[New Build] Am I wasting any money?

[Sasha the BOLD]

Approximate Purchase Date: the next two or three days
Budget Range: $1000 ideally; I'd go up to $1200 (after rebates)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming / multitasking / Folding@Home
Parts Not Required: HDD with software, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: Intel chip
Overclocking: Yes, but not crazy
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200
Additional Comments: Quiet is a plus; low energy/energy efficient makes me smile but isn't mandatory

Hi, folks.

My old compy is giving up the ghost -- reboots itself every hour or so. I've tried to save it, but it's time for an upgrade.

I have a 2TB HDD with OS, a 30" 1920x1200 monitor, and speakers that I plan to use for the new rig.

After a few days of research I've picked the following parts:

Intel Core i5-2500k
ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz CAS 9
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7850 OC
SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
Noctua NH-D14
Antec 900 Two V3

Newegg puts me at about $1150 now. So:

1. Does anybody see anything particularly awful about my choices? I'm planning light OC'ing, but I'm not going nuts about it.
2. Are there any obvious ways I could trim my costs without sacrificing much in the way of functionality?

Thanks a ton for your time.

 

[Sasha the BOLD]

Replying to add:

I know that 16GB looks like *way* too much memory, but I multitask like an insane ADHD sufferer on a sugar high. I'm quite happy to have too much memory, and quite UNhappy to have too little, so I think I'm keeping all of it.

Also, my computer is up 24/7, so saving on boot times doesn't seem worth the additional expense of a SSD right now. I'm planning to get one when Win8 comes out and make that my new boot drive; until then, I think I can limp along without one.

 

[azeem40]

I would not add rebates to budget because you are still spending the $ initially. Not awful, but consider Crucial RAM. It has the lowest failure rate. If not crazy OC, get EVO.

 

[Guest]

I would get a 7870 with your budget if gaming is a high priority at 1080p, skimp a bit on the cpu cooler and maybe the case.

 

[niknovacain]

I am curious as to how much of a difference there is between ram failures between companies like crucial, kingston, corsair, and g.skill. Are we talking +1% difference? Or are we talking something more significant.

 

[azeem40]

More significant, but idk by how much.

 

[niknovacain]

Okay. I mean, when I first saw G.Skill Ram I said to myself "What is this disgusting junk? This wasn't even around when I built my last build." But then some of their ram is so sexy looking. I am a sucker for bright colors and cool casing. It is my downfall.

 

[quicksand10]

I would not add rebates to budget because you are still spending the $ initially. Not awful, but consider Crucial RAM. It has the lowest failure rate. If not crazy OC, get EVO.

+1 for CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO with Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste.

Also, azeem40, I always thought Kingston RAM had the lowest failure rate? However, I must say Crucial is an excellent brand as well.

G.Skill is a relative newcomer but enthusiasts are their target market and they're very popular among posters on this forum.

 

[aicom]

1920x1200 seems a bit low for a 30" monitor.

 

[Tavo_Nova]

g.skill rams are great and i think keeping the 7850 is great

going on an asrock z68 extreme3 gen 3 should fix your budget problems and going from noctua nh-d14 to cooler master hyper 212 PLUS or EVO it may be a downgrade on this but well yeah it's great for it's price

 

[azeem40]

G.Skill RAM is popular, but that doesn't make it great. Crucial and Kingston are far more reliable and cheaper too.

 

[niknovacain]

But they look like ram from the 90's and really how important is ram.

 

[Tavo_Nova]

well I have to disagree with you there azeem40

well at least in my opinion and experience since I got my pentium I and got interested in building at pentium II (was young but oh well)

for me

G.SKILL, Crucial, Kingston, Corsair are top at reliable memory

corsair being gold in price
g.skillas average
kingston,crucial at a cheaper price and being under rated by most people.

although I use G.skill on most of my system and few corsair and kingston and specially crucial.

(kingston rams are hard to find in local stores and same with crucial, I only manage to get my hands on them whenever I have some business at the states)

G.skill on the other hand is like an ant here, it's everywhere lately before it was like only 1 dude selling these then it spread like a bug, for corsair it's also very common, but seeing as it being over rated, it's being sold at 150% of the original price hence that's where my supplier who is not really cheap but most of the time cheap on giving me new components which are reasonable in price and easy to find unless it's a new hardware. this is where it comes as to why I use G.skill a lot and so far never had problems with it.

 

[Sasha the BOLD]

So I pulled the trigger and bought the rig. Thanks for the feedback -- I figured everyone would quibble with something or another, and if there were no loud screams of protest then it would be good enough.

Regarding the CoolerMaster 212 EVO, I checked up on it and found that it would not fit in my new box. The Noctua D14 *barely* fits, but it works, so I stuck with that one.

As to the memory, I have not yet had a problem with G.Skill and the savings was substantial (think $140+ versus $100), so I went with the Ripjaws.

Skimping on the mobo seemed viable, but the cheaper suggestion didn't have a USB 3.0 for the front port, and my case has room for it and I expect to get some use out of that, so I figured I'd futureproof the rig and stick with the slightly more expensive board.

When all was said and done, this didn't leave room in the budget for the 7870, and I think $250 is more of a "sweet spot" price for a vid card anyways, especially with the overclockability of these boards.

Thanks again for your help!