$1500 Gaming PC

[IQCrash]

Hey everyone,

My motherboard fried unexpectedly, and instead of purchasing a pre-manufactured desktop, I am considering building my own for the first time. I'm not 100% confident in my ability to do it, but I'm willing to try.

That said, below is the list of my current build for you review, with some questions afterwards.


Case:
NZXT Guardian 921 CS-NT-GD921-B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case -- $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Guardian%2b921

PSU:
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply -- 109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%2bCMPSU-650TX

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor -- $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

CPU Cooling:
Thermaltake CL-P0114 120mm CPU Cooler -- $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835106061

Motherboard:
ASUS P5E3 PREMIUM/WIFI-AP @n LGA 775 DDR3 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard - $369.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131276

RAM:
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $197.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145198

Video Card:
VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - $284.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129113

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive -- $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073

DVD Drive:
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD Burner -- $23.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106228

Subtotal: $1,380.92
Shipped: $1,528.30


Now this same PC would cost me $1754 shipped from iBuyPower.com. Is the $200 savings worth the trouble?

As for the build itself, what do you think?

Do you see places where I can save some cost not at the expense of performance, or upgrade without much more of a spend?

I'm looking for something that will last me 2 or so years with minimal upgrades necessary (adding RAM or a new video card in a year or so is perfectly reasonable).

Your wisdom here is infinitely more than mine, so any and all input is welcome.

Thanks again for all your help.

[Masaki 7-11]

You could save some money without losing performance by changing the motherboard to an X48 motherboard using DDR2 ram or a motherboard based on the P45 chipset using DDR2 ram.

By changing to DDR2-800 or DDR2-1066 (mostly useful if you will be overclocking), you'll be able to save about $100.

If you are not overclocking, an aftermarket heatsink won't be necessary as the processor will come with one, if you are overclocking, take a look at either a Arctic Cooler Freezer Pro 7, or a heatsink from Zalman or Thermalright.

For an extra $5 to $10 you can get a faster 640GB WD hard drive.

Overall it looks like a good build, I think it's always a better idea to build a computer yourself because you will gain knowledge and experience, and will also be able to use higher quality parts than what a pre-built computer will come with.

[Force Flow]

Alternate HDD for the same price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288