First Build... Many Questions.

[Belisareus]

Hello,

I am going to build my first ever system (and migrate from laptops to a desktop after so many years). Last time I had a desktop was when the Pentium III were brand new.

What I want out of this system is a rig that I can use for games (Crysis, Metro and similar do not interest me… I prefer games such as Civ, Sword of the Stars (1 and the upcoming 2), browsing the internet, MS Office work etc.
My guiding principle is that I want to have this system for several years to come (some changes can be made, but I am not looking to changing my GPU every year for example). For that reason, I am favouring a set up that is keeping component temperatures low.

I would also like to have a quite system, even though I plan on overclocking the CPU to circa 4.6-4.8.

Overall budget (excluding monitor/peripherals: £1000 - £1150)

Below are my choices so far:

Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D
CPU: Intel i5 2500k
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H100
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68 V-Pro
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 2 x 4GB (1600MHz)
GPU: MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III Power Edition
Hard Drive 1: 128GB M4 Crucial
Hard Drive 2: Samsung F2 1TB
Monitor: BenQ EW2430
Power Supply:
Optical Drive:
Case Fans:

My Questions are the following:

1. For the above set up, is the 650D good, or should I opt for a Haf-X (price range for me £110 - £130)?

1.1. For the monitor specification (1920x1080), and with a life span of 5 years in mind, which GPU should I choose: the MSI N570GTX or the MSI R6970 Lightning (the latter being ~£50-£60 more expensive than the former).?

1.2. Which case offers the best airflow/cooling, if were to have 2 MSI N570s or 2 MSI R6970s installed?

2. Regarding the PSU: If were to have only an N570 or one R6970, what kind of PSU should I go for (should be fairly silent)?

2.1. If were to have either an SLI or Xfire, which PSU would you recommend?

3. What is a good Optical Drive? I am looking for an internal that can read and write on wide gamut of DVD and CD formats. I am not particularly fussy about BD. It would be nice to have if speed was 12x or so. My budget for this component is no more than £30.

4. Regarding the Memory, is the Corsair Vengeance good choice, or is there a better/faster Memory for roughly the same price (+- £10).

5. Finally, I have heard that the SSD have limited lifespans. Would the M4 last for 5 years or so?

6. Which Monitor would you recommend: the BenQ EW 2420 or BenQ EW 2430? I have heard that the 30 is not necessarily an overall improvement over the 20. Is that true? For my uses, which one should I go for?
I know I have asked a lot of questions… The lack of knowledge of the uninitiated one I guess.

7. Whether I were to go for the Haf-X or the 650D, would I need to buy any extra/better fans?

Thanks a lot in advance for all the advice!

 

[95thrifles]

1) The 650D would be fine but see later answer
1.1) Given your choice of games, the 570 will be more than adequate
1.2) If you were to want to look at dual cards, then a HAF X would be better choice, that being said I doubt youd ever need more than one 570 for your uses, if by the time you did need more power, youd be as well selling the 570 and buying a new card
2) a 650W will be plenty of power, the Antec Truepowers are good ATM, good price, good efficiency and modular, but any from Corsair, Antec, BeQuiet or XFX are good
3) This would cover it, and as its retail youll get software supplied with it
4) Its fine
5) Yes, they have limited life but even with intense use it should still last 10+ years
6) not 100% sure on this one tbh, you may be better posting a dedicated thread in the monitors section
7) No

 

[Belisareus]

1) The 650D would be fine but see later answer
1.1) Given your choice of games, the 570 will be more than adequate
1.2) If you were to want to look at dual cards, then a HAF X would be better choice, that being said I doubt youd ever need more than one 570 for your uses, if by the time you did need more power, youd be as well selling the 570 and buying a new card
2) a 650W will be plenty of power, the Antec Truepowers are good ATM, good price, good efficiency and modular, but any from Corsair, Antec, BeQuiet or XFX are good
3) This would cover it, and as its retail youll get software supplied with it
4) Its fine
5) Yes, they have limited life but even with intense use it should still last 10+ years
6) not 100% sure on this one tbh, you may be better posting a dedicated thread in the monitors section
7) No

Thanks a lot 95thrifles!

Regarding the 650D, I did some internet research and people say that the H100 is a tight fit for the case (radiator on top). Would that mean that I would have to 'customise' the case, or is it a case of a just/barely fitting component. Would it's installation adversely affect the air flow?

 

[95thrifles]

Not 100% but having read the bumph on the 650D it says "The top fan can be replaced by dual 120mm or 140mm fans, and is pre-spaced for a dual radiator if you’re interested in watercooling." And as its a Corsair radiator unit, I would suspect it fits, probably just tight