1) Replace the motherboard with the MSI P55-GD65. It's far superior to the Asus, especially at that price point (it overclocks better and has two PCI-E 8X slots. Go read some reviews on it if you don't believe me.)
2) CPU is okay, i'm still more a fan of the 860, but thats out of budget.
3) Nice PSU.
4) DDR3-1800 is overkill, unless you overclock quite substantially. I'd recommend something along the lines of DDR3-1600 from Mushkin. Remember, if you're going i5, the memory needs to be rated at 1.65V or lower.
5) You can buy an ATi HD 4890 for under R2000 these days. Makes no sense to buy a GTX260/275.
6) I'm very much not a fan of Seagate after the whole firmware debacle. I'd spend a bit more money (which you saved on the ram and gfx card) on the Western Digital Caviar Black (model number: WD1001FALS). Faster drive, and I'm more convinced as to the reliability of WD drives in general.
7) I'd most definitely go for the Samsung P2370. Best bang for buck, and it's true HD (unlike the 2494HS).
Incidentally, not attacking your choices slippery, just used your list as a base for comparison![]()




