Advice on first home build

[brobich]

I'm am building my very first desktop since my laptop crapped out on me. Most of my use is for multiple monitors (2-3), spreadsheet work, DVD/Blu-Ray watching, data mining, and some Visual Studio development work.

Somewhat budget conscious, but also want a powerful machine that will remain relevant for years to come.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Part Price Link
Case $69.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216
CPU $319.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501
RAM $79.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145347
Graphics $170.00 http://www.amazon.com/SAPPHIRE-Radeon-6870-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B005C8RTTU
Motherboard $139.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265
CPU Cooler $29.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
Optical Drive $103.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136249
Hard Drive $84.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
SSD $109.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
Power Supply $64.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152042

Any suggestions?

 

[cutebeans]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair XMS3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($68.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($98.49 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7850 1GB Video Card ($158.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($49.00 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($62.50 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1007.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-12 23:09 EST-0500)

Better.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

You might want to look at this gpu instead
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161406
or this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150617
I would look at this motherboard instead
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130645
I would get this psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016
I read some stuff about raidmax and people say they are horrible.

 

[brobich]

Thanks for that feedback!

I've added my parts to the PC parts builder as well for everyone's convenience.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nx2D

 

[mlcaouette]

+1 to get rid of the raidmax PSU, they are POS'. For that kind of money a PSU should at least have an active PFC, notice that little switch on the back of the raidmax. My vote goes for the bp550 mainly because it is semi modular and much cleaner to work with.

And as the cutebeans posted get a z77 chipset M/B not a p67.

 

[excella1221]

Why the P67 motherboard? It's very outdated. The unlocked CPU is also wasted on it since the motherboard won't allow OC.
You don't need the Crossfire support anyway, so the z75 would be perfect for you.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157304&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Also, get at least the 2gb version of the GPU. 1gb might have trouble with 3 monitors even without gaming.

The RAM you chose is quad-channel and your motherboard and CPU(?) is dual-channel. Not sure if they would be backwards compatible, but it's best to be safe. Get this instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231606&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

I would have to agree with It_dan_zsu about the Raidmax PSU. They don't really have the best reputation and it's the last component you should cheap out on since a cheap unit failing can and will fry your precious components.

700w is also overkill for your system, 500-550w should be more than enough.
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=59615&vpn=P1550SXXB9&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1257

 

[brobich]

Thanks to all of your advice I've made some updates:

I've dumped the Raidmax power supply. I've also opted for the z77 motherboard. - thanks cutebeans!

Per Excella1221 and IT_dan_zsu's advice I went w/ the 2GB video card to support the 3 monitors.

Here's my updated build - let me know your thoughts

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nxmv

 

[brobich]

Made a couple additional updates:

opted for the z75 - big price difference and better for my build. That's a win-win.

Also, went with the G.Skill Ram, per Excella1221

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nxsx

 

[mlcaouette]

You will need to find software to playback blu rays on that drive, it's OEM so it won't come with any.

 

[excella1221]

Get the Western Digital Caviar Blue from cutebeans' build instead. The Samsung Spinpoint stopped being great after Seagate bought it.

Get the XFX I linked as well, the Antec Basiq is mediocre and it has silly triple +12v rails.