Gaming Computer, ~1000 Final Setup Reviews, and Suggestions

[derrickbogan]

After many revisions and countless hours planning I have finally come up with what I think will be my final build. Need some positive feedback from some savvy people before I pull the Trigger though.

Purchase Date: Tuesday 4/5


Budget Range: $1300


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Watching Movies, Internet Surfing, CAD


Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse Speakers


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com Tigerdirect.com, not really any preference, cheaper is better


Country of Origin: USA


Overclocking: Maybe (leaning to no)


SLI or Crossfire: Yes, Not initially though.


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080
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Optical Drive- LG DVD Burner--$19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136177

Case- Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower--$109.99------$30 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

Hard Drive- Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM--$36
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

GPU- MSI N560GTX-TI Twin Frozr II/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB--$249.99-------$20MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565

PSU- XFX Black Edition XPS-850W--$149.99------$20 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207001

RAM- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3--$70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

OS- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM--$139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116758
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CPU & MOBO COMBO DEAL--$394.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.622005

CPU- Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge (I know i said no overclocking, but with combo deal comes to the same price as lock i5)
MOBO- GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67
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SSD (for OS only)- Corsair CSSD-V32GB2-BRKT V32 Nova Solid State Drive - 32GB- $79.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=5298&sel=Price;Price3
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PRICE------$1250.92
AFTER MIR-----$1180.92


I need to know if these components are good for the price, if this is a good setup, and if there are cheaper parts anywhere else.
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I ALSO NEED TO KNOW IF I WILL NEED ANY CABLES (SATA, POWER CONNECTORS, ETC...) I AM A NOOB AT BUILDING
AND DON'T KNOW IF I WILL NEED EXTRA CABLES OR NOT!!
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I would also like to add a 1TB Data Disk in the future when i have more money, will my mobo and PSU support it?

 

[eloric]

Get this OS instead to save $40: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit for $100

Get this video card for $6 more and unlock it to a 6970: HIS H695F2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB $255 - $20 MIR

The SSD is too small - you need 60 GB minimum: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX60G 2.5" 60GB for $127

As an alternative, and to stay in budget, you could abandon the SSD for now, and go straight to the 1TB HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB for $78 or SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3R HE103SJ 1TB for $70. Either of these drives is faster than the Caviar Blue, for about the same price per GB.

It is so very simple to get a mild overclock with the configuration you have purchased. There are utilities that come with the motherboard that allow you to change settings in a couple of minutes. I recommend purchasing an aftermarket heat sink to keep things cool: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus for $35

I like to add this Extension cable for a standard 8-pin P8 motherboard connector for $5. This allows you to run the auxiliary power behind the heat sink instead of over the video card on bottom mount power supplies like the Antec 902.

Case does not come with a motherboard speaker: APEVIA 2" Case speaker cable for computer cases that connects to the motherboard for $5

I am not sure how tightly you need to stick to your budget, but shipping/taxes are not included in any of these estimates. Just be aware.

Finally, here are two references to help you in your build: Step-by-Step Guide to Building a PC. Print this out, read it carefully and follow it closely. You can also get some tips from reading the feedback on your components in Newegg, especially for the case.

Refer to this just in case there is an issue when you are done building: PERFORM THESE STEPS before posting about boot/no video problems!. If you read through this before you start, it may avoid some of the common mistakes - I sure have made a bunch of them, and this guide has solved them all (so far)!

Good luck.

 

[derrickbogan]

Will that graphics card? Work with my selected MOBO?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161355&cm_re=6950_2gb-_-14-161-355-_-Product&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=

 

[eloric]

Oh yes that graphics card will work with that motherboard. Two of them will!

Check for yourself: Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3 site. Highly recommend you go there and look at all the fancy stuff on your board. It is really a long list, because it is a feature rich product. Somewhere near the bottom it talks about SLI and Crossfire support, which means you can use two boards from either nVidia or ATI. But you have to get past the fact that it can charge your phone even when the machine is turned off - oh and you can program the computer with your phone too, and overclock three different ways, plus, well, don't know about you but it sure gets me excited.

By the way, I did not answer your question about multiple hard drives. Even after you hook up an SSD, a DVD and an HDD you still have three open SATA ports to attach more hard drives. There are plenty of bays in your case, so don't worry about that either. Thinking about a RAID configuration, maybe?