Building Gaming PC ~$1,000 USD - Need Advice :)

[Guest]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 1-3 Days BUDGET RANGE: ~$1,000 USD Before Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, surfing the internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: CPU, motherboard, SSD, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel, EVGA Video Cards, Crucial Memory

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200


Already Purchased

CPU: Intel Core i7 940 Desktop Processor
Motherboard: Intel Desktop Board DX58SO—Extreme Series
SSD: Intel X25-M 160GB SATA Solid-State Drive


Need to Purchase The ~$1,000 USD budget is for the below items only, not taking into account the already purchased hardware.

Case: Been a real fan of this case, and it's currently on sale on newegg
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

Power Supply: Need help on picking out a power supply. I might run SLI in the future so I would like a power supply that will be able to handle that in the future.

Video Card: I really like EVGA warranty so I would really like to stick with them. However, I am open if there are better deals out there for price and performance.
EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550&cm_re=EVGA-_-14-130-550-_-Product

RAM: Looking for suggestions on RAM as well. I'm assuming 3x 2GB DDR3 Sticks for a total of 6GB of ram, for 1333 Front Side Bus. I generally go with Crucial, love their lifetime warranty policy on RAM.

DVD Burner: Basic DVD burner

Hard Drive: HD for storage I'll be good with 1TB-2TB, any good deals going on right now?

 

[MadAdmiral]

Here's what I'd get:

RAM: G.Skill Trident 3x2 GB 2000 mhz CAS Latency 9 $190. Some of the fastest stick out there. They'll be great if/when you overclock. Even if you don't, they'll beat anything that's rated at 1333 mhz.
GPU: HD 5870 $390. It's only a little more than the 470, uses less power and is more powerful. A much, much better choice.
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1 TB $70. One of the fastest out there and is at an amazing price.
PSU/Case: Antec 900 and TruePower 750W $145 after rebate.
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $20. Or whatever's cheapest.

Total: $815.

I'll also throw this in there: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R $210. Intel makes really crappy motherboards. This Gigabyte is high quality and packed with features. I'd highly recommend switching to this...

 

[Guest]

I got a pretty good deal on the Intel motherboard, the only reason why I went with it. Quick question though, will the 750W power supply be enough if I wanted to do SLI or Crossfire in the future with all the components that are currently listed?

 

[banthracis]

Yes xfire will be fine with a 750w PSU. SLI is more difficult. 470's not overclocked, yet. 470 OC or 480 sli, no.


5870 for $351 after promo code.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161329&cm_re=5870-_-14-161-329-_-Product

It is a HIS one though.

 

[MadAdmiral]

If you went with the 5870, yes. If you go with the 470, you'd need at least a 850W unit. Stick with Antec, Corsair, Silverstone and SeaSonic to make sure you get a good quality unit.

 

[Guest]

Another question! I just took a look at my Intel i7 940 and noticed that the heatsink already has some thermal paste on it, should I just go with that or add a thin layer on the processor as well?

 

[MadAdmiral]

I'm assuming it's the stock HSF. Generally, if it comes preapplied to the HS, you don't need to add any more.

 

[nuke123]

If your gonna apply thermal paste take the old stuff off first otherwise it gets messy

. I recommend artic silver 5 or nanogrease.