My 2nd attempt at my 1st Build

[UpOnAHill]

Two years ago I attempted my first build. I'm ashamed to admit it didn't work out and I returned everything in a fit of anger. However, now a little older and hopefully a bit more wiser I'm here to try again!

I'm doing this build in the hope of getting into photo editing and light gaming. Nothing major as I have a 360 AND a PS3. So unless something really strikes my eye I won't be doing it so much. I'll mostly be doing strategy games-not FPS. SO concentration on the photo editing and an overall powerful PC.

I've kept my budget in the 1200-1300 range...but I don't mind shooting lower than that. I've picked my parts, and done a WHOLE lot of research on what I should get and what would work well...even so, it would be great for a little feedback or suggestions from ya'll on if these choices are good. I hope I don't look like a big ol' dumbie with these choices haha.

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Deluxe
Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

To be honest this is not my first choice...I'd like to save 50 bucks and go with a lower MSI that seems to have all the same specs on it...but sadly its sold out. I'll find the link and re-post for viewing...but I think it would be well worth it.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

I'm also conflicted about going i7-2600 (I don't really need the 2600k I think)..i'll probably spend the extra money if I go with the MSI board over the Asus...I also don't know if I really need the i7 (probably not haha).

RAM: CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 - really unsure if this is correct choice!
Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9

Video Card: MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC
Newegg.com - MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Hard Drive: Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM 64mb cache SATA
Newegg.com - Western Digital RE4 WD5003ABYX 500GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Case: COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

PSU: Corsair 750w
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

I'm pretty sure this will be more than enough power.

Drive: HP Blu-ray Drive
Newegg.com - HP 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA BD Combo Model BD240I-h01 LightScribe Support

This all comes out to $1269.91 before taxes/rebates/shipping.

The monitor has not been chosen out yet. It will be one that can run 1080p-probably 21.5-25 inch screen. I plan to get Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Andrew

[glc]

This is the board I recommend - and I do not recommend MSI at ALL:

Newegg.com - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Why are you even looking at the K series processors? Are you planning on overclocking?

The ram is fine, unless you plan on overclocking.

If you want a 560, I'd recommend Asus or EVGA.

The RE4 drive is designed for servers and raid arrays - get a Caviar Black SATA 6.0 drive.

Save a few bucks and get a 650TX or 650TX V2 power supply.

[UpOnAHill]

Nope, no overclocking. Thanks for the help though. Would it be worth it to spend an extra 84 bucks for the i7-2600? I'm really leaning towards no. Seems like (for me) an unneeded luxury. Especially since I"m sitting at 1204.91 total.

As far as the RAM goes, is that good enough even with me not overclocking? I feel like your disdain for it has come through my computer haha.

Since MSI is not recommended...is the GPU alright? It seems to have gotten great reviews as far as that goes.

[David M]

For photo editing the 2600 would get you quicker results. But I don't know if getting you quicker results is worth the extra bucks. You probably have to decide what your time is worth and how much patience you have for waiting. For gaming it makes no difference since all of them are fast enough where your graphics card would be the posted speed limit.

I would get two, 4 gig sticks of RAM for now and if you ever find out your computer is close to using all of it then get yourself another two sticks.

[UpOnAHill]

Hmm. I feel like the difference between 2500 and the 2600 would be marginal to me for photo editing. I'll just stick with the 2500. I'm loving my price point at the moment!

I have the 2x4GB RAM at the moment so I'll just stick with it.

With the above advice taken into consideration I switch my motherboard to the Asus Sabertooth: Newegg.com - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

And I went with the Corsair 650TX PSU: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

I guess the last issue is the MSI GPU? Still recommended? I have about 50 bucks of room or so.

[David M]

I would not choose MSI. Here is why...
Video Card Rating

Probably the safest bet that is being offered by Newegg right now is the Asus or EVGA.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tx+560&x=0&y=0

[UpOnAHill]

Thanks David M! After further review I think I'll go with an Evga card. Most likely this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130604

[glc]

The 1333 speed ram is all you need if you aren't overclocking - and save some bucks and get the 2500 instead of the 2500K - the ONLY difference is the K has an unlocked multiplier to make overclocking easier. At stock speeds the processors are IDENTICAL.

If you aren't doing heavy duty gaming I'd get the 2600, and downgrade the video card to stay in budget. A GTX460 1gb or a Radeon 6850 would do what you need very nicely.

[UpOnAHill]

I just upgraded to the i7-2600 and went with this GPU: Evga GeForce GTX 470. Newegg.com - EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

It brings my total to $1294.91 but I think I'm okay with that.

[glc]

I'd get a 560Ti over a 470.

[UpOnAHill]

How come?

[UpOnAHill]

I plan on using it heavily for CS5 and Lightroom. Should I get two harddrives? One for the OS and one for data and the photoshop scratch disk?

[JJones]

[QUOTE=glc;1502286]This is the board I recommend - and I do not recommend MSI at ALL:

Newegg.com - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

I sooooo want that board! It is just dead sexy! Lol! I know you should not buy on looks but this board would have been the one exception I would have made if it was out when I did my build.

[glc]

Ideally, you should have 3 hard drives for that type of work, but you can make do with 2. WD Black is the best choice for all of them unless you want to take a chance on a SSD for the OS drive.

The 470 is a previous generation card, and it's quite a hot running power hog. Yes, the 470 does have more CUDA cores (448 vs. 384), but the 560 Ti has more than enough.