[Need Advice] $1200 Gaming Rig - My First Ever

[onepace]

Current Computer: Asus G50VT
Problem: Overheating, Pain to Carry, FPS Horrible, Can't Multi-task

Solution #1: Buy an Alienware M17x Laptop!
Problem #1: HOLY CRAP THEY COST TOO MUCH

Solution #2: Build my own gaming desktop and use my wife's iPad for travel

Build

CPU - Intel Core i5 3570 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHZ Quad-Core ($229.99)

Motherboard - Asus P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 68b/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($149.99)

RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2x4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ($39.99)

Graphics- MSI N660 Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0x16 HDCP Ready SLI ($309.99)

Hard Drive - Western Digital WD Blue W10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB ($84.99)

Optical - Asus 24X DVD Burner

Power - CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3/ESP12V ($144.99)

Case - Antec 300 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower ($39.99)

Operating System - Windows 7 ($91.99)

Monitor - Asus VE228H 21.5" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD ($144.99)

Keyboard - Microsoft Sidewinder x4 ($49.99)

Mouse - use my old sidewinder (FREE)

Questions:

1. Is there anything I can do to lower the price without sacrificing too much?
2. As you can see I favor Asus products, just had good experience with them in the past, any problems here?
3. How is my graphics card? Seems so expensive!
4. Is there ANYTHING else I will need?
5. Will all these components work well together?


I would appreciate any help at all. Thanks guys!

P.S. I've never done this before so let me know if I'm messing anything up

 

[onepace]

/bump for some love!

 

[redeemer]

you can save a bit more by going for the Corsair TX650 instead of the HX750

 

[naf]

All looks good. The HX750 is really great, but you won't be needing that much power unless you overclocking bigtime or if you plan to SLI/Crossfire. You could save on that by getting the TX650 like redeemer said, or the HX650:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

And get yourself a Samsung 830 or Vertex 4 - it's the most $99 you can throw at a PC.

 

[onepace]

What is so great about the Samsung 830 or the Vertex 4?

 

[Borochadwicsays]

Few suggestions. You could get a 3570 k for about 30 bucks less probably and will perform great in all games for years. There's zero reason to have the 3770 in gaming, IMO. No games use CPU even close to max AFAIK.

I would go with a SSD for my HD. It really does make a world of difference. I got a 100 dollar deal for a 128 Crucial M4 and I love it. Maybe get a cheap 500 GB for storage?

Is a DVD burner necessary? If so, go to a used electronics place (pawn shop, computer store, etc) and buy one for like 20 bucks.

I have a nice Silencer MK2 950W Silver + rated PSU that I got for 115 or so at Microcenter. I imagine the 750W models they have are around 90 or less.

50 dollars for a keyboard? I would save and get a cheaper model and a wireless adapter if you want to connect to Wi-Fi.

As far as monitor, I use my HDMI on my 40" 1080p LCD (~$350) TV to save some money.

For graphics, I use the EVGA GTX 670 OC'ed pretty heavily. I get 60+ FPS in all games I've played, minus one part in Arkham City (which I'm fairly sure in a programming error on the game's part). It was $400. I would suggest getting the model you are looking at, honestly. You could spend about $340 and get close to the absolute top end AMD card. Or you could spend $300 on yours and OC it, (which is still almost as good as mine, which was $400), and get great compatibility and performance on pretty much every game. You also could SLI that card in the future if necessary for only $600 total, which would destroy my current card performance-wise for not much more money.

If you want to future proof, maybe get a larger PSU. You could definitely find cheaper ones. You may also want to think about an aftermarket cooler, and you will want several additional case fans, usually 120 MM and as powerful and quiet as possible. With the 3570 k I suggested, you could OC it (possibly up to 4.4 with a $30 aftermarket cooler) and get a huge performance boost.