[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Motherboard and PSU are definitely more expensive than you need.
I would consider getting the K version of the 2500, it's only $20 more for the unlocked multiplier (makes overclocking easy)
I agree with Ledgem - if it weren't for the Thai floods driving prices up, I'd recommend more than 1TB for an anime collector.

Also, I highly recommend getting an external hard drive for backup. You don't want to entrust a large collection to a single drive.

Thank you. You're right, it's only $20 more... seems like a sound investment.

I have 2 100GB externals already. Should I really get another external? I'm mostly just using the 1TB drive to store stuff, I shouldn't be using it that often. Stuff I use a lot, like Word documents, will be on my master SSD. It's 120GB, so that should be fine with a 1TB secondary.

Current setup looks like this:
-ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
-SeaSonic Platinum Platinum-860 860W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K
-G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
-EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
-Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW120G3K5 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
-Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

While I'm at it, I might as well throw in a monitor.
-Acer S231HLbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI LED-Backlight LCD monitor Slim Design
Very nice deal on this one. Originally $199.99, on sale for $139.99. Hard to pass up a $60 sale (that's 30%).

Since I already have a decent keyboard and mouse, that just leaves the wireless adapter card. Assuming I need one. I would prefer to just use an ethernet cable. Our router sucks.

I'm already hopelessly overbudget at $1281. I probably need to make some adjustments to lower my costs. What can I say? I don't know how to plan.

Edit: My post from the bottom of the last page:

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

Thanks. That's what I wanted to know. Is that PSU still good with the motherboard, or should I pick another motherboard, instead?

If I do need to change them both, I would probably go with these:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $121.99
-Not sure if it's got enough PCI slots, but it's 1155 and relatively cheap. Definitely worried about there only being 3 PCI slots, though....
SeaSonic Platinum Platinum-860 860W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
-Your suggestion looks very nice, with fan controls, too.

I would prefer something with more slots for expandability. My other top pick for a motherboard would be this:
ASRock Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $269.99

And for a graphics card:
EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $139.99
-Not sure if this graphics card is suitable to my setup. Do I need a better one?