My first build any Suggestions?

[ocbilly]

This will be my first build. Please tell me what you think, and where I can cut corners, save money, but keep quality. I would like to stay between $1000 and $1500. I will be using my PC mostly for multimedia, viewing video's and movies, photo editing, and some light gaming. I want the i5 2500k so I can try to OC. Only thing I will keep from my old PC is the monitor. So i will need OS, Keyboard/mouse, ect. I know I can save some money on the case, but I really like the looks and the reviews on the Cooler master HAF 932, I also want to run my OS off an SSD for boot speed, anything else I am open for suggestions. Here is what I have.

Mother Board: ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 $130

Video Graphics Cards:
EVGA GeForce GTX 550 $140

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz $219

PSU: RAIDMAX Blackstone series RX-700AC 700W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular $70

Case: Cooler Master RC-932 $140

Hard Drives: Hitachi Deskstar 3.5" 1TB 7200RPM SATA II 32MB $120
OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $100

DVD Writers/Drives: MSI DH-22AP Internal DVD Writer - DVD+R 22X, DVD-R 22X, DVD+RW 8X, DVD-RW 6X, DVD-RAM 12X, CD-R 48X, CD-RW 32X, IDE $29

SOFTWARE: Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student 3-User $129.99
WINDOWS7 Pro $189

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9 $49

CPU FAN (or HEATSINK):
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus $30

Mouse and Keyboard:
Logitech Wireless Desktop MK710 $90

With this build I am at about $1440

[jdeb]

Change the power supply for reliability and stability

Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

You will not need the CPU cooler unless you plan on overclocking beyond the standard.

[birddog_61]

^^^ That PSU

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems
Saves some bucks by going OEM version.
Newegg.com - HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 (0F13180) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Same price and cache but sata III

Why not use the SRT built into that board and buy a smaller SSD to cache for you main HDD and get nearly the same speed as a stand alone SSD and save some money plus not have to worry about space on a 60gb ssd.

[ocbilly]

How do I use the SRT? That would make it so I could get a smaller SSD? Would i have to bump up my HDD?

[Sourtop]

You could save some money on the case by getting the HAF 922. It might be a mid-size case, but its as big as some full-size cases and its not that different from the HAF 932.

With SRT you would only need to buy a small 40-60 GB SSD like the Crucial M4 which acts as a cache for your mechanical HDD. You wouldn't need a bigger HDD, it would just give a noticeable boost to your HDD speed.

[glc]

For SRT, I recommend the 40gb Intel 320.

[ocbilly]

To use the SRT, I would use it as RAID0 right?

[David M]

No, RAID 0 is completely unnecessary with SSD's. SRT is not a RAID setup.

Explanation...
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/print...Explained/1292

[glc]

You DO have to set the SATA controller to the RAID mode, but you don't create an array. SRT is set up using the SRT software.