New Custom Build under $1000 - Help

[Eagle-Eye-2012]

Hello Everyone,

Before I begin, I'd like to say I am new to this forum. (been lurking around unregistered for a period of time and finally decided to join today haha)
Anyway, I am planning on building my own computer for the first time in my life. I've been thinking about it for a while now but I am not sure where to start. MY budget is up to $1000 (preferably $900 though).

I was looking at getting the following:

Case: Coolermaster HAF 922

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 1155

CPU: i5-2500k ? with Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm

HDD: 1TB ST31000524AS Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 6Gb/s

GPU: MSI R6870 Twin Frozr II 1GB

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE

DVD Drive: LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal 12X Internal Blu-ray Drive 3D Playback & M-DISC Support Model UH12LS29 LightScribe Support

RAM Memory: Patriot G2 Series 8GB (2x 4GB) - would this one be good or should I still go with the G.Skill Ripjaws?

I have a good monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Any other things?

Your help is appreciated on this :)

Eagle-Eye-2012

[zburns]

Hello Eagle Eye and welcome to the forums.

What exactly do you want to do with the computer? Hi speed gaming, Photoshop, video editing, etc.. Any specific area of interest to focus your build around?

You list lacks both a motherboard and a hard drive. The i5-2500k is part of the 32 nanometer Sandy Bridge family. Intel has recently released a new family of cpus called Ivy Bridge. The Ivy Bridge equivalent to the i5-2500k is the new i5-3570k.

The Sandy Bridge processors work on motherboards where the PCI technology is PCIE 2.0; Ivy Bridge cpus work on motherboards that support a new PCIE 3.0 technology. The difference between PCIE2.0 and PCIE 3.0 is that PCIE 3.0 has twice the bandwidth of PCIE 2.0. PCIE 3.0 is the technology (I assume) for future GPU boards, and there are probably some already on the market or soon to be on the market.

So you have several ways to go. Your RAM choice will mostly depend on the motherboard. The 'name' motherboard manufacturers are Asus, Gigabyte and MCI. There are a number of others also.

I suggest you look at both Sandy Bridge (i5 2500k) and Ivy Bridge; doing this will give you a choice of PCIE2.0 and 3.0. There is a Sandy Bridge i5 2550k which is an 'e' version of Sandy Bridge which simply means it will run on the PCI e 3.0 technology.
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It is late. I am going to stop here. There are multiple ways to go. I know you want to save money, but you may want to consider the latest components. Give me some feedback. I and others can make up a PCIe 3.0 list for you, etc.,etc..

[skytec]

Hello! The parts you've picked so far look good, but if your not planning on overclocking there's really no need for a K series processor. If saving $10 is worth it to you, here is a link to the standard 2500 model. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073) As far as RAM goes, it's hard to go wrong. For 8 GB in 2 slots, I recommend G.SKILL Ripjaws series (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314) for $46.99. That will be plenty, but if you want to go all out, the Ripjaws X series 16 GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231486) will set you back $99.99.

Your missing 2 components, your motherboard and your storage. The motherboard depends on the features you want. To start off you should decide if you want the newer, faster, and more expensive Z77 chipset, which was designed for Intel's lates Ivy Bridge processor, or a slightly older, almost equally powerful, and cheaper chipset designed for your CPU. As for your storage, how much space do you want or need? Also, will you be purchasing a solid state drive?

[skytec]

I suggest you look at both Sandy Bridge (i5 2500k) and Ivy Bridge; doing this will give you a choice of PCIE2.0 and 3.0. There is a Sandy Bridge i5 2550k which is an 'e' version of Sandy Bridge which simply means it will run on the PCI e 3.0 technology.

One thing to note is the overheating problems that have surfaced with Ivy Bridge. Probably won't be an issue if you're not overclocking, but still something to consider

[Eagle-Eye-2012]

Good morning and thank you for your replies. 1st, I added the Mobo and HDD that i forgot to mention in my post so please check it out.
I am planning on using the computer mainly for gaming (Sims 3 [for my gf] and Fallout 3/Fallout New Vegas [for me]) and maybe some light video editing