new gaming rig need advice

[frenchfry]

Hey everyone,
Sorry for long post but I want to give as much info as I can on my needs. I am not very tech smart, but play a lot of games. I have some ideas for parts and I'll provide links.

Looking to try and stay under 1k(and periphrials as cheap as possible without the monitor being a graphics bottleneck), but if it gets a little over thats fine.

I want to stay away from overclocking, and yes I have read the articles and posts on how safe it is. I don't take risks though. 5% increased risk to pc for 30%+ more performance isn't something I want to mess with or worry about. I'd like to add more cooling even without overclocking.

I usually don't play games that are too demanding. Mostly blizz games with a focus on diablo 3 coming out. I would really like to play it on high settings and not worry about speed. Sometimes I play other stuff like crysis and teamfortress2. I would like to be able to adequately play various future releases too. I understand that a great machine now is probably an ok machine in 2 years, and a lower end in 5ish.

My biggest concern is speed and reliability. I can deal with turning down graphics for a game(but would rather avoid), but cannot stand for a game to lag even a little. I do not want to worry about faulty parts or anything going bad or wearing out. I don't really know how that translates into hardware.

Part ideas:
GPU- Newegg.com - MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
think this will be the most important part from my understanding

CPU- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115073

MOBO- Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TH67+ LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard


Case- Newegg.com - HEC Blitz Black Steel Edition ATX Mid Tower Computer Chassis Gaming Case w/ Front Blue LED 120mm Fan & Top 120mm Fan
is it big enough/enough cooling? Cooling is important for parts lasting to my understanding.

OS- Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

Hard Drive- Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
not too worried about storage space, never used more than 50 gig that I can remember.

Memory- Newegg.com - Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5' Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK

Additional fans- Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan
if it helps keep the pc alive then it is worth it.

PSU will be the last part to decide on. Because it depends on the rest of the build, and because I don't know what to get lol.

Will have someone to help me assemble everything and get it installed, but I don't know if he is up to date on the latest tech for custom pcs. He is a techie, but not a pc builder. I've been told there is a difference for what I am trying to do, but I dunno.

 

[Peter.Cort]

First off put a space between the - and the beginning of the link so we can just click the link.

the intel build will be faster than an amd build, and the 1155 socket will be around longer than am3 so you'll be better off in the long run.
I used a lot of the parts you already had, but this comes out to 940 before shipping/tax and a case, so you've got room for whatever case you want. Also there's $35 worth of mail in rebates.

Optical Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X 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 CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners
HDD Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
GPU Newegg.com - MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
PSU Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power Plus RS700-PCAAE3-US 700W ATX 12V v2.3 Active PFC Power Supply
RAM Newegg.com - Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5' Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1600ELK
Mobo Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500
OS Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

and if you're not overclocking you don't need anything other than the stock HSF.

 

[frenchfry]

what do you mean by hsf?
been reading some articles about testing the diff, and practically 1-2 fps diff between the two on most games tested.

Only point of i7 is to run 3 ram instead of 2 for a user such as myself. Im not 3d rendering or anything, just gaming and surfing da web.

Does it look like thats the right video card and case?

 

[Peter.Cort]

sorry, hsf = heatsink fan (which cools the cpu).

Cpu's really aren't tested much by games, depending on the game, it's more the GPU that's the bottleneck, but in almost every other application that doesn't use the GPU you'll benefit from a faster cpu.

and the GPU looks fine, I used the same one in my suggestions, it's the cheapest of the 6950's and just as fast as the others, as for the case, you might want to get a full atx case because of the card. The card is pretty long, about 10.5 inches I believe, so you might be getting really close to the hard drive bay's and it would just be annoying if you have to take out a hard drive to need to take out the GPU as well.

the first generation i7 and i5 use tri-channel ram, 3 sticks together, the sandy bridge core i7 2600 and i5 2500 use dual channel.

What do you need for peripherals? I just reread the beginning of your first post and if you need a monitor/keyboard/mouse etc that will factor into things. If you do I would suggest first off, to downgrade the card to a 6870 or 6850 which can be had for around 170~220 and will still play the games you want at higher settings with little to no choppiness and will give you some more money towards a monitor keyboard and mouse. Even stretching the budget to like $1100 and downgrading to a 6870 would give you great performance and a nice monitor keyboard and mouse.

 

[frenchfry]

I don't want to downgrade anything to accomodate screen and the rest. Like I said I don't have an actual budget ceiling. I just have a range I would like to stay in. Mouse and keyboard can be very basic, already have a good mouse and she doesnt need a special one. Keyboard I dont care about.
Just need a decent monitor that won't kill me on price.
I think that the monitor is the only thing I really have left to decide on after I figure out motherboard.

what is the diff between the mobo I posted and you posted besides brand a price?

also, any suggestions on a bigger case?

 

[frenchfry]

Please comment on any parts if you see an issue or have a suggestion!!

1. Case: Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

2. Motherboard: Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TH67+ LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

3. Video card: MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Newegg.com - MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

4. Processor: Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500

5. memory: Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5' Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK
Newegg.com - Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5' Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV34G1333ELK

6. Power supply: Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

7. OS: Win 7 64 bit
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

8. Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

9. Fans:COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan

10. Monitor- Newegg.com - Acer S231HLbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI LED-Backlight LCD monitor Slim Design 250 cd/m2 ACM 12,000,000:1 (1000:1)
11. Keyboard- Newegg.com - Logitech K200 Black 8 Function Keys USB Wired Standard Keyboard for Business
I honestly hate media keys and crap. Nothing worse than screwing something up in the middle of a sc2 match because of keys that I don't want. I don't use macros and don't intend to even though my mouse could if I wanted to.

12. Mouse- already have a steelseries XAI, but it has too many features I don't want.

13. spray paint- so I can paint lighting bolts to make it go faster