First time building a budget gaming rig.

Retrowire

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Hello, long time reader, first time poster! Anyways, I wanted to personally ask for some help after already reading tons of threads here and getting some ideas that lead me to this build. Tell me what you think? What needs to be changed maybe?

Approximate Purchase Date: March-ish

Budget Range: $600 to $800 (Current Idea: $859 Before Rebates)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (Minecraft, The Sims 3, Dead Space, no online gaming.), Video Editing (Sony Vegas, Adobe After Effects), maybe some audio editing/recording, internet browsing.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, tigerdirect.com, Suggestions are welcome!

Parts Preferences: I prefer GIGABYTE mobos and I want to build an intel based gaming rig.

Overclocking: Maybe (Like under what circumstances would one want to OC?)

SLI or Crossfire: Not too interested.

Monitor Resolution: I'll be using my old monitor for now so, 1024x768 I'll also hook the computer up to my 42 inch HDTV from time to time.

Additional Comments: This is me and my wife's first time building a PC and I've always wanted to build one! I've got years of repair technician experience and I know what I'm looking at for the most part but I just thought I'd refer to the hive mind of Toms Hardware before I went through with this endeavor. I have my wishlist set up here at Newegg: David and Michelle's Custom Build and wanted to ask your opinion of the build thus far and wanted to know if anything should be changed or added/removed.

Other questions:

1. How essential is a sound card when wanting to edit audio on a computer? Would a mobo with nice 8.0 channel audio do that job well enough?

2. Any cost cutting ideas regarding this current build?

3. How important is overclocking and why would I want to?

Thanks for reading, and thanks for any help that comes along.
 
Solution
swap out the ram for low profile ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148661
if you use a after market heat sink the ram you have the tall heat spreaders wont fit.
the intel heat sink with the plastic legs suck trying to force the plastic pins through mb. most times if your not care full they snap off or a leg does. spend the extra 30.00 for aftermarket evo 212 or clone.

the best speed boost you can give your rig is drop in a ssd.
with the right mb and os you can boot into windows 8 in 6 sec.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdOAvlncCOw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1VrW_d3E-Y
swap out the ram for low profile ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148661
if you use a after market heat sink the ram you have the tall heat spreaders wont fit.
the intel heat sink with the plastic legs suck trying to force the plastic pins through mb. most times if your not care full they snap off or a leg does. spend the extra 30.00 for aftermarket evo 212 or clone.

the best speed boost you can give your rig is drop in a ssd.
with the right mb and os you can boot into windows 8 in 6 sec.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdOAvlncCOw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1VrW_d3E-Y
 
Solution

Retrowire

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Do you think I should get an aftermarket heatsink for my CPU considering this type of build? Also, thanks for the recommendation with the RAM, that saved a few bucks.

Regarding boot speed and all that, I'm currently running a custom Inspiron 1520 thats about 7 years old. It's CPU is a Intel Core 2 Duo 1.5 GHZ with 4 gbs of RAM. I think any upgrade I get these days will be a noticeable difference in speed. Considering SSD's though, in what areas do they increase speed other than boot speed?
 

Retrowire

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Thank you both for your help,

To add a little more detail here, I am interested in making this computer a little more futureproof, this is why I'm going from my 7 yr old laptop to a sturdy, stationary desktop build. I want this computer to last for a while and be open to future upgrades, which is kinda why I'd like to stay in the mobo ATX form category and have room for plenty PCI slots.

I've updated my build list at newegg.com and I'll be back to take in more suggestions and adjust accordingly.

Adjustments that my wife I have made so far include removing the Audio Card and Blu-Ray Disc Drive because we figure these items are really just after thoughts that can be added at any later date when the needs arise.

We also did more looking into the CPU's and found this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116782&Tpk=i5-3350P

Are there any disadvantages to this kind of processor? We see plenty of good reviews and we are getting a graphics card for this build so there's no need for integrated graphics really.

Our questions now are:

1. Should this type of build have a form of liquid cooling?
2. Do you have to buy your own thermal paste when assembling a computer or does it come with the CPU?
3. SSD's What are the advantages other than boot speeds, and do they put more load on a CPU?

Thanks again guys, you're helping us immensely.