High Schooler building first rig

Hardware Build a PC
#1

Hey guys, I've been saving for a loooong time for this dream that I have of a PC. I've been doing as much research on parts that I can and this is my list thus far. I want this to last me a few years before an upgrade, and I have until about christmas and I will have my funds. I was hoping you guys could take a look at this part list and give some feedback. What I'm still struggling with is video card choice (I'm thinking I want the best performance 7950, so I'm going with sapphire OC or HIS IceQ Turbo right now). Also I've been going back-and-forth between a 2500K and a 3570K.

I've bought some parts here already, the case, mobo, ram, and PSU. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/iRLS]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/iRLS/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/iRLS/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url]

[b]CPU:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80623i52500k]Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url] ($197.99 @ Amazon)
[b]CPU Cooler:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-cwch60]Corsair Hydro Series H60 74.4 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler[/url] ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
[b]Motherboard:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z77extreme4]ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard[/url] ($134.99 @ Amazon)
[b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c9d8gab]G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url] ($39.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd1002faex]Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive[/url] ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
[b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asx900s3128gmc]A-Data XPG SX900 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk[/url] ($97.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-111960240g]Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card[/url] ($308.14 @ NCIX US)
[b]Case:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-caph410w1]NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case[/url] ($99.99 @ Amazon)
[b]Power Supply:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermaltake-power-supply-w0382ru]Thermaltake TR2 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply[/url] ($69.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Optical Drive:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lg-optical-drive-gh24ns90]LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer[/url] ($17.99 @ Amazon)
[b]Operating System:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050]Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit)[/url] ($90.81 @ Amazon)
[b]Mouse:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/razer-mouse-rz0100151400r3u1]Razer DeathAdder Wired Optical Mouse[/url] ($48.93 @ Amazon)
[b]Other:[/b] Das Keyboard Professional Silent ($129.99)
[b]Total:[/b] $1411.77

#2

I would suggest looking on microcenter.com It will be cheeper. The I5-2500k is $40 cheeper, the only thing is they dont ship so you would have to have one nearby. You also dont need a power supply that big. You could get a higher end one for a little cheeper. Your case is also pretty expensive. But im in the same boat as you, im a high schooler going to be doing my first build. I have just been doing quite a bit of research so I know some things lol. Once Gig gets on he'll do some tweeking lol.

#3

It looks good to me. The only real differences between the 2500K and 3570K is that the 3570K will give you PCI-E 3.0 and Intel HD 4000 graphics. You probably won't use either of these features, but it is always nice to be a little more future proof with the PCI-E 3.0 support.

On the other hand, the 2500K generally overclocks higher than the 3570K, and you can sometimes get faster speeds as a result. For example, a 3570K @4.5Ghz is about the same performance as a 2500K @4.7Ghz. The difference is that the threshold for most 3570K's seems to be around 4.5 or 4.6Ghz, where the threshold for most 2500K's is between 4.8 and 5.2Ghz.

The only thing I would change is the CPU cooler. I'm almost 100 percent positive that this will perform better than that H60:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103176&Tpk=tpc%20812

#4

http://us.ncix.com/products/?&sku=42819&vpn=NH-U12P+SE2&manufacture=Noctua&promoid=1368 this is a sweet deal that cool that coolermasters should be great to. I have a h60 with a Scythe SY1225SL12SH 120mm Slipstream and i love it i got it on salefor 39.99 and the fan for 9.99 so i was stoked.

 

#5

crappola it shot up like 12 bucks, with cosair SP120 performance fans it performs as good as the H100