Gearing up for a total rig overhaul by Christmas

[runo]

So I've made a couple of these threads over the past years, but this time I've actually started the process of ordering components for the overhaul of my rig. There were a few components I wanted to ask about before I order them and I didn't want to necro my own oldddd threads, so I made a new one.

I can't really afford to buy every component at once with the money I make, so I decided I'm going to buy one major component every month -- I ordered one in August and I intend to order the 2nd in September, the 3rd in October, and order the priciest components around November/Black Friday and December as a Christmas gift.

If anyone can look over what I'm ordering and tell me if it all looks alright or if there's a better component/deal, let me know.

My price range is $100-125ish every month until Black Friday December/Christmas, where I can afford a budget of about $600. I think it's wisest to order the CPU around Black Friday and GPU in december when they're bound to be at least a bit cheaper.

I'm putting in my SeaSonic X650, Crucial M4 64GB SSD and Samsung Spinpoint F3 HDD as well as my copy of Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium onto the new rig but that's ALL that I'm not replacing. Even the case I own is going.

With that said, in terms of what I want out of my components..

*I would like either a really nice, large mid-tower or a full-tower case. Looks aren't particularly important to me -- I prefer function over form, but if it looks cool, that's a bonus.
*8GB of memory maximum unless there's a really good deal on, or a substantial reason to kick it up to 16GB.
*I will probably add a second GTX 670 for dual SLI later on. My PSU should be hardy enough as it is for this though.

Any feedback, thoughts or advice? I'm looking for the best of the best that I can afford. Thanks!



Components I'm Ordering Between September through Christmas
*SEPTEMBER: ASRock Z77 Intel Motherboard ($114.99 Shipped)
*OCTOBER: Rosewill THOR V2 Full Tower Computer Case
*NOVEMBER/BLACK FRIDAY: i5-3570K Intel CPU ($230ish)
*DECEMBER/CHRISTMAS: EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2GB GPU

Components I Ordered Already
*AUGUST: Samsung 8GB DDR3 1600 Memory (~$45)

Components I Might Upgrade Later (Or Not At All)
I intend to keep the following items from my current rig, but may upgrade them to beefier/better versions for my birthday next year, so pretty much after the updates between now and Christmas.

For now these WILL be going into the semifinal build, though, as they are components that are really nice and probably don't need to be updated.

Thoughts? I think it should be a pretty bad@$$ gaming rig.

Power Supply: SeaSonic X650
which I may upgrade to
SeaSonic X750

SSD [Boot Drive]: [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148447]Crucial M4 64GB[/url]
which I may upgrade to
Samsung 830 128GB

HDD [Storage Drive]: 500GB Samsung SpinPoint F3 (Out of Stock on NewEgg and other retailers...)
which I may upgrade to
1TB Samsung SpinPoint F3

Components & Peripherals I'm Still Debating Over And Probably Still Adding (But Next Year)
Things I will eventually add.
*A good mechanical keyboard and a mouse to replace my RAT-7. Maybe this mouse: http://steelseries.com/products/games/guild-wars-2/guild-wars-2-gaming-mouse
*An aftermarket cooler... but which? Maybe this. I don't intend to drastically overclock: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
*Dual monitors. I already own one, but I want to add a 2nd 24" widescreen LCD by ASUS
(that, or a touchscreen monitor for my 2nd monitor. I dunno yet)




And that's that. Sorry for the tl;dr and thanks in advance!

 

[ch3co]

Case: I'd recommend a Rosewill Blackhawk, Corsair 400r, or NXZT Phantom 410. All around $100, and all really good mid-tower cases.

Keyboard: Microsoft Sidewinder X4. It's not technically mechanical, but from what I've heard, it basically mechanical minus some of the issues associated with mechanical.

Mouse: I'd say either the Razer Deathadder or or that steelseries one. Or the Logitech G9x. Any of the three would be good, though some may fit your grip better than others.

Other than that, everything looks awesome!!

 

[runo]

The only thing that concerns me about a mid-tower is if I'll have enough room to fit a GTX 670 AND an aftermarket cooler (which shouldn't be as much of an issue with the low-profile memory sticks) into the case and still have efficient airflow. I really like the designs and feature sets on the Phantom 410 and Carbide 400R though. Not sure about that other Rosewill but it is very nice, though I don't think I'd go wrong picking any of the three -- and it'd save me money over the THOR...

I've always wanted to own a Sidewinder X4 so I think that'll be my keyboard of choice.

As for the mouse I'm pretty sold on that Steelseries but I'll have to look into actual reviews. A mouse is typically a mouse though for me, and mouses of that size and shape tend to fit my grip perfectly (as does the G9X).

Good calls and thanks!

 

[RedDragonKnight]

The only thing that concerns me about a mid-tower is if I'll have enough room to fit a GTX 670 AND an aftermarket cooler (which shouldn't be as much of an issue with the low-profile memory sticks) into the case and still have efficient airflow.

I'm running a mid-tower Antec 900 with a GTX 670 and an aftermarket thermaltake frio on my i5 2500k and I wouldn't say I have had any issues with heat. Espescially compared to the system i was coming from where my old gtx 570 would push 99 celcius under full load . 570 and the 670 now are down to 70 under full load during the evga oc scanner x stress test. Cables suck though

 

[pillar]

I would say go with the NZXT Phantom 410 Red Steel or Black Steel w/ Orange trim case. Its at $100 w/ free s&h. Also check into the Cooler Master Storm Scout, which is right now $80 w/ free s&h. I have the original Storm Scout. Ive called up CM bout the upgrade to usb 3.0 on the front & they have confirmed that its been upgraded (not sure if youll need it but its nice 2 know its available).

My only complaint about the Storm Scout is the fact that the fans pre-installed are red LED (that may not be a factor for you, but I cant stand that color since it shows up so dark in the case). The reason its a complaint is because they have the cabling so well tucked into the case that it would make for a massive fuss just to get the cabling taken care of just to remove the fans, so I left my red LED fans right where they are. I wish I could switch em out with green LED fans tho. Other than that, everything works great on my system. The side panel on the Storm Scout allows for 2x120mm fans (ive only purchased a single 120mm green LED fan for my case, but have yet to install it).

 

[ch3co]

What aftermarket cooler are you planning on getting?

 

[runo]

@pillar: Technically I already own an updated CM Storm Scout, as it's what I am using now, but I wanted to replace it with a better case and that way I can keep all my old components (the ones I'm not switching into the new case) in the old case. I COULD save myself some money and just stick to the Storm Scout I own now, though, and maybe upgrade the fans... I dunno yet.

@ch3c0: I don't intend to overclock too terribly much (about 3.8-3.9GHz, with no higher than 4.0GHz is my goal right now), so I don't need anything too terribly fancy. I was eyeing the Hyper 212+.

 

[I'm your huckleberry]

I definitely like the corsair cases. Sleek looking, easy to work in, and well made (from what I have heard). They run a little on the expensive side, but you get what you pay for. That is really the only component I would buy separately when newegg has one of the 20% off all corsair cases/psus going. The other components I would probably buy closer together after simply saving the money up. Near black friday, you should find some good deals on both. You might end up getting a better deal on a different mobo you wouldn't have considered otherwise. No real reason to out the funds if you can't use the component for several more months imo.

That rosewill case does look very nice. That thing is massive though. Most cases you would consider should fit tower cpu heatsinks no problem. And the 670s are small cards in comparison to other high end ones, so that should not be a concern.