I have decided that it is about time for me to build a new gaming computer. I have made up two possibilities.

Motherboard:

MSI 970A-G45 AMD 9 Series

CPU:

AMD Phenom II X4 960T Black Edition

RAM:

Corsair Vengeance 4GB DDR3

Video Card:

EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (1GB)

Sound Card:

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 7.1

Hard Drive:

Seagate Barracuda 1TB

Optical Drive:

Sony Optiarc 24x DVDRW Drive

Case:

Cooler Master RC-430-KWN1 Elite 430

Power Supply:

Cooler Master Elite Series 460 Watts

Total about $600

Motherboard:

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68

CPU:

Intel Core i5-2500K

RAM:

Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8GB (2x4GB)

Video Card:

EVGA GTX 560 Ti 1GB

Sound Card:

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 7.1

Hard Drive:

Seagate Barracuda 1TB

Optical Drive:

Sony Optiarc 24x DVDRW Drive

Case:

NZXT M59 Gaming Mid Tower

Power Supply:

Corsair Builder Series CX600 (600W)

Total: about $900

Feed back and suggestions are welcome.

Edited February 5, 201214 yr by rjn4

Don't get the 550Ti, Its a good card but if you have a little extra to spend then the 560 is alot better...

The CPU is good, have the same one myself...

Try to get a SSD as well as a standard Hard drive, stick your OS and Programs on the SSD and your files such as music on the HD. It will be quieter and a lot faster.

Also the PSU is way to small, you need at least 600W for that.....

Edited February 5, 201214 yr by Tom H

Only $900? Is that for someone to build it for you or for you to do it yourself. I got ripped off with mine, freaking $2200 for pretty much the same thing your getting.

Only $900? Is that for someone to build it for you or for you to do it yourself. I got ripped off with mine, freaking $2200 for pretty much the same thing your getting.

Build myself. I was surprised as well how cheap it was

Don't get the 550Ti, Its a good card but if you have a little extra to spend then the 560 is alot better...

The CPU is good, have the same one myself...

Try to get a SSD as well as a standard Hard drive, stick your OS and Programs on the SSD and your files such as music on the HD. It will be quieter and a lot faster.

Also the PSU is way to small, you need at least 600W for that.....

OK

EDIT:

Corsair TX850W Power Supply - 850W, ATX, 80Plus

any better?

Edited February 5, 201214 yr by rjn4

The second is vastly better.

Since GTA IV is also quite CPU bound, the i5 2500k will pull up better frames.

I'd go for an ASUS soundcard though, the creatives just don't sound as good in my opinion. Also i'd look at a better case, Bitfenix Shinobi is nice cheap case in the UK not sure about anywhere else. You should looking at getting a 560 with 2gb VRAM as it will help in future titles if you game at 1080p or above.

Edited February 5, 201214 yr by reflux

thanks for the tips. updated...

Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 ($160)

CPU

Intel Core i5-2500K ($230)

RAM

Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) ($42)

Video Card

EVGA GTX 560 Ti 2GB ($280)

Sound Card

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 7.1 ($30)

Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda 1TB ($125)

Optical Drive

Sony Optiarc 24x DVDRW Drive ($18)

Case

NZXT M59 Gaming Mid Tower ($50)

Power Supply

Corsair Builder Series CX600 (850W) ($135)

Total Cost: $1070 (USD)

Edited February 5, 201214 yr by rjn4

Yes those options aren't bad at all. I don't really know which one I would pick!

How many monitors are you going to be using? I really wouldn't get the 2GB card unless you are using multiple monitors. If you are only using one monitor save yourself the money and get the 1GB.

Or, if you have the money, and can wait a little bit, you could try to wait for the Geforce GTX 600 series to come out, so that you don't get burnt in the long term.

How many monitors are you going to be using? I really wouldn't get the 2GB card unless you are using multiple monitors. If you are only using one monitor save yourself the money and get the 1GB.

ATM one. still thinking about two

Or, if you have the money, and can wait a little bit, you could try to wait for the Geforce GTX 600 series to come out, so that you don't get burnt in the long term.

ill look into it

I am thinking about windows 7 home premium or windows ultimate. any opinions???

I am thinking about windows 7 home premium or windows ultimate. any opinions???

I would have thought that Home Premium would be the best option however if you want to see a comparison for yourself, heres a link:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/products/compare

Yea I would go with Premium, the only thing you may get from Ultimate is the language pack and drive encryption (aka bit locker). I will admit I have Ultimate, but my home network is over the top compared to most. I have a domain controller running, so I had to have it so it can join a domain.

Yea I would go with Premium, the only thing you may get from Ultimate is the language pack and drive encryption (aka bit locker). I will admit I have Ultimate, but my home network is over the top compared to most. I have a domain controller running, so I had to have it so it can join a domain.

Same here, I have a windows 2008 domain....

There is absolutely nothing worth the extra money in 7 Ultimate.

Backups: Wow, and this beats the millions of other backup software how?

BitLocker: Call the NSA! They will never crack this. Truecrypt beats this.

The rest: Not worth the

Two mouses

Logitech M110 Optical Mouse ($13)

Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse ($60)

using an HP version of the optical right now

I have a few headsets, keyboards, monitors, ect. in mind. looking for more suggestions.

Well I would second suggest only 1GB if your using 1 monitor. No need for 2. Also the HP.

Actually the PSUs you had before are currently fine, the first system would do fine on a 460 watt. I have a system similar to yours, and am running it on a 550w.

Actually the PSUs you had before are currently fine, the first system would do fine on a 460 watt.

Not really, the minimum psu requirement for that card alone is 550W

Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 ($160)

CPU

Intel Core i5-2500K ($230)

RAM

Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) ($42)

Video Card

EVGA GTX 560 Ti 1GB ($250)

Sound Card

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 7.1 ($30)

Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda 1TB ($125)

Optical Drive

Sony Optiarc 24x DVDRW Drive ($18)

Case

NZXT M59 Gaming Mid Tower ($50)

Power Supply

Corsair Builder Series CX600 (600W) ($75)

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium ($100)

some other things I was looking at.

Monitor

Headset

Keyboard

Mouse

with a an eye-popping total of $1450 (estimated)

which isn't that bad considering i'm I was expecting to pay at least $2000 for it all.

Edited February 10, 201214 yr by rjn4