Advice and suggestion on new PC (1500$)

[icer]

Hi, figured out it would be time to change my old PC from 2006 :
Mobo : Asus P5W DH Deluxe
CPU : E6600
RAM Corsair 2GB TWIN
GPU : ATI Radeon X1900 XT
PSU : OCZ Powerstream 520 W modular
Case : CoolerMaster CAC-T05 Centurion
Sound Card : Creative Lab Sound Blaster Live X-Gamers (from my old Penium 3)
CPU Heatsink : Zalman CNPS 9500 92 MM
Hard drive : Baraccuda 320 Go
2nd hard drive : WD claviar black 640GB currently not in use
Optical drive : LG DVD drive and Piooner DVD-Burner

Approximate Purchase Date : Before mid-may

Budget Range: around 1500$

System Usage : Gaming, Autocad, Matlab, web, etc

Parts Not Required: Monitor, mouse, keyboard

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: www.ncix.com and might try price match with directcanada or tigerdirect
Country: canada

Parts Preferences: Asus, Intel
Overclocking: Good chance

SLI or Crossfire: Don't think so

Monitor Resolution: currently 1680x1050, but migght change it

Here a list of what I might get. Any suggestion will be welcome :

Case : I love my current coolermaster for the air filter on the front. I don't tink that one have any. Anyway good suggestion for a case with air filter?
Cooler Master Haf 932 Advanced Full Tower EATX Case 7X5.25 2X3.5 5X3.5INT USB3.0 eSATA 1394 Black (134.99)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=59938&vpn=RC%2D932%2DKKN5%2DGP&manufacture=COOLERMASTER&promoid=1230
or
Coolermaster Storm Trooper EATX Full Tower Case Black No PS 9X5.25 Front USB3.0 (144.99$)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=65340&vpn=SGC%2D5000%2DKKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER&promoid=1230
or
Coolermaster Haf X EATX Tower Case Black 6X5.25 5X3.5INT No PS Front USB3.0 (164.99$)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=53776&vpn=RC%2D942%2DKKN1&manufacture=COOLERMASTER&promoid=1230

RAM : G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL Ripjaws 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN DIMM Memory (48.98$)
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=44267&promoid=1230
or
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory (46.99$)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57953&vpn=F3%2D12800CL9D%2D8GBXL&manufacture=G%2ESkill&promoid=1230

Sound Card : Any suggestion/advice for model or brand on that part.
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium FATAL1TY PCI-E 1X 24BIT Sound Card 7.1 Optical IN/OUT (109.99$)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=30971&vpn=70SB088600003&manufacture=Creative Labs&promoid=1230

Mother Board : Any suggestion for the Asus P8Z series?
ASUS P8Z68-V Pro GEN3 Z68 LGA1155 ATX 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 2 PCI B3 Motherboard (189.99)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=65323&vpn=P8Z68%2DV%20PRO%2FGEN3&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1230

CPU : Should I got for an i7? I know that for price/perf i5 is a beast
Intel Core i5 2500K Quad Core Unlocked Processor LGA1155 3.3GHZ Sandy Bridge 6MB (219.99$)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57962&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1230

CPU Heatsink : Zalman CNPS9900MAX-R Nickel Plated Copper Headsink Red LED 135mm LGA1156 1155 1366 775 AM3 AM2 (59.99)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57906&vpn=CNPS9900MAX%2DR&manufacture=ZALMAN
Really like the Zalman. Do a good job and easy to clean up.

Hard Drive : Would use the WD Claviar black I got 640 GB for space

SSD : Though of the Crucial M4 128 GB for the OS drive Good choice or should I keep a normal drive for that also? Any other brand to think of for good price/reliability?
Crucial M4 SSD Micron C400 128GB 2.5IN Solid State Disk Flash Drive SATA3 6Gbps (148.99$)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=60445&vpn=CT128M4SSD2&manufacture=CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY&promoid=1230
or
Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 SandForce SF-2281 SSD Drive READ:555MB/S WRITE:510MB/S (159.00$)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=70354&vpn=SH103S3%2F120G&manufacture=Kingston&promoid=1230

Power Supply : Corsair Professional Series Gold AX850 CMPSU-850AX 850W ATX Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold Power Supply (179.99)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=53719&vpn=CMPSU%2D850AX&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1230

GPU : This is my big question mark and advice would be greatly appreciated on that point.
Always had ATI product before, All-in wonder Rage 128, Radeon 9000 Pro, Radeon 9800 Pro 256 MB, Radeon 1900 XT
Helped some friends building their machine and we did choose EVGA Nvidia SLI GTX 260, 560 Ti, GTX 570, GTX 470
When I started build my own PC I always took the high range card (9800 Pro and X1900) at the time.
If I stick with ATI (AMD), any suggestion on the brand (asus, sapphire, diamond etc?)
If I go with Nvidia I would choose EVGA.
Should I go with GTX 680 or the equivalent with AMD?

Thank you for all the advice in advance.

 

[azeem40]

If you aren't set on full tower, I'd get a Mid Tower, unless you want 4 GPUs or something.

 

[samuelspark]

nVidia has better driver support. Get the GTX 680. Excellent stock performance. Probably change to a 550w or 600w as well.

 

[icer]

Thank you for those fast reply.

@azeem40
I won't need 4 GPU so I'll go with a mid tower than.

@samuelspark
I'll double check for the PSU, HX750 wasn't on sale but will still check for those spec you are suggesting.
So for now +1 on GTX 680

 

[azeem40]

I used to be pro-AMD, but now they aren't so good for GPUs either. +1 on GTX 680. Cooler, quieter, win.

 

[icer]

@azeem40
even with the AMD price drop on the HD 7000?

 

[seanmcd91]

No need for a i7 unless you do hyper threading. Just get an i5. You only need a mid atx case(which ever is your preference, there are cases that are black in the inside, tooless, ect.) Your psu might be too much unless you just want to go ahead and go big. I'd reconmend a 550-750w unit. If you get ivy bridge, get a z77 mobo.

 

[samuelspark]

$20 isn't much. Also Ivy bridge is also supported on Z68.

 

[azeem40]

IB is supported, but won't be fully utilized on Z68. Waste.

 

[icer]

@seanmcd91
thank you for the info on the PSU.

Found those two :
HX650 (114.99$)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=42532&vpn=CMPSU-650HX&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1230#CustomerReviews
and
AX650 (149$)
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=61488&vpn=CP-9020006-NA&manufacture=Corsair

@samuselspark
ok

Thank you for those replies. Any good Asus board for LGA1155 that could be less expensive than the one in the post? Or should I keep it?

 

[azeem40]

The V/Gen3.

 

[icer]

@azeem40 ok

Two quick question :

1) If price is similar, should I go Crucial M4 or Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 SandForce SF-2281 SSD Drive READ:555MB/S WRITE:510MB/S
for the SSD

2) For the case, Coolermaster 932 or Corsair 500R? Enough room for the CPU heatsink or might have some issue?

 

[azeem40]

Write speeds don't matter. Read speeds are more important. Sandforce based drives, minus the Mushkin Chronos, have Sandforce driver issues, so I'd stay away from Kingston. The Micron Controller is more reliable, so go with the Crucial M4.

You will not need a full tower case, as I have said before. The cooler in the OP will fit just fine.

 

[icer]

@azeem40

ok thank yoiu for the clarification on that point. That seem to represent one of the article on Tom's website.

thank again

 

[icer]

Hi everyone,

thank you for all the help and advice on that new build.

I will list the final details on the build :

Case : Coolermaster HAF XM
CPU : i5 3570k
Motherboard : ASUS P8Z77-V Pro
RAM : G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory
Sound Card : Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium HD PCI-E Sound Card RCA Optical IN/OUT
GPU : EVGA GeForce GTX 670 915MHZ 2048MB 6008MHZ GDDR5 SLI 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E DX11 Video Card
SSD : Crucial M4 SSD Micron C400 128GB
PSU : Corsair Professional HX750W
CPU Heatsink : Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B Nickel Plated Copper Headsink Blue LED 135mm
Optical Drive : LG GH24NS90 24X SATA Internal DVD Writer Burner

Total around 1500 before taxe.

For a difference of 50 $, I went with that CPU and Motherboard instead of the i3570k and P8Z68 V-Pro.
The GTX 670 was out the day I bought the parts. Saw the reviews, and for 100$ less I think it is a good choice instead of the 680.

A little question on the case, I saw a video on youtube and I was wondering if there is any good point to install the SSD in the right side panel behind the motherboard instead of the bay in front?<

Thank again.