First Computer Build...Noob, need advice!

[psychosylocibin]

Alright So I did a ton of gaming back in high school and am just going to get back into it after college.

My dad built computers back then so I never learned how to actually build/set them up, I would just go to him.

Basically, I have a budget of around 1600 for the ENTIRE system (although everyone here seems to have cheaper builds)

Here is what I have so far, entirely based on reviews/benchmark research.


CASE:
APEVIA X-JUPITER-JR G-Type X-JPJGT-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower - 59.99

ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
65.99

SAMSUNG 2433BW High Glossy Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
259.99

Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB Hard Drive
129.99

XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Video Card
289.99

Ultra X3 ULT40312 850-Watt Power Supply
159.99

OCZ Vista Upgrade Edition Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory
44.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Processor BX80570E8500 - 3.16GHz
204.99

EVGA nforce 780i SLI Motherboard
229

Total : ~1500

If there is anything that is extraneous in here that could be narrowed down to something cheaper, let me know (i.e. the motherboard seems kind of pricey is there another one that could do the job just as well, and I am never going to use more than one GPU slot)

 

[oOCursleyOo]

Thats a really good system, but the hard drive size, wow! What do you need all that for? lol

 

[psychosylocibin]

Lol, Hard drives are dirt cheap these days.

1.5Tb for 129.99!

750 GB is like 80 bucks, might as well get the 1.5

 

[wol-va-rine]

Alright So I did a ton of gaming back in high school and am just going to get back into it after college.

My dad built computers back then so I never learned how to actually build/set them up, I would just go to him.

Basically, I have a budget of around 1600 for the ENTIRE system (although everyone here seems to have cheaper builds)

Here is what I have so far, entirely based on reviews/benchmark research.


CASE:
APEVIA X-JUPITER-JR G-Type X-JPJGT-BK Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower - 59.99

ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
65.99

SAMSUNG 2433BW High Glossy Black 24" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
259.99

Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB Hard Drive
129.99

XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Video Card
289.99

Ultra X3 ULT40312 850-Watt Power Supply
159.99

OCZ Vista Upgrade Edition Dual Channel 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory
44.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Processor BX80570E8500 - 3.16GHz
204.99

EVGA nforce 780i SLI Motherboard
229

Total : ~1500

If there is anything that is extraneous in here that could be narrowed down to something cheaper, let me know (i.e. the motherboard seems kind of pricey is there another one that could do the job just as well, and I am never going to use more than one GPU slot)

for $160 you can get a better psu, one that is a lot better...

this is just one example...

 

[worshipme]

ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
65.99

IMO, the 9700 is both overpriced and underperforming. The Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is a great cheap cooler that will most of the time outperform the 9700.
Of course, if you're not overclocking, you don't need an after market cooler at all, stock cooling will do just fine.

XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Video Card
289.99

Overpriced for a 260 IMO, you can actually get a 260 Core 216 for that price as well as the HD 4870 1GB. The 216 and the HD 4870 1GB perform similarly, so take your pick.

Ultra X3 ULT40312 850-Watt Power Supply
159.99

A bit overkill. You could spend less and still have something perfectly sufficient. Either this, or this, both are good PSUs. The 550w is modular, but the 600w isn't.

EVGA nforce 780i SLI Motherboard
229

If I were you, I'd go with a cheaper P45, Intel chipsets are generally much better overclockers and have less issues.

 

[psychosylocibin]

Thanks for the advice guys!

Assuming I choose that 600 PSU you recommended, is it going to have enough wattage to cover the power reqs of all my components and more (if I decide to add another hard drive etc)

 

[worshipme]

Assuming I choose that 600 PSU you recommended, is it going to have enough wattage to cover the power reqs of all my components and more (if I decide to add another hard drive etc)

Yes.