My First Build

[Emerald256]

Approximate Purchase Date: Feb

Budget Range: ~2500

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Light Gaming / 3D (Newtek Lightwave 11)

Are you buying a monitor: Yes (x2)

Do you need to buy OS: Yes - Windows 7 OEM

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Oregon, USA

Overclocking: Maybe - Not Initially

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Below is the target build that i'm looking at. Any comments/suggestions would really be appreciated. Only need a single GPU since Lightwave is CPU driven, but i've never done the dual monitors before. There are probably some obvious errors with my build, but that is why i'm here

CPU: i5-3570K Maybe the I7
Cooling CPU: COOLER MASTER Seidon 120M
PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX750 (Full Modular and yes a little overkill)
MoBo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600
GPU: MSI N660 Ti PE 2GD5/OC GTX 660 Ti 2GB (Big ??? here, not exactly sure)
HD1: Crucial M4 2.5" 128GB (w/Transfer Kit, BOOT Drive)
HD2: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200
CD: LITE-ON Internal 24x DVD
KB: Logitech G110 LED
Mouse: Logitech G300
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit – OEM
Speakers: Logitech Z623 200w
Monitor(s): 24” 2ms 1920 x 1080 (x2)
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X
Fan Controller: BitFenix Recon Fan Controller (3 or 4 Pin Fans)
Extra Top Fan: COOLER MASTER R4-MFJR-07FK-R1 200mm Case Fan
Lights: NZXT HUE RGB Led Controller
Fan Filters: DEMCiflex Cooler Master HAF-X Magnetic Dust 5 Piece from FrozenCPU.com

 

[malbluff]

Nothing basically wrong with that. I would suggest these slight alternatives, that are worth considering, as a good mix of quality, and performance, for a high end build. Have left PSU at 750w, as that does allow for a 2nd graphics card, in crossfire (SLi). The AMD GPU is generally better value, provided you do not have a specific requirement for nVidia.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.29 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($147.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($93.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($327.28 @ CompUSA)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($101.60 @ Mac Connection)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Silver Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1189.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-15 18:09 EST-0500)

Given your budget, it is possible to achieve even higher performance, if you wish. Here is a comparason between HD7950 and GTX660Ti. It is slightly out of date; if you take OC and latest drivers into account, the relative performance of the HD7950 is actually at least 10% higher, than shown.
<a http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/550?vs=647 /a>

If it's for multi-tasking, rather than split screen gaming (not good with 2, 3 much better), 2nd screen adds little demand. If you definitely don't want 2nd GPU, you don't need more than 600w PSU. 550w would be "OK".

 

[g-unit1111]

Fan Controller: BitFenix Recon Fan Controller (3 or 4 Pin Fans)
Extra Top Fan: COOLER MASTER R4-MFJR-07FK-R1 200mm Case Fan
Lights: NZXT HUE RGB Led Controller
Fan Filters: DEMCiflex Cooler Master HAF-X Magnetic Dust 5 Piece from FrozenCPU.com

None of these things are really needed and you're essentially throwing money away.

The original build looks good, the only things I'd suggest are swapping the video card for a Radeon 7950, and changing the fan to a Noctua NH-U9B or NH-D14. The HAF X is a bit overkill, you could drop that to the HAF XM and save $70 there, then upgrade your GPU to a Radeon 7970.

 

[TheBigTroll]

skip the fan controller, extra fans and the large case. you definitly dont need it

id get this.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/nSYj

no GPU since onboard can handle up to 3 monitors but you are not going to game with 3 monitors.

what do you mean by light gaming? if its COD or lower, onboard is fine