I was a long time FFXI player and have now decided that I am going to try out FFXIV. I need a new computer in order to play this. The computer will be used for FFXIV as well as Solidworks, CAD, MATLAB, and programming. This is going to be my first build and I need all components including monitor, keyboard, and storage. My budget is $1500 max but would like to keep it as cheap as possible. (I know I am probably going to spend that much because I like to go all out when I buy things.)
Here is what I have so far (cant post urls yet):
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1) Built in Speakers
SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RS800-80GAD3-US 800W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Logitech 920-000922 Black 104 Normal Keys USB Cordless Compact Desktop S520
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM
COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
The build comes to about $1100 but I still need a cpu and motherboard. I am thinking about waiting for the Sandy Bridge chips to come out this week and pick up a i5 2500k and a P67 motherboard. I am thinking that they would cost about $350 for the two.
A few questions I have:
-Are SSD worth it for the cost? I would like a fast system but am not sure that the extra cost and low space is going to be worth it.
-I have heard that the HD6950 can be upgraded to the 6970 with a BIOS change. I also heard that the card would not fit into the CM Storm Scout without modification. What good case options are there?
-Is the power supply overkill?
I want to try and make this build as future proof as possible but I know that with technology advancing so quickly it is almost impossible to do. Thanks in advance for any advice.