My first build - Questions!

[Vengince]

Hi!

This is my first time building a PC and I wanted help making sure I'm organizing and selecting things right so there are as few headaches as possible. These questions will probably seem simple but I'm entirely new at this. I've written questions that I have under the pieces.

My Budget is $1200 with a little flexibility if needed and my primary purpose for this machine will be to play graphic intensive games and video editing.

I'd like to have my graphics settings on games to the max but I don't need a machine that's overkill. and I'm not too concerned with everything being top-of-the-line but I do want to build something that I can upgrade with relative ease in the future.

Case:
Rosewill RANGER Gaming ATX Mid Tower - $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147061

Motherboard:
MSI 990FXA-GD80 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD -$194.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130600

*Will this motherboard be able to connect to the two USB 3.0 ports on the front of my case?

CPU:
AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core - $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103962

CPU Cooler:
Rosewill RCX-Z100 One ball bearing for over 45000/hrs life CPU Cooler - $11.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200017

GPU:
GIGABYTE GV-R695OC-1GD Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 - $229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125385

PSU:
OCZ ZS Series 650W 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply - $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341048

*This piece is my biggest area of confusion. My case has three fans that come with it and in addition to the other pieces in this machine will this be enough power? And will everything be able to connect to it?

Memory:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) - $43.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKX 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136770

*Will this work with my machine? I checked the motherboard specifications and it says it supports SATA 6.0Gb/s so I assumed that it worked.

SSD:
OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive -$99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227550

*Same question as with the hard drive.

Optical Drive:
LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98B - $19.89
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM - $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

Total price = $1115.79

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Is there anything that I am missing? Any first timer tips/advice?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Vengince]

Sorry! Didn't see the thread on how to ask for advice.

Approximate Purchase Date: This week

Budget Range: $1000-$1200

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Video editing, Everyday use

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country: US

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Yes / No / Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1200

Additional Comments:

 

[geofelt]

1) The 6 core amd cpu's have not been good for gamers when compared to sandy bridge. Bulldozer has been a real disappointment. Even the lowly i3-2100 dual core is competitive. The reason is twofold. First, few games use more than two or three cores, making a 6 core not much more useful than a 4 core. Second, the amount of work per clock on sandy bridge architecture is 20-30% better at the same clock rate. In your budget range, the i5-2500K is vastly superior. Yes, it will cost you $200 or so. Also, the sandy bridge "K" cpu's are good overclockers. They will easily go to 4.0-4.5 conservatively.

2) The 6950 is a good card. For gaming, this is the component that is most important. If you have the budget, see if you can't manage a 6970 or a GTX570. The recent announcement of a GTX560ti-448 is also very interesting. I would not plan on future upgrade via cf/sli. To do that, you will need a dual x16 cf/sli capable motherboard, a stronger psu, and better case cooling. My plan would be to sell the current card in favor of a stronget one in the future.

3) You will want a Z68 or P67 based motherboard. Most any will do.

4) The case has limited intake air. Look at the Antec 300 illusion model at the same price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

5) OCZ is a so so brand. Get a Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, XFX, or PC P&C unit which will not cost you any more.
This Antec HCG 620W unit is only $65. It actyally is a bit stronger with 48a vs 46a on the ocz.
It will power a single graphics card up to a GTX580.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371048

6) The cpu cooler is poor. It is a downdraft unit with a small fan. Probably no better than the stock amd cooler.
Look for a Xigmatek gaia or cm hyper 212 for about $25:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

7) Hard drive prices are crazy today. If you use a ssd(consider them as small sata hard drives that are very fast) for the os, then a slower hard drive like the wd blue is ok. I think 60gb is a bit small, but doable. 80-120gb should be fine. Otherwise look at the WD black or a samsung spinpoint f1. For what it is worth, the 1tb drives are faster because they are denser.

8) ram is fine, but if you are doing video editing consider a 16gb kit . The extra ram can be used instead of hard drive workfiles if your app is 64 bit enabled.

 

[Vengince]

Thanks geofelt,

Looks like I'll be revising my choices, lol.

 

[Vengince]

Best answer selected by Vengince.