First time build - need advise/help/suggestions

[geekygirl]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: by end of year (to take advantage of Black Friday sales)

Budget Range: Around $1500 or less

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Creative Suites 6, Photo editing, some gaming. I also run Virtual Machines and multitask .

Are you buying a monitor: I will be using the dual monitors I already have

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, Windows 7 Home Premium (can use my student discount for this)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon.com, have CDW, Tiger, and MicroCenter locations in the area

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Antioch IL US (near the Wisconsin border)

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: prefer Intel Processors, and Nvida video cards due to past issues with ATI/AMD products

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1440x900 on both monitors

Additional Comments: Creative Suites 6, Virtual Machines, I play games, but not high-end online games, the most I would get is the upcoming new version of SimCity

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I have no real issues with my current computer, but I cannot find one that meets my needs and wants currently on the market. Want to have room to upgrade if needed later on.

Processor:
Intel Core i7-3770S Quad-Core Processor 3.1 GHz 8 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637I73770S
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-3770S-Quad-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B007SZ0EOM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352315962&sr=1-1&keywords=i7+3770+s

The pros and cons of going with an i5 processor?

Graphics Card:
EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW 2048MB GDDR5 256bit, Dual Dual-Link DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, 4-Way SLI Ready Graphics Card Graphics Cards 02G-P4-2678-KR
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Dual-Link-DisplayPort-Graphics-02G-P4-2678-KR/dp/B0083Y6MV6/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1352317368&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=evga+Geforce+gtx+670

I have dual montiors that both connect to HDMI. Since there are no dual HDMI cards, I use an adapter to use the DVI for one of them. I have found that dual DVI + HDMI is configured better to allow for the adapter.

Motherboard:
ASUS P8Z77-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-P8Z77-V-LX-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B007MKGF82/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352315899&sr=1-2&keywords=asus+p8z77-v

Memory:
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10)
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B006EWUO22/ref=pd_sim_e_6

Power Supply:
Raidmax 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX12V/EPS12V Active PFC Power Supply RX-850AE
http://www.amazon.com/Raidmax-ATX12V-EPS12V-Active-RX-850AE/dp/B004M4N01Q

Fan:
Raidmax 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX12V/EPS12V Active PFC Power Supply RX-850AE
http://www.amazon.com/Raidmax-ATX12V-EPS12V-Active-RX-850AE/dp/B004M4N01Q

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX
http://www.amazon.com/Raidmax-ATX12V-EPS12V-Active-RX-850AE/dp/B004M4N01Q

SSD:
SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC128B/WW
http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7PC128B-WW/dp/B0077CR60Q/ref=pd_sim_e_62

DVD:
Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=pd_sim_e_2

Case:
Cooler Master HAF 912 - Mid Tower Computer Case with High Airflow Design (RC-912-KKN1)
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-912-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=pd_sim_e_6

 

[malbluff]

A couple of minor changes. Most importantly getting rid of horrible power supply.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($289.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($115.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.93 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($366.97 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($56.00 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1172.84
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[malbluff]

PS
With regard to the i5 vs i7 consideration. It really only makes a difference to the speed of some processes/software, that use hyperthreading, like Adobe editing software. The question is, do you do enough of that, for a speed increase to justify the additional cost, of i7 over i5. Most "routine" processes gain virtually nothing, from i7.
Especially if you have a local Microcentre, where they currently have a walk-in deal, you can save around $140 with i5 (less elsewhere). Nothing else, in the build, would need to be changed, if using, say, i5-3470.

 

[geekygirl]

Thank you both for the good suggestions, especially the cost savings.
I am a student and I have a personal website, so actually I do use Adobe software quite a bit. Even with multiple programs open at once, it really makes no impact on the system I have now.
I chose i7 because that is what I have now, and for the hyperthreading. I am just not sure I can justify the cost. The most expensive parts of this are the processor and the graphics card. While I will not sacrifice on the graphics card, I think that realistically I can on the processor without losing too much of what I am looking for, which is the multitasking with large programs.