Thinking of starting my first build, need some help!

[Atlgator90]

Processor- Micro Center - Intel Core i7 2600K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor 179499

Motherboard- Micro Center - ASUS P8H67-M PRO/CSM-R3 LGA 1155 H67 mATX Intel Motherboard 290155

Hard Drive- Micro Center - Hitachi 7K1000.C 500GB HDS721050CLA362 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -OEM 193276

Graphics- Micro Center - Gigabyte GV-N560OC-1G NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 x16 Video Card GV-N560OC-1GI

Power Supply- Micro Center - OCZ Technology 750 Watt Fatal1ty Series Modular ATX Power Supply OCZ750FTY

Cooler/Heatsink- Micro Center - Thermaltake Frio OCK Universal CPU Cooler CLP0575

Sound Card- Micro Center - Diamond Xtreme Sound 7.1/24 bit PCI Sound Card XS71DDL

RAM- Micro Center - Corsair XMS3 8GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9 Desktop Memory Kit (Two 4GB Memory Modules) CMX8GX3M2A1600C

Monitor- Micro Center - Samsung 23.6" SyncMaster LCD Monitor LS24CLLSB/ZA

Case- Micro Center - NZXT Crafted Series Phantom ATX Full Tower Gaming Computer Case CS-NT-PHAN-W

All this is around 1400 including tax, my budget is between 1000-1400 the cheaper the better while still being able to play Skyrim, MW3, WoW, SC2, and Diablo 3 at max or near max settings and being somewhat "future-proof."

A couple general questions:

1. How does it look? This is my first build so I'm new to this and while I know a little about computers I'm far from a guru. Anything that I can save some money on without much performance loss?

2. Is liquid cooling with this kind of set up worth it and reliable?

3. Is a primary SSD hard drive and a data traditional hard drive worth it at this point or just overkill?

4. Any general suggestions are welcomed and appreciated!

[Nuclear Krusader]

Liquid cooling is a PITA and it would be worth the hassle only in cases of extreme overclocking.

I'm not sold on SSDs: too many problems, too expensive (though the good, old, reliable mechanical drives don't qualify anywhere as cheap right now due to the situation in Thailand), too small for what you pay for them... list goes on. I think an SSD is overkill, but if you want raw speed and to be able to boot Windows 'superfast' they might please you.

I'd save on the processor and get an i5 2500K. Games rely mostly on the video card, not on the CPU.

[glc]

If you are looking to save money, you don't need a sound card and you can defer the purchase of a CPU cooler till you want to overclock it. You are spending a bit too much on the CPU and not enough on the video card. For now, that hard drive you chose is fine, but you may want to add a 64gb or smaller SSD later as a "cache" using Intel SRT, which the Z68 board I'm recommending offers. Here's my suggestions for modifications, keeping the HDD, monitor, and case that you chose, and adding an optical drive which you missed:

Micro Center - Intel Core i5 2500K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor 179648

Micro Center - ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Z68 ATX Intel Motherboard 809988

Micro Center - EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 x16 Video Card 012-P3-1571-KR

Micro Center - Antec EarthWatts Green Series 650 Watt ATX 12V Power Supply 27654

Micro Center - Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop RAM Kit (Two 4GB Memory Modules) CML8GX3M2A1600C

Micro Center - LG 22x DVD±RW Burner with Dual Layer Support - OEM 781450

[Atlgator90]

Thanks guys, yeah I was thinking I might be putting too much into the processor but I wasn't sure. If I decide to go with a cooler and soundcard right away would the two I picked be good options or would I need to upgrade/downgrade them?

[Nuclear Krusader]

I'd grab the sound card and omit the cooler unless you're buying it for its looks.

[Katreat]

Sound is really good on newer MB. I would definately test it before spending money on a sound card. They are really easy to add at a later date and generally are not needed.

Unless you are OC-ing, an aftermarket cooler is generally not needed. I would suggest using the stock cooler and upgrading if down the road you decide you want to OC. Its a little harder changing a cooler than adding a sound card, but still a pretty simple process if you find you need it.

[glc]

Sound cards are almost obsolete except for professional use. Even entry-level motherboards mostly have onboard 8 channel audio now.

[Atlgator90]

Thanks guys so no sound card, u.fortunately I found out won't be able to purchase anything until mid January so I'll probably have to re evaluate this closer to then since things may have changed technology and price wise

[David M]

The liquid cooling on the closed loop Corsair coolers are not so bad. The chance of leakage is a lot less than in the past. They also do not require low profile RAM.

http://www.corsair.com/cpu-cooling-k...pu-cooler.html