First time builder for mid-high end gaming

[fissuretitan]

Should also mention i didn't know much about what was inside a case until the last week but i learned a good bit since then..I will be using it for gaming/programming (like autocad and such), media, and surfing. Also i want a computer thats going to last me around 4-5 years atleast (with the necessary upgrades ofcourse).
I live in a pretty hot zone...so im really considering getting some cooling systems other than stock..I've heard more than a few cases of someone's video card/ram or even both burning out..but then again, they rarely clean their computers...so it could be dust too.

Games im looking foward to play on it is Fallout: New Vegas, MW2 black ops, WoW (if i ever plan to re-install it), Diablo 3 (when released)...and some others when i get back into freaking games

I have until end of March to sort out and buy everything so im just considering this build as an initial draft:


Budget: $1100 US (willing to go a little above that for some extra performance)

Parts Not Required: keyboard/mouse and monitor (have a 1680x1050 right now)

Operating system: win7 x64

Overclocking: Maybe

Crossfire: Eventually

***CASE***
COOLER MASTER HAF 932
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160&Tpk=COOLER%20MASTER%20HAF%20932%20RC-932-KKN1-GP

***CPU***
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

***MOTHERBOARD***
GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128441&Tpk=gigabyte%20890fx


***GRU/GRAPHICS CARD*** (trivial question: xfx or sapphire?)
SAPPHIRE 100314SR Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=14-102-909&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2


***HARD DRIVE***
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533&cm_re=Western_Digital_Caviar_Black_WD1002FAEX_1TB-_-22-136-533-_-Product

***RAM***
CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145315

***PSU***
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006


***DVD***
some asus crap
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Additional Comments: Right now im leaning on AMD (i don't know why), i've been hearing the i7 builds are better for gaming so if someone would be nice enough to give me a preview of a intel build at a similar price range and better specs i'd appreciate it. I'd do it myself but time is tight at the moment.

 

[Why_Me]

There's no doubt the Sandy Bridge cpu's is where it's at these days. And it over clocks to 5ghz+ on some boards. And the beauty about it is that RAM timings doesn't affect the o/c...that and these cpu's run super cool. No more $50+ h/s to keep the temps down when o/c. It's a win win situation. I didn't add a vid card to this build for the fact the NVIDIA gtx 560's are due for release this January 25th. It's a high end card, but cheaper than the 570's ($275 - $285 I'm going to guess) and it will bring the price of other cards down...ATI and NVIDIA's. That psu in this build will run two of those cards in SLI and leave room to spare. Also the board in this build has gotten some great reviews including one from this site.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500K,2833.html <--- 2500K Review

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i5-2600k-i5-2600k-and-core-i3-2100-tested <--- 2500K Review

http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-2500k-and-core-i7-2600k-review/ <--- 2500K Review

http://www.overclockers.com/intel-i7-2600k-sandy-bridge-review <--- 2500K Review

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6606 <--- A better look at that case (CM 922 HAF)

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RC-922M-KKN1-GP-Tower-Black/dp/B0026FCI2U/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1295565474&sr=1-2 $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master RC-922M-KKN1-GP HAF 922M ATX Mid Tower Case (Black)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256049 $109.99
SILVERSTONE ELEMENT ST75EF 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157217 $152.99
ASRock P67 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.584425 Combo Price: $238.98
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003 $6.99 FREE SHIPPING
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231426 $84.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001U3S5S0/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-5&pf_rd_r=0WTZP6BVYETKEAAD5S00&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470939291&pf_rd_i=507846 $59.99 this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Samsung 1 TB Spinpoint 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.5 inch Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive HD103SJ

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 $16.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

Total: $770.91 *not including video card, shipping, rebates, etc...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

 

[geofelt]

AMD 6 core processors are poor for gaming.
The 2500K is cheaper and MUCH faster.
Why_me gave you a good list to start with.

For gaming, spend your money first on a great graphics card.
I think the 6950 is good, but nothing today is better than the GTX580.

That card will do you until you want triple monitors or a 2560 x 1600 monitor.
It will only need a quality 650w psu like this XFX650W unit modular, $60 after rebate.:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207002

In the future, your most likely upgrade will be to the next gen graphics cards, and not sli. Why pay more now to prepare for a unknown upgrade?
But... it would not be wrong to go with the 850w version for $110 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001

 

[Why_Me]

AMD 6 core processors are poor for gaming.
The 2500K is cheaper and MUCH faster.
Why_me gave you a good list to start with.

For gaming, spend your money first on a great graphics card.
I think the 6950 is good, but nothing today is better than the GTX580.

That card will do you until you want triple monitors or a 2560 x 1600 monitor.
It will only need a quality 650w psu like this XFX650W unit modular, $60 after rebate.:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207002

In the future, your most likely upgrade will be to the next gen graphics cards, and not sli. Why pay more now to prepare for a unknown upgrade?
But... it would not be wrong to go with the 850w version for $110 after rebate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001

My bad on the 2600K. The OP had "autocad" as one of the proggy's he frequently uses and I took it for granted that autocad supported hyper threading...which I found out it didn't just now after a quick google on it. I'm going to edit that post up above with a 2500K.

 

[fissuretitan]

Thanks for the input. Now that im considering it, i think i'll build upon your intel list when i get the time later. I don't think i'll need hyperthreading so i'll settle with the 2500k indeed.
Quick question: how often do i have to use thermal paste?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The 932 is outta date, consider the DF-85 with CP-850 or HAF-X w/ XFX Black Edition 850 for up to two GFXcards in Sli / X-fire.

As has been said, I2500k w/ Asus P8P67 Pro combo at newegg

AutoCAD will push you to an nVidia card as ATI's are kinda poor in 2D drafting. Suggest 470 or 570

Suggest Scuythe Mugen 2 (2nd place finisher) w/ Shin Etsu TIM (1st place finisher) .... 212 now finishing out of top 25

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=447&Itemid=62
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=13

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks for the input. Now that im considering it, i think i'll build upon your intel list when i get the time later. I don't think i'll need hyperthreading so i'll settle with the 2500k indeed.
Quick question: how often do i have to use thermal paste?

With this thermal paste they have these days...like once every five+ years. And this stuff is non conductive...so you don't have to worry about frying your parts if you spill some, that and there is no set up time unlike the old Arctic Silver.

 

[mdd1963]

Quick question: how often do i have to use thermal paste?

Every 4-5 years is fairly typical....

 

[fissuretitan]

Best answer selected by fissuretitan.