New build - First timer!

[madwedge]

Hello,

My current notebook, a Rock Xtreme 770, is nearing the end of it's usefulness. Mainly because my nVidia GeForce 7950GTX blew up meaning I can only ise it in VGA mode.

So, I've spent a bit of time compiling a shopping list for a new build and wanted to run it by you guys if that's ok?

Case: Fractal Design Define R3 Mid Tower
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P8Z68-V
CPU: Intel i7-2700K 3.5GHz
MEMORY: 8GB Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Jet Black PC3-16000 (2000)
GPU: To be decided - Possibly GeForce GTX 570
PSU: To be decided - At least 650W
HHD: 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm
SSD: 120GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD, 2.5" SATA3 6Gb/s
OPTICAL DRIVE: To be decided - Blu-Ray / DVD Read/Write combo drive

So what do we reckon so far? Obviously I've a couple of more components left to pick.

I'm hoping two things are going to happen over the next few months though:

1) The release of the 6xx seriews nVidia cards will drop the prices of 5xx series cards.
2) The release of Ivy Bridge around June time will drop the prices of Sandy Bridge CPU's??

Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

madwedge

[Lee H]

If your opting for the sandy bridge, I would personally advise on dropping the memory down to 1600 MHz instead of 2000 MHz.

For the difference in performance the real world differences are not worth the additional costs for the 2000 MHz rated memory and this is also what anandtech found as well at the link Here

As for your questions regarding the ivy bridge, I'm afraid any information we have access to is covered by a none-disclosure agreement and as such we cannot divulge any information at all.

Other than that, if you did opt for the GTX 570 cards, the MSI twin frozr PE/OC are a very good performing card for the price if you wanted any recommendations and a 650W PSU or above would be ideal.

Best Regards,

[madwedge]

That's some good advice, many thanks.

I'll stick with the 1600MHz memory. I've also decided to go with a Intel i5-2500K instead. I'd rather save the money towards a better GPU maybe, however I don't think the extra expense for a GTX 570 Ti isn't worth it for only a little bit of a fps boost. Dunno really.

[Lee H]

If your just using the system for games - the 2500K is the ideal CPU as hardly any titles at all would use the additional hyper-threading technology found in the i7 range.

I forgot to add that we would recommend the low profile variants of the vengeance RAM. This is because the additional fins on the standard vengeance can foul on some of the larger after-market CPU coolers making fitting them practically impossible at times. The fins are not really needed as they appear to be just moulded plastic and aren't there to assist in removing heat.

Best Regards,

[madwedge]

Fantastic, thanks Lee. Appreciate it.