Is this a good mid-range Budget Build for Ivy Bridge

[Met4lF4ce]

Hi everyone

I'm starting a new PC build (for around $1000) and am a complete new-commer to the world of building your a Custom Computer but am going to give it a shot, and was wondering if this was a good PC build for a computer that will mainly be used for gamming and general multimedia, web searching, Microsoft Office etc...


Case: My old Antec Sonata Case (will this be a problem?)

PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

Motherboard: AsRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 (any criticisms)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157264

CPU: An Ivy Bridge CPU (currently not released) is it worth getting an Ivy Bridge or is it better to get a sandy bridge

Memory: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBSR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460

GPU: HIS H775F1GD Radeon HD 7750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161403

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy or Onboard Audio (which is better or is a new card important,(also I am a musician so good sound is important))

HDD: Using My old SATA II Western Digital 2 Tb HDD (is it very important to change to a SATA III HDD)

SDDatriot Pyro PP120GS25SSDR 2.5" 120GB SATA III
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220603

OS: Windows 7 Profesional (What's the difference between the different Windows 7?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse (these use the Green and Purple PS/2 Ports and will this be a problem on the motheboard?)

Display: For now a Samsung 18" (will change in future any suggestions?)
Sound System: Logitech 5.1 (not changing)

CD/DVD Drive: Old ASUS CD/DVD drive (worth keeping?)


Sorry if this all seems very noobish but in all honest I am but any different thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mortonww]

Windows 7 Professional's biggest advantage over Home Premium is XP Mode, I think. I use Professional just because they were all the same price at my school's bookstore, but Home Premium is really all you need.

It is worth it to get an Ivy Bridge CPU. They run cooler, will probably overclock higher, and have PCIe 3.0. Sandy Bridge prices probably won't drop much or at all once the new CPU's are released, so there's no point in buying a sandy bridge processor if you can wait three weeks for Ivy to be released.

With your Ivy Bridge CPU, you will want to get a z77 motherboard similar to the Gigabyte board you've already picked.

Is this primarily a gaming build? If so, I would recommend holding off on the SSD for now and getting a GPU that's a bit faster. With the savings from the SSD and a couple extra bucks, you could get the 7850

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102986

 

[Met4lF4ce]

how is a Z77 board better than the Z68 motheboard and when are they comming out, and this computer is mainly about general speed I am really just planning for light gamming (Portal 2, TF2, Minecraft etc) nothing to big (Im mainly a console person) so I thought that I should start with the HIS 7750 and maybe crossfire a second one in the future and begin with an SSD for now

 

[obsama1]

the GPU is underpowered. Get the Extreme3, get a 90GB SSD instead. HDDs don't even fully use SATA II, so SATA III doesn't matter except for SSDs. Sound cards are irrelevant nowadays. Use the saved money to get a 6850. Also, get Home Premium. The saved money could get you an i5 3570K.

 

[smorizio]

it has the usb hardwadre controler built into the mb chipset and noes not need a third party chipset. z77 per mb vendors and intell going to have instal or quick boot.

 

[obsama1]

Z77 just gives you PCIE 3.0. IIRC, Z68 will be compatible with IB.

 

[Met4lF4ce]

you can also get PCIe 3.0 on the mobo I selected so its really a matter of the difference in money for the Z77 as it is always good to have the latest chipset, and I guess ill just have to see the prices that come with it when the IB drops soon, also is my old sound card best to be used on the new mobo or will the onboard be better or should I get a new one all together?