some__random

Honorable
May 22, 2012
4
0
10,510
I've started my first build with:

Case: NZXT Phantom 410
PSU: OCZ MODXSTREAM 650w
CPU: Intel i5 2500k
GPU: Radeon 2gb 7850
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb DDR3-1600 kit
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1tb 7200rpm 64mb cache
MB: Asus P8Z68-V PRO <--- ??? Not sure what to look for on this so any alternatives or advice is welcome

Monitor: Asus VE247H 1080p, 2ms response

I have everything but the mobo and GPU as well as various peripherals, and obviously the optical drive. I just don't know what to look for. I want to keep it as cheap as possible. Right now the build (without peripherals, optical drive and operating system) is sitting at around £726 and I'll be using the PC for games such as Mass Effect 3, Saint's Row the Third, Skyrim, Fable 3 etc.

Any tips on mobo, wireless adapter and speakers are welcome and if anyone has a cheap keyboard that they find particularly good, I'm open to suggestions. I'm not too picky about keyboards so I'm more interested in good key layout, ergonomics and 'clackyness' than specifics like responsiveness.
 
That GPU is great. I think the ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 offers the best value Z68 board by far. It'll even crossfire in the future. Optical drive, any is fine really. You don't even need one anymore these days.
 

some__random

Honorable
May 22, 2012
4
0
10,510


Thanks, I'll check out that mb. I still need to optical drive to install the OS as well as to run various old games that I've got. I'll also be needing it for the Mass Effect 3 disc since it's not on steam :( I'd rather have it than have to work around not having it. It's not like it's an expensive feature really. I just have no idea what constitutes a good drive since everyone says how unimportant they are in the grand scheme of the build. Any hints? Anything at all to look for that indicates a decent drive?