My New Build - Opinions Please :)

[shafikt]

Hello All,

This is my first official post - after 3 months of agonizing over computer parts i have my final build...

if i could get some opinions on how good the build is? and if there are areas of 'over-kill' where i can save some money? or am missing something?

i might do some slight overclocking at first - nothing serious, if i do, will i need a better heatsink? thank you all!!

Money Left over from budget for buying more or better parts: $65

System Usage: Gaming/College Research & Papers

Overclocking: Maybe (bought the 2500k at a great deal for $179 figured it was too good of a deal to pass up)

Approximate Purchase Date: Feb 22 - 2012

Country: USA


CPU:
Intel Core i5-2500K

CPU Cooler
Intel Boxed Heat Sink and Fan

Motherboard:
Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 LGA 1155

RAM:
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) CMZ16GX3M4A1600​​​C9

Graphics:
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC Ti 1 GB

Hard Drive :
128GB SSD + 500GB CAVIAR

Case:
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Mid-Tower Gaming Case

Power:
Corsair Enthusiast Series 750-Watt - CMPSU-750TXV2

Optical:
Lite-On iHAS124 24x DVD±RW Drive

 

[g-unit1111]

i might do some slight overclocking at first - nothing serious, if i do, will i need a better heatsink? thank you all!!

Yes. I've heard of people taking the 2500K beyond 4.5 with the stock fan but I don't know how true those rumors are. :lol:

I'd definitely suggest a better heat sink - the Hyper 212 Evo or EVGA Super Cooler are the best bang-for-buck options out there right now.

if i could get some opinions on how good the build is? and if there are areas of 'over-kill' where i can save some money? or am missing something?

I think it looks pretty good as is. I love the case but are you sure you mean the 400R (no such thing as 300R)?

Only suggestion is swap the video card with this (much better brand, warranty, tech support): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604

 

[shafikt]

G-unit, thank you very much for your help. The 300R is actually brand new to the corsair line up...amazon is selling it and you can see it on the corsair website too. I did think about going Evga, but their mboards are expensive...i was told that it's better to keep the board and the video card the same mfg....is this true? Otherwise I would the video card you suggested. Thank you ver much!

 

[shafikt]

Best answer selected by shafikt.

 

[g-unit1111]

G-unit, thank you very much for your help. The 300R is actually brand new to the corsair line up...amazon is selling it and you can see it on the corsair website too. I did think about going Evga, but their mboards are expensive...i was told that it's better to keep the board and the video card the same mfg....is this true? Otherwise I would the video card you suggested. Thank you ver much!

Yeah I've seen the 300R now. I didn't realize it was new.

EVGA motherboards are good for the most part but they (at least the current Z68/P67 lineup) have a ridiculously high fail rate compared to Asus, Gigabyte, and Intel. You're better sticking with one of those.

You don't have to keep the motherboard and video card the same manufacturer - I switch them out all the time. Right now I'm running a Sapphire video card on a Gigabyte motherboard, and I occasionally swap that with an EVGA card.

 

[shafikt]

G-Unit,

Thank you for all your help. I do have another question for you...do you think i should go with the "un-overclocked" NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (GV-N560UD-1G) because some of the people were having trouble with the overclocked one? or do you think its worth spending the extra money on the Radeon 6950?

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401

Radeon 6950
http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-GV-R695OC-1GD/dp/B0056GJL26/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330448011&sr=8-1

thank you again for all your help!

~Shafik