Building a BEAST!

So a few weeks ago I decided to build another computer for myself.  Well, as the story goes, my parents POS Dell they had bought just over a year ago was having major issues.  So I told them I'd just give them my "old" Core 2 Quad and build myself another computer.  I felt like it didn't make sense to build them a Core i5 or some mediocre computer where mine would suit their purposes fine (basically email and internet).  And so the researching began...

I knew right off the bat I was going to build a Core i7.

But which one?  Well, of course I go top of the line since I do quite a bit of editing and I was tired of seeing my videos skip and lag in my preview box.  I ended up going with the Core i7-3770 3.4GHZ Ivy Bridge processor.  Right now, this is the top of the line processor for Intel.  There are other in this line of processor that have higher speed, but does it really make a difference?  I don't think so, so I went with the cheapest one I could find in this line.  Got a decent board in the Asus P8Z77-V LK.  Everything I need and more.  Honestly, besides the power for rendering videos, I don't really use it for anything else.  I don't game, so I'm gearing the build towards editing.

Wanted to make sure that processor stays cool at all times, haha.  So I put the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler on there.  This thing is monstrous!  Just barely fits in the tower and there's a two fan option which I used.

RAM is so cheap these days too!  DDR3 RAM, 16gb, for only $60 after rebate!  I feel like I should go to jail for stealing :P.  I remember when RAM was like $100 for 4gb.  Apparently, times have changed and I'm not complaining.  Also had to get a SSD for faster accessing times.  Ended up with a Kingston V300 SATAIII 120gb SSD drive for a cool $99.

I'm boring with the video card since I had bought one last year when my old one died.  I guess this would be the most outdated part in the computer.  I've got a GeForce GTX550Ti 1gb card in there.  Not too shabby, but not the best either.  It works fine for my editing, so I'm not complaining.

To top it off, I bought the Cooler Master Elite 311 case.  My old computer was cased in the Elite 310, and I really liked that case.  So much so, that I was looking around for it, but discovered that it had been discontinued.  Makes sense since it's over 3 years old now.  So I did the next best thing, bought its successor.  I really like this case, very simple layout and looks nice.  Also pretty cheap at $42.50.  For good measure, I threw a 600watt Cooler Master Power Plus power supply in there (pictured above).

Wires, wires, and more wires!  Haha, yeah, I didn't do the nicest job making the build look clean.  But you know what, I don't care because I'm the only one who looks at it anyway.  Plus, all the wires are hidden inside the case where you can't see it anyway.  I did buy the Elite 311 version with the door, so you can see into the tower, but it's mostly the section where you wires aren't exposed.

Overall, I'm very happy with this build.  I didn't have any problems with any of the parts and installing Windows 7 64bit was a cinch.  So now everyone is happy!  My parents have a working computer that isn't giving them problems, and I have a new beast that edits and renders my videos faster!  Couldn't ask for anything more for $750 (that's with an *)!  I'll give you a breakdown of the parts and prices below, but $750 was a great deal for the build.

My beast!
Asus P8Z77-V LK - $124.99 after rebate
Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHZ - $289.99
Corsair 16gb DDR3 1600MHZ RAM - $60.11 after rebate
Kingston V300 SATAIII 120gb SSD - $99.99
GeForce GTX 550Ti 1gb video card - "free"
Cooler Master Elite 311 case - $42.50
Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 600watt PS - $$39.99 after rebate
Crappy DVD+R drive from my old computer - "free"

So all of this added up to about $750 after rebates, not including a few small parts, a crappy video card I put in my parents computer, and I took the Windows 7 key from their old Dell since they won't be using that anymore :P.  Pretty good deal considering, but don't expect to build the same computer at this price.  Yours would probably be at least $100 more, if not a little more than that.  Now that you're pumped up to build your own beast, go out and get it on!