Critique my i5 750 build please

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gabrion

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Planning to build a new gaming rig soon.

Goals:
-Moderate to high end gaming performace (running FPS, MMOs, and really just anything in general).
-Regular daily use
-Cost effective

Budget:
-Up to $1000 (base system, before peripherals), but the cheaper the better.

Other considerations:
-Primary display will be a 32" LCD HDTV if that makes any difference at all.
-I would like to OC a fair bit. Nothing crazy, but a little added performance.
-A small pet peeve of mine, I'd like the system to be a quiet as possible.

Ok so this is what I have so far...

Case: Apeva Telstar
I chose this case mostly based on looks, as I fell in love with it and it will fit perfect in my workspace. A good argument could talk me out of it, but the reviews I've read from these cases (not just this color, on the whole they are more positive across like models) are pretty decent. The 250mm side fan is a nice perk as well.

Power Supply: Corsair 650
I've tried to read up on PSUs, but honestly I don't totally understand all the mumbo jumbo. I know this has a lot of buyers on ebay (with a strong rating), it has one 12v rail (I still don't understand if this is necessarily better), and it seems to provide enough power. Will this be enough to power two 5850s?

Mobo: ASrock P55 extreme (open box)
I have to admit that I don't know a ton about mobos. I do know this one got decent reviews, it's cheap, it can OC, and it will run my primary video card at x16 and my secondary (when I get it) at x8. Other suggestions welcome.

CPU: i5 750
Once again someone can try to talk me out of it, but this processor really seems to fit in what I want. I doubt I need to spend the money on the i7, but neither do I really want to downgrade to an AMD.

Memory: OCZ Gold 4gb
On sale for $99, this RAM seems like as good a deal as any. Someday I'll probably add another 4gb, but for now this seems like enough.

Video Card: Radeon HD 5850
This particular model is $319, but it comes with a copy of MW2, which I don't yet have for PC. So I count the price as under $300. Either way, powerful card, right? I've given serious thought to just running a 5770 though. Any Input welcome (even though I realize this probably just comes down to preference and what I'm comfortable spending). For what it's worth, either way I will probably end up buying another card in the future (when prices drop), so I can run crossfire.

Hard Drive: Western Digital 500gb
Didn't do a whole lot of research in this area, so if there are better options I'd love to know.

Optical Drive: HP Multidrive
Not the cheapest of the cheap, but it comes with nero and high ratings at a fair price. Again, other suggestions welcome.
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Besides components above I have a few other concerns.

1) Cooling. My case has two fans in it, do I need to add another? If so what should I buy. Also, if I wish to OC my processor to 3.6 or 3.8, do I need to pick up an aftermarket fan for that?
2) As I said earlier, my primary (only) monitor is going to be an LCD TV. Am I going to have problems setting my computer up with just this as a screen? Also, what sorts of connections do I need to make this work as a monitor? Just an HDMI cable?


I think that's it for now. Thanks for any help!
 
WD green is mainly for storage and power saving
probably don't want that as your main drive
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
$10 bucks off with promo code

OCZ Ram you chose needs 1.9V
Intel spec says 1.65V max
do you really want to take that risk?
maybe get the ripjaws
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

*note my suggestions are always biased, I recommend brands i like
 
yea i would get the ram Clown suggested.

also, if you're willing to spend not even $5 more (due to shipping cost on the corsair), you could get this psu
Newegg.com - XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W ATX12V 2.2 / ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
this is also a very good psu, but this one is modular so you would be able to detach and store cables that you don't use, which would reduce clutter inside your case and improve airflow.

as for your q's;
1) that case supports another fan in front, so it wouldn't hurt if you bought another 120mm fan.

and yes, you should pick up an aftermarket cooler if you want to OC. the one Baron suggested is great for the price.

2) yes, if you're TV has hdmi, then i believe all you'll need is an hdmi cable.
 
Thanks for the responses. On the topic of RAM, I appreciate the input because I really didn't understand what the specs meant. I actually thought higher voltage was better because I thought it was rating what the RAM could withstand. For the comments, I assume it actually represents what the RAM uses, so lower is actually better.

The Hard Drive suggestion is also appreciated, though I was wondering while shopping what does "bare drive" mean? I sort of avoided them just because I didn't know. Will I need extra wires or something?

Thanks too for the cooler suggestions.
 
a bare drive is the drive and nothing else, no manuals or cables or fancy packaging. the drive itself will still work fine though.

usually, the mobo would come with a few sata cables for you connect your hdd(s), but since you're buying an open box mobo, it's not guaranteed that it will come any manuals or cables either.

you could just buy a separate cable though.
 
Thanks for clarifying the drive thing.

I have another question...this one is a total shift of gears though. I assumed it would be cheaper to build a system on my own than go through a custom shop, but a friend recommended I at least look at a few. He pointed me to ibuypower.com and I put together the same system for a tiny bit less than what I would spend on the parts.

The obvious advantages are that I don't have to put it together and it has a warranty. I'm wondering if people here have experience with that company though and if it's a good option. I'm also wondering with a prebuilt system, will I still be able to do my own OCing, or do components get "locked" or something like that?
 
All the parts come with a warranty, plus you know you're getting high quality parts. You don't know what kind of psu, ram, 5850, or what exactly you're getting with ibuypower. Though it is one of the best pre-built sites, its still better to built it yourself if you can.
 
All the parts come with a warranty, plus you know you're getting high quality parts. You don't know what kind of psu, ram, 5850, or what exactly you're getting with ibuypower. Though it is one of the best pre-built sites, its still better to built it yourself if you can.

While it costs a tad more, it looks like there are options to pick a Corsair PSU, A-Data RAM, and an XFX 5850.

I'm still curious if the same OC options would be available to such a system though.
 
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