Help choosing the right components, Opinions

How much CAD work and for how long? The only difference between an i5 and an i7 is HT and the difference for those time when it will be taken advantage of is ~30%. You won't need HT for gaming but you will need it for CAD. The question is how much is a 30% savings on render time worth to you.

Will you OC this? An aftermarket cooler is recommended if you want to OC. if not, you might want to consider a non-K processor. Cheaper but no OC.

I agree to the end part of your first post and also the end part of your second post

Getting a 3570K would be the perfect processor for you to go for as performance-wise it's more than enough for gaming. The 3770k is if you have an unlimited budget. There's isn't much difference with just 2m more cache and HT technology, except for the price.

So a 3570K with a GTX-670 would be a much better combo than a 3770K with a 570. If the 670 is still a bit steep for you to get, then don't worry, this month in the mid of august, GTX-660 ti would be coming out which would be a bit more cheaper and the performance between a 670 and 580.

I'm going to play a little devils advocate here. In my life with computers; I have typically had cycle times between machines of 7-8 years or so, and I have never felt compelled, or felt a need to buy into high end. I have been well served by mediocre grade stuff and am happy to know that with that mediocrity, I have kept computing costs down, and my productivity has only been hindered towards the end of the cycle life of a machine as the software has gotten ahead of it. In this latest "cycle" for me, I foresee a potentially longer service life, based on the fact that the trend in software now is actually towards efficiency, with portable machines taking the lead for priority (there's a lot of money to be made on wireless contracts).

I think the mobo is a bit overkill unless you have a very specific reason for that board. I'd be willing to bet, that you could take a few percent hit on OC stability and get by with a board costing 30-50% less easily. The ASRock Z77 Extreme4 comes to mind. As does the BIOSTAR TZ77XE4 and many other down in that price class.

For overclocking on air, go ivy or sandy based on pricing. If you can get a sandy for a lot less cost where you are, take the deal, save the money, and you'll probably hit similar performance with a higher potential OC anyway.

I would have a very hard time justifying any CPU above and beyond an i3 sandy at this time personally, however, I understand the desire for "more." With that in mind, If a machine is only going to be used, perhaps, 5-10% of the time for tasks that can take advantage of hyper-threading, I would not personally be able to justify the i7. Considering the fact that a solid I3 2120 can handily deal with gaming, my position would not be whether to get an i5 or i7, but, whether to get an i3 or i5. The i3 is about half the price of and i5 typically, and it would take a super complex model to bring the i3 to it's knees in CAD. How complex is the work you are doing in CAD? I mean, seriously? Granted, if you intend to OC, this whole point is sort of moot unless they come out with a "K" version of the i3.

As far as GPUs are concerned, at this time, in that $200-300 price class, the AMD7000 series is currently the winner in my book. The efficiency alone compared to buying into a 500 series Nvidia card has the potential to pay for itself several times over compared to using the 500 series through those same years, in electrical savings. A very easy choice here. In fact, with these "latest generation" cards, this is one of the few areas and time slots in available hardware where I would say, that a relatively expensive card is actually "worth it" in the long haul. The GTX670 would easily be on the table in the budget if some of the other areas on the machine were cut.

I used a 64GB M4 on a build awhile back for my sister. Nice drive, bad idea. Windows alone fills over half, then, formatting... there isn't enough left to do much of anything useful with, a few programs... It's a problem. Moving the VM to an alternate mechy comes with risks as well, as windows can "screw" that up in a big hurry in my experience. I'd suggest no smaller than a 128GB for a windows install + programs.

As far as the mechy drive goes, whichever you can get for less.

The PCP&C 950W, is overkill, but I love the brand. Awesome PSUs. Assuming the machine were to remain a single GPU setup, anything over ~400-500W is pretty pointless (hard to find well made units below this power rating so this is the range to look in for most machines)... Assuming dual GPUs down the road, maybe 500-700W class.
Edited by mdocod - 8/2/12 at 3:21am