First time build - did I miss/should I replace anything? $1,100 budget

[vtgoad]

My goal before this began was to build a semi-high end gaming/large dataset crunching pc for under $1,100. I started buying these parts in early December, and I have done extensive research to this end. It appears to me that I have all my ducks in a row, but this is my first pc build so I've come to the internet for help. Have I missed anything? Is a particular part I purchased crap? Any advice you think I should be aware of before putting it all together? Don't hold anything back. I'm willing to go through the hassle of selling something that isn't up to par. Thanks for everyone's help in advance! I hope this thread leads to some interesting discussion, and hopefully one day I'll be able to return the favor.

-Intel Core i5 2500k 3.3GHz LGA 1155 Processor - OEM (microcenter - $146.99)
-BIOSTAR TZ77XE3 Motherboard (tigerdirect - $69.99 AR)
-Zotac GeForce GTX 560 Ti OC 1GB GDDR5 PCIe video card (tigerdirect - $114.41 AR)
-Samsung 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal SSD (newegg - $119.99)
-WD Red WD10EFRX 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (newegg - $74.99)
-ASUS VS series VS247H-P Black 23.6" 2ms LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor (newegg - $139.99 AR)
-Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 RS620-SPM2E3-US 620W ATX Full Modular power supply (newegg - $45.99 AR)
-G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 SDRAM 1866 CL9 F3-1866C9D-16GXM (newegg - $79.99)
-ASUS Black Blu-Ray burner SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS (newegg - $49.99 AR)
-Thermaltake WATER2.0 Performer Liquid CPU Cooler Dual 120mm CLW0215 (newegg - $39.99 AR)
-Arctic MX4 Thermal Paste - 4gram (newegg - $0 AR)
-Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Steel ATX Mid Tower Case (newegg - $69.99 AR)
-Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 120mm Blue LED Case Fan (newegg - $0.59 AR)
-3x Kingwin CFY-012LB Advanced Series 120mm Yellow LED Case Fan (tigerdirect - $3.83 AR)
-Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 (amazon - $19.99)
-Logitech Optical Gaming Mouse G400 3600dpi (amazon - $29.99)
-Steel series QcK mini mouse pad (amazon - $8.69)
-3M gel wrist rest, black leatherette WR305LE (amazon - $5.54)
-Cyber Acoustics subwoofer satellite system CA-3602a (amazon - $34.99)
-APC P7GB surgearrest essential 7 outlet power-saving surge suppressor (ebay - $10.35)
-Microsoft Windows 8 Professional Upgrade (newegg - $29.99 AR)
-Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 (frys - $0 AR)

Items Purchased then sold:
McAfee Internet Security 2013 (newegg - $0 AR; profit after selling +$8.86)
OCZ Fatal1ty 550W Modular Power Supply (newegg - $34.99 AR; possibly selling, expected profit +$24.51)

Total cost to this point, including stamps for rebates, sold/expected profit : $1069.90

 

[Outlander_04]

The WD RED drive is designed for use in a NAS . Use a blue or black in a desktop

The thermal paste and additional fans are strictly optional . You really dont need either
Have you searched online for performance of the water cooler?

You need an OS to install first before running the Win 8 upgrade

 

[eyeage]

Take a look at where your PSU falls in this list: PSU Tiered

 

[vtgoad]

The WD RED drive is designed for use in a NAS . Use a blue or black in a desktop

The thermal paste and additional fans are strictly optional . You really dont need either
Have you searched online for performance of the water cooler?

You need an OS to install first before running the Win 8 upgrade

1) Will the red version only work in NAS environments? I purchased the Red version in order to give me the option of NAS in the future, and the low power consumption was a major factor in my purchase:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1285-page6.html - "It's not very fast but it is the quietest, mo(st) energy efficient 3.5 inch drive we've ever tested, period, perfect for a simple storage/NAS drive."

2) A very interesting test article written by guru3d that was kind of a jumping point in terms of data needed to judge coolers:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/cpu_cooler_roundup_2013_q1_review,10.html

While waiting on the noctua nh-d14 to fall in price, the thermaltake water2.0 performer came across on all the deal sites. I found the following reviews:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4805/thermaltake_water2_0_performer_aio_liquid_cooler_review/index9.html
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2012/09/26/thermaltake-water-2-0-performer-pro-reviews/3
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2698&page=5

Specifically the last one by frostytech showed this cooler in close comparison to the noctua and certainly more than adequate considering sandybridge processors do not run as hot as their ivy bridge counterparts. Also our ambient temperature is very cool, as our office is in our walkout basement.

3) Total spent on 4 additional fans and thermal paste - $4.42 AR :lol:

4) Research I found shows the windows 8 upgrade can be used on a clean install with a simple fix. Is this not accurate:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1726164
http://www.ghacks.net/2012/10/27/windows-8-upgrade-clean-install-possible/

 

[vtgoad]

Take a look at where your PSU falls in this list: PSU Tiered

Wish I had this a month ago! Guess that's my bad for waiting to join on here till now. So at this point I haven't actually sold my OCZ Fatal1ty 550W modular power supply (the above posted description was what I expected to sell it for). I became a bit anxious about the 2 12+ rail system splitting the amps at 25 a piece. I was unsure if this would power the 560Ti effectively. Possibly this was naive of me, but I do not really understand how the gpu draws it's power from the psu.

Thus I searched for a bigger option in terms of watts and amps and found the 620w cooler master with a single 12v rail carrying the 50amps. I found very little reviews on the 620w version outside of newegg (5 eggs - 15 reviews) and amazon (5 stars - 2 reviews). However other versions seemed to rate acceptably:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1304-page6.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/Silent_Pro_M2_850W/10.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/cooler_master_silent_pro_m2_1000w_psu_review,8.html

As far as a power supply goes, I want something that will have enough power to reliably power my components without being overkill. Will either of my current models (550w Fatal1ty/620W silent pro) work effectively, is one better than the other, or do I need to make a big change here?

 

[Outlander_04]

Presumably the Red drive will be slower . With your SSD that may not matter for every day use but it will probably be noticeable when you are loading large files .
Its a compromise that may be right for you .

The water cooler is certainly cheap enough
But it seems to be quite loud
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2698&page=3
Nearly 53 Db on high will be intrusive , and so will 46 Db on low .
Maybe those replacement fans are a good idea ;-)

You can install win 8 update
But you cannot activate it
Atleast you shouldnt be able to , and I dont believe a simple registry hack will do it . Microsoft are trying to make a profit .

A potential work around some have used is to install , AND NOT ACTIVATE , any other copy of windows first .

Good luck