Need your expertise on building Media/Gaming PC

I'm new to these forums and computer building in general, but maybe I can help you out a bit. How much are you planning on spending on this system?

NewEgg is a very good site, and for my first build (which will be completed on Monday) I bought every single part from there with the exception of the case due to high shipping costs.

I'd throw a lot of items at you that I plan on using, but I think the one that would be most pertinent to you and your son would be this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341011 . It's very cheap and, if you manage to get the rebate, costs less than 100 bucks. As for the other, more technical things, other people could probably help you out more...I just thought that I would share that deal with you!

Mike

PSU = Athena Power AP-P4ATX80FEP 800W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS V2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply = $105

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817338032

Tower = Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case = $100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ntec%20900

Motherboard = ASRock P45TS LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard = $90

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] _-13157135

GPU = HIS Hightech H487F1GP Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card = $240

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161247

CPU = Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.40GHz 1066MHz 8MB LGA775 = $190

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017

CD/DVD Drive = Sony NEC Optiarc Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA
DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1675S - OEM = $25

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] _-27118019

RAM = Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory = $45

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] _-20104060

Hard Drive = Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive = $65

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148288

Operating System = Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders = $100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116488


The total is $960. I hope this helped. This build could be a bit cheaper if some of the parts were purchased off of other sites, but you can't go wrong with newegg .

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017 $189.99

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ec48cbc426 $136.99 - $20.00 MIR

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231209 $49.99

ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121272 $154.99 - $30.00 MIR

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136319 $79.99

PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified (Dual 8800 GTX and below) CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341011 $119.99 - $40.00 MIR

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.buy.com/prod/antec-thre [...] 06549.html $61.65 (shipped)

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English for System Builders 1pk DSP OEI DVD - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116488 $99.99

Total - $893.58 - $90 MIR's = $803.58

That's a little over budget, but a very nice build. If you need to shave a little off, you could get the WD6400AAKS drive instead.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] wd6400aaks $69.99

If you can squeeze it in, I really like this GPU, but it's quite a bit more expensive.

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102801 $239.99 - $10.00 MIR

@123urpked - Sure your parts are cheaper, they aren't as good.

I'd take a PC Power & Cooling PSU over the one you posted any day. The wattage rating doesn't really mean anything when you're comparing a high quality PSU to a cheap PSU.

The board you posted doesn't allow the option of crossfire and is the type that supports both DDR3 and DDR2. That's a good idea in theory, but those boards have stability and compatibility issues. Gigabyte also makes higher quality boards. Cheaper is not better.