Based on your suggestions, I changed my build a little bit. Sorta threw this together in a few minutes so probably slipped up a little.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492820Changed to a larger PSU but a smaller amount of RAM...Not really sure how good of an idea this was.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568Getting two 460's and SLI them together.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.480251Switched to a AMD 965BE. Not sure about the MOBO but it needs to be able to SLI pretty well and this seemed like a good fit(+ the combo didn't hurt)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196Changed to the Storm Scout but now that I think about it, if I wanted the case to last for ~5-6 years, I may want to get the larger one just to not have to buy a larger case if the next build requires larger parts.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185Standard Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204Standard Disc Drive

That saves me roughly $400 not a bad savings but my budget still mostly stands at around 1.4-1.5k. Any suggestions as to where that should go? This is just for the computer itself so don't need to worry about the moniter or anything. Was thinking either a smallish SSD or a CPU heatsink.

Thanks for the reply.

I don't really plan on upgrading this build for about 2-4 years so if I wanted to upgrade the CPU I'd probably have to grab a new mobo to fit whatever CPU/Socket combo has been cooked up by then. I do understand saving money now for the upgrade later, but at the same time I'd only like to drop this amount of $$ every few years if at best.

The main reason I'm upgrading now is that my current "gaming" pc(welllaptop)is sorta on it's last leg and want to upgrade to a desktop and relegate the laptop to a more HTPC role(which it should do admirably).

Also, I think that is the cheapest disc drive considering it has free shipping ;)

I'm closing in on the build that I want and think that what I got right now is pretty solid considering my $1.5k budget. Just would like any other suggestions or notes to keep in mind(extra cables or anything like that).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492898Heard this PSU was good. Not sure if I need a larger one for my config or not. The RAM I'm not sure of but it's combod with the PSU for a pretty good deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568Getting two 460's andSLI them together.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.495225The large price cut on the i7-950 was theprime reason Iuped my budget a little bit for a i7 build. Would go with a i5/965BE build if it wasn't for the price cut.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160Friend suggested to get a Full Case for the added room. I also like the look of this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185Standard Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204Standard Disc Drive

After various deals/combos, comes out to $1,461.80

Big things for me: Should I grab a better Heatsink/CPU Fan? I plan on overclocking the cpu after some time(basically after I feel it's necessary and I'm comfortable with overclocking procedure). Also, thoughts on grabbing an SSD? I was thinking about droping a 460 and grabbing a SSD instead but not sure what if any performance increase that would be for the computer as a whole.

I plan for this to be a gaming build(resolution 1960x1200). Trying to look into the future as best as I can. I know I want the case and PSU to last me a long time.

Thanks in advance

I'm a little new to hardware, working on finding the right parts and what not.

Saw thiscombo on newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.480126

Was looking at it but noticed that the MOBO in the combo supports DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 and the RAM is DDR3 1600. Is this a mess up on their end or am I missing something.

On arelated note, is that a good deal? My budget is ~1.2-1.4k and was thinking about adding a GTX 460 to it tomostly completethe whole thing.

I'm not sureabout just moving the folder that steam is in but I know that you can install steam into any folder on any hard drive, and it will then save all games on that hard drive(I do this). I imagine you could just try and see what happens.

Heres a Build for you to look at.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131656&cm_re=am3_motherboard-_-13-131-656-_-ProductMotherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.469034Case +harddrive

04dcarraher

Was there a reason you chose that case other than the savings on the hardrive + case combo? Just curious. I was looking at a variety of other cases(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146025http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119157) and was wondering the thoughts on a case. I know they need to fit the mobo and it's a plus for good aitflow/open space but I don't know how to gauge a case other than having had the thing and used it(which I haven't done before). I like the green one...mostly cause it's my favorite color ;)

Also, the mother board you have is not capable of SLI/Crossfire(I say this only because it hasa singlePCI 2.0 slot). That maybe just a concern for later since I don't intend to do that now, but I was curious. I would think that if I ever did go down that route and used your build, I would need to change out the motherboard and I assume that may mean changing a bit more than just the mobo. I looked around and found http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130249. Would that be an acceptable/worthwhile change?

I like 04dcarraher's build but I noticed it didn't have any RAM with it.

I was looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

I'm wondering if I should just go for broke and grab 8GB of ram(since it may be hard to find a single stick of that brand). I don't want to settle for 4 GB mostly because that's what my labtop has and if I sorta see it as a waste if I just create a desktop with my labtop's speccs(I could just buy a fan to go under it to deal with the heating). My labtop is I think 2.4 Ghz dual core and I think a NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GT.

Also, what do you do for network connectivity? Do most motherboards come with something or will I need to grab a NIC? I assume a fairly standard cable speed level NIC is ok.

Hello,

I'm planning on building a new gaming rig in the next month or two and had some questions about hardware. I knowa littleabout hardware but this is my first time really building my own machine so I had a couple of obscure questions that came up while looking at parts.

1. How important is choosing a motherboard? I know that it must have the correct connections to the processor and be able to fit inside my case(or get a case that it can fit inside). It also needs to have the right connecters for video cards and what not. Is there anything else that I need to know about choosing a motherboard? Features to be aware of and what not.

2. Differences in AMD and Intel processors. I was browsing newegg and noticed two processors:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041

I know they have the same number of cores. The AMD one is rated as faster but is cheaper than the Intel one. Is there something I'm missing or is the AMD CPU probably the better buy?

3. Is there aproblem to mixing and matching RAM sizes and makers? Soall things the same, andeverything is compatible,is there a negative tosay have 2 sticks of 2GB and a single stick of 4GB? Same idea but say you have 2 sticks of Company X Ram and you upgrade but buy company Y ram and add it to the exists 2 sticks of ram,is there a problem in that area? This question is more of a concern to melater down the road when/if i upgrade.

4. What are the costs of good "minor" components? By that I mean, a power supply probably won't make or break a gaming rig(assuming it has the power to power the rig), but I don't want something that will break in a year either. Same vein with things like cases and HD and such. I don't know the average price of a lot of these lesser parts or what to expect when it comes to this area so don't really want to be price gouged too much.

I'm trying to build a replacementfor my gaminglabtop(which is actually pretty nice but i think the fan is giving out on it so I plan to relegate it to a media viewing machine). I think about a $1k spending limit(beforemoniter)should get me a pretty nice machine. I'm thinking of grabbing a 5770HD for my video card and one of the two processorsmentioned above.

Thanks to any who reply. Any other tips oradvice iswelcome.