SSD for read-mostly, HDD for read-write data is a big win. Just be sure not to put the pagefile on the SSD: it's a waste of expensive SSD space.

RAID can yield a big improvement if you do it right, but doing it right is not cheap. You need RAID-rated drives like Western Digital RE3 or RE4-GP, and you need a dedicated RAID controller. When drives fail in RAID, it's usually because they are consumer drives, which have firmware unsuited to the way RAID drives are operated, or because the controller is an onboard "software RAID" kludge.

Budget for a 2TB RAID-10 array:

4 WD RE4 1TB @ $120 each = $480
1 3ware 9650SE Controller @ $265
Total $745

vs. 1 WD Caviar Black 2TB @ $134 ›››

Damn, the arrogance is astounding. Again, no, it's not confirmed. All we have are strong hints and valid clues which we can draw conclusions from. Note however, we can only infer that Alvin is Jacques. We cannot deduce the link between the two.

I personally do find it very likely and the fact that it's not written in stone is what makes the theory so much more compelling. ›››

Thanks alot for the replys guys.

Firstly, i would like to address where i am actully buying this stuff:
www.overclockers.co.uk
I am sure most of you are not from the UK but I have found it is a very good website.

Secondly, im not 100% sure about the hard drive. I have been under the impression that it would be alot better to have two drives but i have indeed found a 2TB HD for only £65.99

Thirdly, i do plan to upgrade in the future and would rather spend less now (assuming i can actully run everything out right now) and not worry about future games with higher specs.

Thanks again ›››

Motherboard way overpriced for the average user. All the nice little extras and features... no regular gamer makes use of them, anyways. Potential to save $60 - $80 without making any compromises you'd notice (Like Gigabyte Z77 DS3H @ $110).

PSU overpowered. 500W to 550W will easily suffice for any single-GPU system. Potential to save another $50 - $100 (Like Seasonic M12II 520W Modular @ $80).

Case way overpriced. Potential to save $100 and still get a decent mid-tower (Like Antec Three Hundred Two @ $60).

Overpriced gaming peripherals. The keyboard is a joke. Any $20 multimedia keyboard from Logitech or Cherry will do just fine. If you want to spend that kind of money on a keyboard get a mechanical. (Like Logitech K120 / K200 @ $15 / $25 or Cherry J82 @ $20)

K-model CPU. Getting the best i5 is the right way to go, but if you want to save money, leave out the K-model. Ivy bridge has only small overclocking potential anyways, and as you said yourself, there should be no need to overclock anyways. Save another $10 - $20.


Long story short: Without meaning any offence, but you don't know how to economically build a PC. Your PC is fine, just not when you try to make it as low-budget as possible while making little sacrifice in terms of performance. ›››