Would like advice on building gaming computer in New Zealand

[Immolate]

Hi, I'm a new member here at computer forums and was hoping to receive some advice on a selection of parts for my first new gaming computer. I've been gaming for a number of years and am roughly aware of what I need but this will be the first I've built from scratch. Hopefully this computer will last me the next couple of years. My budget is about $1500 NZD, thats about $1,109 USD.
I've done a bit of research, but the field is so vast I would appreciate those with more in depth knowledge checking over my selections for details I may have over looked, suggestions for better parts, or confirmation that this build would be a good choice would be appreciated. As I live in New Zealand all prices will be in NZD and from one site in NZ, Ascent Technology | New Zealand Computer Hardware and Software Online Shop, this just makes it easier to keep track of all parts in shipping etc, besides there doesn't seem to be a wide variation in prices or available parts in this country.

So heres my list for a gaming computer to last me the next couple of years:

Case: Thermaltake Xaser V 6000+ E-ATX Full Tower Case, Silver, with Fan Control $111
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=121189


PSU: Cooler Master GX, 750W ATX PSU, Active PFC, SLI Ready, Black $191.03
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=385726


HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS Hard Disk Drive, 500GB, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, SATA 3 Gb/s : $72.07
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=374765


DVD drive: Lite-on 24x sata dvdrw $46.23
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=378988


Motherboard: Asus M4A87td/usb3 AMD 870 ATX socket AM3 DDR3-2000 $172.85
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=387998 (out of stock 16/12/10, I'm not sure how long they would take to restock these, so any other suggestions are of course welcome)

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU, 3.4GHz, Socket AM3, 32/64-Bit, Retail pack with fan, Black Edition $278.10
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=380680

RAM: Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K3/6G, 3x2GB, DDR3-1333, PC3-10600, CL9, DIMM $141.66
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=371382

GPU: Gigabyte GV-R685D5-1GD Video Card, Radeon HD 6850, 1024MB, DDR5, PCIe-16, DVI, HDMI, CrossFire $344.38
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=392256

Mouse: Genius X-Scroll, Optical (LED) Mouse, USB, Black $9.33
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=365571

Speakers: Creative SBS A200, 2.1 Speaker system, Black $53.82
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspeci...?ItemID=377562

Total: $1442.78 NZD ($1,065.96 USD)

I already have an awesome monitor and a keyboard.

So there it is, hopefully I haven't missed anything out and the case is big enough to fit it all. Thanks in advance to any who look this over and offer their opinion, I greatly appreciate it.

To sum up: gaming computer to last the next couple of years, a budget of around 1500NZD (1100 USD), from NZ site Ascent Technology | New Zealand Computer Hardware and Software Online Shop.

Thanks, Immolate

 

[bullzi]

For some reason the links aren't working for me.. but what you have summarized there looks pretty darn good myself. I would like to checkout specifics if the links worked on my end.

 

[iPwn]

Immolate,
Welcome to CF!

From the thread, your parts all seem to be compatible, however, all the links are broken (looks like they were truncated in the URL tag) so if you have all these items in a wish list please repost. For the motherboard though, here's another that is currently in stock that will also work.
The difference being a slightly newer chipset, and two PCI-E slots so if you ever wanted to crossfire in another video card, you could. The board also has a memory speed of 1333 which is the same as that RAM you selected. However, there's no raid controller on this board...and it's about $30 more.

Motherboard: Motherboards - AMD AM3 - Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 Motherboard, Socket AM3, 4xDIMM, DDR3, 2xPCIe-16, 3xPCI, 2xPCIe-1, 14xUSB2, Firewire, Audio, 1xATA, 8xSATA, RAID, ATX, USB 3.0

 

[Immolate]

Hey thank you both for the fast replies. I checked out the motherboard you found InfectionZero, cheers for that, looks good, my only question is how important is a RAID controller if I have no intention of setting up RAID settings, and whether it would be neccessary to buy a seperate RAID controller. Another issue occured to me after I had posted the thread, I've seen builds with similar specs using a 550W PSU instead of the 750 I've got here, in your experience is the 750W PSU overkill, would a 550 do me or would it be best to have that extra power, if it helps I have no intention of overclocking in the short term, though I may at some point grab a second video card.
Heres the link to the wishlist, Login | Ascent Technology : New Zealand Computer Hardware, New Zealand Computer Software, New Zealand Online Shop, Wellington Computer Hardware, Wellington Computer Software, Wellington Online Shop , hopefully this one works, I've added the suggested motherboard.
Thanks again for your fast replies, I'm pretty impressed and appreciate the help.

Cheers, Immolate

Edit: Just realised login needed to view wishlist, I'll try the URL's again.

DVD RW: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=8295470
Case: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=121189
CPU: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=380680
HD: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=374765
RAM: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=371382
Mouse: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=365571
Mobo: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=387759
PSU: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=385726
Speakers: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=377562
Video card: http://www.ascent.co.nz//productspecification.aspx?ItemID=392256

I hope these ones work.

 

[foothead]

If you aren't doing RAID, you won't need the controller.

550 watts is more than enough. Make sure it's a quality power supply though. Brands I recommend are antec, corsair, cooler master, OCZ, PC power & cooling, and seasonic.

 

[Immolate]

Here's an updated list of parts that I've chosen from the advice I've recieved on this and other forums;

Cases - Mid Tower - Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case, Side Window, Black

CPUs - Phenom - AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU, 3.4GHz, Socket AM3, 32/64-Bit, Retail pack with fan, Black Edition

Hard Drives - SATA - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS Hard Disk Drive, 1000GB, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache, SATA 3 Gb/s

Memory - Desktop - Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K3/6G, 3x2GB, DDR3-1333, PC3-10600, CL9, DIMM

Motherboards - AMD AM3 - Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 Motherboard, Socket AM3, 4xDIMM, DDR3, 2xPCIe-16, 3xPCI, 2xPCIe-1, 14xUSB2, Firewire, Audio, 1xATA, 8xSATA, RAID, ATX, USB 3.0

Power supplies - Corsair VX550, 550W ATX PSU, Active PFC, SLI Ready, Grey

Video Cards - PCI Express - Gigabyte GV-R685D5-1GD Video Card, Radeon HD 6850, 1024MB, DDR5, PCIe-16, DVI, HDMI, CrossFire

Speakers - Creative SBS A200, 2.1 Speaker system, Black

Mice - Genius X-Scroll, Optical (LED) Mouse, USB, Black

DVDRW:
Product Specification | Ascent Technology : New Zealand Computer Hardware, New Zealand Computer Software, New Zealand Online Shop, Wellington Computer Hardware, Wellington Computer Software, Wellington Online Shop

Thanks for all the advice, it's been quite useful in refining my part selection. If any of you have anymore advice I'd be happy to hear it.

Cheers, Immolate