My computer (built in 2010) is developing some issues that most likely have to do with either a hard drive or PSU going bad. Tonight was the worst, I've ended up with about 7 restarts and I'm a little fed up.





Current rig is a very early i5 2500k, Asus P8P67 Pro, GTX760, etc... only update was the GPU (from a 460) and it's been running solidly since I built it.
This is what I'm looking at right now:





i5 4690k


Azrock Z97 Extreme3


G.Skill Sniper DDR3-1600 RAM


GTX970





Not sure on CPU cooler or PSU. Definitely want a good SSD for the OS (which will probably be 8.1 even though I love 7), and at least a 2T HDD.





Not sure on case either. Currently running an HAF 932 which I LOVE, but there might be something better by now.





In the process, I'll be turning my old computer into an HTPC.





Any recommendations or changes you'd make to the gaming rig?I'm trying to stay well under $1200 if possible. Closer to $1k would be ideal, but this will be a full build, not reusing any parts except peripherals.

Cooler

PSU

GPU, cpu and mb is all good to go

Im a huge fan of the RIPjaw ram from G.Skill, but might only be a heatsink difference between the two

cases the sky is your limit really, just get one with features you want, imo they should all be tooless by now

Heh, I literally just ordered that PSU for my current computer to see if that's the issue I'm having, glad it's decent



What's the best performance/cost ratio for RAM? I don't want to go super cheap.



Also, are the WD Caviar Blacks still the way to go for mass storage?



 

I put together a pretty decent list while the computer ran for a few hours this evening before freezing.



HAF932 case (I already have one, and it's still close to the top of the list apparently... familiarity FTW)

Asrock Z97 Extreme3

i5 4690K

Coolermaster Hyper 212

G.Skill Ripjaws X 8gig

WD 2tb Caviar Black

Crucial MX100 256g SSD

Corsair CX750

MSI GTX970

Windows 8.1 (running 7 now, but 8.1 will have better support for games later)



Total comes out to $1342 I could probably go for cheaper RAM, but it would only save about $20. OS is $104, I had forgotten about that. GTX970 is the most expensive piece by far at $350, but I don't want to go lower than that.

any particular game are you aiming to win at?

Not really. I could run most things acceptably at very high or ultra settings, but aside from the PC problems I was having, Far Cry 4 was chugging a little on Very High so I figure it's time to update anyway



I generally play things like Skyrim (heavily modded), flight sims, Arma II & 3 (both CPU and graphics intensive) and such.



 

My rig: