First build help.

[caveman127]

Just looking for some advice and a compatibility check. Thanks in advance. Parts are here: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=26169407

Information that this website likes here:

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP

Budget Range: Around 2500 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, College (programming etc.), Engineering Design (CAD)

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: Not much preference.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution: Not sure at this time.

Additional Comments: Want power mostly, and I want it to be very cool (temperature).

 

[sadams04]

You are in pretty good shape. My thoughts are...

PSU - I would be looking at a Seasonic Platinum over that Enermax.
Seasonic 860w - $185 after MIR

MEM - Fine and all, but the tall heat spreaders aren't really needed. Look for standard height or low profile. DDR3-1600 CL9 1.5v is fine, however reducing the latency would be nice.
Crucial 8GB DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 1.35v $43

HDD - The WD VelociRaptor isn't really needed as you are speced for the Samsung 840 for your primary drive. Also, for that price you can almost get into a 256GB SSD which would be much faster. Consider a standard 2TB or 3TB drive to compliment the 840. Seagate would be my first choice..

CPU Cooler - Water cooling adds to the cool factor, but won't do much better than a good air cooler. Consider the old standby (Hyper 212) or a dual fan cooler.
Hyper 212 EVO - $35
Phanteks PH-TC14PE 140mm UFB - $82

CASE - You could scale down here to save some money. The HAF X is a nice case, but IMHO overpriced. There are a lot of options that retain front USB 3.0 and eSATA for closer to $100.

 

[caveman127]

You are in pretty good shape. My thoughts are...

PSU - I would be looking at a Seasonic Platinum over that Enermax.
Seasonic 860w - $185 after MIR

MEM - Fine and all, but the tall heat spreaders aren't really needed. Look for standard height or low profile. DDR3-1600 CL9 1.5v is fine, however reducing the latency would be nice.
Crucial 8GB DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 1.35v $43

HDD - The WD VelociRaptor isn't really needed as you are speced for the Samsung 840 for your primary drive. Also, for that price you can almost get into a 256GB SSD which would be much faster. Consider a standard 2TB or 3TB drive to compliment the 840. Seagate would be my first choice..

CPU Cooler - Water cooling adds to the cool factor, but won't do much better than a good air cooler. Consider the old standby (Hyper 212) or a dual fan cooler.
Hyper 212 EVO - $35
Phanteks PH-TC14PE 140mm UFB - $82

CASE - You could scale down here to save some money. The HAF X is a nice case, but IMHO overpriced. There are a lot of options that retain front USB 3.0 and eSATA for closer to $100.

Thanks for the PSU advice, that seems like a much better choice for the money.

As for the MEM will lowering the CL really make a noticeable difference. I don't really know much about the timings and what not. If so, then what about something like:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233254

For HDD, sound advice...I definitely plan on changing that rig now...but I am unsure to what. Really don't want a drive that is going to kill itself in 6 months.

As for the cooler I thought water cooling would be needed if I wanted to do some serious OC. Maybe not...def. considering your advice.

Thanks for the great advice!

 

[sadams04]

As for the MEM will lowering the CL really make a noticeable difference. I don't really know much about the timings and what not. If so, then what about something like:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233254

For HDD, sound advice...I definitely plan on changing that rig now...but I am unsure to what. Really don't want a drive that is going to kill itself in 6 months.

MEM - Yes and no. Yes lower timings are "better", but the real world differences are minimal in most cases. The real question is what are you getting for the money. The Crucial (8-8-8-24 @ 1.35v) I recommended was $1 more than the Corsair (9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v) you originally speced, has reduced latency and also lower voltage. The Corsair in your recent post has tighter timings at 7-8-8-24, but not enough in my opinion to justify spending the extra $25. If it were CL7 with timings like 7-7-7-21, then that would be a more serious change in latency.

HD - I prefer Seagate or Samsung drives...
Seagate 3TB 7200.14 - $160
Samsung F4 2TB - $130
Seagate 2TB - $130
Seagate 2TB - $110
Samsung F3 1TB - $85
Seagate 1TB - $80