xedell said:
Approximate Purchase Date: within a week
Budget Range: $1500 +/- 200
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, video editing, photo editing.
Parts Not Required: None
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: None, but I did come up with a possible configuration after some research.
Wishlist
Note, this also includes a monitor, keyboard and mouse which I do not include in the 1500
Overclocking: maybe
SLI or Crossfire: maybe
Monitor Resolution: 2 1080p monitors
Additional Comments: This is my first foray into gaming pc's so I'm not really sure what type of games I will be playing, all I know for sure is diablo 3 as well as TF2 and Portal 2 which are the only games I have on steam right now.
Would my wish list be any good? What should I change or should I start over.
It looks like a fantastic build. I think you'd be happy with it, just as is. There are a couple of things I would tweak, however.
There has been a very quiet (almost unnoticed) revolution in SSD technology recently. It's referred to as SSD Cache. Basically, it uses software and your CPU to incredibly speed up the read/write rate of your (spinning disk type) hard drive. In simple terms, imagine if your SSD storage capacity was virtually unlimited. It can be.
I noticed you've got a hundred bucks set aside for a 128GB SSD, which I assume will be your boot drive. Instead, I'd suggest you use any spinning disk hard drive as your boot drive. Then get yourself an OCZ Synapse 128GB SSD Cache to turn the entire hard drive into a virtual SSD. Net cost is the same for the build, but now your entire ~1TB hard drive will perform like an SSD.
And I agree with someone else that your hard drive is expensive. I've seen Seagate brand 1TB drives below $100. If it was my build, I'd go for 2 X 1TB 2.5" notebook style hard drives (one primary, one backup space for automated backups). You're going to have to get an adapter for your SSD anyway, so just pick up a couple of 2.5" adapters (each can mount one or two drives).
If you're worried about the performance of the smaller format hard drives, keep in mind that the OCZ Synapse will more than compensate for that.
On a side note, I don't really know why 3.5" hard drives are so popular, still. With hybrid hard drives and SSD cache drives, it seems so ummmmm, 90s to use a 3.5" hard disk. (!)