Posts by Mark Grant

Can I mix in some different RAM? Is there going to be a huge difference in terms of quality, warranty, or anything else...

The stuff I listed in my build above was this:

Corsair Vengeance Low Profile Black DIMM Kit 16GB, DDR3-1600, CL10-10-10-27 (CML16GX3M2A1600C10)

The parts I’ve highlighted are non-negotiable. I really want decent, quiet cooling since I’ll eventually be loading some music software onto an SSD that’s specifically tuned to work with these highlighted components. As for the case, anything works as long as there’s room to add extra fans later on. The main thing is that everything stays quiet—honestly, when you're trying to get in the zone with music, the last thing you want is a bunch of fan noise buzzing in your ears
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Is it a dealbreaker if I don't stick strictly to DDR3, or do you guys have any better suggestions?

I'm paying cash for this, so what's the damage on the budget?

How much is this gonna run me once I get Windows 8.1 Professional installed?

Also, any good suggestions for a quiet power supply and a solid cooler?

I'm putting together a rig for some audio recording and light video work. I'm planning to run Windows on one SSD, then stripe two other SSDs together for my samples. Looking for some advice on the setup and what kind of budget I should expect—I've **bolded** the parts I absolutely need, though I might swap out the RAM if something better pops up.

1. Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K
2. Motherboard: ASUS Z87-PRO (C2
3. Corsair Vengeance Low Profile Black DIMM Kit 16GB, DDR3-1600, CL10-10-10-27 (CML16GX3M2A1600C10)
4. 3 x Corsair SSD SATA 3 Force GT 128GB
5. COOLERMASTER Hyper 212 EVO
6. Seagate Barracuda 7200
7. ASUS DRW-24F1ST
8. Power Supply: EVGA 700W or Corsair Builder Series CX600M 600W
9. Case: Zalman Z3 Plus or Thermaltake V8000W
10. Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit

I'm leaning toward a beefier power supply just in case I decide to throw an NVIDIA GTX 760 or an NVIDIA GTX 770 in there later down the road.