For an optical drive, almost any dvd-burner with sata connection will do. Some brands are Lite-on, LG, asus.
For sound card, imo, you have to be a sound freak for a sound card. Onboard sound should be fine unless you really know your audio.
yea I agree with everything he said. I used this:
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD±R DVD Burner LightScribe Support - CD / DVD Burners
All I can say about that DVD drive: It has lightscribe, but it sucks. I have no experience with lightscribe, so I don't know if they are all like this, but the cd cover I burnt was colorless and faded, hard to see. But it reads and burns DVD/CD's fast and quietly.
Check out the combo deals on Newegg before you buy anything!
Also I would not get a monitor from Newegg. Mine shipped with 1 dead pixel and the Newegg return policy is that you can only return for a replacement if is 8 or more dead pixels in the first month. You can't return it for your $ back under any circumstance. I strongly suggest shopping around and buying from a website that offers 2 or 3 dead pixels max. I suggest Amazon.com
I would pay extra money for insurance against a single dead pixel. Other than that, the screen is NICE. And tbh I really can't notice the pixel, I would definitely go back and get one with insurance against that if I could.
I got this HDD instead of the 650gig. It was 1t and only 10 dollars more for the same specs:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001IEZX3G/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
I got this keyboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126076
( it's great, but a little loud when you type. Not a problem for me though. I also use my old wireless Logitech mouse. )
I bought this graphics card, but only as a temporary one, I would get at least a Radeon 5870 or wait for the new Nvidia cards.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DU7HWK/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
Heads up: my SSD and RAM took 10 days to ship, from Newegg. This really aggrivated me, as it's 3 days guranteed. Usually Newegg is fast though.
I can't find my combo history on Newegg, but I remember I got the motherboard and proccessor together as a combo, and the power supply and windows 7 64bit as a combo. Saved me over 50 dollars I think, plus I got several mail in rebates. I don't remember if I got any other combos, sorry, those are the only 2 I remember.
This build is amazing, even with the temp video card I can play Crysis on max detail with no lag (sometimes the card does overheat, and also I have to play in the lowest resolution or the card can't handle it. Definitly wait for those new cards!) and with no overclocking at all, my computer still couldn't be any faster. I still plan to overclock though
When I was installing the proccessor to the motherboard, it seemed like it didn't fit; I could not close the metal lock around it all the way, so I secured it and left it unlocked, and the pressure from the custom heatsink kept it in place solid. It really puts a lot of pressure on it. The SSD; I couldn't find any way to secure it with this case, as it's so small, not like HDD's. So I used scissors and cut the original padded container it came with down to size (I ripped the cover off and cut about a 3rd inch off each side of the stirophome thing) and I just placed the SSD in that and squeezed it in an HDD slot in the case. It was simple and fun, but I'm just giving you a heads up on it.
I am so happy I bought and built this myself, my friend is buying a 3k dollar alienware and it doesn't have as good specs as this. I'm trying to talk him out of it! If you want to save 370 dollars, buy a smaller SSD (or just use the 1t HDD until SSD's come down in price) but if you have the money, I'd buy that SSD
Hope this info helps and I hope you enjoy the build if you decide to get it!
~ Jules
