Panties wrote Um, that is very good actually. Usually people have no clue and don't even know what to look for when it comes to building a PC but you have it all figured out.

As somebody mentioned above about a NVIDIA graphics card, I for one love the Radeon series and I use it still. If I couldn't get my hands on a Radeon though I would definitely get a NVIDIA one.

But that's my opinion of course xD Also I would recommend a...

Motherboard from Newegg if you're in the U.S.A.
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ALSO a SSD from Newegg
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I recommend 120gig as this would be more for your OS and maybe personal files. I don't think you will a 250gig

Thank you very much, I think I will still go for the radeon hd, as here in the UK I can get the radeon for about $100 less than the equivalent nVidia. I definitely think I will go for an SSD, I can't resist!

The 6970 is just as good as the GTX 570 in games. An Nvidia would be helpful when rendering since it has CUDA.

Either get an SSD or swap out that Green drive. Slow and unreliable. Most people get a nice Crucial M4 / Intel's 510 series SSD as a boot..and use the slower Green drives as storage.

Just make sure the ram is @ 1.5v or under.

for a motherboard, you will have to get a p67 or z68 chipset, if you dont, then getting the 2600k would be pointless. the p67 and z68 allow overclocking.

Chris-Wallace wrote for a motherboard, you will have to get a p67 or z68 chipset, if you dont, then getting the 2600k would be pointless. the p67 and z68 allow overclocking.

Thanks, yeah, I will definitely go with the z68 chipset, the best of p67 and h67 in one. I'm considering the Asus P8Z68-V PRO.

you could get a gaming motherboard, like the Asus RAMPAGE EXTREME III or Asus CROSSFIRE IV

derblainkris wrote you could get a gaming motherboard, like the Asus RAMPAGE EXTREME III or Asus CROSSFIRE IV

I'm afraid neither of those motherboards support the intel 1155 cpu connector, however is it worth paying a lot more for a gaming board over a mid/high end standard board?

PIGs_Remix wrote

derblainkris wrote you could get a gaming motherboard, like the Asus RAMPAGE EXTREME III or Asus CROSSFIRE IV

I'm afraid neither of those motherboards support the intel 1155 cpu connector, however is it worth paying a lot more for a gaming board over a mid/high end standard board?

Just because it is labeled as a "gaming motherboard" means that it is better. Get a motherboard that fits YOUR needs and components.

Panties wrote

PIGs_Remix wrote

derblainkris wrote you could get a gaming motherboard, like the Asus RAMPAGE EXTREME III or Asus CROSSFIRE IV

I'm afraid neither of those motherboards support the intel 1155 cpu connector, however is it worth paying a lot more for a gaming board over a mid/high end standard board?

Just because it is labeled as a "gaming motherboard" means that it is better. Get a motherboard that fits YOUR needs and components.

Based on the components above, how much would you recommend spending on a motherboard?

this is the board that im getting in my new build which is close to yours, but im getting a geforce gtx 570 instead.

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Chris-Wallace wrote this is the board that im getting in my new build which is close to yours, but im getting a geforce gtx 570 instead.

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Am I right in thinking though that as I will be using a large case it would be better to use ATX as opposed to Micro ATX?