Windows 7 - Please review my new build

Hello all!

As many of you know, I am not amazing at hardware, and this is my first build! I expect that I might need some help when things go wrong, but let's come to that later!

Please may you review my build, and see if everything looks alright? I would be immensely grateful. And since this is my first build, please don't skip over the obvious because I might well have forgotten to check it!

Anyway, prices given in GBP and and USD (which I did mentally, sorry for any mistakes!)

CASE: Antec Lanboy Air Blue Modular Case - £129 - $200
MOTHERBOARD: Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 S1155 Motherboard - £128 - $200
CPU: Intel CPU Core i7 2600K Unlocked Sandy Bridge Quad Core Processor (Retail) - £237 - $360
RAM: Crucial 8GB (2pc kit), 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-12800 memory module x2 - total: 16GB - £84 - $130

PSU: Corsair 850HX Modular PSU - £120 - $180
GRAPHICS CARD: Sapphire HD6850 Vapor-X AMD / ATI Graphics Card - 1GB - £138 - $220
SSD: OCZ 60GB Agility 3 SSD - Solid State Drive - £78 - $120
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB Hard Drive - £62 - $100

Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Grease - 3.5g - £2.50 - $4
Sony Optical DVD Writer, AD-5260S-0B, SATA, Black, OEM - £15
LG Blu-Ray Writer, BH10LS30.AUAR, SATA, Retail - £69 - $100
5.25" 6x Slot Card Reader with Audio/Mic, 4x USB 2.0, 1x eSATA, 2x USB 3.0 - £22 - $33
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit OEM Operating System - £73 - $120

Total: £1,175, $1800

Things that I am aware of:

• I do not have quite enough headers and ports to completely fill my media card reader on the front panel. I carefully considered, and this was the best I could find. I am happy
• I am unsure if that SSD really is the best in its price range. Maybe I ought to spend more on the SSD. But where should I cut back? I am already a bit over budget! However, I would probably be more than happy with it, and don't need to worry. Would you agree?
• I already have keyboard, mouse, monitors, and speakers. Anything missing (particularly inside the case)
• My DVD drive is quite expensive. But it seems to be a very nice one. I am happy with this. Sold out. I shall choose another (DVD player or website)

In terms of my usage, I occasionally play a game or two, but I am not a hardcore gamer. My graphics card is not too important. However, I regularly have to do some extremely processor and memory intensive operations. Budget dictates processor, however, I can easily fill 8GB of RAM, and occasionally 12GB, hence I went for 16GB

And the processor is out of stock since I last looked. At least I *think* it was ever in stock...

Also, final question? If I had to shave off some money, where would it be?

Anyway, what do you guys think? I will be immensely grateful! Thanks so much in advance!

Richard

Hi Richard,

Have you actually got any of the components yet, or is this just some ideas you have? What is your absolute upper price limit?

Hello!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

No, I have none of these components yet, only keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, and wireless network adapter, and don't intend to buy until everyone is happy

Upper limit somewhere between £1200-£1230. Something like that.

Thanks a lot!

Richard

What will you use this computer for?

Basically programming, which (for me) includes extreme multitasking, including having extremely intensive algorithms processing/testing in the background (sometimes more than one at a time) whilst multiple copies of Visual Studio and many hundreds of tabs in Firefox (only because I never close them which is a bad habit I need to break ) process away.

Also, I do not intend to overclock at this stage, although it seems silly not to spend £10 more or whatever to get the unlocked CPU to allow this in the future, and the same goes with the other components.

I would recommend looking into more RAM and higher end processor as my understanding of what your doing will rely heavialy on those two components, video third, for my computer I did CPU and RAM at start and video card(s) third which worked well for me as I rarely ever max out all 8 GIGs but its nice knowing its all there in case I do need it all!

Just out of curiosity, what do you suggest for a "higher end processor"? The 2600k is the best Socket 1155 CPU available at the moment. The forthcoming 2700k may not have a much higher clock.

The 6 core Socket 1366 CPUs support triple channel RAM, but neither gives a 50% performance improvement over S. 1555. The expense would be higher, anyway - the cheapest 6 core S. 1366 CPU at the moment costs $600 (£385).

I would consider staying with Crucial for the SSD drive as well spending just a few bucks more and get 128gb. You will find that 60 gb's netting 52-53 usable will only last so long for OS and programs with all updates taking a toll in short order. Unless you have a laptop and can put the 60 in it later when you can got for round two upgrades then spend the extra now and also get the Sata II & III connectivity option.
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-64-2-5...7575644&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-In...7575644&sr=8-1
Then again round two I would get rid of that stock cooler and blast a sealed H series cooler on. I just added the H100 and it's the bomb.
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applicati...81559&CatId=99
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applicati...81556&CatId=99
Other than that I like your spec's whole heartily !

I would only like to question 1 statement you said. I understood you to say you should get the unlocked CPU. The 2600K is unlocked and the Z68 Motherboard will work with it well. I agree with the type of programs you use, a 128GB SSD would be better, and as linnemeyerhere said, the Crucial M4 is a good choice and among the most reasonably priced. IMO, price/performance there is no better CPU than the one you have chosen. Given the work that you do, I would look at more ram and perhaps an aftermarket CPU cooler. All in all, you have picked a good system and everything should work together well.

I can only find fault with the size of the SSD and agree 128GB would probably be better, 16 GB RAM is huge I am no expert in your field but I suspect it should be enough and if you buy clever you can still leave yourself the option to upgrade to the max 32GB at a later date.
Savings is a difficult one but you could save a small amount by getting the P8P67 the only difference I can see is the onboard/CPU graphic which is IMO no great loss, the saving here would be in the region of €30 I guess around 26 pounds so its arguably not worth it.