Sons 16th Birthday gaming PC gift - please look over and make suggestions??

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My best crack at it:

CPU + RAM: $250 i5 2500K + 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600.
Case + OS: $145 Sentey Black Box 4284 v2.1 + Win7 Home 64-Bit OEM.
MB: $125 ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3.
HDD: $60 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12.
ODD: $21 Sony Optiarc 24x DVD/CD Burner.
PSU: $75 600W OCZ ModXStream Pro.
Keyboard + Mouse: $82 Razer Arctosa + Razer DeathAdder.

Total = $758
-$10 promo on PSU by 11/6
-$25 rebate on PSU
= $723.

The board can use the graphics on the CPU till he buys his own GPU, or uses your 5770s.
 
The 550W OCZ should be fine with any of those cards in a single card setup, but according to Sapphire 5770 System Requirements, they recommend a 600W supply for 5770s in a CrossFire setup (500 for a single card).

I personally think most users are better off (less hassles) with a single card setup rather than running dual cards. Enthusiasts are likely to disagree, but most computer users, even gamers, are not "hardware" enthusiasts.
 
OK getting there- appreciate the help guys. Roark- that looks really good, but the HHD comes up to $89.99 on that link, not $60. So, even still at about $750 ( after rebates) including 8 GB Ram and the OS included - the Raidmax combo had 4 GB less ram and no OS and an inferior PSU and an inferior case. I think I have a winner.

WOW- this is going to be better than my AMD Phenom setup - maybe I will give him my old setup for his birthday and I will build this for me....
 
Wow, in 2hrs it jumped $20, I knew prices were rising but thats ridiculous.
Guess that flooding in SE Asia is doing a number on all manufacturer's prices.
(http://www.techist.com/forums/f144/hard-drive-shortages-higher-prices-confirmed-due-flooding-thailand-250507/)

The HDD isn't combo'd to anything so you might even be able to find a better deal going to a local shop and seeing what they have.
I would stick to a Samsung Spinpoint F3, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 (make sure its .12), or Western Digital Caviar Black or Blue.

*Edit - Look at all of the part's pages individually for greater possible savings.
I put the Case + OS combo in my cart, then used the promo code on the Case's page (Sentey1025), saved $7.50.
Not sure why it doesn't come up on the combo's page, so make sure you're getting the most price cuts you can.
 
Ah "eureka" - I just remembered my set up has 2 WD black 500gb HHD's in it. So now I can definitely do this. NO HHD required. I will just take one out and use it for my boys build. Then by myself a SSD - he he I knew this was a great idea.

OK now- I will use: 1) $145 = Case + OS = The Sentey / Win 7 combo
2) $82 = Keyboard + Mouse = Razer Arctosa + Razer DeathAdder.
3) $250 = CPU + RAM: i5 2500K + 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600.
4) $125 = MB: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
5) $21 = ODD: Sony Optiarc 24x DVD/CD Burner.
6) $75 = PSU: 600W OCZ ModXStream Pro.

Total = $698 YEAH BABY

Minus $35 promo/rebates

So now at $663 Then I could even get away with this CPU cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181011 For $43 - only $10 over budget.
 
Why would I want more than 8 GB of RAM? Also can someone confirm that the CPU cooler I posted will work well? I know that it can be "iffy" around the RAM/CPU area on some MOBO's. Hopefully last question /topic- please suggest a SSD ( can I use a SATA III - whats the difference ) to use under $150 - will pick that up ASAP and a GPU ( 560ti or a 6950) .
 
Why would I want more than 8 GB of RAM?
You don't. 8Gb is a HUGE amount. Adding more is not likely to yield any noticeable performance gain.

SATA III is backwards compatible with previous SATA controllers. If buying today, I would buy SATA III even if my board only supported SATA II as that will ensure I have optimal performance if I upgrade my board on down the road.
 
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