Amateur builder. Advice?

[iBillyO]

First i'd like thank everyone in advance. I've only opened up a computer twice in my life and once was to replace a old graphics card with one that simply put an image on my monitor. Recently at work, i got to talking to a co-worker about PC gaming and i mentioned how i wanted to buy a new high end PC for upcoming games and blu-ray movies. He said to not purchase one but to purchase all the parts separately and build it yourself, saying it will save me around a $100. I thought to myself well how hard could it be. I started obsessing over parts, specs, requirements, energy, color, temperatures and finally i came to a final build for myself.


(tl;dr) I'm hoping someone can offer me some advice on the components i picked out. Whether i should upgrade or downgrade parts. I wanted to stay under the $1000 price range.


Case: RAIDMAX Helios ATX-819WB Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case


Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard


GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R695OC-1GD Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card


PSU: Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-650 650W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified, Modular Design


CPU: AMD FX-6100 Zambezi 3.3GHz Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6100WMGUSBX


RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600


HDD: HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 (0F13180) 1TB 7200 RPM


Optical Drive: SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Combo SATA Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - OEM


Wireless Adapter: TP-LINK TL-WN722N USB 2.0 High Gain Wireless Adapter


Advice? Compatibility issues? Criticism? Anything helps. I'm just nervous never done anything like this before, though i am pretty tech savvy.


I also noticed sites like CyberpowerPC or whatever offered PC's for around the same price of what i was willing to spend and all the parts on their PC's where similar if not better than mine at the same price?

 

[jasonalwaysready]

dont get that psu, get this one:

Newegg.com - Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

do you really need the wireless adapter?

that case is probably ok, but it seems to not have the best cable management for it's cost.

 

[David21]

haha that build is alright but i can make it much better.

first of all dont go with amd you can go with intel and get much more performance. you can get this


Intel i5 2500k btw it has a k on the end because it has in the bios a unlocked multiplier on the cpu so you can easily overclock it if you want to.
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K

a motherboard you can get is
Newegg.com - ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
you get a z68 as z68 and p67 chipsets in the bios have a unlocked multiplier compatible with the intel i5 2500k or intel i7 2600k.

a case you can get would be a much cooler solution and has better cable managment for the price of the case.
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

and you can get this awesome graphics card
Newegg.com - MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
which is nvidia graphics card and it better than the 6950

the power supply you picked out isnt that great so get a corsair which is the best maker of power supplies and the power supply will never let you down
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

the ram you picked out is perfectly fine and also the hard drive is perfectly fine to.
looks like a great build

the total price of the build you posted was 935.91 and the one i posted was way better performance and was only 34 dollars more. hopefully this is still in your price range.

 

[Slaymate]

This will help you out.

The animated guide to Building a PC. Learn to build a PC from scratch with PCitYourself!

 

[iBillyO]

Hey thanks for the speedy replies.

Sounds like a definitely needs a new PSU.At first i didnt think a PSU was that important but after a little more researrch sounds like its one of the more important parts of the while build.

Jason: I do need the wireless adapter my house is all wirelessly set up. i'm not even sure where the original router is anymore... Thanks for the PSU suggestion. I'll add it to my list!.

David: You really think i can get way more bang for my buck with that build? If that's the case then i'll highly consider your build. I was just always told AMD was the best for making a budget PC. I'm not trying to build anything too crazy i just want to be able to play blu rays and RTS games at the best possible setting on a 42 inch LCD TV.

Slaymate: !! I looked everywhere for a website like this before i finally gave up and figured i would bother some of these great members. Thank you!.

 

[David21]

yes you will get more bang for your buck with my build. amd is better for low end builds but if you can afford the build that i posted than sure u can go with the intel i5 2500k and the build will also do all the things you want.

 

[Digerati]

I don't see an operating system listed. With 8Gb of RAM you will need a 64-bit OS. Note that OEM/System Builder licenses are NOT transferable to new computers under any circumstances so if planning on using an existing license of Windows, it "MUST" be a full "Retail" version and, of course, not installed on any other computer. Alternatively, you can use one of the many capable and free versions of Linux.

first of all dont go with amd you can go with intel and get much more performance.

I disagree with this "generalized" comment. While I personally prefer Intel CPUs myself, there is nothing wrong with AMD based computers. The advantage AMD has over Intel is cost (with a few exceptions). And while it may be true Intels, as an entire line of CPUs, offer better performance (again, with a few exceptions), you must compare individual specific CPU to CPU to compare performance. And with AMDs typically costing less, you can often buy the next step up in AMD, compared to a similarly priced Intel. So like most "blanket" statements, that one is incorrect.

Bottom line, AMD makes excellent and reliable CPUs and form an excellent platform for a Windows based system. If your personal preference (which is what it boils down too) is AMD, you can easily find an AMD CPU to meet your needs.

 

[iBillyO]

Wow great response. Thanks. I am actually looking into that build suggested with some minor tweaks. (diff mobo?)

But say i do go with my original build. Nobody thinks i'll experience any "bottlenecking" with the BD 6100 CPU and the Radeon 6950 GPU?

EDIT: One more question, Say you guys where going to build a computer for $1000. No OS or Monitor (already purchased).
Needed to be able to:
1. Connect to the internet wirelessly.
2. Play Blu ray's
3. Play PC games at best possible quality (smoothest)

What would your build be?

Sorry i looked around but i never found a definite best build for $1000. that met those 3 generic reqs.