$700-800 gaming PC, first build

If you have a larger storage driver already that's great! Means you can drop in a small SSD to make things a little snappier for windows, your programs, and a couple of games.

Something along these lines here.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/aKUD

TIP:
and also when buying Windows 7 Buy the full retil version so when you upgrade your Mainboard/motherboard you can alwalys use the same one although a bit more expensive worth it in the end unless you plan on not changing parts for 2-4 years then get the OEM version

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$54.99 and a $10 rebate makes the final price $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Intel Core i5-2310 Sandy Bridge 2.9GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52310
$179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
$48.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

ASRock Z68M/USB3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
$84.;99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$69.99 and a $10 rebate makes the final price $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$279.99 and a $25 rebate makes the final price $254.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

The total for parts listed comes to $773.93 and while it's still under the $800 budget limit if you wanted to get the cost down some more you can shop at other sites for sales and rebates. If you live near a micro center , since you live in MA. there's one in Cambridge , you can get some real good prices there. Also Newegg has some combo deals that can help get the cost down as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz (3.1GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52300
$241.98 and a $15 rebate makes the final price $226.98

This combo deal will save you $38

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
Thermaltake TR2 TRX-650M 650W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 Modular Active PFC Power Supply
$299.99 and a $50 rebatemakes the final price $249.99

This combo will save you $60.
The two combo deals will save you $98

Awesome, I really appreciate your help and suggestions. Two/three questions, if you don't mind. If I did end up deciding to get a new hard drive, do you have any recommendations? What would you trim back if a hard drive were to be added? Lastly, how low would you go on a PSU? Do you think I could get away with 550W or should 600W be the floor?

Thanks a ton again, really appreciate it.

question: what hardrive do you think on getting because there are Western Digital 500Gb for 99.00 at newegg and those hard drive are always great
and you can always get a Radeon HD 7850, to cut cost back a little, but the GTX 570 permforms better in some games, you can also cut back to a gtx 550ti to cut price but you'll see a pretty big performance cut too

1

NZXT Source 210 S210-001 Black “Aluminum Brush / Plastic” ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811146075
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


$39.99
1

XFX FX-785A-CNFC Radeon HD 7850 Core Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814150608
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
-$20.00 Instant
$15.00 Mail-in Rebate Card


$254.99
$234.99
1

XFX Gift - Dirt3 Game Coupon
Item #: N82E16800989011
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$49.99 Saving


$49.99
$0.00
1

AMD Gift - Dirt SHOWDOWN Gift Coupon
Item #: N82E16800995124
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$59.99 Saving


$59.99
$0.00
1

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
Item #: N82E16817341017
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$32.99 Instant
$25.00 Mail-in Rebate Card


$99.99
$67.00
1


ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157296
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152181
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant
-$15.00 Combo


$219.98
$174.98
1


Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
Item #: N82E16819116506
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Item #: N82E16820233144
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
-$6.00 Instant
-$9.00 Combo


$254.98
$239.98
Subtotal: $756.94

newegg, note combos, and pick up an dvd drive. There is a 20 buck off code for the HDD that ends soon...the 570 build is also nice.

Giby: Modular = nicer looking case if you have a window, possibly better airflow since less cables will get in the way  

If you care about looks, you can just tuck the cables behind the tray.

i still prefer fully modular but that's just me, but sometime it can be a fuss trying to fix all the cable so the case would close lol  

Nevermind on my builds, as I didn't know you needed and OS.

Not with a case that has big enough holes to slide the cables through, like the Carbide 500R.

Okay, think I've settled on this (which is somewhat of a combo of the two suggestions). Any questions, concerns, etc.?

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811129042

EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support ...
Item #: N82E16814130613

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
Item #: N82E16817341017

GIGABYTE GA-H61MA-D3V LGA 1155 Intel H61 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128539

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986

Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
Item #: N82E16819116506

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Item #: N82E16820233144

This will exclude a hard drive and an optical drive. Speaking of optical drives, any recommendations? Or will pretty much anything suffice? Will this mobo be okay?

If you had to trim $100 from this build what would you change first?

Thanks again.

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom
Item #: N82E16817341017

Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
Item #: N82E16819116506

Your list contains two cpu's. Your putting an Ivy Bridge cpu with a H61 motherboard?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.961065
Thermaltake TR2 TRX-650M 650W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 Modular Active PFC Power Supply
$299.99 and a $50 rebatemakes the final price $249.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.953413
Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz (3.1GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I52300
$241.98 and a $15 rebate makes the final price $226.98

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
$48.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820233144

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$54.99 and a $10 rebate makes the final price $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129042

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
$99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986

Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EARX 1.5TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

This all comes to $800 and includes a HDD.

I am confused. Isn't the OCZ just a PSU only? Was it somewhere else in my components list? Or am I wrong? Would there be a problem with the Ivy Bridge / mobo combination (incompatibility, etc.)? That was a concern of mine, it's an area I am not particularly knowledgeable about.

Thanks again.

Excellent, thanks!! I think I'll roll with this build; appears that I might even be able to combo Win 7 with the GPU, it looks like, and save a few extra bucks. Very excited.

Best answer selected by Daekken.