Gigabyte is my preferred motherboard maker so already I like this system. :)
The price for the OS I have added into the cost. But I can't decide if I want to stick with 8 or go back to 7..
This is a no brainer to me. You should get W8. W7 was and still is an excellent OS, but it is already pushing 5 years old!!!! Installing W7 on new hardware today is fast forwarding your system into retirement, and into the same situation XP is in today.
It is easy to make W8 look, feel and behave like W7 with Start8.
Bottom line: W8 is more secure! And faster. 'Nuff said on that.
Just be sure to get 64-bit Windows 8, since you have more than 4Gb of RAM. Note if you get the OEM/System Builders license, you have to specify 64-bit at the time of purchase (only the much more expensive, full retail license includes both 32-bit and 64-bit in the box). The downside to OEM is (1) the System Builder (you, in this case) assume warranty support responsibility for Windows for 1 year, and (2) the license is inextricably tied to the original motherboard it was used with - that is, it is NOT transferable to another computer or upgraded motherboard, under ANY circumstances. Period.
While your graphics card is a nice card, and when it comes to budgets, I am one to normally push increasing graphics horsepower before CPU horsepower, for a non-gaming rig, that ASUS 650 GTX will never be taxed. You could cut back here to increase your SSD.
BTW - I built this system with the Samsung 840 "Pro" Series 256Gb SSD as my boot drive. I have Windows and all my apps installed on the SSD, including Office Pro and still over 150Gb free. I use my big HD as a secondary drive to store backups of c, photos, tunes, etc.
Back to graphics and if you still want that card, IF ME, I would go with Gigabyte's version of the GTX 650 for several reasons.
1. They are double wide. This is significant for a couple reasons, but the most important is heat removal. The last line in my sig says it all. A double wide card exhausts the heat from the GPU and graphics RAM directly out the back of the case - a very good thing. The single wide Asus card dumps that heat right back into the case - not a very good thing.
2. The Gigabyte card supports more video output options.
3. The card from the same maker as the motherboard instills greater confidence (in me anyway) they will work great together without problems (probably not a problem with ASUS and Gigabyte, but the pessimist in me wins this time).
4. Double wide cards are secured at 3 points (2 screws and 1 slot) for total "perpendicular" stability and support. A single slot card is supported by the slot and a single screw on the same "plane" as the slot. A big heavy card like a these can put strain on the slot - especially with tower (upright oriented) cases.
i will be building this machine over the next month or so, have to buy the parts over a couple of weeks.
I would discourage that strategy and instead, recommend you save your money until you can purchase everything at once. This is because,
1. The warranty period begins on the date of purchase - not the date you install the product. Plus "life" tends to get in the way of the best plans, and unexpected delays and expenditures between purchases could further affect warranties.
2. Waiting ensures you have the latest versions (important when it comes to drivers, and especially BIOS versions).
3. Something better, cheaper, faster, more powerful always comes along
the day after you make your purchase.
Okay - this last is not necessarily true, but sometimes it sure seems that way.
