Advice please!

[ruralwarrior]

Hi, I have just decided pretty much out of the blue to attempt to build my first computer, the main motivations being gaining knowledge of devices I take for granted each day and also possibly the fun factor involved in piecing it together. I'll list the pieces I have selected and would appreciate any advice on the build. I would also appreciate the inclusion of recommended cables etc that would be required to get it up and running. Thanks, Sean.
-Asus GeForce GTX 550 Ti 900MHz 1GB PCI-Express HDMI
-Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz LGA1155 6MB
-Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 XMP
-Asus M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 DDR3 ATX
-OCZ Technology ZS Series 550W 80+ Bronze Power Suppl
-Silverstone Raven 3 & USB 3.0 Tower (Black, Champagne Trim + Window)
-LG Electronics 10x Internal BDRW SATA
-Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-Express OEM
-D-Link 802.11g Wireless LAN PCI Card
-Iiyama Pro Lite E2407HDS 24"
-Logitech Z520 PC Multimedia Speaker System

[Ross1]

um, an AM3+ board and an intel 2500k arent going to play nicely together. The 2500k is a good choice but you need a P67 or Z68 board really (H67 will work but you cant overclock, making the purchase of an unlocked CPU rather pointless).

The motherboard should supply all the sata cables you need.

I wouldnt buy than wireless card, wireless g is pretty old tech and a wireless n card can be had for like £10 or something.

The raven 3 is a bit of an odd case, its not cheap so I think you need to be pretty sure its the kind of thing you are after if you are going to be spending that sort of money on it.

If memory serves correctly, that specific "x-fi" card isnt an x-fi, its a rebranded audigy and you would probably be better off with the onboard sound on your mobo, most of the P67 and Z68 boards will come with decent enough sound that I wouldnt worry about a discrete card.

Lastly, I didnt see a SSD or hard drive there, you would need something to put the OS on

[Cirrus]

p8p67 deluxe or p8z68 deluxe asus mb's are good

[mikeo01]

I say forget the Intel, and get an AMD CPU, easier to upgrade and cheaper.

X-FI Xtreme Audio is like the comment above, a rebranded Audigy SE. Complete software, no hardware acceleration meaning you are paying for software effectively.

The XtremeMusic or XtremeGamer are good cards, pretty cheap now too.

Forget the wireless card, USB receivers are now getting better and do just a good job as a wireless card, plus you can move it around to get a better signal.

Everything else is good

All the components you are buying should come with the necessary cables.
If not get a HDMI cable, that monitor supports it and so does the graphics card.

[krazy_olie]

as above, Yah definitely need a hard drive! (or ssd)

that's a bad sound card, if you care about sound an asus dx/dg would be a good buy to step up from onboard otherwise onboard would be fine.

For the build the raven is probably a bit overkill

[ruralwarrior]

Thanks for the replies everyone, will definitely include a hard drive as well! Sean.