~1300 gaming, first build - please advise

Hello everyone,

Just making sure this will all work together, and looking for any ways to improve price/performance.


Approximate Purchase Date: soon!

Budget Range: 1300 Before Rebates


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, movies, general usage. I tend to run many applications at once.


Parts Not Required: KB, mouse, monitor, speakers, storage HD


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: always gone with newegg, but I can go elsewhere


Country of Origin: US


Parts Preferences: none


Overclocking: Probably not


SLI or Crossfire: Maybe in the future


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Additional Comments:

- Ease of installation and reliability are my biggest concerns.
- I'd like to put OS and some applications on an SSD
- I went with the Cosmos case because I figure it'll help to have the extra room, and the wife would grumble at an LED-encrusted Antec. I'm open to a comparably subtle case though.


I also have some questions about shipping:

- Will UPS cut it? I've read some people don't trust them to ship HDDs - I don't know if that applies to any of these parts.
- I live way north, and can't get my packages until after work. Is it any problem that this stuff could be sitting out in the freezing cold for a few hours?



COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119138

ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131655

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103727

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231277

XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150506

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139009

Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820148357

ICY DOCK MB990SP-B Dual 2.5" to 3.5" SSD & IDE/SATA HDD Bracket
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817994087

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116754

Rosewill RNX-N180UBE USB 2.0 External 5dBi Antenna Wireless Adapter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6833166056

ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204


Total comes to $1309 before shipping.

Any help is appreciated!

Drop to the 955 BE, it has an unlocked multiplier so all you have to do is up the multi 1 and your at stock 965 without paying extra.

750W psu is more then plenty for CF 6870's.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] =xfx%20750 modular, silver certified. 10 on performance on jonnyguru.com. (only 4 psu's have done this). - $110 after MIR $130 before.

I personally wouldn't get that SSD, it has high reads but slow writes.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227542 $115 after MIR.

According to Tom's review on RAM today, the lowest amount of RAM recommend now is 8GB. http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 778-9.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231314 G.Skill Ripjaw 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 C9 - $135.
Since you don't plan on OCing you can save some by getting DDR3 1333 instead.