How-To Geek

Hi, I am a huge newb when it comes to building your own PC stuff, as this is my first time, and I have done a lot of reading and fact gathering about what a gamer such as me should include, but that is not enough and I need someone who knows what they are talking about to have a look at what I gathered thus far.

Motherboard
ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 Intel Z68 Motherboard ($180)
CPU
Intel Core i7-2600K ($300)
CPU Cooler
Noctua NF-P112-1300 120mm CPU Cooler and Case Fan ($25)
RAM
Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz 16GB (4 x 4GB) ($110)
Video Card
XFX Radeon HD 7950 Double D Black Edition ($400)
Sound Card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 7.1 ($30)
Hard Drives
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (7200rpm, 64MB cache) ($100)
OCZ Agility 3 Series Solid State Drive 120GB ($90)
Optical Drive
Lite-On Internal Blu-Ray Burner ($75)
Case
Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower ($130)
Power Supply
OCZ ZX Series Modular Power Supply 850W ($125)

Total Cost(minus peripherals): $1565 (USD)

I'd be willing to spend a couple hundred more if ya'll have suggestions. My main concern was if I even need another CPU cooler, and if so, is this 1 fan enough? I mean my Full Tower Case comes with 4 fans as it is, and even though I am a gamer, I do not have plans of overclocking at all. Also, I am unsure about my hard drive; I feel like there is a better option out there I can't find. Finally, do ya'll think I went a little overboard on my graphics card considering it is the most expensive aspect? I am hoping my build is fairly balanced, but again, I am not sure.

Any thoughts on my first custom build will be much appreciated. Thanks!

What does a Generation II old machine mean? the "old" part is slightly scaring me! Oh, and to be honest, I am fine with purchasing from Newegg, mwave, or amazon. My $$ specs are from newegg though, as I have a feeling it will end up being from there. But if I happen to find a lower price on, say, amazon I don't see any reason why not to do that!

Oh, and sorry about not including links to begin with (minus the sound card and blu ray player. they aren't as important)

motherboard

PROCESSOR

CPU cooler

RAM

Video Card

Hard Drive

SSD

Full Tower

Power supply

And there you have it!!! think that is about it.

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

I think this one works best for me

EDIT: Ok, I'll switch to this oneprocessor

after much contemplation, I have decided to go with the ram here

also, I'm not sure how to delete posts :(

ok, I've been doing some research on Raid 0 (cause I didn't know what it was) and I feel that I don't really need it for my purposes. I gathered that the difference of 2 (Raid) vs 1 SSD was just faster loading times. I think 1 SSD will do fine for me, because I am also planning to have a 1TB Hard Drive, so in terms of Gigabytes of storage I have more than enough. The SDD you suggested looks great to me, I will go with 1 of those. I read most of the feedback, but I just don't feel the need for Raid 0. Also, if I can save $120 by not getting a little bit faster loading times I would much rather do that. Thoughts?

hmm, yeah I see what you mean, but I think at least for now I will stick with 1 TB HDD and 1 of those SDD. I plan to put my OS and crucial files on my SDD and then all my music, movies, desktop, etc. on my HDD. Something else factoring into my decision of not wanting to have Raid 0 is bad past experiences with failing hard drives. Considering (with Raid 0 at least) I would have 2x fail rate and both of them failing at the same time... well I'd rather not have to deal with that. If I feel the need for boost in loading time for disk operations I might consider that at a later date. I want to be cautious for now.

Nice! I am in Memphis, TN. You?

also, what is next up on the checklist ? :D

I have actually already stumbled upon that thread! I've already got motherboard and CPU covered it seems. I guess really the only big things I have left to decide about are my GPU and my case. In terms of video cards, Ifound this site to be particularly useful in choosing a video card (I want to tone down my previous $400 Raedon setup). I found this GPU to be quite appealing. Do you think this matches up well with my build thus far? As well as my original ATX Full Tower Case, here .

Edit: I realize the GPU is currently sold out, so if you have had any previous experience with stuff being sold out on Newegg, how often do they replenish products?