First time building gaming rig

[Trapp]

So this is my first time building a computer, a gaming computer specifically, and I just wanted some input from more experienced people about some of the parts I'm thinking of buying. I'm basically going to use this for high end games, but wanted to keep it fairly budgeted. Right now I'm up to about $1,300 including keyboard, headset, speakers and the such and that's my limit pretty much.

Here's the essentials:

Motherboard: ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3) $160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813157229

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz $225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819115072

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 $340
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814130593

PSU: CORSAIR Gaming Series GS700 700W $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817139024

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2x2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231443

*Should I go with more RAM or will it really matter in the long run?

HD: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 5900RPM $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16822148725

CPU Heat Sink: ZALMAN CNPS9900MAX-B 135mm CPU Cooler $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16835118074

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

 

[SMOKEU]

It looks good. 4GB of RAM should be fine for a gaming rig, that's what I'm running and I never run out of RAM unless I'm running a VM.

You should get a SSD as a boot drive, and a pair of disk drives because it's always a good idea to have some redundancy.

That PSU will be fine, but I would personally go for a bigger one like a TX950 because that way you can easily go Crossfire at a later stage without having to upgrade your PSU.

 

[Trapp]

Do you recommend any specific SSD's?

And by 'pair of disk drives' you mean 2 hard drives right? So like the Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB x2?

 

[SMOKEU]

I'd have a look at the OCZ Agility 3 60GB. They're very quick and reasonably priced as well.

You should also get 2 identical disk drives for mass storage and either have them in RAID1 or use the disk mirroring withing Windows 7. This is so if one drive dies then you won't lose all your data. Trust me, it does happen.

 

[Knufire]

For the price, this would be a better cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106150

Also, if you want to be able to Crossfire in the future, consider getting a TX750 or TX850.

 

[Mikester70]

I would recommend going with an Corsair HX series power supply. This is a semi modular power supply so you will have less cables to deal with.

 

[Mikester70]

Also I would recommend getting an SSD for your OS and frequently used apps and games.

 

[EarthDog]

I swear people are missing their edit button on this forum.. LOL!

The build looks solid. These guys have you covered. As far as your PSU and wattage and modular, thats for you to decide. If you do go SLI with that 570, that 700GS should be able to handle it.

 

[Mikester70]

I swear people are missing their edit button on this forum.. LOL!

The build looks solid. These guys have you covered. As far as your PSU and wattage and modular, thats for you to decide. If you do go SLI with that 570, that 700GS should be able to handle it.

I am just giving my opinion as was asked. Overall the build looks pretty good, I am just giving suggestions that I think add good value to the build.

 

[EarthDog]

Nobody suggested otherwise broham.

 

[Mikester70]

Nobody suggested otherwise broham.

 

[Trapp]

Cool thanks for all the input guys I appreciate it!

And I think I'm going to go with that cooler Knufire suggested, looks much better.

And I'll give the TX750 and 850 as well as the HX series a look over before I make my decision on the PSU.

And I'm not too sure about the SSD, I feel comfortable installing everything else at this point except for that, so I don't know if I'm going to purchase one.

 

[EarthDog]

SSD isnt any different than a HDD for installation. Physically and OS wise. Dont let that non issue deter you from arguably the most noticeable upgrade you can make on a PC today.

 

[Trapp]

Alright I ended up getting 6Gb of the g.skill ram because there was a deal while I was at it haha.

And I think I'm going to get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021 for my PSU so I can knock a couple dollars off the total amount and go for what you guys recommended.

 

[EarthDog]

6 GB? with 3 sticks? You dont want to do that. Your board is DUAL channel. Get 2x4GB if you think you need more than 4.

 

[Trapp]

Hmmm got it my mistake. I'll go back to the original 4GB.

And my only question then is when I'm wiring everything, how do I make my SSD the boot drive and my HD the main storage?
I think what confuses me about it is the difference between the boot drive and the main storage.

 

[EarthDog]

Plug it in. There is no master/slave settings anymore. Just setup the SSD on your SATA3 port and the other whereever really, and just load the OS to the SSD. Then when you install programs, just make sure you send them to your HDD.

 

[Trapp]

So staying budgeted I'm looking at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441 mostly for the prices and smokeu suggested 60GB storage space on a SSD

 

[Mikester70]

So staying budgeted I'm looking at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441 mostly for the prices and smokeu suggested 60GB storage space on a SSD

Go with the Crucial M4 it is a newer model and Crucial is more reliable then OCZ.

 

[Trapp]

Perfect, looks like I'm all set guys.

Thanks for all the input!