Too much for gaming?

4 GB RAM is far to low, you should use at least 12GB! I have Windows 7 and 24GB RAM, after have using my new PC for 4 months Windows and everyday programs & applications uses 17% of all that RAM just for surfing!!! Have not installed and played any games yet but then I can imagen that number would go up to at least 30-40%. Know the Micro-ATX boards using very limited RAM space and sockets but try to maximize that first - after 6 months you WILL be pleased with that investment!

My standard filosofie is that the whole computer should be well balanced right through every single component. DONT spend xxxx money to get the latest graphic card and at the same time buy a crapy PSU or get the fastest CPU but just buy 4 GB RAM. Think like this: make the entire PC as good as the component you spend LEAST money on. When I bought my new computer and build it myself I choosed components that was Hi-End for 1-2 years ago. Its still that good and high-end but to the half price, it has just being inside the boxes for a while, but still un-used and NEW. By doing this way I have managed to fill my case with only High-End components and no part is lesser or better then the other - its well balanced right through from the PSU and motherboard and case to keyboard, mouse and speakers!

DONT buy a Micro-ATX motherboard if you have a case that have space for a ATX motherboard, you only will be disaponted in the end when you realize that it maybe is limited to a maximum of say 4GB RAM when you in fact need way more, or finds out that your MB dont have enough SATA 2&3 and USB 2&3 internal sockets/ports. If your planning to use SLI/CrossFire you MUST have at least a ATX board with room for two double-port GPUs with enought space between the GPUs so it comes air into the one mounted above GPU nr 2!!!

DONT stirr you blind on getting an expensive and new GPU, buy insted two cheaper and WELL COOLED GPUs (like MSI N460GTX 1GB HAWK) that uses both watercooling AND fans to keep the noise down and the stabillity (=gaming performance) good, and use SLI/CrossFire, with a motherboard that support 2x16x PCI-e. Make sure you dont get a MB that automaticly downclock both PCI-e sockets to 2x8x when both sockets is used, there is MANY boards that sadly works this way so be sure before you get it!

If you are going to use SLI/CrossFire you also need a good 80+ certificated PSU that have enought power cables to the GPUs and enough W to supply your system with power. A 650W 80+ Corsair PSU is a very good investment, even if it is expensive. Search the forums and google "80+ PSU" so you can read about this and learn. Just for knowledge I use two MSI N460GTX 1GB HAWK in SLI and they demand 2 (two) 6-pin power cables each. For that and many other reasons I also use a Corsair HX850W 80+ silver PSU, OK it costs a lot of money but its worth it beacuse it in the end saves me money on my electric bill! Have tried to overclock the PC until its glowing but that PSU dont even get hot, the airstream is more like a gentle summer windpush!!!

I judge a PC by its PSU - NOT its GPU!

Another tip to get good over-all-performance is to get two small (60-80GB) SSDs and run them in RAID 0 mode and use them as System Disc (C  and lay Windows and games on that, after this you can buy a big 2TB HDD to store all your media files on for a cheep sum.

Remember - a good PC is well balanced, a bad PC have the
beast CPU and GPU but all other components are crap!
Harmony is the key to succes :-)