Okay, I've finally settled on a case (yes, I changed my mind yet again
) and should have the money to spare in about a week. And so it is that I'd like PC-GAF's stamp of approval and/or words of advice on the following (bear in mind that these are Australian prices):
Case: SilverStone TJ04-EW $168
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K $249
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 $89
GPU: GTX 570 $N/A
HDDs/SSDs: 1x 2TB Hitachi 7200rpm and 3x 2TB Samsung F4 5400rpm; 1x 60GB OCZ Vertex 2 $N/A
Memory: Corsair/G.Skill/Kingston DDR3-1600 8GB Kit (2x4GB) $59
Motherboard: ASRock z77 Extreme4 $155
ODD: Pioneer BDR-206 $N/A
PSU: OCZ ZX 1000W $219
(Italicised items denote those that will be carried over from my current system [4GB DDR2-800 and an Intel C2D E6420 at 3.2GHz].)
Some notes to consider:
- I switched to the TJ04 from the Fractal Arc/R3 as it appears to offer good cooling performance and plenty of drive bays
without the caveat of a potentially limiting/restrictive 290mm GPU length.
- I'll be overclocking the CPU to 4.5GHz
Also, retailers are gradually adding the 3570K to their respective stores and it is looking to be at least $40 more than the 2500K; I don't think IB is worth the premium considering the miniscule performance benefit and apparent OC issues. Edit: Fast-forward to today and the store increased the price of the 2500K by $10 while also lowering the price of the 3570K by the same! IB it is, I suppose. Ideally I won't be upgrading from IB until Intel finally release some OC-friendly mid-tier hex-cores or desktop octo-cores.
- Australian summers are hot, so I think the extra grunt of the NH-D14 will come in handy during those warmer months. Although I'd set my sights on Thermalright's equivalent, the Silver Arrow, it is no longer available from either of the two stores I'll be ordering from.
- All three mentioned RAM manufacturers offer a low-profile 8GB kit at said price point; I'll just be ordering whatever happens to be in stock on the day.
- ASRock has made a name for itself with its "cheap but not nasty" motherboards; the Extreme4 seems to perform well and its rather standard feature set is enough for me.
- I may not buy the PSU if my car's very-long-overdue service ends up costing me an arm and a leg. I'm currently using a Corsair HX-520W that has been running my current system admirably for 2 or 3 years now, and from what I can gather my proposed system will chew about the same if not a
little less power than my current one. I won't tempt fate by overclocking if I go this route; I'll put that on hold. If you're wondering "Why not just wait until you have the $220?", well, my current system is quite literally falling apart and two of my HDDs are taking up residence on the floor outside of the case -- I really do need a new system as soon as possible, and this upgrade has been put off long enough. I should also mention that I have my eye on a 1KW PSU since I'd like some headroom as gaming on a high-res 27" monitor would require quite a lot of GPU grunt (I'm still wavering between paying the premium for Dell's U2711H or just opting for its 23" 1080p cousin, the U2312HM).
