Building First PC (for gaming) - Need Comments/Recommendations :D

[zrich427]

Hey guys,
I'm building my first PC for gaming ... inspired by The Witcher 2 lol... I've put together a tentative list of components and would really appreciate everyone's feedback.

Let me first mention that performance is important to me as is keeping the price as low as possible, so I've cheaped out on a lot of stuff and went more top of the line on Processor/Video card/RAM.

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Motherboard:
ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard - $200 including Processor below

Processor:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad Core - $200 including Motherboard above

Video Card:
AMD Radeon HD 6950 - $214.99

RAM - 8GB total:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL - $38.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBRL - $38.99

Case:
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $39.99

Power Supply:
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - $64.99

Drives:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $60.99

Gear Head 24X DVD Burner (I need a Dual Layer burner) - $38.99

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All in all, comes out to ~$690.00 total + shipping. I already have a Sharp 60" LED TV which will be the monitor, hooked up via HDMI.

Some questions:
- Will this rig be able to run new games i.e The Witcher 2, Starcraft 2 (a bit older but still..), eventually Star Wars: The Old Republic when it comes out, etc, at high quality??

- Do I need to purchase a sound card or is the integrated audio okay (I really don't care much about sound... nothing special needed)

- What other components (cables, etc) do I need? I don't know what comes with the components I'm ordering, but I assume they'll have at least the required cables to hook up to the motherboard or w/e. I have a HDMI cable obviously... have Windows 7, keyboard, mouse, so that's taken care of.... anything else I'm missing? I'd hate to fully assemble the PC and realize I need to order some small part to get it running :/

Thanks a lot for any and all feedback... I'm not the type to just order all these parts blindly without getting some expert advice.

 

[Yerfdog]

DO NOT EVER CHEAP OUT ON THE POWER SUPPLY UNIT.

That thing goes, and the entire rig can go with it. Go with a PSU from Corsair, Antec, or a good company like that, and make sure it has enough wattage to run the rig, you can check here.

Now that we have that out of the way...

Currently, 8GB is overkill in the RAM department for gaming. 4GB is plenty for gaming. Also, most people here would suggest G.Skill RAM (that's just one of their sets of RAM).

Also, there is already something built into your motherboard for networking, no need to spend money on a network card.

 

[zrich427]

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I'll take your word on the GSKILL RAM... would you really recommend not going with 8GB? I don't mind paying $40 extra ... I feel like 8GB would have me set RAM-wise for years to come, no?

As for the Power Supply, the calculator you linked me to came out with about 400mW continuous required... would this one be a good fit for me: Antec EarthWatts EA-650 ?

Also, removing network card as per your advice. Thanks again for everything

 

[Trotter]

Go with this hard drive instead. Better warranty and faster:
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

And get this CPU/mobo combo:
1x AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
&
1x ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Combo Price: $200.98

 

[zrich427]

Thanks for the advice, will do. Nice find on the Processor + Motherboard combo btw

Updated original post to reflect new specs.

Keep the recommendations coming guys!!! Thanks so much for everything so far!!! I'd like to order everything tomorrow (mon) / Tuesday so keeeeeeeep em comingggggg

 

[Trotter]

Basically any DVD burner on the market today will burn DL disks. This one is $20 less and has free shipping:
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model SH-222AB - CD / DVD Burners

DVD+R DL- 16X

DVD-R DL - 12X

The V3 has mounts for up to three more 120mm fans. You would do well to at least get one for a front intake. The bottom intake and top exhaust are nice but not needed. I wonder if the side grillwork could be modded to handle another intake fan...
Newegg.com - Thermaltake A2492 120mm Case Fan

The fan I linked to has the same stats as the one that comes with the case but is not an LED. I would swap this one out for the rear fan and put the LED one in the front of the case, though.

That mobo can do 1600 RAM. I would go with a set of 2x4GB if I was going with 8GB from the get-go. This set is 1600 and has a CAS latency of 8.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8D-8GBRM

 

[jasonalwaysready]

there shouldnt be any problem at all playing any of the games mentioned on the highest settings. especially sc2. my 4870 plays that on very high/ ultra settings.