~$1200 build. I need recommendations / advice please

[Gemini25]

Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it. I'm trying to buy it tomorrow or Monday. Now... I have a few questions!!!

Are there any compatibility issues with Z77 mobo and the new ivy bridge? I've read you need to do a firmware update to get the full functionality of the ivy bridge... and I don't know how to do firmware updates.

Are SSD's MUCH better than the older hard drives?

Also, I would really appreciate some help to find out what's the best processor for gaming in the 200-$300 range.

Anyways, here's my list:

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128545
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127615
MSI N560GTX-Ti 448 Twin Frozr III PE/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti - 448 Cores (Fermi)

Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795
Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE

Optical Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136247


Those are all my pieces. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone for reading.

 

[ncc74656]

SSD's are leaps and bounds better than a platter drive in everything except storage space. on a 1200.00 budget it will be hard to get a good one in with out gimping your rig some place else, you can always add one (or 3) later. your build looks solid, as for updates that is just the bios. now days you can flash most from windows if you dont want to play with dos but i sill prefer flashing in dos, less to go wrong.

 

[l0v3rboi]

i5 2500k (cheaper alternative, better in terms of overclock i.e. less heat produced)
Gigabyte z77-ud3h or Asrock z77 extreme 4 (Cheaper alternatives but almost the same options and features)
Radeon 7870 or 7950 (Much better cards)
WD Caviar Blue

 

[Gemini25]

Thanks to both of you. The person I'm building the computer for demands it be an nvidia card. He says nvidia has always run better with blizzard games... and the computer is for D3 !

What is the best sandy bridge processor currently? I've read that ivy bridge is having some heat issues so I am reconsidering what I should choose... I don't know how much better the ivy bridge is supposed to be as opposed to the sandy bridge..

 

[l0v3rboi]

For gaming, i5 2500k is the best bang for the buck. IB is better when in stock. If OC, performance is comparable.

If he has to have Nvidia, I would wait for the next 6xx generation cards. Right now the only choice really is the gtx 680. Currently, I would choose the radeon 7xxx series over comparable gtx 5xx series.

 

[Gemini25]

Well the card is for D3 which comes out on the 15th, unfortunately... So I'll probably just end up going nvidia since that's what he wants...

Does anyone know if ivy bridge has been having heat problems? & anyone advice on my spec?

Thanks everyone


edit: why is WD Caviar Blue better than black?

 

[ncc74656]

the black just costs more... if you are going ot use it as a storage drive id say go with a green even, for OS the blue will do just fine and you can save a few bucks. the only drives i see in the shop are the greens, people kill those ******* things left and right. however i run 9 WD greens and have had them on near 24/7 for the last 2 years with no issues to speak of. the main thing to consider is the case you are placing your HD's in. my WD greens are in a vibration dampening case which weighs 140Lbs, the HD's will only fail if they experience excessive impacts or vibrations.

 

[Gemini25]

thanks. Well I don't know too much about cases.. I hope mine works well with hard drives. lol

 

[Doggman9]

Just out of curiosity, why is nvidia better for Blizzard games? I'm also in the process of building a gaming rig primarily for Diablo 3 and I play SCII quite alot. Was planning on an AMD but after reading this I might need to reconsider..

 

[ncc74656]

switching from my 3870's to a 9800 nvidia years ago i found WoW to run much smoother however today i run a 5870 and i dont have any issues with bliz games. perhaps its not optimal but lets face it, you will be looking at it with 80FPS on a radeon vs 110FPS on an nvidia. at that point who really cares?

 

[Gemini25]

Sorry Doggman, I don't know why. That's just what I was told. sorry

 

[sanilmahambre]

Get a better Video card like Radeon HD 7870XT from SAPPHIRE