i5-750 gaming build.

[Aftershock]

Love the site and been a long time reader of the forums. I never post much due to how most of my questions have been answered already. I finally managed to scrape up enough cash to where I can finally afford a respectable gaming rig. I already have windows 7 64 bit OS and a 24" monitor with all the peripherals and just need someone to look over the build to make sure it's all compatible.

ASUS LGA1156 Intel P55 DDR3 - 2133 ATX Motherboard P7P55D

Intel Core i5 Processor 2.66 GHz 8 MB LGA1156 CPU I5-750BOX

Antec Earthwatts 650 Watt ATX12V V2.2 Psu

Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 XMS3 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 Core i5 Memory Kit

Antec 300 Mid-Tower

Western Digital 750 GB Caviar Black SATA 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD7501AALS

Samsung Internal Half Height DVD-W Supermulti SATA 22X Lightscribe (Black)

Sapphire Radeon HD 5770 1 GB DDR5 Dual DVI-I / HDMI / DP PCI-Express Graphics Card 100283L

Zalman CNPS9700LED Ultra Quiet Cpu Cooler

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 3.5 Grams

The total comes out to around $900 after shipping. I plan to use this build mainly for gaming and some light video work. I do plan on overclocking this build sometime in the future so that's why I added a CPU cooler, but I'm a little indifferent about what cooler would be the best for around $50.

I have tried placing an order with newegg in the past, but much to my surprise they claim that my address is "unserviceable" according to customer support. I have no beef with newegg, the customer support was nice and tried to help me with the problem but it could not be resolved for some reason. I wish I could order from newegg but looks like it wasn't meant to be, so I get to take up the wonderful task of hunting down the best deals over the internet. All of these item I have found off Amazon, but if anyone can show me to a better place to order I'm all ears.

[jdeb]

you could try mwave http://www.mwave.com/mwave/index.asp? for your items and the build looks very good although you may want to change the burner to a liteon or lg. I can't help you on the cooler but i have read good things about it. I also assume you know the warranty on the cpu would be voided with the aftermarket cooler.

[Aftershock]

I dropped the current DVD drive for a (LITEON iHAS424-98 24X SATA DVD Burner Black Drive Retail) and dropped the CPU cooler and thermal compound. I think I need to stick with learning the system before trying to go and tweak with it. Will I need to order SATA cables to power the DVD drive? I am concerned with how well the Antec 300 cools. I've heard good things but still not completely sold on it. I'm looking for performance and cooling over bells and whistles. Also wondering if the 650w PSU will be enough to handle an overclocked CPU and 2 5770s in Crossfire considering the CPU can hit 200+w at peak usage?

[theyosh]

In my past experience with dealing with Asus motherboards almost all the necessary cables are included.

theyosh

[glc]

If you are going to Crossfire, you should go to ATI's site and research power supplies certified with that pair of cards. You also may want to get a bigger case such as the Antec 900 or a Coolermaster RC690.

Certified PSU's are NOT cheap - example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151067

[Aftershock]

Thanks for all the info everyone, you have all been very helpful. Looks as if I seriously underestimated how much wattage a GPU uses. I believe I will go with the Collermaster RC690 with the option of having 7 120mm fans that glc recommended. After doing a little more research I think I'll stray away from Crossfire and SLI for now due too how it doesn't scale very well in some games. Any opinion on dropping the 5770 to a 48xx series card? I know the 5770 supports DX11, but I don't see much point in it when it will be 6+ months for any games to use its full potential and by that time the prices for the 5xxx series card will have dropped. Thanks again for your time.

[glc]

The ATI 4890 is an extremely powerful card, and the 4870 is almost as good. The 4890 is essentially a selected, overclocked 4870. You do NOT need anywhere NEAR 7 fans - the three that the case comes with are plenty, most of the case is open mesh.

[Aftershock]

Thanks for clearing that up. Guess I'm just being paranoid.

[12twelve12]

With 7 fans you could also install some servos, ailerons and a rudder and fly that PC around the house.

[Aftershock]

With a 1200w PSU it might be possible. Might have to give it a try one day.