.
Additional Comments: So I've only built one computer before, about nine years ago. It went okay, but I was pretty young. I didn't do anything particularly difficult, I just slapped a bunch of componenets that someone else gave me into a case. No overclocking, no real cable management, nothing but putting it all in a blender. This time, I want to do it right. I want to try to squeeze some real performance out of my wallet and machine. I'm down to try OCing and liquid cooling, though it scares me, and I want to have the cables not swinging through the case like freaky spaghetti.
I've done a lot of builds on cyberpower and other places, and it's usually coming out to around $1,400 for a machine close to what I want. Will I save a significant amount of money building it myself, or am I better off paying a little bit extra so someone else has to do it? Again, thanks so much for the help, guys, I really appreciate it. I've been looking forward to getting back into PC gaming for a while now. I hope I can get this started soon!
... just thought id add that 
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram