First Homebuilt System-Looking for advice

[bl0ckh34d2011]

I'm planning out my first home built system. A friend of mine told me to check out this site for some good advice. I want a mid-level rig that can handle most games(don't have to be on highest res settings) and the small amount of photo editing my wife does. This is what I've scoped out so far.


AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
MSI 870A-G54 Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
EVGA GeForce GTX 460 SE 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 Video Card
CORSAIR HX Series 650W ATX12V v2.2 Power Supply
ASUS SATA 24X DVD Burner
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Heatsink & Fan

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[jprahman]

A couple of comments:

First off, the video card. I would advise switching from that video card to something more powerful, like a GTX 460 1GB (not the SE version like you have selected currently) or better yet a GTX 560 Ti. The HD6850 and HD6870 perform similarly to the GTX 460 and GTX 560 if your interested in an AMD card. The PSU you currently have selected has enough power to handle any of those cards with ease. You monitor resolution and games you want to play would dictate the exact card that would be best.

Second point, I would advise getting different heatsink. The Freezer 7 pro isn't the best heatsink and there are a wide range of other heatsinks at very similar price point that perform better. One of the most popular heatsinks in that price range is the Hyper 212+ which is very well regarded. There are Xigmatek and Nocturna heatsinks in the $30-$40 price range that are well received as well.

 

[dalauder]

Get the Phenom II x4 955. It's the same as the 965 if you ever happen to go into your bios and adjust settings.

I prefer1600MHz RAM. It's the same price usually too.

HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB--same performance, but $55 with this promo code on Newegg: EMCKHJE48 (for the next 27 hours--order it ahead of everything else).

PSU: 750W Antec $90 no rebate required http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371025

The Hyper 212+ has better reviews: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

And you'll need a case with good cooling like the Antec 300 Illusion.

And for graphics, 6850<GTX460 1GB<5850~6870<560<5870~6950. The best deals are the 5850, 5870, and 6950 2GB (unlocking cores for 6970 performance).