1st build - LF cost cutters / compatibility / advice

[fiddsy]

G'day people, put together a build for gaming/home theatre..
its probably $300 over my preferred budget especially considering i have not added in a keyboard yet.
SO really just asking for a couple sets of fresh eyes with some tips/advice for some cost cutters and perhaps some improvements on hardware that can be made for a cheaper price?
also wondering if the water cooler is even needed at all?
On top of all that, i do have a question about adding a wireless adapter, which will i get the best proformance out of?
(current residence is wireless only)
any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated! thanks every1 who posts in advance!

Case - NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower Case Gun Metal ($129)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=20346

Graphics - EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Superclocked ($269)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21538

CPU - Intel Core i5 3570 ($209)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=20893

SSD - Crucial M4 SSD 128GB ($135)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17685

3.5" SATA - Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001 ($105)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19554

Motherboard- ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M Motherboard ($119)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19866

Memory - Corsair Vengeance CML8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 ($55)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17729

Optical Drive - Lite-On IHES312 12X Blu-Ray DVD Combo Drive ($59)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21068

Power - Antec High Current Gamer 520W Modular HCG-520M ($99)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=19762

OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit with SP1 OEM ($139)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17032

Cooler - Corsair Hydro Series H80 CPU Cooler ($132)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17919

TOTAL - $1450

would like to try cost cut roughly around $200


Approximate Purchase Date: a couple of days

Budget Range: roughly around $1200 preferred

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Playing World of Warcraft at max settings as smooth as possible.
Also being used to connect to 55inch HDTV Samsung smart tv for a bluRay player and to watch HD downlaoded movies and storing movies ect. (gaming will also be done on TV until monitor is bought

Are you buying a monitor: at some point yes tho will be using 55' HDTV LED Samsung smart tv.

Do you need to buy OS: Yes/included in build

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:
https://www.pccasegear.com/

Location: melbourne, australia

Overclocking: Maybe (dont no enough about it)

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 when connected to tv, need to buy monitor.

Additional comments:I might possibly need a good wireless network adapter due to the current house can only run on wireless not wired so the best connection possible would help..


* perhaps get rid of water cooler for
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=18670

saves a good hit
plus add
TP-Link TL-WN881ND Wireless N PCI Express Adapter
Razer Anansi Expert MMO Gaming Keyboard

still brings me to $1473 ..

 

[fiddsy]

btw, will that power supply be enough?

 

[manofchalk]

Yep, drop that water cooler for the 212 EVO. Corsair all in one units arent worth it over air cooling until you get to the H100, and by then you could buy a custom kit for much better performance.

Also if you want to overclock properly, you will need a "K" series CPU.
Intel i5-3570k. $235
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=187_346_1184&products_id=20138

Brand swap the GTX660, EVGA use reference design cooling which isnt as good as a custom design. Little bit cheaper as well.
Gigabyte GTX660 OC. $265
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1434&products_id=21453

Faster and cheaper SSD.
OCZ Vertex 4 128GB. $110
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210_902_903&products_id=19985

This RAM kit is just as good and its cheaper. Also looks better on that board IMO.
G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2x4GB) 1600Mhz CL9 1.5v. $49
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_538_913&products_id=13931

That PSU will do, though it is cutting it fine if you were to significantly upgrade the system.

No need for Win7 Pro unless you are considering having more than 16GB of RAM. Home Premium will do.
Win7 Home Premium 64bit OEM. $100
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=375_974&products_id=17003

To save a bit more cash, Start looking around at other Melbourne based stores. MSY and Umart are the other big contenders to PC Case Gear, and I have had good experiences dealing with all of them.
http://www.msy.com.au/index.jsp
http://www.umart.com.au/

 

[Surgeking]

Good suggestions. I had to see those prices for myself tho. thought i had read it wrong to see the 660 for that much.

ON the subject of the GPU. I would recommend the 7870 over the 660. For the ~same price you get better performance.

 

[fiddsy]

much better performance?

 

[fiddsy]

any suggestions for a high power supply for roughly the same price?

perhaps the next model?
Antec High Current Gamer 620W Modular HCG-620M
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_226&products_id=19763

 

[manofchalk]

Depends on the game and usage.
Some games are coded toward Nvidia cards, so you get better performance from them compared to an equivalent AMD. Same the other way around. If you start raising the resolution above 1080p and enabling heavy AA effects, the superior memory bus on AMD cards will pull ahead. If you want 3D gaming, the Nvidia card is better.
Then factor other misc things like overclocking and power usage,
Then you get more professional factors like AMD's superior OpenCL performance vs Nvidia CUDA. OpenCL can help in computational programs, while CUDA can add performance when video rendering.
All comes down to the cards being compared and what you are going to use them for. I would read some reviews on the cards and decide which is better or you.

That Antec High Current 620W should be plenty and give you room to upgrade to a more powerful card later.

 

[fiddsy]

Well the main use will be for World of Warcraft gaming .. perhaps mechwarrior online when it rolls around and well watching HD movies on my 55inch tv..
thats about it really
as for overclocking, still new to this all and dont no much about it hah

 

[manofchalk]

If all you are playing is WoW and other MMO's, both the 660 and 7870 should be plenty for your needs.

Heres a good tutorial for GPU overclocking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA_l5-HDel4
The hardware he uses is somewhat old, but the basics and method of GPU overclocking hasn't changed since then.

 

[fiddsy]

awesome guys thanks for your help, took on those suggestions and just sent the order through then =) thanks alot!

 

[fiddsy]

Best answer selected by fiddsy.