New System

[have_it]

Hi,

After countless hours spent reviewing newegg, toms, techradar and others, i've come up with a build i want to use for gaming (Skyrim/Fifa12/etc.) as well as home theater. This post is to confirm or deny the choices I've made. As a newbie, I now seek the knowledge of the forum. My budget is not endless, however, I don't want the bottom of the barrel either. Here goes.

CPU - i2500 K (I plan to overclock later)

Motherboard - AS Rock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

GPU - MSI N560GTX Ti – Twin Frozr II (1GB)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565

OR

- MSI Radeon 6950 PE OC Twin Frozr III (1GB)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127604

RAM - Corsair DDR3, 4G, 1600MHz X 2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145346

HDD - SeaGate 1TB 7200 rpm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148321

DVD-ROM - Samsung 22X DVD Burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151243

Cooling/Heat Sink - Zalman CNPS9500 AT

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003

Power Supply - Corsair Enthusiast TX650W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

Case - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352013


Major Concerns:

Motherboard - Is it suitable? Should I go with one that has Bluetooth (Asus P8P67 Pro)?

GPU - VERY uncertain whether to go with a GTX 560 Ti or R6950 or R6870, as well as which brand. Help!?!?

Power Supply - Need i go higher?

In closing, Tomshardware forum has helped me get this far. Please help me finalize my new pc!

 

[jsc]

The Zalman 9500/9700/9900 series coolers are, by today's standards, overpriced coolers of mediocre performance, but you might need such a cooler to clear the RAM heatspreaders.

The motherboard is suitable. Bluetooth? That is personal decision.

Graphics card?
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fastest-graphics-card-radeon-geforce,3085-4.html
I prefer eVGA for nVidia and XFX for ATI/AMD primarily for build quality and warranty bu tthey do tend to be a little more expensive than the rest.

The 650 watt PSU is exactly the size (and Corsair would be on of my choices) that I would put into a build like this.

 

[have_it]

Moderator - Thanks for the swift reply!

Ill see about the heat sink - if not, can you recommend a similarly priced alternative?

Also, about the graphics card. For playing SkyRim and other games, as well as somewhat future proofing it, what would you recommend in the $200-300 range?