Hello,
I am building my first Gaming rig and would like your help. Here are some thing i know i want in my system. I would like for someone to fill in the blanks beccause i know nothining about it. Basically, I Dont need to have the best gaming rig around. I just want to be able to buy any game and be able to play it on my 22 inch 1680X1050 monitor with graphics i would be happy with. I dont need it to play on ultra high settings but high settings would be nice for all the popular games ( modern warefare, crysis, mafia ect... And dont want to spend a ridiculous amount, dont need the HIGH END parts but i dont want LOW end either. Just reliable. If you cant help out i would at least like a good motherboard recomendation for what i have listed so far. thanks
Case= Coolermaster HAF 922 Blue led MId tower ( ALready bought $118 newegg)
Processor= AMD phenom II x4 965 3.4GHz ($165 newegg)
Graphic Card= ATI Radeon 5770 ( possibly 5850)
MOtherboard= ?
Cpu Fan/cooler = ?
opticle drive = ?
Ram= ?Not sure what kind but i know i want 4gb
powersupply= ?Not sure how many watts i will need
Harddrive= ?
OS= Windows 7 Home Premium
Although this is MY first custom build, this is not my first custom built computer. Most of my builds were based on Asus Motherboards. I have never had any real problems (knock on wood) with them, although some inherent problems/defects/DOA's exist with all boards and electronic products. You do NOT need an "extreme" or otherwise noted "special" mobo to overclock if thats your intention. (which I assume because you asked about a cooler) Almost all aftermarket mobos have some overclocking ability, only burn the money on an extreme board if you plan to absolutely push the limit of reality. (which I assume is not the case)
Motherboard:
Look for an Asus board with the AMD platform you're using. (I'm not sure with AMD) I looked your CPU up, its an AM3 platform. Look for an Asus (or Gigabyte) Motherboard for the AM3 platform. The board you choose really depends on the features you're looking for, whether it be just overclocking (or not), or usb 3.0, or Sata 6GB, or whatever. You really just have to look at the boards and decide for yourself, but please believe me on the "extreme" high priced boards. If you're asking about computer parts, then there is absolutely no need for you to buy an extreme MB right now. The money "wasted" could be better spent in other places of your system at this point in time.
Like this one, for instance.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131406
Memory:
Whatever you get, get a matched pair.
I went with G.Skill RipJaws 2x2GB, DDR3 1600
Other memory manufacturers with good products I would consider
G.Skill
Patriot
Kingston
Crucial
Mushkin
Super Talent
You can expect to pay 75-125'ish on decent DDR3 4GB (2x2GB) memory.
CPU cooler: Check Newegg for AM3 socket coolers and have a look around. I purchased a Zalman, but it doesn't get here until Friday so I can't comment on how effective it is. Egg ratings are often a reasonable gauge of how good products are, just look for the lower percentage numbers of 1 egg ratings.
PSU (pwr supply)
Google search "PSU Calculator" and it will take you to a number of numerous sites where YOU can enter the information about your proposed system and then make a good estimate on how much power you will effectively need. For my I5 750 system I went with an Antec Earthwatts 650.
Optical:
Doesn't really matter. Most of them are alright. I have an HP lightscribe DVD/CD RW I bought for 25$, but LG are also good, or many others. This particular component wouldn't be that important to me personally.
Hard Drive:
Depends on how much money you want to drop on it and how fast you are trying to push things. If you are not trying to push everything to the limit, I would say a 10,000rpm Velociraptor would be nice, but a 7200rpm Western Digital or Seagate would probably be just fine. (they also come in 5400rpm speeds, but I wouldn't mess with those.) If you have plenty of cash to blow, get a SSD (Solid State Drive) Hard drive. They're pretty expensive right now in comparison to disc style hard drives, but quite fast. I'd wait until the prices drop a bit, they're still somewhat "new". I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 3GB/s HD. They also make 6gb/s hard drives now though, but I'm not sure how they compare to the SSDs without googling it.
EDIT: FORGOT GPU
GRAPHICS:
I went with a Sapphire Radeon 6850. The 6xxx series is brand new and I dont think it's in (walk-in) stores yet, but IT IS on newegg. They're faster and better than the 5xxx series, they run cooler, and I think off less total energy. I got mine for 199$.
