Thinking of building a new rig

[Xeogred]

Here's my current template, seems over the top though:

Intel Core i5 3550 Processor 3.3 4 - $210
BIOSTAR TZ77B LGA 1155 Intel Z77 - $90
Corsair Memory 8 Dual Channel Kit DDR3 1600 - $50
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Double Shot - $250
SanDisk Extreme SSD 120GB GB SATA 6.0 - $110
SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB 32MB Cache SATA - $120
Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive (Black) - $20
Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-650 - $100
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - $90
NZXT HAVIK CPU Cooler with Dual 140MM Fans - $55
ASUS PCI 5.1 Channel Sound Card XONAR_DG - $25
Wireless ~ $30

$1,150 before tax/shipping.

Now, I'm not sure when and if I will make this happen anytime soon, but when it does happen I want to make it count. I've pretty much been set on getting a good PC to hold me over for a few years for now, I don't think I plan to get the next consoles until after they've been out for awhile. So I've just been thinking I'll stick with a PC for awhile instead this time. Never really had a top notch PC either, so it'll be fun to have a good one for once.

Definitely not trying to justify anything here though, haha. Still no expert at all. So if you've got suggestions on that build let me know. I tried looking for smaller SSD's but didn't see any around (not that I looked for very long). Like I'd be fine with a 90GB or something instead. But eh... if things are just a $20-30 difference, I say why not (although I guess that can add up, lol). I know I probably won't bother with overclocking and things like that though. Is a dual cooler necessary though with all this? And there was another motherboard I was looking at, but it had two PCI Express slots whereas this one has one, which is probably all I'd use. I could maybe punch down the 2TB HDD to a 500GB one for starters to save a little at first. This case has room for a ton of HDD's though, so I could just add them down the road.

[MrPopo]

If you know 100% that you aren't going to overclock then you don't need a cooler that good. On Newegg you can get 60GB SSDs starting at $60. I'd also recommend cutting the sound card; the onboard sound on motherboards is fine until you get into some kind of a crazy 7.1 speaker setup and are a major audiophile.

[Xeogred]

Yeah sounds like a simpler single fan cooler would suffice.

I still don't even have any speakers around to use, so yeah I'd probably be using headphones 100% of the time. I guess that's a good note on the sound card. lol

Would 60GB be fine for Win7?

[isiolia]

Would 60GB be fine for Win7?

You can make it work, but at least in my use it'd require close monitoring of what's on your system drive and/or remapping user directories. Also keep in mind that SSD performance degrades as they fill up, so you don't want to be cutting things too close.

Personally, I've found that a 128GB works a lot better. Mine tends to float around 40GB free, so I'd be more than filling a 60GB. All I really need to do is put games and media files on other drives...which is something I did anyway.

I've used smaller SSDs in my HTPC, in laptops at work, in my brother's machine... you can definitely make them work if you want/need to. It's just more work. If you can afford to, I'd go a little larger.

[MrPopo]

As a note, if you have a lot of Steam games you'll probably have to put Steam on your storage drive, since Steam doesn't give you the option of picking and choosing where to install each game. You might be able to get around it with symlinks but that'd be a pain to manage.

[Xeogred]

Yes, I have tons of Steam games... and will be buying tons more.