Building a Gaming PC

[「Advent Chaos」]

A few weeks ago in the Live Chat, Deanb said if I were to make a Thread about PC-gaming with questions I would get answers.

Personally I've had horrible experiences when it comes to PC gaming, mostly due to dealing with pirated OSs and poor PC components. I am currently using an HP Laptop with "Ubuntu", and while it gets the job done for web browsing I would actually like to get into PC gaming. Among my many lists of money saves, getting a new PC is there. I've also heard that building your own PC is much cheaper so I ask you all, what makes a great PC?

 

Should I just buy a "pre-made" PC or build my own? What's a reasonable budget? How much lifetime can I expect from it? How often would I need update it's components?

 

Feel free to also talk about your own PC Gaming rigs!

Edited February 21, 2011 by Advent Chaos

[TheForgetfulBrain]

If you buy a pre-built, I would recommend ONLY buying something that has a lot of positive reviews somewhere like New Egg, and read through the comments to find possible issues.

 

I bought a new desktop computer that looked pretty spanking two years ago, at $200 off on a Black Friday sale - with no reviews.

 

It's served me pretty well, but it has some serious quirks I still haven't completely resolved. After I bought it, it started getting reviews, most of which were negative highlighting some serious issues with the build, and I was pretty bummed.

 

That said, a year into owning the machine I managed to pop in a new graphics card (ATI Radeon 5870 - I highly recommend this card) and the machine runs most games at max at a near flawless 60fps. I doubt I'll need to upgrade for at least another year or two, thanks to that.

 

Also, if you buy a pre-built, I would recommend getting it from somewhere like iBuyPower (it's what I have, and the company seems to have pretty good consumer ratings), that has respectable, well priced builds. Alienware is notoriously overpriced and not even that good. I would stay away from 'CostCo' machines or similar, where you're getting Dell, HP or some unknown brand - usually those machines are in really small cases and packed really tightly, so upgrading components is a nightmare/impossible, unless you really know what you're doing and know how to move crap around in your machine to make room.

 

This is just my two cents though, I don't know much about computers when it comes to the physical details, I'm just sharing advice I wish I'd known when I upgraded to a new gaming computer, from someone with average know-how when it comes to computers.

 

Pricing:

 

My desktop was around $800.

 

The new video card was around $350 through a pretty good deal on EBay (if you buy second hand, go XFX so you can get a lifetime warranty and make sure it can transfer to you - then it's basically like buying a brand new card from anyone else, since if it fails, they will replace it).

 

My 23" monitor with a 2048 resolution display and a good color depth was probably around $300.

 

Keep in mind I bought these things separately, so the cost was bearable.

Edited February 21, 2011 by TheForgetfulBrain

[Thursday Next]

I too am looking to build a gaming "rig" as I believe the parlance goes. I'm kind of getting that the most critical things are CPU, GPU and RAM (as these are the numbers that everyone raves about) but what else is important?

 

Are specific motherboards great and others arse? How important is the PSU? Does one need an epic sound card or will any one suffice?

 

And, most importantly, where is the best place to buy all this stuff (in the UK for me)?

[staySICK]

I've never bothered with a soundcard, on board sound has suited me fine, and most on boards will support at least 5.1 nowadays.

 

Just find your budget, do some research, look up reviews, that sort of thing.

 

Here's some good starter links:

Tom's Hardware: Best Gaming CPU's For Your Money -- Feb 2011

 

Tom's Hardware: Best Graphics Cards For The Money -- Feb 2011

 

Also check out the system builders area, they do builds based around certain budgets ($500, $800, $1000, $2000) and benchmark them, giving you some ideas.

 

Basically just check out tomshardware.com, its a really good site for getting component information.

[deanb]

PSU is the most important piece. Without it nothing else works, and if it fucks up and dump a ton of power across all your circuits, nothing works either. So NEVER EVER skimp on the PSU. Get something branded, and make sure you know what watts all your parts require. Then go 100 or so above that. Maybe more if you plan on upgrading to SLI/Crossfire down the line. Surge strips also help. Though don't go too overboard on a PSU. Like you don't require a modular PSU. They're nice, but not needed.

 

As for sound, it's to taste. I'm rocking on-bound sound and a surround sound kit I picked up from Tesco so you can see where I sit on that. (I want a nicer place before I splash out on a nice bit of sound kit anyway) I'd say for most people it's enough. Some extreme guys will get a sound card to save on CPU cycles and frame rates (like maybe 1/6th of a frame per second ¬_¬) and the rest get it for better sound. It's an expense that eats out of other stuff so you want to balance that.

 

I think that's the main difficulty with PC build. It's a set budget and trying to balance the cash, do you want a good case with good build and looks, or will a cheap case do and you'll use the save cash for plasters(band aids) and a can of spray paint. More CPU grunyt or GPU grunt, which is really weird these days with GPGPU, Physx, CUDA etc. GPU pulls it's weight much more than it used to.

 

Are you buying a pre-built, you buying the parts yourself, or going to a custom builder?

When buying parts I go to http://www.ebuyer.com/ since I'm just used to buying from them. They've been great, generally good prices, good customer service, speedy shipping. But there's http://www.scan.co.uk/, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/, http://www.aria.co.uk/, and http://www.misco.co.uk/. I've only bought from overclockers of those. Wasn't for me though, was getting card for a friend. Very good prices. Misco are who my dad uses time to time as his work does them. They're more for supplying business, but do sell to general public. Means their prices have until recently shown up as exclusive of VAT, so be wary on that. But if you can get VAT knocked off then they'd be worth going to.

Custom built I'd say to stay away from Eclipse Computers. Good prices (or where) but terrible customer service). http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/ I've heard to be good. Not used them personally, but they're site is really good to price up a rig and parts. It's sometimes best to build up a PC on their site then google the part and buy and build yourself. Then you know they all go together.

 

 

 

Now to reply to Advent, who I meant to ages ago but then the thread went out of new content

As I've mentioned to Thursday there's kind of three types of PCs. Most are "pre-builts" so these are from Dell, HP, Packard Bell, etc. If you're going into enthusiast PC gaming, these are to be avoided at all cost. They're pretty much single use PCs. Upgrade options are purposefully limited and they're over priced with branding and labour costs.

Then you have Custom Builds. These are made by companies like that Cyber Power link. They generally use good quality parts, you can usually modify your system to your liking. But they build the PC for you, test it, install OS and set it all up for you then ship it to your home. You pay a premium in labour costs, but they're good for beginners without too much parts knowledge or a fear they'll fry stuff. You have the peace of mind in a warranty.

Then the best and most satisfying of all, the self builds. These you source the parts yourself, though some custom builders can also ship you unbuilt systems for people who want the satisfaction of making it themselves, you can get them dirt cheap in sales, you know exactly what it going in your system, there's no labour or branding fees. You put it altogether, turn it on and hear the whir as your baby wakes up.

 

If you're building for your first time you'll want someone along side you that has prior experience. Once you know the in's and outs you can put together a PC in about half an hour. But your first time is going to be a few hours, and most of it will be looking at a motherboard manual going "what the fuck does this all mean?" (it makes sense , and for something so complex is actually pretty simple), then the rest trying to find out why none of your sound and USB ports work, or why hitting reset button on your PC starts it up and the power button resets it. (Guess which cables dean finds the fiddliest)

If you've got someone along side you make sure they're not doing it for you, they're there more to make sure you don't try to jam a PCI-E card in a PCI slot or plug your PSU right into your CPU power. And to help trouble shoot. If they do it for you, you don't learn. Also have some nice classical music in the back ground. No TV, it's distracting. Also that they're someone you can chill with, not someone who is stressy or bossy. For the most part they're just going to be watching you.

 

As for pricing, depends what you want. The sky is the limit. More you spend now the better results you'll have with games and generally the longer it will last. I'd say if you spend about £700 on parts (not including monitor and OS, sorry I'm a student) you can get a PC that should run all current games on high and last you a couple of years before that starts to change much. Especially these days with consoles holding most stuff back. I'd say not to spend less than £500. You start to slip into budget land and buying stuff that won't run modern games past medium.

 

Your first decision, for both of you, is if you want Intel Inside, or AMD somewhere (wtf is their slogan?). And if you're in camp green or camp red. I'd say Nvidia GeForce personally. They cost more than AMD(ATi) Radeons, but I find their non-gaming applications of GPGPU CUDA and it's PhysX support to more than make up for the slight cost increase. That may not be the case for you. The Nvidia line also tends to have better driver support, though Steam now does driver updates for ATi owners. So that's your choice.

Sandybridge as you may have heard has issues with SATA ports (powers HDDs, SSDs n Blu-Ray) on the motherboards. MSI just started shipping fixed boards. So if you want Sandy Bridge chips I'd hold out a month or so for everyone else to catch up.

Also check your motherboard has USB 3.0 support. Most should these days.

 

 

Oh and you'll all want something like this:

http://www.play.com/...ty/Product.html

Strap on your wrist, clip goes on the PC case

 

 

If at any moment none of this made sense just quote it and I'll expand. I'm sure others can fill in too on their preferences for parts. e.g I'm up for anything on MoBos, but maybe someone will have stuff to suggest Foxconn over Asrock or Asus over MSI.

 

edit: holy shit, I wrote all of this?

[staySICK]

Unless you are going crazy high, I highly recommend this power supply:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003&cm_re=xfx_psu-_-17-207-003-_-Product

 

I want to put a modular psu in mine just for better cable management and tidiness.

[Thursday Next]

Ok...so more specific questions, thanks Dean for the help so far...

 

Motherboards: Do I need SLI? (By "need" I mean "want").

 

CPU: Is Intel vs AMD pretty much a Pepsi vs Coke decision? If so, AMD seem cheaper so that's a no-brainer.

 

RAM: Is more RAM better than faster RAM or vice versa? For example would you rather have 8GB @ 1800mhz or 16GB at 1333mhz?

 

GPU: Am I better off getting one NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card or two NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 1GB 16X PCI Express?

 

This is gonna get expensive...

 

Oh and hard drives. Is it worth having a solid state OS drive and a non-solid state data drive?

[Mal]

I know you're asking for Dean but:

 

Intel vs. AMD isn't exactly like Pepsi vs. Coke. Its more like getting a Corolla or Camry (Or better car). Corollas are fine cars but there comes a point that you will pay too much for a Corolla, thus it make more sense to go with a Camry or a better car. AMD has great CPUs but at certain upper price ranges, you should go for an Intel since they run better and such.

 

For the RAM, for most PC gamers, I heard that 8GB will be enough for anything you throw at it. More doesn't really make your computer that much better, in most cases. Its like more frosting on a cake. Its good but you don't have to have the extra frosting. You just could get 8 GB and call it a day. As for quality, check the timing on those RAMs. I have litter idea on what makes a good RAM but the lower the timing, the better.

 

GPUs... you can most likely find benchmarks for those to compare.

 

As for SDD... get one if you like but use it for the OS and other crucial programs and such then get a regular 1 TB or so HDD for all the other stuff. I personally doing that and I find it to be good. Boots much faster than my old computer and I can start using my computer once it gets to the desktop.

 

And oh yes it can get expensive but if I predicted correctly that this should last me 4-5 years... it will be well worth the cost, imho. Its my baby. I put her together with my own hands and gave it life. The first time I powered it on, it didn't go because... I didn't flip the power switch. So I did and tried again, it went but then... stopped. Worried... I checked everything thing again, adjusting this and that. Third time was the charm and I went

 

---

As a side note, I never used the static thing when I built my computer...

[Thursday Next]

Apologies to Advent for totally jacking his (her?) thread... Here is an initial spec up of what I think I need for a gaming PC (thanks to Raz and some other Steamers for their input)... does anything seems under powered or massively overpowered? It's coming in a little shy of my £1k absolute maximum... so I've got some wiggle room. P.S. I probably won't start buying components till July at the earliest, maybe more like Sept/Oct. Looking to have it up and running by 1st November for absolutely no apparent reason.

 

CPU: AMD Phenom™ II X6 1055T Six-Core CPU

 

MOTHERBOARD: Asus M4N98TD EVO AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI Chipset DDR3 ATX w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394, SATA-II, RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI (runs up to 1600MHZ)

 

MEMORY: 4GB (2x2GB) PC16000 DDR3/1800mhz Triple Channel Memory (Kingston Hyper X Blu Series Series w/Heat Spreader)

 

VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 5870 PCI-E 16X 1GB DDR5 Video Card

 

Power Supply: Cyberpower 700watt Gaming Power Supply

 

Hard Drive: 640GB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD

 

Optical Drive: LG CH10LS20 10X BLU-RAY/HD-DVD Reader / DVD±R/±RW Writer

 

SOUND: Creative Labs SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 24-BIT PCI Sound Card

[deanb]

SLI? tbh I'd say no. Depends on how long you intend to drag your parts out for. The theory is when your PC gets a bit showing it's age you buy another card slip it in, they're much cheaper then too, and poof speed boost. The reality is you tend to just buy a brand new current top line card. Also SLI doesn't work in every game, and can have it's own issues. It's a great option to have further down the line, but you have to decided if you'd use it or pick up a GTX 960 instead.

As Malicious said it's not exactly a coke vs pepsi thing. There's wriggle room on price n performance in some areas. Worth checking Staysicks Tomshardware links up top on what's good for budget. I'm unsure if you'd need 6-cores though. Only now are things taking advantage of 4 cores. Source Engine supports 6 though as of a few months back That's maybe something to google. I think the 6-core stuff is more for video editors and such than gaming.

 

For RAM, since I've now seen your current specs, you'll want more than 4GB. As for capacity vs speed, it's another balancing act but I'd say there comes a point where RAM could be too fast for your needs, but you can never have too much room. However don't go too slow. I have 6GB, but it's slow. The capacity is nice, but sometimes things lag a little bit. (It's also DDR2 though, so much slower than the slowest DDR3). For next PC I'm looking at 8GB Though I do video work and 3D modelling. I also have a ton of background programs open. Which really seems to offend the folks yet to adjust to the RAM explosion a few years back with Vista. Also as malicious highlighted, it's the timings that can help with speed, not so much just the mhz.

 

Well going back on the SLI stuff up top, buy the single card now. If you buy two cards right away you're fucked for wriggle room later down the line. Also I'm pretty sure the 450 were mid-range sop despite it adding up to 900 and having 2GB of RAM I have a feeling they'll be slower. They definitely will be in games that don't support SLI.

 

 

I've never bothered with SSD's. Still unsure if I will. I'm hard wired for capacity. So 60GB vs 2TB for the same price, I'm buying the 2TB. Maybe I'll look to see what the budget can burden. It's pretty much only going to affect boot up times though. My files will still be stored primarily on the HDD's and my Steam games total about 250GBs, so they're definitely not going to fit. SSD is up to you. I personally think they're still too expensive for what they offer. When it's about 1/4 the capacity of HDD for the price (so that's a 500GB SSD for £100) then I'll look into them. But Win 7 boots up in like 30 seconds or so anyway. I tend to go get a drink or whatever while it's booting so it's not time lost.

 

 

Also you're only giving it 10 days? I'd get it up before 1st November, RMA could take 2 weeks then you'll miss the launch. But yeah if it's going to be another 6 months almost then I'd spend that time just brushing up on what's important n what not cos all of those are going to become obsolete by then. Or at least much cheaper I guess. I'd strongly recommend more than 4GB RAM though. That's my only main concern.

[deanb]

Slightly off-topci (maybe)

http://www.hardocp.c...for_under_grand

 

How to make a Triple Screen gaming PC for under $1000(£615)

 

edit: How to make a Triple Screen PC:

1. buy a PC

2. replace GPU

3.??????

4.Profit

 

problem here is the ????? is important, i.e how to tie the Nvidia and ATi together.

So sorry on that, false alarm.

[R__]

Here's my piece of advice:

 

Avoid ATI like the plague. Nothing else matters. Your computer will run every game just fine, even if you only want to spend $1000 on it. JUST AVOID ATI. You will never get proper driver support. You can count on driver-related glitches, and even if the benchmarks look good, there will be problems that never show up in reviews (ESPECIALLY dealing with multiple displays!!). The moment your card falls a generation behind, driver updates that fix bugs specific to your card will stop being released. Did I mention you will never be able to use multiple displays? Fuck ATI. Stay away from ATI at all cost.

 

Source: years of work in the IT field

[deanb]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2011/03/10/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-march-2011/1

 

Might as well share if any folks are wanting to look at current parts.

[Yantelope]

I'd like to say that don't try to hedge your bets against anything farther than two years in the future. Power supply connections are always changing. CPU sockets are always changing and even the graphics bus can change. Really it's good to be ready for an upgrade but I bought a Core i7 two years ago and an SLI power supply 500w and now I still can't do SLI and my socket has already been discontinued. Really I'd say just purchase what is a good bang for your buck now and at most budget a little extra for a graphics update in the future.

[staySICK]

to be fair I've read p much from launch that LGA 1366 (the initial batch of core i7s / X58) was a limited run, I didn't really expect 1156 to be overshadowed so quickly, and hell, there's another socket type for Sandy Bridge that hasn't come out, and is largely unknown besides its designation number iirc, 2011.

 

Right now I'm looking at getting a Sandy Bridge system sometime with a core i5 2500K, if I can scratch up the money.

[staySICK]

Unless you are going crazy high, I highly recommend this power supply:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207003&cm_re=xfx_psu-_-17-207-003-_-Product

 

I want to put a modular psu in mine just for better cable management and tidiness.

 

 

yay! I'm getting a modular (unfortunately not full modular) power supply thanks to a newegg sale.

 

I just wish they allowed for stacking codes, I have another $25 off code, would have loved to get it for less than 100. But the price I'm paying still isn't bad I think:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182188

 

there's a 72 hour sale on newegg, check it out for some decent deals.

 

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/latest/index-landing.aspx

[ADIRTYWINDOW]

I need help in purchasing a PSU. I built a pc over the weekend but I guess a 450 stock wasn't enough cause my mobo lights up but my pc wont boot up.

 

My specs are:

AMD Phenom II x4, 3.4 GHz,

Asus M4N68T-M V2 Socket AM3 630a mATX**

EVGA Geforce 9600 GT

320Gb SATA HDD

2GB DDR3 RAM idk mhz

 

How much power should I buy for my PSU? Not sure if it matters but my spending limit is as of now only 80 bucks. Help is appreciated, thanks.

[MasterDex]

I need help in purchasing a PSU. I built a pc over the weekend but I guess a 450 stock wasn't enough cause my mobo lights up but my pc wont boot up.

 

My specs are:

AMD Phenom II x4, 3.4 GHz,

Asus M4N68T-M V2 Socket AM3 630a mATX**

EVGA Geforce 9600 GT

320Gb SATA HDD

2GB DDR3 RAM idk mhz

 

How much power should I buy for my PSU? Not sure if it matters but my spending limit is as of now only 80 bucks. Help is appreciated, thanks.

 

You shouldn't need more than a 500w PSU for that build just from a quick glance. The most important factor to keep in mind is quality. Many cheap PSUs might have the wattage you're looking for but the quality of the cables or overall build quality may mean that the power required isn't going to the rails. With this in mind, get yourself a PSU that has a solid warranty from a respected brand that reviewed well. It may cost more than 80 quid but you can rest assured that it shouldn't fail you through any fault of its own and if it does, that you can get a replacement.

 

Don't stop reading just yet though. With many first-time builds and even subsequent builds once you're used to the process, you'll find that you may have simply left a cable unplugged or at the least and most commonly, not plugged in right. Before you go out and buy a new PSU, check that all cables are seated correctly. This may not be your problem but static electricity is a major killer of electronic equipment so be sure to have yourself earthed before touching any components and do so preferebly with no long sleeves or wooly tops.

 

to be fair I've read p much from launch that LGA 1366 (the initial batch of core i7s / X58) was a limited run, I didn't really expect 1156 to be overshadowed so quickly, and hell, there's another socket type for Sandy Bridge that hasn't come out, and is largely unknown besides its designation number iirc, 2011.

 

Right now I'm looking at getting a Sandy Bridge system sometime with a core i5 2500K, if I can scratch up the money.

 

It's things like that that are making me think my next build will be an AMD build. I like to leave a path open to upgrade without having to replace the motherboard and Intel isn't making that easy.

 

Here's my piece of advice:

 

Avoid ATI like the plague. Nothing else matters. Your computer will run every game just fine, even if you only want to spend $1000 on it. JUST AVOID ATI. You will never get proper driver support. You can count on driver-related glitches, and even if the benchmarks look good, there will be problems that never show up in reviews (ESPECIALLY dealing with multiple displays!!). The moment your card falls a generation behind, driver updates that fix bugs specific to your card will stop being released. Did I mention you will never be able to use multiple displays? Fuck ATI. Stay away from ATI at all cost.

 

Source: years of work in the IT field

 

I don't think that's a fair appraisal and I'm going to have to say I respectfully disagree with your sentiments. Nvidia has had their own share of problems with drivers (remember the ones that overheated and even killed some cards last year?) and ATIs driver support has been improving over the last year or so. Also, never able to use multiple displays?

 

Edited March 24, 2011 by MasterDex

[staySICK]

it is rather obnoxious, especially after 775 had such a long run, I expected them to have settled on a new socket type by now that would last a similar amount of time.

[MasterDex]

it is rather obnoxious, especially after 775 had such a long run, I expected them to have settled on a new socket type by now that would last a similar amount of time.

 

I think they've just settled on robbing us blind, lol.

[DarkMalice]

I've never bothered with a soundcard, on board sound has suited me fine, and most on boards will support at least 5.1 nowadays.

 

Just find your budget, do some research, look up reviews, that sort of thing.

 

Here's some good starter links:

Tom's Hardware: Best Gaming CPU's For Your Money -- Feb 2011

 

Tom's Hardware: Best Graphics Cards For The Money -- Feb 2011

 

Also check out the system builders area, they do builds based around certain budgets ($500, $800, $1000, $2000) and benchmark them, giving you some ideas.

 

Basically just check out tomshardware.com, its a really good site for getting component information.

 

 

 

I want to thank you for those links. I pretty much followed their $1000 build with a few modifications, but I really want to go over with you guys to see if this is a good enough build (or if it will even work since I'm new to PC building).

 

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

 

Mobo: ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

Video Card: GIGABYTE GV-R695D5-2GD-B Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

 

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

 

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

 

Harddrive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

 

Extra Cooling Unit: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

 

Disk Drive: ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner

 

Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

 

 

This is all ringing me up to a grand total $1,086.38 Canadian. Anyone have any suggestions?

[MasterDex]

Looks alright to me. Personally, I'd go for 2x4gb of DDR3. It'll mean you can still expand to 16gb down the road if you wanted to without switching out any sticks. The 300 isn't too roomy of a case either and while I know many people want to have small, compact PC's, you're really better off going with something with more room for two reasons: Easier to work with and keep tidy and better airflow/less chance temps will get too hot. Sticking with Antec, I'd go for the 600 or 900 instead. The 600 isn't much more expensive than the 300 but it's better suited for gaming.

[ADIRTYWINDOW]

Thanks for the help there, I ended up buying a 500w like you recommended. Now everything is up and running

[MasterDex]

Thanks for the help there, I ended up buying a 500w like you recommended. Now everything is up and running

 

That's good to hear. Is this your first gaming PC? If it was, welcome to the glorious master PC race!

[staySICK]

 

 

I want to thank you for those links. I pretty much followed their $1000 build with a few modifications, but I really want to go over with you guys to see if this is a good enough build (or if it will even work since I'm new to PC building).

 

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

 

Mobo: ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

Video Card: GIGABYTE GV-R695D5-2GD-B Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

 

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

 

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

 

Harddrive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

 

Extra Cooling Unit: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

 

Disk Drive: ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner

 

Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

 

 

This is all ringing me up to a grand total $1,086.38 Canadian. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

looks like a good system. I'm looking at that cpu and possibly same motherboard (deciding between that and MSI) if I can scrounge up the cash, probably after I sell off a few things.