Looking for Advice on $850 System

[stupidgenius]

Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime in the next 2 weeks

Budget Range: $850 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Surfing the Internet, gaming, watching movies

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: I've been looking at Newegg.com, but no preference overall.

Country of Origin: United States

Parts Preferences: Intel i5 2500K

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Preferably not

Monitor Resolution: At least 1440x900

Additional Comments: Price is a relatively large factor compared to performance
___________________

So far, this is what I've picked out.

Motherboard: $104.99
MSI P67A-C43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: $219.99
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz

GPU: $244.99 after rebates
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945
- I heard that Radeon 6950 could be reflashed with 6970 firmware

PSU: $44.99 after rebates
OCZ Fatal1ty 550W Modular Gaming Power Supply

RAM: $41.99
G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

HD: $59.99
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD7500AALX 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
- I currently have a 1TB external HD, but I haven't had problems with space on my previous hard drive.

Case: $59.99
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower

CPU Cooler: $25.99
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler

OS: $64.95
Windows 7

Current Total Cost: $867.87

 

[striker410]

Hi there! Welcome to the forums.
Good build! I'd like to point out a few things though.

-Mobo doesn't have second PCI-E slot, meaning no upgrades to dual cards.

-Yes the 6950 USED to be flashable, but all those models have been taken off the market. You're better off buying a 1GB version if you play at 1440x900. You won't be using the 2GB Vram.

-PSU isn't name brand. Not saying it's not capable, but you might look into other options.

-HDD is a no no! Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB all the way.

-That windows 7 copy is an upgrade version. You have to have an older version of Windows installed, or it won't work. Try this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

And that's it! a pretty good system for $900, IMO.
Cheers!

 

[stupidgenius]

Hi there! Welcome to the forums.
Good build! I'd like to point out a few things though.

-Mobo doesn't have second PCI-E slot, meaning no upgrades to dual cards.

-Yes the 6950 USED to be flashable, but all those models have been taken off the market. You're better off buying a 1GB version if you play at 1440x900. You won't be using the 2GB Vram.

-PSU isn't name brand. Not saying it's not capable, but you might look into other options.

-HDD is a no no! Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB all the way.

-That windows 7 copy is an upgrade version. You have to have an older version of Windows installed, or it won't work. Try this instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

And that's it! a pretty good system for $900, IMO.
Cheers!

Thanks for your advice!
I'm new to computer building, and I'm not sure what to look for in a PSU. I just used a calculator and found out that the recommended wattage should be around 395W. After some searching, I found the following component.
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
Would this be a good replacement?

 

[zhihao50]

maybe something more powerful to serve the i5-2500k and 6950 assuming you are going to overclock since you got the unlocked version.

maybe something like this CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

 

[striker410]

the CX500 or 600 are both good choices.
This would be my pick. Antec Neo Eco 620w PSU at $55, it's a great deal. But when you factor in the $20 rebate, the deal gets even sweeter! It's a shell shocker deal, so buy it while you can =p

 

[dalauder]

Bulldozer launches on Oct. 12th. Wait 1 week for prices to drop before you build. Then come back to this thread or start a new one after prices have changed.

 

[dalauder]

The Antec EA650 is only $40 too. If you want to SLI down the line, you might want that one. (I bought that Neo Eco for $30 AR a month ago).

By the way, do you have a Micro Center nearby?