Just some quick thoughts...


Case...
Rosewill's name is synonymous with lower quality. I'd look at a Antec Ninehundred 2 or Cooler Master 690 in the $100 range.

Processor...
I think the i7-2600K is overkill, the big feature that drives the cost up so much is Hyperthreading and it doesn't seem to add much for most gaming situation or typical desktop uses. I'd go with an i5-2500K for a better value.

Motherboard...
First I'd go Z68 over P67. Z68 has everything the P67 has place QuickSync and SmartReponse. May not need either feature, but since it's the successor of the P67 and usually costs the same, there usually is no reason to go with the older chipset.

ASRock is another name synonymous with lower quality. It's owned by ASUS for just that reason. If possible, I'd look closer at a motherboard from ASUS, Gigabyte, or MSI first though.

Powersupply...
If you are not using SLI/Crossfire, you don't need a power supply more than 600 watts. So that is an area you can cut costs some more if needed. Corsair and Antec are two brands I like for their value and trustworthiness.

Harddrives...
I would not use RAID0 for any reason if you are not able to back it up. So if you RAID0 two 1TB drives, I'd buy an additional 2TB drive to back those two RAID drives up with. Unless you are okay losing everything on them. If a regular 7200 RPM drive isn't fast enough, I'd look at adding a smaller SSD drive to run your OS and games and hard drive for storage.

I'm not much of a Seagate fan. Their 7200.12 series drives sometimes suffer from an annoying clicking noise. The drives seem to be fine, but the clicking gets very annoying. I have two 2TB 7200.12 drives and both started doing the clicking after a few months. I've been meaning to try to RMA the drives, but Seagate's RMA process is the suck big time.

Western Digital I've never had any noise complaints about so far. And their RMA process is so epically easy.

It installs the same (and easier than Upgrade versions). Though sometimes something as trivial as updating your chipset drivers causes you to have to reactivate again (which is usually easy though).





The GTX 560 TI 448 is basically a slightly gimped version of the GTX 570. There will not be any driver support issues. And I'm not really sure why it's limited edition other than maybe Nvidia is trying to clear out an excess inventory of GTX 570 boards by selling them as discounted 560 TI 448's instead.

It is probably just the manufacturing process for 570 yielded some that did not cut it but were fully functional still. Like what AMD did with 3 core CPUs and dozens of other examples out there.

 

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How are OCZ Power Supplies?

( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&amp ;PID=3946032&SID=skim21873X832179X5f98dcbc2c9de8dc113e1a7a062fa2d3 )

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-oem-manufacturer,2913-8.html

The OEM column is who makes the rebranded PSUs. I would stay away from anything in solid gray as it is a straight rebrand. At least others are trying harder.

Check out reviews of 600w+ PSUs and see what you can get a deal on. Any of the top models will work about same.

 

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I'd personally go with Corsair or SeaSonic for a power supply. Best power supplies on the market (in my opinion) backed by a superb warranty.

 

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OCZ makes an excellent power supply, but you really can't go wrong with Corsair or Antec either.

Any last thought before the purchase on Saturday!

OCZ quality is hit and miss. Like most power supplies you buy, the name on the box is usually not the company that made it. Most rebrand their power supplies. Antec, Corsair, and OCZ don't make the units. Antec and Corsair rebrand only good power supplies. You could buy a PSU with their name on it with confidence. OCZ rebrands good and poor power supplies. Unless I spend the time to research who made a particular model of OCZ PSU, I don't really have confidence recommending them.

I'm sticking with a Corsair PSU. I must say, I have gotten a lot of advice that I hope ends well with my ultimate choice. I normally do not buy things like this for myself, but rather make sure the wife & kids are taken care of. Spending $1,500 on myself is something that I never, ever, do...and I must say that I have buyers remorse without actually purchasing the damn thing yet!!!


Anyway, if you have the opportunity to take a look at the final build and see that something doesn't work together, or could have been done differently, please let me know.

Ravynmagi (and everyone else!), I sincerely appreciate your help and recommendations.

I have ALMOST decided to stick with the initial choice of the ASROCK p67 Extreme Gen 3 Motherboard, because I like the idea of being ready for the new processor coming out, along with the new gfx cards. I searched Newegg, but could not find a reliable Z68 motherboard to take over the proposed P67 Asrock motherboard (along with USB 3 front onboard (NOT backside) features that go with it).

Also, watching the demonstration video of the Rosewill Blackhawk case, I really like that it is made to hide the cables for optimum airflow. Choosing a Corsair Modular PSU, it seems like the logical choice. I simply could not find a suitable substitute on Newegg or TigerDirect to replace the proposed choice.

Also, I could not find a suitable Western Digital HD with positive reviews to move from the Seagate HD...this worries me, as Ravyn as mentioned, over time the clicking noise can become an issue.


If you have an opportunity to once again review my order (recent post above), I would SINCERELY appreciate it.

My stomach is in knots over this!!!

THANK YOU!

P.S.

Do I need the extra SATA cables on the order? I currently have extra cables on order (It's like $5 for 2 cables). I understand the Motherboard SHOULD have enough to handle my build, but what if the cables are too short or not enough? Again, any insight is appreciated!!