need suggestions on pc specs

[datkitteh]

its my first time building a gaming pc and im not sure about the parts i've chosen.
the specs are:

case: silverstone PS06B-W
mobo: asus sabertooth z77
cpu: intel core i5-3570k
cpu cooling: noctua NH-D14
gpu:asus gtx670-dc2-4gd5
ssd: samsung 84a pro series
hdd: seagate barracuda 1tb
power supply: corsair enthusiast series tx 650m 80 plus
memory: corsair vengeance 8gd ddr3 1866 mhz (2x4)
audio card: asus xonar dg headphone amp&pci 5.1
cooling: (silverstone ap121) x3

so far it costs about 1500 $ which is fine with me but of course better prices are welcome!
please feel free to leave any suggestions and correct me if i made any stupid choices. specifically im not sure if the nh-d14 will work well with the case.though it fits im not sure if the remaining space is enough.

 

[ssddx]

a few alternatives or suggestions listed under with a hypen...

case: silverstone PS06B-W
-alternatives: antec 900, haf 922 or other similar case. personally i prefer cases with normal 120 or 140mm fan slots as some of the large fans can be hard to find or expensive to replace.
mobo: asus sabertooth z77
-decent specsfor your budget but i'm not sure i'm convinced on that heat shield idea. i would think it would trap heat more than it helps. it also seems like a dust magnet and dust shield which may make it hard to clean the motherboard off. i can imagine lots of dust getting trapped under the plastic and causing problems in the future. i own an asus motherboard myself (rampage III extreme rog) and i've found it to be very reliable.
cpu: intel core i5-3570k
-an i5 is all you need for most gaming. if you do not plan on overclocking then you do not need a K suffixed cpu. your call there.
cpu cooling: noctua NH-D14
-have you looked at photos of this? it is absolutely massive. extremely large heatsinks like this may have clearance issues inside some cases and may have clearance issues with some motherboards, mainly overly tall ram sticks such as the ones you picked out.
gpu:asus gtx670-dc2-4gd5
-i recommend looking at some gpu performance chats to compare fps numbers with the games and settings you wish to use. personally i always buy evga gpu products and i have great luck with them. you get quite a bit of extras too.
ssd: samsung 84a pro series
-did you mean 840 pro series? what size? if you want to use this as a c: drive then i suggest at minimum a 256. if you want to use this as a boot drive only (no installed programs) then you can get away with a much smaller drive. keep in mind that a ssd will not affect game performance significantly. level load times may be decreased in certain games but that is about all the game performance boost that you will get and that is negligible. ssd performance is more noticible in high read/write applications and also decreases application start up time and windows boot times. i personally use a ssd for everything but i realize the limitations also.
hdd: seagate barracuda 1tb
-alternatives: western digital caviar black, samsung spinpoint f3. a 1tb drive should be fine.
power supply: corsair enthusiast series tx 650m 80 plus
-personally i prefer corsairs higher end psu units but i've had good luck with them so far. an alternative may be a pc power & cooling model also available in 650w.
memory: corsair vengeance 8gd ddr3 1866 mhz (2x4)
-8gb should be sufficient for most applications. if you intend to do some heavy processing or like to play memory hogs like crysis perhaps you want to upgrade to 16. this ram due to its height may conflict with your cpu cooler. look into this. corsair makes some solid ram but mushkin is also a good alternative.
audio card: asus xonar dg headphone amp&pci 5.1
-you already have onboard sound with your motherboard. in many cases this is more than sufficient but in some cases there is noise in the signal. your call here but you could always buy this card later if onboard doesnt work.
cooling: (silverstone ap121) x3
-im not convinced on silverstones claims that their fan design is better. in most cases directional airflow (from typical fans) is better than dispersed airflow (ap121) anyways. any standard 120mm fan design should work perfectly fine and is likely half the cost.

if you want cheaper...
-drop the ssd
-drop the sound card
-go with standard fans
-perhaps use the stock cpu cooler. (see note below)

note:
the stock coolers are not as efficient as aftermarket coolers but do get the job done. i would not overclock on the stock cooler and i would suggest upgrading to a full tower case with some decent airflow so your temps are lower. i am using the stock cooler on an i7-920 in a full tower case without any issues even with a crysis stress test for a few hours temps were still very reasonable. if you are running demanding applications or run long gaming sessions with high cpu load then perhaps you do want to stick with an aftermarket cooler. an alternative would be to pick up one of the corsair cpu watercooling loops for around the same price as your air heatsink. while performance isnt going to be increased over a large air cooler it will save you some space (since you can move the cooler around a bit to fit on the top or back panel)

 

[datkitteh]

firstly thank you for your in-depth response!
i consider the full tower case but lean towards this one just cause of the stock air filters cause i tend to have lots of dust and hair problems due to pets. as for the z77, i picked it beacause of the reviews. it seems to be quite a succesful board.
now the i5 is problem. i game a lot and have high expectations so the i7 should me choice but due to the cost i lean towards the i5. it is not much of a disaster to get the i7 though.
as for the nh-d14, i have seen both vids and photos of it and it is huge. i didn't consider it that much of a deal but frankly i had not considered the possibility of it causing problems to the ram placement. changing to hydro series is an option though im not sure if the lower price models would be efficinet enough for their prices. not willing to go with the stock cooling though.
about the video card i chose this one just because the signature 2 doesn't come with 4gb memory (does it?) and i consider the memory of card to be a big deal. do prefer the evga models though.
i hope to use the ssd (yes 840 pro series) for storing most of the programms including windows and games and with little planning 160 gb should be enough. as for the hdd i don't want to bother much. i trust seagate and 1 tb is fine for me.
i am not planning to do heavy processing (will definately play memory hogs!) but i dont like limitations so 16gb ram is growning on me.
on the fans i am no expert so i might change if you have any good suggestions.
you are helping a lot so keep the suggestions coming!

 

[ssddx]

personally i would just get a normal case and go with these dust filters on frozencpu.com instead. you could then go with a larger case. your choice of course.

i'm sure the board works great. i personally just see that cover as a place for dust to settle underneath which wouldnt be good over time. if you ever had to blow out your video card fan because of dust you know what i mean.

shorter ram would probably work with the cpu cooler.

the cpu coolers seem fine for performance. you can read the full review here or look below at the pics. stock and overclocked i7-2600k

there is a 4gb evga option. its about $37 more and has a higher clock speed. look on pcpartpicker.com to compare. i'm not sure if the twin fan design on the asus or if the standard blower design on the evga is better. the blower design has always worked fine for me provided you have good airflow around it.

the samsung 840 pro comes in 128, 256 and 512 sizes. if you factor in a 30gb windows install and the 80% rule where you should only load the ssd up to 80% capacity before speed suffers and you have a high chance of premature drive wear then those sizes drop down to 72, 174 and 379.6 respectively. if you factor in that some games can be up to 30 gigs in size (especially mmo) this can drop your hard drive space very fast. i would definitely recommend the 256 with the normal hdd for long term file storage (for things you do not use often).

your choice on the ram. 16 is likely overkill right now but if games keep on getting more memory demanding 8gb may not be enough in a few years.

just about any fan will work. some fans do work better than others though. my personal recommendation would be to buy a standard thickness, standard blade design 120mm (or 140mm depending on your case) fan which has normal direct airflow and good static pressure numbers. you should have more air inflow then out flow from fans which causes air to seep out from any small gaps or holes it can.

now... you may be thinking all fans are about equal. obviously you havent seen a delta fan. i bought one to try out and even on the lowest voltage and rpm that it will run at all you hear is pure airflow and no fan noise. dont stick your fingers in this one. of course you dont need this unless you are doing some crazy overclocking or using a thick radiator block.

dont forget artic silver thermal paste on your cpu. temps are improved quite a bit over stock thermal paste.

a grounding strap too unless you plan to touch the case every time you go to handle a part (which is what i do, i would hate being strapped to the case).

 

[datkitteh]

well the h100 seems like an amazing choice but im afraid of it being a great overkill for my intentions. it really shines when overclocking which i intend to do at some point but nothing crazy. that leads me to my other problem. i want an i7 but im not sure if the budget could handle it. i am considering an i5 overclocked but i am not sure if it would be sufficient. games tend to be getting cpu heavy as time passes.
as for the video card i've come to the conclusion that 4gb is much of an overkill and should probably go for the signature 2 as the reviews on that are excellent.
still not sure about the ram. 8 gb is going to be enough (and probably my choice) but im worried of having to replace it before its time.
all things considered once i've settled on the cpu and its cooling everything should be coming into place.
thnak you again for the time and effort you've spent on the matter!