$900 mid level gaming rig help!

[gochumong]

Hello everyone! Been lurking for quite some time and been getting a list together recently. Think I finally have a build almost finalized and wanted to see if my parts are compatible and/or optimal. Here it goes!

Case - Newegg.com - LIAN LI Lancool PC-K63 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Motherboard - Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Graphics - Newegg.com - EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1461-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139005

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072

RAM - Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ4GX3M2A1600C9

HDD - Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

DVD Drive - Newegg.com - ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - CD / DVD Burners

Any suggestions on switching out any parts? I don't really have any plans to overclock so maybe switching out the ram for 1333? Is everything compatible so far? Thanks a lot in advance!!

[Khalil]

Hi, welcome to pcmech forums.
I think the CPU is too expensive for what you are trying to do. The 560 video card will be short lived and will quickly be obsolete, it is not even a mid range card. The GTX570 is the mid range card.

So if you only have so much to spend, drop the CPU and raise the video card, you want to game after all, the CPU is not what carries the games for you, it is the Video card.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I32100

Newegg.com - EVGA 012-P3-1571-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD w/Display-Port (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Nice case but you can get this awesome Cooler Master http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119233 and spend more money on memory 8GB would be perfect!

Now you will have a mid range gaming rig!

[gochumong]

Thanks a lot for the input Khalil! How quick do you think the 560 would go obsolete? and if I went with your suggestions, in your opinion, would it be worth shelling out an extra $70 for the i5-2400? (I kind of want the quad core peace of mind for the future.. lol.)

[glc]

If you want the quad core there's no reason not to get it, but don't skimp on the video card to fit it in your budget.

[gochumong]

Thanks glc! I think I'm going to go with Khalil's suggestion then and get the i5-2400. Is everything compatible otherwise?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by gochumong Thanks glc! I think I'm going to go with Khalil's suggestion then and get the i5-2400. Is everything compatible otherwise?

all good

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by gochumong Thanks glc! I think I'm going to go with Khalil's suggestion then and get the i5-2400. Is everything compatible otherwise?

Looks great will be a nice system that will last you 3 or so years gaming! The quad core is a plus for future games, the 570 is a great card and very close to being a high end card!
Good luck, let us know how it all works out.

[gochumong]

Sorry for the bump! I assembled most of the parts of my system. (I built it outside of the case before even thinking about putting my parts in the case.) So right now, I have the barebones in my case, which doesn't include the dvd drive and hdd. Can anyone point me in the right direction for the next steps. After installing the last two things, would I then try and install the OS? Then after that comes drivers?

Thanks in advance to all who have been so helpful!

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by gochumong Sorry for the bump! I assembled most of the parts of my system. (I built it outside of the case before even thinking about putting my parts in the case.) So right now, I have the barebones in my case, which doesn't include the dvd drive and hdd. Can anyone point me in the right direction for the next steps. After installing the last two things, would I then try and install the OS? Then after that comes drivers? Thanks in advance to all who have been so helpful!

Drives in, install OS. May not even need to install any drivers, Win7 should recognize everything. After OS install run the updates, install Microsoft Security Essentials, install nvidia card drivers, and see how it is all running. You can always go to the Gigabyte website and update the chipset, sound, and lan drivers if you feel the need to. The last thing I do when all is done and running good is download and install ccleaner and run the cleaner and registry cleaner to finalize.

[Khalil]

Even if Windows 7 gives you the driver for the video card I highly recomend you go to nvidia.com and download the newest drivers from there and install them.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by Khalil Even if Windows 7 gives you the driver for the video card I highly recomend you go to nvidia.com and download the newest drivers from there and install them.

I agree