Gaming need some tips on new computer?

[Splych]

After trading my Phenom II x2 for a Pentium 4 computer for personal reasons, I now plan on assembling a new computer. Moving towards post secondary school, I plan on using this computer to finish through highschool, post secondary and possibly still use it for the job I plan on studying for which is Computer Engineering. I also plan on learning more about linux before I get too busy in my life, so that's a possiblity in the future. I also found an interest in hackintosh which means compatible mobos are important.

For now, I plan on using it for video rendering [after effects], 3d rendering [cinema 4d, tekla structures], gaming [@ native resolution which is 1920x1080] and overclocking. My budget is $750 for now. Here's what I have planned so far:

CPU: Intel i5-2500k
Mobo v1: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Mobo v2: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
GPU:
HDD:
SSD:
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 2x4GB
DVD Drive:
PSU: Corsair HX750 or AX750
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 500R White or Graphite Series 600TM White

The CPU I may just wait for the equivalent in Ivy Bridge for since the P4 is doing fine for me minus the fact gaming isn't that great. The ASRock mobo claims to support PCIe 3.0 for Ivy Bridge which I found interesting and the Gigabyte mobo is compatible with becoming CustoMac. I have no decided on the GPU b/c I am still waiting for more 7xxx series cards to be released from AMD. In terms of HDD and SSD, for HDD I am leaning towards Caviar Blacks but still unsure about SSDs. Might use it as a boot drive and put probably the games I play the most along side with After Effects. Everything else I am set with.

 

[Originality]

If you get a SSD for a boot drive, then there's no need for a Caviar Black and you might aswell go for the Green series. 120GB SSD and 3TB WD Caviar Green cost roughly the same (£150, or around $230).

For graphics card, it depends on your budget. You need as strong a graphics card as possible since the more it can do (e.g. FLOPS), the faster your work will get done. Also, whilst AMD makes for faster graphics cards in gaming, nVidia cards tend to be much more reliable when it comes to rendering and folding (enough so that a large part of the gaming dev industry refuse to use AMD cards, or so I hear from a university graduate in the field). Basically, aim as high up the nVidia chain (GTX 570 or 670 when it eventually comes out) as you can.

For more specific advice, you'd need to ask more specific questions.

 

[Splych]

I have a 500GB Caviar Black and a 640GB Caviar Blue. Currently, the Caviar Black is my primary drive, so I am planning on re-using this somehow. 640GB is simply back-up/storage for where I put many of the things I download and back-up so I have no plans on formatting this unless I find another drive. I haven't had the time but read through a few reviews on SSDs. Any quick recommendations?

And thanks for the advice on the graphics card! I will probably re-use my 5770 while I wait for nVidia's response to 7xxx series from AMD. Also, would there be any reason to choose an AMD processor over Intel? Many benchmarks found AMD lacking in terms of performance and bottleneck :\

 

[CCNaru]

I have a 500GB Caviar Black and a 640GB Caviar Blue. Currently, the Caviar Black is my primary drive, so I am planning on re-using this somehow. 640GB is simply back-up/storage for where I put many of the things I download and back-up so I have no plans on formatting this unless I find another drive. I haven't had the time but read through a few reviews on SSDs. Any quick recommendations?

And thanks for the advice on the graphics card! I will probably re-use my 5770 while I wait for nVidia's response to 7xxx series from AMD. Also, would there be any reason to choose an AMD processor over Intel? Many benchmarks found AMD lacking in terms of performance and bottleneck :\

Don't get AMD Intel chips blow them out of the water right now

 

[Originality]

Crucial M4, OCZ Vertex 3, Samsung 830. The Samsung SSD is the best of the 3.

The only reason to get an AMD CPU is if you are not getting a graphics card for a while. Intel CPUs are much stronger and for video editing/rendering, you need as strong as you can get. The graphics is more important though.

 

[Splych]

Well I am currently aware of that Intel is very far ahead of AMD. I was just wondering and curious, that's all

And thanks for the SSD recommendations! I will note those ones down!

 

[philip11]

I have a 500GB Caviar Black and a 640GB Caviar Blue. Currently, the Caviar Black is my primary drive, so I am planning on re-using this somehow. 640GB is simply back-up/storage for where I put many of the things I download and back-up so I have no plans on formatting this unless I find another drive. I haven't had the time but read through a few reviews on SSDs. Any quick recommendations?

And thanks for the advice on the graphics card! I will probably re-use my 5770 while I wait for nVidia's response to 7xxx series from AMD. Also, would there be any reason to choose an AMD processor over Intel? Many benchmarks found AMD lacking in terms of performance and bottleneck :\

Don't get AMD Intel chips blow them out of the water right now

Actually AMD is Slightly faster then Intel even at the same processor speed Don't get me wrong I like intel but AMD is better

 

[Pyrmon]

I have a 500GB Caviar Black and a 640GB Caviar Blue. Currently, the Caviar Black is my primary drive, so I am planning on re-using this somehow. 640GB is simply back-up/storage for where I put many of the things I download and back-up so I have no plans on formatting this unless I find another drive. I haven't had the time but read through a few reviews on SSDs. Any quick recommendations?

And thanks for the advice on the graphics card! I will probably re-use my 5770 while I wait for nVidia's response to 7xxx series from AMD. Also, would there be any reason to choose an AMD processor over Intel? Many benchmarks found AMD lacking in terms of performance and bottleneck :\

Don't get AMD Intel chips blow them out of the water right now

Actually AMD is Slightly faster then Intel even at the same processor speed Don't get me wrong I like intel but AMD is better

In what universe?

 

[Originality]

Don't get AMD Intel chips blow them out of the water right now

Actually AMD is Slightly faster then Intel even at the same processor speed Don't get me wrong I like intel but AMD is better

In what universe?

I'd like to ask the same.

Intel have been churning out 20-50% more IPS for years than equivalently clocked AMD CPUs. Bulldozer did not change that and was incredibly underwhelming. The only reasons to get AMD now are if you are on a low budget and/or if you don't want a graphics card but still want good intergrated graphics.
The AMD APU graphics blow the Intel IGP graphics out of the water, and then some.

 

[Rydian]

Yeah Intel beat AMD in the Ghz-Performance ratio a few years back.