First Build - Low End/Entry Gaming Rig

[saintende]

Hello there, obviously I am new here, though I can imagine some of the veterans may be exhausted by the amounts of requests like this, but I want to make any final confirmations before I attempt this build:
-Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
-AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
-XFX HD-685X-ZNDC Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
-G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9Q-8GBRL
-Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH24LS70 LightScribe Support

Essentially, while including the optical drive is meant to show I'm really starting from scratch here, my main questions are actually regarding that and the "bare drive"— is there anything else I'll need to buy for these components? I imagine the SATA cables themselves, thus would there be any recommendations in addition?

Also, the PSU itself is kind of an insurance policy, one alternative I was looking at originally was RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-630SS 630W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Modular LED Power Supply or its 730W nonmodular bigbrother. But apparently those explode a lot. Or do they? I have no problem going with the sure bet of the corsair, but is the risk really prominent?

The memory package I included was essentially just to fill all four slots affordably; the mobo can handle up to 16g, but I'll realistically only need 8 for the time being. Is it worth alternatively starting with using a 2x4GB DDR3 1600 (rather than 4x2GB DDR3 1333) configuration instead, thus CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8.

Now, I've already seen other builds using this mobo/cpu/gpu/case combo, but all of those extra fans shouldn't pose a problem as accessory hookups to the PSU, right?

And, for those of you that are facepalming now at my ignorance, I assure you: I will not be putting this together myself. I have a much more experienced in-law that will handle assembly. My main concern is making sure he has everything he needs to put it all together—thus my particular focus on the SATA components and any other internal cables I may need to purchase additionally.

Of course, I'm open to suggestions for alternatives for any of these parts, however, I'd like to prevent breaking $750 not including cables. As-is, with promos, taxes, and shipping it stands at $709.92. Operating System is being provided by said in-law and thus is not factored into cost.

Thanks for any and all input!

[glc]

1. Don't buy a XFX video card. If you want a Radeon, get an Asus, HIS, Diamond, or Sapphire.

2. Get a 2 X 4gb ram kit, not a 4 X 2gb kit. Stay away from G.skill, get Crucial, Corsair, Kingston, or A-Data.

3. Stay away from Seagate hard drives, get a Western Digital Black.

4. The motherboard comes with SATA cables.

5. Raidmax does not build quality power supplies. This is the best deal on a QUALITY unit right now, grab it QUICK while it's still on sale, and test it to make sure it's not DOA:

Newegg.com - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-620 620W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

[saintende]

Hm, I don't know why the PSU wasn't linked, but this is what is currently on the list:
CORSAIR Gaming Series GS700 700W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

And from your advice I'll make the slight upgrade from 6850 to 6870 (I really don't know why I kept going back to that model):
SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

However, the GPU only comes with a fan; am I going to need to purchase any additional cooling given the 4 additional case fans?

[David M]

Four case fans is more than adequate. Your PSU can only generate 620 watts worth of waste heat (the PSU glc recommends) at the very most. Much of that heat gets vented out the back of your graphics card.

[saintende]

Alright, I swapped out the memory and went with a 16GB Corsair set; CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML16GX3M4A1600C9— if there is ANY recommendation against low-profile, I'll switch back down to a 2x4GB set.

Swapped down on the optical drive to an ASUS, because I definitely won't be needing lightscribe and got a combo deal with the HDD—not disregarding your advice, glc, it just appears as if there will always be a seagate/western digital schism

[David M]

Low profile gives you the option of choosing from more large aftermarket coolers for overclocking the CPU. The only downside is smaller heatsinks which theoretically means less overclocking ability, but then the reality is that overclocking RAM does very very little for overall system performance. Overclocking the CPU has more effect on overall system performance.

[saintende]

Alright, awesome. Before I finalize this and place the order, do you agree with glc on the Antec PSU option and switching from seagate to a WD black?

(Really, I stayed with the seagate option out of the convenience of the seagate being both on sale and offered as a combo with the optical drive; if you agree with the recommendations, basically the drive will be switched to an LG equivalent, dropping the 4x4 memory down to a corsair 2x4, using the 620W PSU, and the loss of 250GB (and a cache increase to 64MB; neither of which I find meaninful for the level of gaming I will be using this for) for a HDD switch)

EDIT: I've linked two different 2x4 sets because I was still trying to find a corsair 2x4 lowprofile set that wasn't sold out—huge success. Yes, I like blue.

No, that wasn't a factor on the PSU options I had originally posted. But they were pretty.

[glc]

If you want a Corsair, get a TX, HX, or AX - the GS and CX series aren't that great. The best Antecs are the Earthwatts and HCG series.

That Seagate is a 7200.12, which is notoriously unreliable, evidenced by only a 2 year warranty. The WD Black has a 5 year warranty.

I think you are relying too much on combo deals - more often than not, one or more of the combo items are less than ideal.

You don't need 16gb ram in a gaming machine, 8gb is more than enough. Vengeance is excellent ram. There is NO need to fill all 4 ram slots, it's only a dual channel board, not a quad channel.

[saintende]

The only combo I was actually working with was the optical/hdd that I've already taken off; following your advice on pretty much everything the total cost is down to $708.89 after adding a surge suppressor, cat7, taxes, and shipping.

Order Sent.

Once everything gets here and (hopefully) all the parts are up, I'll let you know if I have any further questions