Suggestions for first gaming PC

[HisDudeness]

I'm trying to build a gaming PC for less than $800 that will be able to run BF3, Skyrim, SC2, and Diablo 3 on high settings. These are the parts that I have picked out so far. I already have a couple HDDs that I will use.

-CPU
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor

-PSU
Antec 650W ATX12V Power Supply

-Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard

-RAM
G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

-GPU
MSI Radeon HD 6950 2GB Video Card

-Case
Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case


Any suggestions for other parts or criticisms of the build are much appreciated. I was unsure about my choice of motherboard; I wanted to know if I could get away with spending less money one a different one. I am also concerned about whether this 650W PSU would be fine for this build, and if it would also be sufficient if I plan to crossfire in the future. Thanks for the help!

[David M]

You will want to change your motherboard, RAM and graphics card to higher quality and higher customer support manufacturers. It won't cost you much more money, if any.

Look here for Khalil's guide to the best computer hardware brands.

You will want a higher power PSU for Crossfire. How much higher depends on which graphics cards you select. A 750 to 850 watt PSU will work with single GPU cards in Crossfire. AMD lists various PSU's that are certified to work with various cards in Crossfire.

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/product...-supplies.aspx

[glc]

For a single card that PSU is fine, and the Gigabyte board is okay - I don't recommend one that's any cheaper. The G.skill has to go, get Corsair Vengeance.

Hard drives must be SATA, that board does not have an IDE controller. You are missing an optical drive. Unless you are overclocking, you don't need the "K" series processor.