$900 i5 Gaming Computer.

[PhizzyPhish]

Hello. First timer here looking to get "learned" on the joys of building.

Approximate Purchase Date: This week hopefully by Wednesday at the latest.

Budget Range: ~$900

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, internet browsing.

Parts Not Required: Keyboard and mouse and possibly OS.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg

Country: US

Parts Preferences: I was thinking of going with Intel unless someone can convince me otherwise

Overclocking: No.

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1600x900. It's what's recommended for the monitor I'm getting;

Additional Comments: Going to be used for gaming, not looking to go max settings on every game just a few like Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2

Here's what I have in mind. To the best of my knowledge(not saying much) it's all compatible

CPU
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52500

Mobo
BIOSTAR TZ68K+ LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

GPU
EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL

HDD
Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

PSU
Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Case
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan

CD Drive
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

Monitor
Acer S201HLbd Black 20" 5ms LED-Backlight LCD monitor 250 cd/m2 ACM 12,000,000:1 (1000:1)

How'd I do? Did I do everything right?

 

[lakshitharxx]

Change 550ti to HD6850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121559

If you are in a budget change i5 2500 to 2400.. There isn't big difference and you will save some money..

 

[Proximon]

We don't use Biostar much in our recommendations. No one can prove it to you, but the collective opinion is that the quality is inferior.

These days, I tend to rank MBs in this order

Asus
ASRock
Gigabyte
EVGA
MSI
Biostar
ECS
Now, others will have a different order but most will put Biostar in the bottom half.

Let me see if I can re-work this a bit and get you into a bigger monitor.

■ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
■Rosewill RANGER Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case,two-toned interior coating,come with Three Fans,Support up to 7 Fans, ...
■Western Digital Caviar Blue WDBAAX5000ENC-NRSN 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
■Acer G235HAbd 23'' WideScreen LCD monitor
■MSI R6870 Hawk Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
■Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...
■G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL
■ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
■Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 ...
TOTAL: $899.91

 

[zhihao50]

don't really need a z68 if you don't intend to overclock. h67 would do nicely

 

[PhizzyPhish]

We don't use Biostar much in our recommendations. No one can prove it to you, but the collective opinion is that the quality is inferior.

These days, I tend to rank MBs in this order

Asus
ASRock
Gigabyte
EVGA
MSI
Biostar
ECS
Now, others will have a different order but most will put Biostar in the bottom half.

Let me see if I can re-work this a bit and get you into a bigger monitor.

■ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
■Rosewill RANGER Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case,two-toned interior coating,come with Three Fans,Support up to 7 Fans, ...
■Western Digital Caviar Blue WDBAAX5000ENC-NRSN 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
■Acer G235HAbd 23'' WideScreen LCD monitor
■MSI R6870 Hawk Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
■Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...
■G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL
■ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
■Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 ...
TOTAL: $899.91

Now that's a build to write home to momma about. After shipping and everything it's going to be $922 which is perfectly in my flex reange. I think I'll go with it, Plus I have this strange sense you know your stuff.

And thanks for the heads up about Biostar. As I said I'm new to this so I don't really know how to tell quality from crap, I was just going by how well the newegg reviews were.

Well now that I have to parts figured could someone point me in the direction of some good information on assembly? Want to make sure I'm well read in it when the parts show up to minimizing my chances of "bleeping" it up

Also thank you to all who replied, your help is still greatly appreciated.

 

[Proximon]

I had considered an H67 board for the build, because zhihao50 is right that you don't need a Z68 or P67 board. But I liked the features and price on that particular P67. and perhaps you'll get the urge to overclock some future processor.

There is an assembly guide right here, linked in the master sticky.

Oh, and look carefully at those links. There may be some promo codes that reduce the cost.