Would you please take a look at the line up below of items and let me know if I can do better/cheaper? I haven't built a computer since 2002, and things have changed. I hope everything matches & I caught it all. (another pair of eyes would be most appreciative!)

I can't tell if this is overkill or not..would be nice to slim some $$$ off (like $3-400 if possible), though there do seem to be some pretty good deals on at Newegg. I was looking at several pre-built machines, but I became irritable at what I would get vs. build one myself.

*edit* Damn links won't link!

Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107 ) Cost: $99.99
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600k ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070 ) Cost: $299.99
Motherboard: AsRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265 ) Cost: $149.99
GPU: EVGA GTX 570 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593 ) Cost: $339.99
PSU: Antec 900w ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371050 ) Cost: $129.99
RAM: GSkill 16gb ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231315 ) Cost: $84.99
Hard drive: Seagate 1TB ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697 ) Cost: $124.99
Optical drive 1: Asus dvd burner ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 ) Cost: $19.99
Optical drive 2: Lite-On Blu-Ray Burner ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106348 ) Cost: $99.99
Monitor: Asus 24" ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153 ) Cost: $209.99
OS: Win 7 Home Premium ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116716 ) Cost: $189.99

Extras:

HDMI to mini-HDMI: ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816074 ) Cost: $9.99
Cyberpower 8 Outlet: ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812120401 ) Cost: $20.99
18" SATA 16gbps cables (x2): ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123111 ) Cost: $4.18 total for both
2 year warranty on Asus 24" monitor: $39.99
2 year warranty on motherboard: $24.99
2 year warranty on CPU: $44.99


Total cost of above items after Promo Codes (-$30.00) and shipping ($24.15): $1,889.17


My budget for all of this is supposed to be around $1400-$1500.


Any and all help is appreciated! Several of these Newegg deals end with the New Year!

Before you say, "get away from me with that!" Check these specs

System includes:

Intel® Coreâ„¢ i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English (Not a separate purchase, well kinda not)
No Monitor
12GB3 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (add more if you wish buy from newegg not Dell)
500GB4 SATA hard drive (7200RPM) (upgrade to 1TB Raid 0 for $100)
Nvidia® Geforce® GT530 (Upgrades from Dell are ATI 6670,6770, 6870)
Blu-ray Combo Drive (8X BD-R, DVD+/-RW) with DVD+R double layer write capability
Consumer Multimedia Keyboard
1501 Wireless-N PCIe Card
McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months
1 Year Basic Support
22.4 lbs

$999.99

This system is totally upgradeable for when you want to tweak an aging component or totally renew the system.

Yes, this is an XPS 8300 system
My XPS system 3 years ago came with a Foxxcon mainboard, 750watt PS, and a nicely dressed out brushed aluminum case with all the wiring packed and tied neatly tucked away. I really dont know why Dell has gotten such a bad rap but they provide a top notch unit for an affordable price. They stand behind their units and if you want better service then get their premium upgrade that will cost about $300, otherwise you would get service at the basic level that would be equivalent if not a bit better than manufacturers warranty on self built items.

 

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If you're just going to be gaming and the usual internet, email, web type stuff here are some suggestions:

( dollar amounts are rounded off)

1) get win7 oem instead of the retail version. saves about $90.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

2) get the core I5 2500K instead of the 2600K - saves about $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

3) drop ram down to an 8Gb kit instead of 16 Gb.- saves about $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

4) drop the video card down to a 560 ti w/ 448 cores ( not the standard 560 ti)
saves about $45

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738

reviews:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5153/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-ti-w448-cores-gtx570-on-a-budget
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-560-ti-448-core-benchmark,3082.html

difference between this card and the gtx 570 are generally a few frames per second.
warning: this is a limited edition gpu.

5) you can stop here or my suggestion would be to take some of the saved cash and get an ssd to use as a boot drive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

cost $107.

with 64Gb you'll have plenty of room for windows and some other apps and you can use the seagate for games, pics, etc.

also get an aftermarket cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
cost about $30.

Thank you for those suggestions.

I found something that I wasn't sure how this worked or if it was a right "fit".

The proposed motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265) has Top mounted IO ports - 2 x USB 3.0(internal 20-pin connector to MB), 4 x USB 2.0, Audio out, MIC in.

The proposed case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107) has the following non-rear ports:

1 x Floppy connector
1 x IR header
1 x COM port header
1 x HDMI_SPDIF header
1 x Power LED header
CPU/Chassis/Power FAN connector
24 pin ATX power connector
8 pin 12V power connector


Also, I have never bought an OEM version of windows. Is it that big of a deal to install, or any different than retail aside from not being able to move from one computer to the next (new mobo's).
SLI/XFire power connector
Front panel audio connector
1 x Dr. Debug with LED


Am I missing something, or will I not be able to take advantage of the top mounted ports with this case/mobo combination?


ALSO, you mentioned above "warning: this is a limited edition GPU". Is there an issue with driver support with something that is limited edition? Why did you put in that warning?

According to the Asrock website, the motherboard has 1 front usb 3.0 header and 3 usb 2 headers so you should be able to connect the top mounted ports on the case to the motherboard no problem.

As far as the oem windows, it installs/works the same as retail version. Only difference is once you register and activate it you can't transfer it to another computer. You can still swap out video cards, memory, hard drives you just cant swap motherboards. I think it gives you like 3 days before it forces you to activate so at least you'll have a couple of days to play with it to make sure its ok.


ALSO, you mentioned above "warning: this is a limited edition GPU". Is there an issue with driver support with something that is limited edition? Why did you put in that warning?

Shouldn't be any driver support issues with it. I only put that in there because to my understanding its only going to be available for a limited time and it looks to be a good deal in my opinion. I don't know when the cut off dates are or how long the suppliers are going to have them in stock.

Thank you for your quick response! I am planning on making the purchase today, so I have LOTS of questions!


Are the additional warranties through Newegg worth it? I have 3 listed: Monitor, Motherboard & CPU.

"Are the additional warranties through Newegg worth it? I have 3 listed: Monitor, Motherboard & CPU. "

I think those are just personal preference. I have never purchased any kind of additional warranty on anything I bought from newegg and I have never really had any major problems so I honestly cant say one way or the other if that's a good buy or not.

OK, the latest iteration of the build is below...do you see anything that is overkill, can be swapped with something equally good at a cheaper price, etc? (Edited CPU Link)


Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107 ) Cost: $99.99

Processor: Intel Core i5-2600k ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 ) Cost: $219.99

Motherboard: AsRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265 ) Cost: $149.99

GPU: EVGA GTX 560 ti <448 Cores> ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738 ) Cost: $289.99

PSU: Corsair 750w Modular ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010 ) Cost: $149.99

RAM: GSkill Ripjaws X 8gb ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455 ) Cost: $59.99 **Is this RAM worth it for my mobo?

Hard drive: Seagate 1TB ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697 ) Cost: $124.99 **Is RAID really worth it anymore?

Optical drive 1: Asus dvd burner ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 ) Cost: $19.99

Optical drive 2: Lite-On Blu-Ray Burner ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106348 ) Cost: $99.99

Monitor: Asus 24" ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153 ) Cost: $209.99

OS: Win 7 64 Home Premium OEM ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 ) Cost: $99.99

Extras:

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus: ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 ) Cost: $29.04

HDMI to mini-HDMI: ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816074 ) Cost: $9.99

Cyberpower 8 Outlet: ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812120401 ) Cost: $20.99

18" SATA 16gbps cables (x2): ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123111 ) Cost: $4.18 total for both

Keyboard <mine is old as sin>: ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201038 ) Cost: $14.99

I REMOVED THE 2 YR WARRANTY FOR THE MONITOR, CPU AND MOTHERBOARD....IF YOU THINK THIS IS A MISTAKE, PLEASE SAY SO!


Total Cost including Promo Codes & Shipping: $1,558.28


I really appreciate any and all responses!!

Overall looks like a solid build in my opinion although I would still suggest a ssd. You would definitely notice the difference.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 - I think that's the CPU you meant to quote.