After a few months of research and piecemeal purchasing, I think I'm pretty set on my build. I've purchased most of the parts already - I'm pretty much just missing the GPU and CPU. I'm just looking for any advice or thoughts that you guys can give. This is my first build, and I was extremely ignorant prior to starting my research, so I'm sure I'm overlooking things.
One specific question I have is regarding the PSU. Obviously 500W is far from ideal for this build, but do you guys think it'll be sufficient? What problems might I encounter? Is it worth replacing? I am considering starting a new build (possibly Hackintosh) after I finish this one, so I'm not opposed to replacing the PSU or any other parts and then putting them towards the next build.
Also, though this will primarily be for gaming, I'm interested in dual-booting Windows 7 and OS X on this machine in the future (specifically when I get a second hard drive). I realize I'm opening a whole new can of worms here, but I'd still appreciate any comments you'd like to offer on this aspect of the build.
In terms of budget, I don't have any set overall limit - like I said, I'm buying it as I go without counting overall cost - but in general I don't want to enter the enthusiast areas where large price gains produce small performance gains (e.g., the 2500K for CPUs). I want the best parts that are still good values, essentially.
*=already purchased
Case: Silverstone LC-13B-E*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163044
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K (Ivy Bridge)
GPU: MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127663
Notes: Video cards in the LC13 that are over about 10ish inches require me to remove one of my hard drive cages, severely limiting the number of hard drives I'll be able to put in. I don't want to have to do that! Also, I would like to Crossfire or SLI in the future, but not right away.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506
PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W Fully Modular*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256065
Notes: As mentioned above, this doesn't seem to be enough power for my video card. Also, I'm concerned with it's noise level. Any replacement recommendations would be appreciated!
CPU Cooler: Corsair CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 Liquid CPU Cooler*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015
RAM: Kingston HyperX Genesis XMP 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 3x2GB*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104118
Notes: I got these for free after rebate - I didn't shop around. They are triple-channel while my mobo is dual-channel. I can't seem to get a good answer on what exactly this means and what will happen if I use them anyways.
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
Fans: 2 x Rosewill RFX-80 80mm*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200020
1 x Zalman F2 Plus 92mm*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118095
Accessories: NZXT Sentry-2 5.25" Touch Screen fan controller*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992005
Rosewill RCR-IC002 74-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820223109
Rosewill RRC-126 Windows 7 Certified Media Center Infrared Remote Control*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880101002
What do you guys think about adding an SSD? I'm undecided. I've never used one, so it's hard to judge whether it would be worth the money.
One specific question I have is regarding the PSU. Obviously 500W is far from ideal for this build, but do you guys think it'll be sufficient? What problems might I encounter? Is it worth replacing? I am considering starting a new build (possibly Hackintosh) after I finish this one, so I'm not opposed to replacing the PSU or any other parts and then putting them towards the next build.
Also, though this will primarily be for gaming, I'm interested in dual-booting Windows 7 and OS X on this machine in the future (specifically when I get a second hard drive). I realize I'm opening a whole new can of worms here, but I'd still appreciate any comments you'd like to offer on this aspect of the build.
In terms of budget, I don't have any set overall limit - like I said, I'm buying it as I go without counting overall cost - but in general I don't want to enter the enthusiast areas where large price gains produce small performance gains (e.g., the 2500K for CPUs). I want the best parts that are still good values, essentially.
*=already purchased
Case: Silverstone LC-13B-E*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163044
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K (Ivy Bridge)
GPU: MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127663
Notes: Video cards in the LC13 that are over about 10ish inches require me to remove one of my hard drive cages, severely limiting the number of hard drives I'll be able to put in. I don't want to have to do that! Also, I would like to Crossfire or SLI in the future, but not right away.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506
PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W Fully Modular*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256065
Notes: As mentioned above, this doesn't seem to be enough power for my video card. Also, I'm concerned with it's noise level. Any replacement recommendations would be appreciated!
CPU Cooler: Corsair CWCH60 Hydro Series H60 Liquid CPU Cooler*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015
RAM: Kingston HyperX Genesis XMP 6GB 1600MHz DDR3 3x2GB*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104118
Notes: I got these for free after rebate - I didn't shop around. They are triple-channel while my mobo is dual-channel. I can't seem to get a good answer on what exactly this means and what will happen if I use them anyways.
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
Fans: 2 x Rosewill RFX-80 80mm*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200020
1 x Zalman F2 Plus 92mm*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118095
Accessories: NZXT Sentry-2 5.25" Touch Screen fan controller*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992005
Rosewill RCR-IC002 74-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820223109
Rosewill RRC-126 Windows 7 Certified Media Center Infrared Remote Control*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880101002
What do you guys think about adding an SSD? I'm undecided. I've never used one, so it's hard to judge whether it would be worth the money.
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