Advice on new build parts list

[Seamus]

Hey all

My first post here, but have done a lot of reading on here and both the main site and the rest of the web trying to do as much research as possible. I am still obviously far from an expert though, hence this post.

Am about to order some parts for a new PC, this will be the 2nd PC that I've built, the first being my now obsolete one 4 years ago. It will be used primarily for audio production, but as it's my only computer it will also be used for general internet and office applications and a bit of gaming.

Here is what I've got to, would love some advice on how stable and silent people think this will be:

Case: Fractal Design Define R2
PSU: 500W Enermax Pro87+
CPU: Intel Core i7 930
(w/ Noctua NF-P14 FLX)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
RAM: 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic, DDR3 PC3-10666
GPU: 1GB MSI HD 5770 HAWK
HDD1: 256GB Crucial RealSSD C300
HDD2: 1TB Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black, SATA 6Gb/s
(w/ Grow Up Japan Smart Drive Neo SATA HDD Silencer)
DVDRW: Sony AD-7260S-0B

My main concerns are:

a) How noisy is that GPU really for normal use; am I going to notice it when I'm on 2D (for audio production) only and sat in my house? Don't mind if it gets a bit noisier when it's being used more heavily on 3D stuff. Am I better off going passive or is the noise this thing makes really negligible?

b) How good are the fans that come with that case, and will replacing with and/or adding some from another brand (Noctua) get it quieter/cooler?

c) Is that CPU cooler overkill, or could I get away with something smaller or even passive?

d) Do you think the 500W PSU is enough for all of this? Will also have an audio interface connected constantly by firewire and an extra HDD connected by USB3 when backing up.

And of course point out anything that I haven't thought of!

Looking at whacking out a lot of money on this, so any comments would be greatly appreciated before I take the plunge

[joetekubi]

The Noctua cooler is one of the best and quietest.
You will not be able to run a 930 passively.

As far as I can tell, 500W should be ok for you.
Search my posts, I've posted several links to online
pc power calculators.

-j

[bonestonne]

I'm not entirely sure what type of audio production you're doing, but the i7's are more than enough power for it. An i5 could do the job just as well, but for the sake of what your list is already, an i7 is fine.

As for what's already been said, yes, 500W is more than enough for you, and I'll be building a machine similar to it for a customer who does CAD design.

In short, the parts all look good, and I see no reason for them to not play well together. The MSI Hawk has a very good cooler, and lots of people on here recommend it.

No quality CPU cooler is overkill, it just does the job better. If your CPU is kept stone cold by it, you'll never have to worry about what's going on. As for the fact that it beats the stock cooler, that's all that's important.

Firewire audio interfaces are touchy, but I'm going to urge you to look into a dedicated Firewire PCI-E card. Even a PCI-E x1 based card will work better than the onboard firewire, but without a doubt make sure it's a Texas Instruments chip. It sounds redundant having Firewire on the motherboard, however I've seen many cases where it just doesn't work, or there's some problem when it does.

The entire computer will probably idle around 300-350W, with your peak approaching ~450W. A 500W power supply will be more than enough, because with the power of an i7, I have my doubts about reaching that area.