First build, $1200 budget

[24snor]

I have been considering ordering the following from Cyberpowerpc. It will mainly be used for typical home/office type work--no gaming at this point. It will also be used for photo editing with Nikon Capture NX2. Budget is $1200. I've never done it, but would be willing to try assembling it myself if that would save money or improve performance. Any advice or recommendations will be much appreciated.
Thanks.
______________________________________________________________________
CAS:Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid-Tower Gaming Case [+40]

CD:LG UH12LS28K 12X Blu-Ray Player & DVDRW Combo Drive [+41] (BLACK COLOR)

CPU:Intel® Core™ i7-2600K 3.40 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified) [+220]

FAN:CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo Gaming Cooling Fan [+4]

FLASHMEDIA:INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)

HDD:60 GB Intel 520 Series SATA-III 6.0Gb/s - 550 MB/s Read & 520 MB/s Write [+28] (Single Drive)

HDD2:1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+110] (Single Drive)

MEMORY:8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory [+51] (Kingston HyperX [+16])

MOTHERBOARD:[CrossFireX/SLI] ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 ATX Mainboard w/ Lucid Virtu, Intel SRT, UEFI & 7.1 THX TruStudio Audio, GbLAN, HDMI, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 3 Gen3 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI [+113]

POWERSUPPLY:* 650 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 80 Plus Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready [+99]

VIDEO:None, or On-Board 16X PCIe Shared 128MB Integrated 3D Graphics Video Card

_PRICE: (+1181)

 

[WR2]

Looking good. Nothing that really needs changing.
How interested are you in building it yourself?

--no gaming at this point.
POWERSUPPLY:* 650 Watts - Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 80 Plus Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready [+99])

It looks like you're keeping your options open with the 650W PSU.
I'd be OK with going with the i5-2500K CPU if you're not photo editing for more than few hours a week.

 

[WR2]

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.33 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($137.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($97.99 @ NCIX US)
Hard Drive: Intel 520 Series Cherryville 60GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12LS28 OEM Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($64.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1060.10 is about the lowest price you could find.

Still need a Flash Media Reader/Writer and there might be a difference here and there that could alter the total price.
(Keyboard & mouse, for example).

 

[24snor]

Building it myself wasn't really something I was looking to do, but was willing to if there was a significant cost savings. Given the relatively low price difference, I will probably order it so I can save myself the excessive time it would take me to put my first build together. It seems like a fairly straightforward process but I would undoubtedly research/agonize over every step and make it far more difficult than needs be.
Thanks for the help.

 

[WR2]

It does save a bit of wear and tear on the nerves too, especially if you do run into any problems. You only have to look over the topics in the forum to know a DIY build doesn't always go smoothly.


If you're interested in looking over the build procedure here are some tips.
Here is a Step-by-Step Guide to Building a PC

Look over the forum's "System won't boot" checklist to see some of the common build errors and how to avoid them.

-> The usual advice; read the manual / install guide; look at the parts, read the manual again and if everything makes sense and looks right - then go ahead with the install.

While you're waiting for delivery you can download the online version of the motherboard manual and start getting familiar with it. Same for the other parts you want to order if they have install guides or manuals available.