$1200 Sandy bridge build... Suggestions?

[apsoul]

Ok so i have about 2-3 weeks to figure out this build. The price is around where i'd like it to be, although I could always go lower. Any suggestions or opinions would be appreciated.
I already have an optical drive, Corsair 650tx, Coolermaster HAF 932, and a TRUE120(i need to buy the 1156/1155 mounting kit). I would like suggestions for some decent 2.1 speakers. I know speaker quality is somewhat subjective, but i haven't a clue what is what when it comes to them. I don't need top of the line, but i don't want crap either.

Intel i5 2500k 229.99

ASUS P67 Sabertooth 219.99

G.Skill Ripjaw X 2x2GB DDR3 1600 CL9 1.5v

XFX HD6870 1GB 229.99

WD Caviar Black 7200RPM 640GB 64MB cache 69.99

Samsung BX2231 21.5" 179.99

Logitech MK200 wired Keyboard and Mouse 24.99

2x Silverstone FM121 120mm Fans 33.98

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit 1-pack for System builders OEM 99.99

Total price of these parts is just about $1,140. I figure when its getting down to the actual day of purchase i will hunt down a couple combo deals which should bring the price pretty close to $1,000. (Post title says $1200 figuring in the case and psu costs.)

What do you think? I do have future thoughts of adding a SSD but i'm just trying to get the rig up and running at this point.

 

[Hapx4.0]

Ok, down the list

Love the i5 2500k, its a true beast per $

The P67 Sabertooth is just odd to me. I would say go Asus P67 Evo

G.Skill Ripjaw is great budget ram

GPU i would most defiantly go GTX 560 TI. Hands down

Good HDD

Also i would look into a 1080p LCD thats 23"+ in size. Check some of the Acer ones. Nice stuff.

 

[iceyc0ld]

If your still looking for that monitor , look at mine...

It's 24" 1080p. It's in my sig, the acer G235h

 

[apsoul]

Thanks for the suggestions

The Monitor I have there is 1080p isn't it? and I don't need a huge monitor. I may be mistaken, but I believe I have heard some iffy reports on acer monitors. I know Samsung is a reliable brand name, so that is why I wanted to go with them. I am willing to pay a little extra for the Samsung name. Is there a reason other than 'bigger is better' that you suggested the 23''+ acer?

On the GPU, I haven't kept up with the new stuff coming out the last couple months. Last i remember, the 460 was a good bang/buck card however it was an electricity hog, and AMD came out with 6xxx series which ran cooler and used less electricity(than 5xxx series and fermi). I do enjoy my games however, I'm not an avid gamer. Therefor I am not looking for top end performance GPUs. As stated, I'm just looking to get a good base build together and can upgrade in the future if necessary. Would you still suggest the 560?

And on the mobo, The main difference i see between the EVO and Sabertooth is EVO has higher ram speed capabilities(i won't be using that) and the PCI-e slots which i'm not very concerned with as I will not be using more than 2 GPU's. Are there any specific reasons other than it being 'odd' that i should steer away from the sabertooth? I do like the 5yr warranty.

edit: I was even thinking about saving a little more money and getting the 6850.

 

[iceyc0ld]

I'm an nvidia guy, so I recommend the 560 TI, by MSI.

Newegg.com - MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Acer monitors, well, let's just say I've seen very small amounts of bad reviews. But I am using one currently, no problem at all. Any monitor will have bad reviews anyways. Like other say people on newegg don't know what they're talking about.

 

[aspire]

Looks like a solid build.

I'm running a 2500k with a Intel Extreme board. Aside from a few bios idiosyncracies I'm pushing 4.5Ghz using the turbo boost with a 9.017s Super Pi.

I'm sure you'll be more than happy with it.

 

[Trotter]

I'm using a 25" HannsG. It has a little light bleed around the edges when the screen is completely black, but that's all I have found to fault it with so far. I am loving the additional screen real estate.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I'm going to go against the grain and recommend sticking with the Samsung monitor. Dell also has very good monitors if you can catch a sale on them.

 

[Hapx4.0]

Samsung does make great monitors, they are actually my favorite brand next to LG.

On the GPU subject -

The 470/480s got a bad rep with power / noise but the GTX 460 changed it completely, It was lower power, more performance + low cost. The full 500 series has taken the path of the 460 and has the same characteristics. The 69xx has failed imo. I've seen benchmarks where the GTX 560 TI destroy even the HD 6970, not all. but in some "real life game tests". And when it comes to the 6950 its a no brainier. i don't see any test that show it doing better. The GTX 560 TI by MSI is amazing. Able to hit 1Ghz OC and runs a good 18°c lower. And to the point "upgrade in the future if necessary" The 560 is showing amazing SLI scaling. Get one now, and in 8 months buy another if you need more horsepower and take advantage of the almost 85% performance scaling.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Samsung does make great monitors, they are actually my favorite brand next to LG.

On the GPU subject -

The 470/480s got a bad rep with power / noise but the GTX 460 changed it completely, It was lower power, more performance + low cost. The full 500 series has taken the path of the 460 and has the same characteristics. The 69xx has failed imo. I've seen benchmarks where the GTX 560 TI destroy even the HD 6970, not all. but in some "real life game tests". And when it comes to the 6950 its a no brainier. i don't see any test that show it doing better. The GTX 560 TI by MSI is amazing. Able to hit 1Ghz OC and runs a good 18°c lower. And to the point "upgrade in the future if necessary" The 560 is showing amazing SLI scaling. Get one now, and in 8 months buy another if you need more horsepower and take advantage of the almost 85% performance scaling.

I like LG in general but I have one of their LED monitors on another system and it had the worst stock color profile I have ever seen. I was finally able to get it to look right after using the calibration tool in Windows but a lot of people wouldn't want to deal with that so I have a hard time recommending them.

The review I read put the HD 6950 1GB pretty much dead even with the GTX 560 so calling the HD 69xx series a failure is hardly justified.