Hardware Could these parts be improved?

[VLinh]

Hi everyone, I'm in the process of shopping for parts and I've had some critism as well so here's my setup (atm)

Antec P280 Case: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=65170&promoid=1114
Intel Core i7 2600k: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=57960&promoid=1114
Asus P8Z77 Pro Mobo: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=69883&promoid=1114
Corsair Pro 1000W PSU: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=28797
Radeon 7870 2GB Video Card: Couldn't find a specific model
WD Black HDD 2 TB:http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=62047&promoid=1114
Kingston 16GB RAM:http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=65442&promoid=1114

With all these parts, I wonder if anyone could suggest some alternatives for savings sake, I dont want to go overboard but what I've learned from my friends is that the Asus P8Z77 Pro Mobo isn't that reliable, so he suggested I look into that so im still looking for a good, cheap alternative for a Mobo. Im sure everything there is DDR3 compatible but if someone could check, that be awesome. The video card; I wasn't able to find the "one" so im still confused on that one but everything else seems good, though the HDD could be downgraded down to 1 TB for money savings.

My objective is to build a PC, primarly for gaming (D3, TF2, L4D2, SF4, etc) at the same time, finding the best parts for as little money as possible. My Spending range I want to be within $700-800 so some adjustments are still needed. If anyone is willing to suggest some parts, alternatives, etc for a good cost overall, I'd really appreciate that.

Thank you!

 

[Originality]

I would replace the motherboard with a Z68 motherboard instead of Z77, if only because I've not seen any reviews yet of why people should get Z77 motherboards for anything other than Ivy Bridge. I could be wrong on that one, but nobody has told me otherwise.

Also, you do not need a 1000W PSU unless you are planning to buy a second HD 7870 in the near future. Aim for 600-750W instead. Likewise, you do not need a Core i7-2600K, you only need a Core i5-2500K (or Ivy Bridge equivalent). The reasoning behind this is because no games you listed can make use of HyperThreading since they're all graphics based instead of processor based.

With the money you saved from that, you can throw in an after-market CPU cooler like an Arctic Freezer Pro 13.

The last comment to make is... can you really fit a 7870 in an $800 budget? They're $350 alone. You may want to consider switching to mid-ranged graphics like the HD 6850/6870 or GTX 560/660 Ti.

 

[Fishaman P]

If the GPU needs to be cheaper, the GTX 560Ti is pretty good, although the 550Ti is more budget-friendly.

Other than that, the PSU looks inefficient, and remember that PSU's waste more electricity the more they are underutilized. You could either downgrade the PSU or get a more efficient one, like an 80+ Gold.

Oh, and 16GB of RAM is overkill unless you run many heavy apps (5+) simultaneously, or an app crashes often. Also, remember to disable the page file and/or the swap partition!

 

[Originality]

I thought 80+ was Bronze award. Also, I believe the optimal usage for the PSU in terms of efficiency is 80% load. Less and your PSU is more powerful than you need so you just wasted money. More and power efficiency drops so the amount of power pulled from the wall is larger than required (higher electric bill). It doesn't really make sense for underusing the PSU to make it waste more energy, since it can only pull from the wall what it needs (plus some for electric resistance) and it only tends to overdraw when it's overloaded.