First time build. $1500 Budget

Oh and this comes out to $1,327.89. So I have an extra $100 to play with  

What are you using for a case? I don't see that listed.

These would be my suggestions:

- If you've got an extra $100 definitely put that into the video card. The 6870 is a good card but for $100 more you can get a 6950 and that is a pretty killer GPU for the money. Although for brand preference I personally like Sapphire better than HIS.

- I don't know much about NZXT PSUs, but they do make some awesome cases (I really like the Phantom). You want to research the OEM behind the manufacturer before you buy and you want to make sure that your PSU is certified and rated.

- The Momentus is actually a laptop-specific hard drive. It's made for laptops where you want to use an SSD but you don't have any extra drive bays for a secondary storage solution. For the price you're better off going with a Samsung Spinpoint.

- I don't think I'd go for the Frio. After the disappointment I've had with gigantic, clunky coolers when smaller and more efficient coolers get the job done for less, that's what I'd go with. Go with the EVGA M020 or the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, those are the coolers I've had the best results with.

Optical drive? The hard drive that you selected is a 2.5" drive designed for a laptop. So you can change it out or get a 2.5 to 3.5 confersion kit.

I also generally advise the Z68 chipset because of the extra features that it offers. With a Z68 board you can use a small SSD (<64GB) with the Intel SRT (Smart Response Technology) and set it up for as a caching drive.

Other then these 2 issues the build does look good and should work very well as a gaming system for you.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

Corsair white graphite series 600T 169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The case I was planning on using. Sorry I forgot to list that.
I've read a lot of good reviews on the samsung spinpoint so I will take your suggestion on that. Thanks  
I really didnt like NZXT until there Hale series PSU's came out and those just seem to get great ratings,
as far as the case I'm pretty much stuck on the corsair graphite series, they just look beautiful to me and
look like they have the cable routing options, air circulation and little bling im in to. I'll def look into that
EVGA/CM coolor you suggested tho.
Thanks g-unit!

@Christian
I have an Optical drive in my older dell I was just going to use. I dont think I really need a Bluray drive or anything. I dont burn
cd's and the games I do buy are all digital copies anyway. As far as the HDD Im gonna go ahead and go witht he spinpoint 1TB.
As far as the Z68 chipsets go, is it pretty easy to set up an SSD as a caching drive? Not gonna lie I'm a little afraid of SSDs cuz
it seems like they have a high failure rate...

I have that same case and while it's great and all, it is huge, heavy, and not easy to transport. You might want to check out the slimmer Carbide 500R - it's the same design but a lot lighter.



Definitely reuse any parts you can. I don't really know how to setup an SSD as a cache but SSDs don't always necessarily have higher fail rates. They do have shorter lifespans than a traditional mechanical drive would but if you take the right precautions before hand an SSD can be really beneficial.

Thank you for the input guys, I really appreciate it. Looking forward to purchasing my parts next week