Help me, Obi Wan(s) ($800-$1000 gaming desktop)

...forgot the OS

Win7 64 bit - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

No sweat on the OS, I have a friend with an .edu so I can get the student discount on Pro.



This one's a little more up-front but has a rebate, and has 3 yr vs 1 yr warranty - any red flags?

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

-Dave

Yep! Red flag on PCI Express 2.0 x16 2 (x16/x4). If you do multiple GPUs later, that 4x speed on the second card will sllllooooow things down. Look for one with 8x/8x...

Ahh, right. How about this one:

GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-128-...

It's more without actually being better that I can see, but I ask because if I switched to that and swap the memory to this:

Extreme Performance Sector 5 G Series 4GB DDR3-1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

...then everything is stock at Microcenter, plus a few rebates, and I can pick it up on the way home and not wait for shipping.

-Dave

Well... if you are going to MicroCenter check out their bundles. ...thought you were limited to NewEgg and Amazon. The M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 is a good board.
http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundl...

While you are there ask what deals they have running for 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 CL9 memory. They almost always have sales that are not on their web site.

Alternatives:

Cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
A 650W Corsair is more than enough for CF.
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
SDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Yeah, sorry about that - it only occurred to me that Microcenter might have most of this after I started looking at your links - normally I don't think much of them.

But that bundle definitely looks great. The 1600 memory would be ok with that mobo even though the memory spec is 2000(O.C.)/1333/1066?

-Dave

Is there a clear difference between the Vertex 2 and Agility 2? From what I could see the specs were almost identical.

-Dave

Not a clear difference but that one has very good reviews:
http://www.techreaction.net/2010/07/06/review-ocz-verte...
http://www.elitebastards.com/index.php?option=com_conte...

The $50 tax brick-and-mortar premium was just too much for me, so screw microcenter. Pulled the trigger at newegg:


Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer - $55 (the antec jumped price to $70)
MB: ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard - $90
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - $90
GPU: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB - $160 (will be CF'd with my current one)
HD: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX80G 2.5" 80GB - $170
HD(storage): SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" - $70
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $49.99
Cooling: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 - $30 (+$7.33 shipping)

Newegg Promotional Gift Card(The total amount of Gift Cards: $10.00)
DISCOUNT FOR COMBO #547587
-$15.00
Subtotal $769.92
Tax $0.00
UPS 3 Days $7.33
Order Total $777.25

Argh, forgot optical drive:
OD: Sony Optiarc 24X SATA - $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

New Total $797.24

Last time I did this, the CPU and the cooler both came with little packets of contact goop - is that still the case or do I need to pick some up?

Best answer selected by pastymage.