newbie looking for gaming build

[DanielCD]

So I'm a complete "newb" at building computers, so I don't really know how to pick parts. I've been looking around, and have seen some pretty good deals but I don't know what would be the best thing to pick since there are so many choices. My budget is ~$1000 -- don't need a monitor. Needs to be cool and relatively quiet at idle. This is a general idea of what I think would be a good gaming PC:

Processor: Intel Core i7 (~$300) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
Mobo: Intel LGA 1366 Motherboard $250 (Should I be going with Intel, or another manufacturer?) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121361
GPU: NVIDIA GTX260 $250 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398
RAM: G.Skill DDR3 1600 $84 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231185
HDD: WD 500GB 7200RPM $65 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073
Case: I know absolutely nothing about cases, so I picked: $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129018
DVD/CD: Don't know, but they're probably cheap so $50 as a placeholder. (could someone give me a good one?)
OS: Windows Vista (do I get 64 or 32 bit?) $99

So that's around $1200

Will I be needing anything else?

At this point I don't even know if some of those parts are "compatible" so I would really appreciate if someone looked over it for me. I would also appreciate if anyone would offer alternative parts or even a whole system to bring the price down (and still give me good performance on games for the next few years) since money isn't exactly plentiful ATM.

This might be overkill.. I don't really know. I just want to play new games like Call of Duty 4/5, Crysis, Left 4 Dead, etc on good settings at good FPS.

Thanks!

 

[geofelt]

For a newb, you picked quite well.
One exception is that the GTX260-216 will not fit in the Solo case without a bit of metal cutting. It is 10.5" long. I have a Solo(a wonderful case BTW) and am planning to cut about 1/2 out of the drive bay to fit the GTX260. I would assume you don't feel prepared to do that, so I suggest instead the Antec 300.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
It is cheaper, has better ventilation, but not as quiet. No other cases are as quiet as the Solo either.

I would go with 6gb of ram. It does make a difference in games.
http://www.corsairmemory.com/_appnotes/AN811_Gaming_Performance%20Analysis_6GB_vs_3GB.PDF

Vista 64 bit will be needed for anything over 3gb, and it is very good.

The X58 motherboards are all probably good, but the intel one does not support SLI if that might ever be an option for you. There is a MSI board for $220, and asus P6T is a safe pick for $300.

You will want a quality PSU. The PC P&C silencer610 is a roaring bargain at $70 after rebate. It will run any single vga card out there.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005

I like my Samsung DVD burner, similar to this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171
It is much quieter than my previous Plextor.

 

[DanielCD]

Thanks. I put together another build after a friend recommended dropping the i7.

E8400 3.0GHZ $165 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

GTX260 $260 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398

WD 500GB HDD $65 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

Mobo: EVGA 122-YW-E173-TR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX - $130 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188033

Case: Thermaltake Armor Series $150 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133154 (I'm not a fan of all the LEDs, but apparently it's very cool temperature wise. Anybody know how quiet or loud it is?)

Power supply: Corsair 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

RAM: GEIL 4GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144073

That DVD burner looks good. I'll probably get it when I'm ready.

How does this one and the first one compare? This one is $200 cheaper.

 

[yoshi77]

Yeah, you're gonna need a PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
its a steal after the rebate, quality brand and supports SLI/Crossfire

I havent needed more than 4GB, it really depends:
do you have plenty of money to spend? (are you paying for it yourself, Christmas present/gift?).

i7 are very very expensive at the moment, if you're making a new computer you really have a 2 choices: Get a dual core (still pretty amazing btw), or go i7 for quite a bit more.

A dual core can and will run most games for the next couple years so, and the intel dual cores at the moment are very very overclock able so you can always overclock/Crossfire/SLI and get 3-4 years of solid gaming out of it (assuming nothing breaks!).

Its really the difference of wanting to play games on high graphics or play them at the highest possible graphics with 9000 FPS on a TV-sized monitor with 80 other programs in the background.

Overall you're best money wise, id say, is to wait a bit for i7 prices to drop and get one then, then not have to update CPU's in 80 years.

Regardless, if you're here to spend money definatly go for the asus P6T, or the MSI board for $220 (SLI is always a good option)

again coming from the best performance for you're dollar here HD 4850's are always a good idea if you just want to get the job done well http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146731
either one will be good, like I said if you're going for the best of the best and willing to put out the money get 8GB, but 4GB would be plenty too

I dont know much about HD/DvD drives but this has what users here have pointed me at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

 

[geofelt]

Option 2 is not close from the cpu point of view, but gaming performance is dependent on the vga card once you get to the E8500 level. It can be made even cheaper with the Antec 300 case,
a basic P45 motherboard like the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

A 4gb kit of corsair ram for $25:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184

 

[DanielCD]

I mean, it's not like I want to run Crysis on high at 100FPS.. I just want to run it at 30-40 FPS at 1680x1050 or something playable. I'll probably be playing Left 4 Dead and other HL2 games for the most part. I'm leaning towards the second one right now since it's $200 cheaper and looks a bit more "sturdier" (I think.. all those have pretty good reviews) Plus it's an SLI mobo so I can add another 260 in the future, or maybe 2 x 280s (discount on one because of EVGA's step up program) The same is true for the first one too.. so..

But the first one is tempting too, since it's future proof for the most part.

Decisions.

I know it would be "best" to wait for the i7 to drop in price.. but I've been saying that for 2 years, I finally have the money and if I don't do it right now I won't do it later. I'm too impatient and my current set up can't run any game that has been released after Half-Life 2 LOL.