Building a gaming rig for my girlfriend...

[Foxhound7]

Okay guys,

I'm trying to get my girlfriend into gaming. She's played World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike before, so she's not completely new to gaming, but she doesn't plan on playing Crysis 2 or anything. I already have an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 graphics card and I plan on getting this case with a 480w power supply...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811148030

I also have an OS and a 320GB HDD along with a mouse, keyboard, and monitor kicking around that she can use. I'm not sure what I should grab for a motherboard and processor, though. I was leaning toward the new AMD chips because they're cheap and get the job done, but I wanted someone else's input. On the case, memory, motherboard and processor, I'd like to spend under $300 if possible but have room to upgrade down the road. She'll probably just play games like League of Legends, Diablo III, World of Warcraft, and Counter-Strike so that should give you an idea of what kind of power she'll need.

Thanks in advance as always folks!

Cheers!
=Ben

 

[doct3rphil]

You could grab an AM3+ mobo, FX 4100 cpu, 2x4GB ram, a case, and be around $300. I'm not the biggest fan of power supplies that come with cases but it should work OK.

You could get an SLI mobo and get another GTX 560 down the road, but you would need a bigger power supply for that.

 

[nekulturny]

I would go with dr phil's suggestion on the AM3+ mobo, but I would go with the Phenom II 965 over the FX 4100. The FX CPUs are fine if they're overclocked substantially (which they are capable of), but I assume the girlfriend isn't really going to get into such things, also the FX-4100 is not a true quad core. The Phenom II is fine without touching the clock rates and is a true quad:

Phenom II 965- $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727


Motherboard- Asrock 970 $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

RAM- Team Elite 2x4GB -$40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313086

I really would consider a different power supply, using a generic power supply to power good components is asking for trouble!

You can use that case since for 40 bucks its pretty solid, but I would strongly urge you to consider at bare minimum a power supply such as this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033

And ideally, one such as this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&Tpk=cx430

 

[aznshinobi]

Would not even try using that 480. Specially from Logysis not a good combo.

Could you fill us in on the budget?
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice