Building a $900-1000 Gaming PC for the First Time

[CarltonBanks]

Hi, this is my first time building a gaming PC, and I'd appreciate it if you guys could look over my parts selection and make sure I didn't make any mistakes.

Case: LIAN LI Lancool PC-K63 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $100 (-$30 coupon)
HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $55 (-$5 coupon)
GPU: XFX HD-687A-ZNFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $195 ($25 MIR)
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible $90 ($15 MIR)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL $40 (-$10 coupon)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
Mobo: MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard CPU + Mobo combo for $330 ($20 MIR)
Thermal Paste: Mad Dog Techie Toyz Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound - Thermal paste $6.41
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1 $37
Mouse: Logitech MX 518 High Performance Optical Gaming Mouse (Metal) $35
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Mechanical Gaming Keyboard $75
Mousepad: steelseries QcK Mass Mouse Pad $18
Burner: LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM $19

The Operating System isn't included in the price. I'll be getting Windows 7 Ultimate, but I'm not sure if I should get the 32-bit or 64-bit version. What would be best? I'll be reusing my monitor as well, so I won't need to buy a new one.

So all together (excluding the OS), this costs around $1000 before the coupons and MIR are applied. The coupons take off $45, and the mail-in rebates total up to another $60, so all together this is $900ish build that looks good to me. I've got a couple of questions though... for starters, is all of this stuff compatible (and will it all fit in that case)? I believe it is, but I'd just like to be sure. And the 620W power supply should be enough for this build, right? And will the 4GB of RAM be enough? I have a friend telling me that it will be a bottleneck. I can't really think of any other questions at the moment, so I'd appreciate any advice or opinions. Thanks!

 

[Exarr]

Go for 64 bit Win7 if you plan on getting more than 4GB RAM, and no it will not bottleneck anything unless you plan on video editing and encoding and all that good stuff. Games only need 4GB.

Eveything looks good to me, do you plan on CrossFireX later?

 

[browsingtheworld]

Buying 4 more gigs of RAM for $35-40 is definitely worth it. If you can't spare $40 you shouldn't be building a gaming PC.

 

[CarltonBanks]

Nah, I'm not planning on using CrossFire or any type of dual card setup like that. I'd consider it if I had enough headroom with my current setup, but I'm happy with a single card so I won't go out of my way for it.

About the RAM, I would like to get an HD PVR in the future to record footage from my Xbox 360 and PS3, and I guess that would fall under 'video editing.' If I find 4GB a little sluggish for that, I could always buy some additional RAM down the line, right?

 

[Exarr]

Yep or just go ahead and opt for the 2x4 RAM now, $40 more and you can have 8GB for all your needs in the future. And remember to def. get the 64 bit Win7 and you should be all set!

 

[CarltonBanks]

Alright, thanks. I think I'll just spend the extra $30-$40 for the 2x4 RAM. When I'm already spending this much money, a little extra is no big deal.

 

[Exarr]

No prob, and if you have any more question just let me know.

 

[Why_Me]

That cpu h/s (CM 212+) come with excellent thermal paste so no need to purchase any. But for what newegg is charging for that h/s it's a total hose job and then some. Look at the Xigmatek GIA for $30 and free shipping, or better yet get it from amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002G1YPH0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $29.51 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1