Advice wanted on a new $1000 gaming build

[hal314]

I've never built a system before, and I want to make sure that the parts I have picked out will do what I want them to.

Primary question to answer: Is there something I'm missing with this build? All the parts will work well together?

(prices from NCIX)

Motherboard
MSI P67A-G43 (B3) $124.99 (edit: G42 to G43, thanks to YukonTrooper)

CPU
Intel i5 2500K BX80623I52500K $238.99

GPU
XFX Radeon HD 6870 HD687AZDFC $199.99

PSU overkill?
Corsair Gaming Series 700W ATX CMPSU-700G $105.27

RAM
G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL $75.30

HD
Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM SATA3 6GB/s WD5002AALX $59.98

DVD
Samsung DVDRW 22x SATA SH-222AB/BEBE-OEM $25.98

Case
Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower Gaming Case ATX THREE HUNDRED $49.99

OS
Windows $119.99

TOTAL $1,000.48

Monitor mouse and keyboard I have no concerns with picking out, they can be safely ignored.

I want the system for playing StarCraft2, DiabloIII, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. It would be nice if I can use the full resolution of a 1080p monitor.

I don't want to overclock right now, but want to be able to later, maybe. I do want the system to have room to upgrade within a couple years. I chose these parts for durability and I was hoping to do this with about $800, but it turns out I'm at about $1000 and accepting that. I really don't want to spend more.

I was looking at the option of a non-overclockable motherboard (H61/H67 I think?) and an i5 2500, but the price difference didn't seem like much ($20 for the CPU, maybe $30 on the mobo), and it lost me the possibility of overclocking, didn't seem worth it.

The other concern was aftermarket CPU cooling. Do I need it if I don't want to OC? Can the stock cooler be replaced if I decide to OC later?

[_dangtx_]

yes,overkill. a 500 will be more than enough even with the next card up(6950 do look into it 1 or 2 gig versions)

yes if you oc, stock cooler is ok for mild to medium(4 something) oc's

[Phill]

IMO have a look at a HAF 912. It is relatively cheap and IMO a better case than the 300.

Buy COOLERMASTER [RC-912-KKN1] Coolermaster Haf 912 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound

[YukonTrooper]

The HAF 912 is the much better case in that price-range.

As dang said, the 700W is def overkill. You could save some dough and put it towards a GTX 560Ti or HD6950, if either of those cards will fall into your budget. If not, I'd go for the non-Ti GTX 560.

Good mobo choice. I have the G43. Great board. The G42 wasn't around when I purchased my rig.

Remember to price-match!

[Luay79]

Originally Posted by Phill

IMO have a look at a HAF 912. It is relatively cheap and IMO a better case than the 300.

Buy COOLERMASTER [RC-912-KKN1] Coolermaster Haf 912 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound

Better in somethings but not everything. 912 is better when installing hardware and managing cables, but the Antec 300 has better airflow, even though you have to stuff all of the cables behind the HDD cage

[_dangtx_]

the 912 has no real match in its price range. the antec is a flimsy corner street lady compared to it :D

[hal314]

Thanks YukonTrooper for confirmation on the mobo (turns out, I had picked out the G43, not G42, my mistake there) and I hadn't really put too much thought into the case, I figured it didn't matter much anyway, so long as the air gets through.

As to the 700W PSU being overkill, I did some looking at calculators online, (4-5 of them). All of them came out close to, but under, 500W except for the one on Newegg which suggested 600W. Is there any benefit to having a PSU with significantly more power than is needed? (reduced strain on PSU? greater stability perhaps?)

I don't think I would want to put any saved money into anything other than my pocket unless I won't be getting good performance from the setup as presented.

Will the 6870 give me acceptable frame rates at 1920:1200? (again: SC2, DiabloIII, SW:TOR) Will going to a better card (GTX 560 or 6950) give me the required improvement?

[JJThomp]

Use shopbot.ca and pricematch to NCIX I atleast $100 you could be saving there. If you use shopbot you will have some extra room and you can pick yourself up a gtx 560TI or 6950 instead.

I second the removal of the antec 300 pick up the Haf 912 or a Zalman z9 plus they are both much better cases.

[hal314]

Originally Posted by JJThomp

Use shopbot.ca and pricematch to NCIX I atleast $100 you could be saving there.

Yeah, that's the plan when I actually go about making the purchase (in about 2-3 weeks). I know Newegg has the i5 2500k for about $20 less for example. I'm just using the NCIX shopping cart to hold things, and it's likely I'll buy from there to.

[JJThomp]

Yeah you will have no problem getting a GTX 560ti when you price match I am personally waiting for bulldozer to build my computer because I work all over the place all summer anyways so I just use my laptop. But I have the exact same build as you worked out at less