Sub-$800 Build

u should definitely get a better power supply (assuming the power supply is Xion too). if u buy a cheap one, its going to mess up eventually and ruin who knows how many pieces with it.

I would look at another case if that is the Xion Onyx case. I've had one for a while but I'm much happier with my Antec 900 and it cools SO much better. Also I didn't find the Onyx case appealing after a while. Other than that it's a great build. Also mine came with a 500W Xion PSU, it lasted over a year, but then died on a day it hit 90F+ outside, I would spend your extra on a different case+independent PSU from a brand like Antec, or Corsair.

Corsair 55VX, A little expensive but it's a solid PSU Corsair makes some of the best:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] air%20550W

Consider getting rid of that case and picking up these instead:

PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS370X 370W

COOLER MASTER Centurion 534

Shipping is free on both and you total cost goes up by $50($35 after $15 rebate) but you get quality parts.

Everything else looks good.

The motherboard doesn't support SLI or Crossfire. Anything over 500watts is overkill since he will be limited to 1 GPU.

Antec, PC Power & Cooling, Corsair, OCZ - some of the most reliable PSU brands. try to get an 80+ certified PSU (more power efficiency and more reliability).

that being said, i think this one is the most affordable 80+ certified PSU's around: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

remember that if u buy a good one now, u wont need to buy one for ur next build after this one and u'll be able to upgrade to a much more powerful video card down the road.

*edit*
my sister has the Xion solaris case. its ok for short term PC use and its quiet. i dont know how it is for gaming. personally i'd go for the antec 300 or the cooler master from above, but thats ur choice. i know ur going to be limited by going to microcenter instead of getting the most selection/deals online, but here is the link anyway:

http://www.buy.com/prod/antec-thre [...] 06549.html

im only linking u to that one because its on sale right now at newegg and its cheaper than its lower wattage counterparts (the 430W and 500W).

for example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371006

for antec, anything from the earthwatts line is fine.

xion psus are hurting...avoid that....if you get into heavy editing and conversion consider a 2nd drive now or down the road...in my experience with converts...having it convert from a file on disk1 and outputting to disk2 speeds the converts...

I probably will get an extra drive eventually. I might get a 500GB one now instead, since they're pretty cheap. I do, however, have an external drive. But, by "editing and conversion" I mean converting DVDs for use on my iPod It takes so long on my laptop now (~12hours a movie) that I felt I should mention it. I should probably also mention that I have 2 IDE CD drives that I'll probably use, just because I can... but that shouldn't really affect things.

well, right now I don't have that many games... mostly some RTSs, and a couple FPSs like Halo 1 lol... I might want to get COD4 later down the road, or maybe Crysis. But what card would you recommend in this price range? Should I get a less powerful CPU or less RAM to get a more powerful GPU? Remember, I'd just be happy with a constant 30fps; I'm coming from integrated graphics!

well yeah, I just want Crysis to push my system to its limits. I'm also willing to lower settings, if I must; once again, I'm used to integrated, where I have to lower the settings all the way and still get <10fps!

I've looked at the 900, it looks like it gets great airflow, but its too expensive, especially because it doesn't have a 3.5in slot for a card reader, and only 3 DVD slots. It looks nice, but its out of my price range. And for the PSU, I'll probably just get a $50 range one. One question- will I have to/should I make sure that the one I'm buying has PCIe connections? I'm not sure if these graphics cards need external power.

i too bought the antec 900 on black friday for $60. it does come with a 3.5" slot converter metal thingie (hard to describe lol) but i agree that it costs too much to put within his budget.

forgot to mention earlier...things u want to look for in a PSU:
- brand
- total amps on 12V rail
- video card connectors
- total watts

the newer high end video cards (ATI 4870 X2 and Nvidia GTX 280) require a 6 and 8 pin connector. anyway, u only need a 6 pin power connector for the video card ur going to get.

*edit* i found some 6 to 8 pin adapters so i guess u dont have to worry too much about that. just make sure u have enough watts for future cards and ur set.

Actually, there are three drive bays and i could fit 6 HDD in my case. Just chillz bro, just trying to help out. Anyways, I would strongly suggest the OCZ PSU and as far video card I have an EVGA 8800gt and it handles anything I throw at it pretty well(COD 4, Supreme Commander etc), so I would sugest this 9800gt which is basically a revised 8800gt http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130397
it has a $20 rebate(EVGA will give you the rebate) plus it has dual slot cooling which will definitly help you on heat issues. And just for hell of it, heres a couple more cases both have free shipping, cost about $40 and look like they would have good cooling... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811226020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811156225