My First Custom Build

Looks like you've got a good system there. It should also overclock well.

If it's for gaming, I would suggest a Radeon HD 6950 2GB graphics card for the extra horsepower.

Other than that, everything seems top-notch.

Overall your build looks good. For gaming you are going to love what the Intel® Core™ I5-2500K can do for you. The Asus P8P67 Pro will go well with the processor. I don’t see a chassis, OS, monitor, or keyboard/mouse listed on your build do you already have these items?

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

Can you please post links to this setup? That way we can try and offer you better options for the money and there might be certain combinations you can take advantage of. Thanks!

that looks pretty solid, exept one thing: you don't need an 850 for a single (or even crossfire) 6850s. You can get a 650W from Corsair, xfx, antec, seasonic.

with th price difference, you can save towards a secong 6850, or jump up to a hd 6870 or GTX 560

Here is my $1375 NewEgg wishlist. If you need a monitor, just drop one of the HD 6870's and get a good 23" monitor for around $200.

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies  

I should mentioned that I meant to type in ' Radeon 6950 HD' NOT 'Radeon 6850 HD' Should I still downgrade my PSU from 850W to 650W for a 6950?

@JordoR - Right now I'm still figuring out what components to pick, but once I do I'll post the links  

EDIT: I should also mention that I plan to use this computer as a general purpose: gaming, work (photoshop, some video editing) and entertainment (HD Movies, etc)

Hey guys, here is the component list that I have come up with:

Computer case: http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-16011444-Cooler_Master_Stor...
DVD Burner: http://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/asus-drw-24b1st-i...
RAM: http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-37140825-G_Skill_Ripjaws_X_...
Monitor: http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VX2250WM-LED-21-5-Inch-...
PSU: http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-34040737-Corsair_TX_750_V2_...
Cooler: http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/133884/COOLING_CPU_FANS/Coo...
Hard Drive: http://greenboxit.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=35_142_...
GPU: http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/162568/MSI/R6950_Twin_Frozr...
Mobo: http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-28023492-ASUS_P8P67_M_V3_Mo...
CPU: http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-19010218-Intel_Core_i5_2500...

It’s pretty exciting; I’m really looking forward to building my first computer  

A few final questions before I order:

• Is there some way of finding out if all of this will fit in the computer case I choose?
• Is everything compatible?

Thanks so much fellas,

James

The Micro-ATX mainboards made by ASUS are missing some overclocking settings, including CPU voltage. If you mean to overclock, get one of their full-ATX boards instead.

Everything will fit just fine. That's a nice case.

Did your budget go down a bit? You went from 8GB to 4GB RAM, from full-size Pro board to Micro-ATX, from Silver Arrow cooler to 212 Plus, from 850W to 750W power supply.

The 850W power supply would have been overkill, but the other downgrades could make a big difference. I'd really recommend staying with your original 8GB of RAM -- it'll make a difference in gaming as well as Photoshop and video editing software. The full-size Pro board will be a better choice than any Micro-ATX board. And the 212 Plus is good for a moderate overclock only -- anything above 4.5GHz might be a problem depending on ambient temps.

That 21.5" monitor is a bit small for 1920x1080 resolution. I'd recommend a 23-24" monitor.

Don't forget to buy Windows as well.

Hi Leaps-from-shadows,

Thanks for catching me on the micro-ATX board, I had no idea I had downgraded. Is this the full size board you were talking about: http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-28023466-ASUS_P8P67_DELUXE_...

In regards to going down from 8gb to 4gb, I got some advice on another board that there's really no benefit for going up to 8gb...now I'm really confused...