New gaming build need help

[mpeckat]

Hey guys this is my first time posting. I normally just read around on these forums to find what I need, but since I'm planning on building my first system I thought I'd better seek some advice.

The specs of the build are as followed:

intel core i5-2500k

antec truepower modular 650 watt psu

G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz

Asus P8P67 PRO REV 3.1

LiteOn iHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive

Coolermaster Elite 430 All Black Interior Mid Tower Case

MSI R6870 Twin Frozr II graphics card

and the cheapest 7200 rpm hard drive I can find with a moderate storage capacity


Any thoughts or input would be awesome and anywhere that I could save some money would be even better!
I plan on using this machine for primarily gaming/movie watching. I'd like to take advantage of the eyefinity feature if I can afford a few monitors after the build is finished. Thanks for your advice in advance!

 

[vx53c]

I suggest picking a less fancy graphics card and forgetting the 6870 altogether. 6950 is better. Take the money from the motherboard since you can get a gigabyte or an asrock that do the same thing for much less the price. Other than that it is all solid. (You don't mention if you plan to OC. If you do then pick a good aftermarket cooler. If you don't then pick i5 2400)

 

[mpeckat]

Ok thank you for your input. The motherboard was my main concern actually, so I appreciate the price saving option you provided there. Since this is my first build, I'm not sure as to if I'm going to overclock mainly because I don't know what I'm doing. Although I might keep the option open for future use. Does if affect the longevity of any components if you keep it properly cooled?

 

[mpeckat]

-also I primarily will be playing MMO's and I'm not sure as to what resolution monitor I will be using. The monitor situation will depend on the amount of money I have left over after the other components are bought. Also if anyone has any advice on what resolution monitor would be good feel free to toss that in there. I'm not looking to play every game at the highest resolution possible and utilize eyefinity, I'd rather save some money and just get something that will look good on fairly high game settings. That being said, what resolution monitor would you suggest? Thanks for the help!

 

[phenom90]

taking newegg as reference to found that the p8p67 pro costs $3+ more than this board...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

as for cases as you are going to house your parts for years to come it's better to pick good build quality and provides good airflow(don't mean that elite 430 is no good... but there is better choices...)

for a $50 dollars case you can pick this one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129098

or this one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

but the most recommended case is the sub $100 case from corsair... in terms of build quality, cooling potential and ease of build worths every penny you pay for this one... take a good look...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139008

as for graphics card... if you're going for a single monitor only... i'll suggest you taking this card....
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102949

if you're gunning for multi-monitor setup... this extra 1gb vram comes in handy...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102945

if you want something more stamina... this one... recommended the most...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134125

as for monitor... a typical 1920 x 1080 will be enough....

 

[vx53c]

It is not a matter of being kept cooled properly but overvoltaging. You can OC with stock voltage and your processor will never tell the difference.
Sure if you up the voltage you might cut off some years out of your CPU, though i doubt it won't outlive it's purpose.
A 24inch monitor will make you see your mmo through different perspectives.
Get the 6950 and you can crank up everything to max and not worry about resolutions (especially for an mmo)