Need Assistance with First Gaming PC Build

[fox22]

Hey guys,
I have spent a few hours trying to put together a my first gaming pc.

Could you guys help me out. I am not really sure on if the parts work togther. I just want to buy all the parts then put it together myself.

My budget is ~$1400.

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Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 ATX
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 BIT
MB: Asus M4A78T-E Motherboard
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad Core Processor
RAM: ??? No idea which type to get? DDR3 of some sort?
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 PCIe w/EyeFinity
Power Supply: Corsair 650W...? Is this good enough?
HardDrive: Seagate Barracude 7200 500GB
Sound Card: Do I need one? I plan to use my Logitech G35 Headset
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I am going to be running off wireless internet, but may eventually go to hardline.

Am I missing anything? I know I am? I need lots of help with this. I basically put it all together on what looks and sounds good. Please revise or change anything to help me out so it all works out good.

 

[Trotter]

Go with this board instead of the ASUS:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
$15 more, but with better features.

Here's some killer RAM:
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM

Go with a WD Black hard drive... very fast:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

650W Corsair will be plenty for this system.

You don't need a sound card unless you are an audiophile or just want one. The sound chip on that Gigabyte is a good one (Realtek) whereas the ASUS has a VIA.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

I have a Gigabyte board for Intel's i7 platform and I think Gigabyte makes some great quality boards. They have a durable design and a lot of features compared to the competition. Mine too has the onboard Realtek sound card and it is pretty good for onboard, the sound is clear and there isn't any background noise (though my front panel has some noise but I think that has to do with my wiring job).

If you're going with the 640GB WD Black might as well go with the SATA III edition, it is similar in price (maybe $10 more) but supports the newest SATA interface and has a larger cache. Looks like Newegg is out of them but I'm sure they'll come back. I paid $79.99 for mine.
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

650W is plenty for that system + future second graphics card if you decide to add one.

If possible I'd check out the 5870 instead of the 5850, the 5870 is an incredible card for pretty much any game (yes, that includes Crysis). With ATi's Eyefinity technology you can use 3 monitors together as one big gaming screen. I have 3 1920x1080 monitors and my 5870 can play almost every game I throw at it at the massive resolution of 6116x1080 (varies slightly every time I move monitors due to bezel correction).

If you only plan to use one monitor I guess the 5850 will be plenty, it depends on what resolution your monitor is. I'd say 1920x1200 or smaller you'll be fine with the 5850.

 

[fox22]

Thanks for the input Trotter and CalcProgrammer1! It has helped a lot and answered some of my questions I was about to ask!

More input is welcome from anyone who wants to throw it in!

Can I make do with a 550W Power Supply instead of 650W? I am trying to minimize costs, but I heard never to be cheap on the power supply.

I am thinking maybe this one: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022


Items I have purchased so far:

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Case
OS: Windows 7 - Home Premium 64BIT
RAM: G. Skill Ripjaw Series 4GB DDR3 RAM 1600 (the RAM Trotter Posted)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H (the Mobo Trotter Posted)
CPU: AMD Phenom ii X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz
Video Card: XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
Power Supply: ??????????
Hard Drive: Waiting to purchase the Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb (mentioned by CalcProgrammer1)

bump!

 

[Trotter]

That OCZ will be plenty for a single card. Good choice.

I forgot about the 6.0Gb/s drives. Sine the motherboard has 6.0Gb/s built into it you might as well match it up.

Don't forget an optical drive:
Newegg.com - LITE-ON 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 Writer LightScribe Support

 

[stoneys-nutz]

I would have to agree about the MB, three Asus boards in less than 12 months, all RMA to Asus, all came back the same, went to Gigabyte and no problems. Asus are pants.

 

[fox22]

Does anyone know if I will need a wireless card? As I will be running off a wireless router from a LinkSys WRT150N wireless router.

Any recommended wireless cards? or will anything do?

 

[Sean W.]

the mother board does not have wireless built in, and yes any card will do.