I need suggestions on a new Antec 300 build

[Buckshot420]

Hi Guys! I am going to do a build over the winter months and have decided on an Antec 300 (got one for $34.99 after mail in rebate). I am not an extreme gamer but I do play on the 360 and would like to play certain titles that were meant to be played on a PC (mainly Skyrim and Diablo 3 when it comes out). I also dabble in music production as a hobby so I also might do a dual OS install so I can use XP with my music production software (way more stable). Other than that it will be used for typical uses and software i.e.: MS Office, Multitaksing, maintaining a website (I need dual dvi monitor support) etc.. I am pretty mindset on the Intel i5 2500 or 2500k and am leaning towards the ASRock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3 LGA ATX board. I'd like to complete the build for around $600-800 (price is without monitor and other peripherals) if possible. I told myself I will never buy a box store computer ever again. What are your opinions on what I should do/buy next? I am in no hurry to complete this build and I know some hardware might be had on the cheap around the holidays. I want to do this right the first time!
-Buckshot

edit: If there end up being budget restraints I will add the GPU at a later time and use the 2500K onboard graphics as a temp.

 

[Jawshh]

Hi Guys! I am going to do a build over the winter months and have decided on an Antec 300 (got one for $34.99 after mail in rebate). I am not an extreme gamer but I do play on the 360 and would like to play certain titles that were meant to be played on a PC (mainly Skyrim and Diablo 3 when it comes out). I also dabble in music production as a hobby so I also might do a dual OS install so I can use XP with my music production software (way more stable). Other than that it will be used for typical uses and software i.e.: MS Office, Multitaksing, maintaining a website (I need dual dvi monitor support) etc.. I am pretty mindset on the Intel i5 2500 or 2500k and am leaning towards the ASRock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3 LGA ATX board. I'd like to complete the build for around $600-800 (price is without monitor and other peripherals) if possible. I told myself I will never buy a box store computer ever again. What are your opinions on what I should do/buy next? I am in no hurry to complete this build and I know some hardware might be had on the cheap around the holidays. I want to do this right the first time!
-Buckshot

edit: If there end up being budget restraints I will add the GPU at a later time and use the 2500K onboard graphics as a temp.

How about those:

CPU

HDD

Memory

Motherboard

Power Supply

DVD Drive

Video Card

All that $827.94. Didn't count your Antec 300 and rebates though! Of course, this list is for reference only and you should try to tweak it to match your budget. This is just to give you an idea of what you should be aiming for. There are a ton of review here at TS, read 'em and purchase the best.

If you ain't in a hurry to build, I'd wait until next year because prices will really fall and I believe intel will be introducing some better CPUs.

 

[Buckshot420]

If you ain't in a hurry to build, I'd wait until next year because prices will really fall and I believe intel will be introducing some better CPUs.

Is the ASRock a good board choice and will it fit in the 300 case? Is this a decent SSD drive for OS and a game or 2?

 

[Jawshh]

Is the ASRock a good board choice and will it fit in the 300 case? Is this a decent SSD drive for OS and a game or 2?

ASRock is definitely a good manufacturer-they provide good quality and some unique features and are pretty affordable. Usually, you should go for Asus/Gigabyte/ASRock-they're at the top of my list.

The 300 can take ATX boards, so, it'll definitely fit.

The SSD is good if you can afford it but I'd also purchase the 500GB drive. You will then need to install the OS and a couple games like you said on the SSD and other non-IO intensive apps on the bigger drive. If you're only gonna be gaming, then forget the big drive and grab only the SSD