[Solved] Building A Gaming PC

I need some guidance on building a system. I've built them in the past, but that was when 3dNOW! and MMX were a big thing. The last go-around was a hodge-podge. These days it seems you can't just watch a model number or clock cycles go up and know which is better than which. I don't really know what my budget is. I started at $500, but built stuff on newegg to $800 - it's in a state of flux.

Since I'm asking for help I've done as much as I possibly can to help you all help me. I've read the stickies for the forum, so here goes:

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week or next week.
BUDGET RANGE: $800, but am willing to be educated on the best way to spend my money.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: LCD Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Harddrives, Optical Drive, possibly Case and power supply (see below).

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, but am open to suggestions.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: No preference.

OVERCLOCKING: I'd rather not mess with it, but according to the *Guide To Choosing Parts*, overclocking is not a big deal and I should be doing it in order to get the most bang for my buck.

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Would rather not mess with it, but according to TH Guide September '09, there are several SLI/Crossfire builds that are better bang for the buck than stepping up to a more expensive card. Again, I'm open to the possibility.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024 or 1440x900 (two different LCDs, will likely not be dual-monitoring)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'd like a quiet PC, and to eat it to.


What I'd like to reuse:

Power Supply:
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371007
Says it's certified with SLI/Crossfire and i5/i7.

Case:
ENERMAX Pandora CA3030-BS mid tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811124113
I never used the PSU that newegg shipped. It's worth noting that I have an extra case fan to mount in the lower front to pull air in. I despise windowed cases with lights.

CPU Fan/Heatsink:
ZALMAN CNPS7000B-ALCU 92mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835118112
I'd like to leverage this in the new build, but it's not worth sacrificing just to use it.

I was planning on using: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit

What I'd like to play, with links to their required specs:
WoW: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/inf [...] ology.html
Guild Wars 2: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/faq/#thirteen
Aion: http://www.aionglobal.com/system-requirements.html
Dragon Age: Origins: http://dragonage.bioware.com/game/#1.05
LoTRO: http://www.lotro.com/getting-start [...] quirements

My guesses for a build:

Motherboard:
ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131404

CPU:
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115215
I realize that quad may be overkill now, but I'd like it to last. I typically have a game, vent, browser, and random other apps open when I play.

Memory:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231279

Graphics:
Shooting in the dark here:
SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102824

or
SAPPHIRE 100279-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102849

I've read the 1GB isn't really worth it and would consider doing the whole crossfire scene, but that'd mean I'd have to revist the PSU and Mobo.

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I saw this thread: $800 Gaming PC and really liked his build. Buuut I also saw this thread: $500 gaming pc help? and liked the comments there as well. Psycho Sykes' post with the Phenom build had me thinking twice. Now I'm just really lost.

Thank you for the tips! I'm very ignorant when it comes to the difference between the gts250 and the 4850s - why would the 250 perform better in WoW than the 4850s? I tried googling it, but I suppose I just don't know what to look for. This level of info is really just icing on the cake to me and is very interesting.

I read that ASRock review, it seems really solid - the reviewer seemed to like it and the bars in the graphs were higher or lower in all the right places. Is there anything other than the benchmarks that make this a better choice than the ASUS? I'm looking for as general or specific as you can give me. Like the above, this is just icing on the cake.

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If I was going to try to spend a bit more money, where would the money be better spent? GPU? CPU? MB?

Thanks for the extra info! Very neat to hear some of the finer details.

I play different types of games on my 360, I think that if I had a better system (the one you're helping me with), I'd probably play more of those types of games (Unreal, Gears Of War, Crackdown, etc.) which are all more intense than WoW. Would the video card upgrade cover me in those cases? Also, when things in the game get intense (WoW), I'd think a better CPU would get me more mileage, but this is a total assumption. Any thoughts on that? I'm also assuming that the other MMOs work the same way.

My monitors both operate at 60hz I believe, so anything more than 60 fps will only really be seen when I would otherwise have dipped below 60fps, correct?

Also, it *looks* like I could still use my Zalman with that setup, is there any way for me to know for sure?

Thanks so much for your help. Final purchase list is:

ASRock P55 Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
XFX GX260XADJC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit

Totalling to: $699.95

I'm concerned that my power supply won't be able to cut the mustard with this new setup, even though it says that it is. Could anyone with more knowledge than me give it a yay/nay?

I am very, very thankful for your help!