First home build

mehaase

Honorable
Jan 13, 2013
1
0
10,510
I've been a programmer for a long time, but never bothered to build my own system. I know a lot about how computers work, but I don't have much practical knowledge of how to put the pieces together to build a working system. I've been reading up on it for a few weeks and I've sketched out what my objectives are and what equipment I'm planning to buy. I'm hoping some nice and knowledgable people here can take a look at this and let me know if I've overlooked anything?

I already have a laptop that I love and and iPad, but there are a few things that I'm missing on the laptop that has gotten me interested

* I currently have a Core 2 Duo, and I'd like to upgrade to a Core i7. (I'm particularly interested in hyper threading and better virtualization support in the i7 over the C2D.)
* I currently have one 24" monitor, but I want to move up 2 x 24" monitors. (My laptop won't drive 2 external displays. I've tried those USB video adapters and they are definitely not for me...)
* I want to work on CUDA software development for some scientific research, so I want a CUDA-capable GPU. Since I'm just getting into it, I'm not looking for the top of the line here.
* I want to do some light gaming. I'm not trying to play at 1920x1200, necessarily, but just better resolution and framerates than I get on my laptop (GeForce GT 9600). So again, I don't need top of the line, just something decent.
* Will run Linux and/or Mac OS.
* Target price is around $1500.
* Not looking for a gigantic tower. The smaller, the better.
* Not interested in overclocking, modding, blue LEDs, etc. I want something I can get my work done on; I don't anticipate endless tinkering with this build.

Based on this, I've come up with the following build out. Do all of these parts make sense together?

Case BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX
PSU Silverstone ST55-G 550W ATX
Mobo Gigabyte GA-Z77N-WIFI LGA 1155
CPU Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5 Ghz LGA 1155
GPU eVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti
RAM Crucial Ballistix 16GB DDR3-1600
Optical BluRay Reader, CD/DVD Writer
SSD Crucial m4 512GB

I live near a Microcenter so I'm thinking I will pick up as many items there as possible, unless something is much, much cheaper online. Thanks for any help you're willing to provide.