Building a PC; help is appreciated

[minarri]

Now that I'm back in the States I want to build myself a gaming PC. The problem is that I have no idea what I'm doing, so despite having looked over threads such as this one [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.105715] I have no confidence in my decisions.

I would like to build a PC that will last me a few years of mainstream gaming, and that will put me back fewer than US$2000 if possible. This is what I currently have in mind:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202]
MoBo: Foxconn Renaissance(X58+SLI) [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186161]
RAM: 3x2 gigs OCZ DDR3-1600 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365]
GPU: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4890 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102830]
HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284]
DVD: Samsung SATA DVD-RW [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187]
PSU: Corsair 850W [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009]
Case: Thermaltake Mozart Media Lab VC4000SNS [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144237]
Cooler: Vigor Monsoon III LT [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835702007]
Sound card: Creative X-Fi Titanium [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102024]
Wireless card: Edimax EW-7128G IEEE [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315041]
Mouse and keyboard: Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109156] (I want a quiet keyboard and mouse but am having a hard time finding any)
Monitor and speakers: for now I think I'll hold on to my Sony SDM-X52 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824006020]

I don't know if there's anything I'm missing or even if some of the things I want are not compatible with one another; furthermore I don't know if this is really even a decent way to go for a gaming PC. Are there any changes you would make, and if so what are they? Also any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

editz: Thanks for all of the suggestions. I've altered my initial ideas and here's what I currently have in mind:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115054]
MoBo: ASUS P5Q Pro [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131377]
RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145194]
GPU: XFX Radeon HD 4890 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102830]
HDD: Two WD Caviar Blue 640GB [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD%20caviar%20blue%20640GB-] HDs
DVD: ASUS DVD+-R/RW 8x External [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187]
PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018&Tpk=OCZ%20ModXStream%20Pro%20700W]
Case: Antec Three Hundred [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042]
Cooler: Scythe SCKBT-1000 120mm [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185098]
Sound card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102012]
Wireless card: screw it.
Mouse and keyboard: Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823109156] (anyone know of some quiet keyboards?)
Monitor and speakers: for now I think I'll hold on to my Sony SDM-X52 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824006020]; it isn't too miserable

 

[JRCB]

I will tell you one thing: make sure you get the drivers for that wireless card. Otherwise it WILL be a *****.

 

[Epifols]

You are buying all the hardware from newegg.com, right? Thats where I've bought almost every single thing for all the computers I've built, and never had problems. Also they have great prices.

As for actually putting it together, it's like Legos

 

[Blunderman]

First, avoid wireless network when possible. It's less reliable, less secure and slower.

Second, don't buy a PSU with too much wattage. I'd also recommend an Antec Greenpower or a similar type to save energy. I've only had bad experiences with Corsair (both PSU and memory) and 850W is a lot of money in electrical bills.

Third, don't buy a gaming case. Don't care about what the case looks and focus on the features. Sound padding, cable control, airflow, padding for the drives etc. Thermaltake is awful. You'll want either Antec or Silverstone.

Fourth, buy an external DVD via USB. Trust me on this, it's a huge relief and you can save both energy and performance by unplugging it when it's not needed.

Fifth, if you want to save money, get a good Audigy soundcard instead of X-Fi. They've been the standard for so long and they are extremely reliable.

Sixth, don't buy a Foxconn MB. It's expensive and poor quality. Stick with the venerable brands, such as ASUS. And don't buy SLI if you're going to use an ATI GPU.

Seventh, you don't need a new cooler. The Intel stock cooler is more than enough, even for some overclocking.

Eighth, don't get more than 4 gigs of RAM if you're still on an x86 OS.

 

[Ethereal]

Its a bad bad idea to buy ahead.

If you have £1500 to spend on a PC your better buying the neccesary bits to play todays stuff & set aside a few hundred to upgrade when the times needed. Generally 8 Gb of ram is more than enough at the moment & a decent video card will handle todays games with no problems.

Dont really see the point in 6Gb of ram? XP can only see 3Gb & Vista/7 needs 8+ to run comfortably.

Example 1 :- My current right has a 4 year old mobo & 4 Gb of DDR2 with a HD2600XT PCIE card. It can play all of todays games at 14:10 widescreen with the pointless graphics turned off. The same amount of money I spent on that card will get you a 8800 now .

Example 2 :- My brother spent £900 on dual super cards & that machine with those cards in wont play video & has random CTD's. The PSU supports them fine, blah blah blah. Also when hes playing online he uses my settings for graphics. So he blew a massive wad to play pretty single player games (To be fair he has a huge monitor so the cards help but overkill muchly.

Side note :-

Your buying a 1 Tb HDD, It sounds technical but having your OS install on 1 HDD & your data on another is really useful. After 20 years Ive finally embraced this little bizarre practice & I cant fault it. I'd buy a primary fast drive mebbe a nice Raptor 10k rpm & a cheaper industry storage drive. Really makes a difference at minor increase in price.

I agree with everything said up there ^
Adding only an Audio card is probably a waste unless you're an audiophile with a system that needs a good Audio Card.

 

[AthlonX2]

Well if you're planing on spending that much on a mobo you might as well get a EVGA X58. It's a really fast mobo, has a awesome warranty and the best customer service I would totally recommend it all so it's the same price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188046

 

[obex]

Here is my list im using new egg like you for price comparisons

Case

either a simple cheap one like this - $59.95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Or a flashy slightly more expensive one but still cheap $69.95

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

Processor

Try this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115054 - $269.99
Now you look at that and say its only slightly cheaper than my one and it isn't quite as powerful what gives well its the next bit that makes the difference.

Mother Board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131377 - $134.99
Look at that price and its a breeze to over clock over clocking is the way if you want a computer that will last as long as your careful and don't ramp up all the sliders you will be fine and there tons of helpful online guides

Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185098 - $44.99

not only is this cheap and efficant according to new egg its currently free with purchases up till august 31st win win eh? only down side is i have heard its a bit bulky and fiddly to fit

RAM

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013FH1JE/ref=asc_df_B0013FH1JE867249?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=us-pricegrabber-premium-ce-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B0013FH1JE $69.97

Ok ok ok i know i said i would use newegg but its really expensive there for some reason you don't need 6GB of ram as vista 32 bit will only accept 3 and 64 bit will only accept 4 also with the slightly back dated chi set i have shown you dont need DDR3 ram which is still new and expensive and this is corsairs best ram

G card

Lookin fine

Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD%20caviar%20blue%20640GB- $69.99

Now this is a smaller drive at only 640gb however it has excelent performance its fast and its amazing value for money looking at the reviews your chosen HD has heat problems and has to deep recover allot if you need that much space by 2 of my chosen HD as TB drives are still pricey and unreliable.

Power
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362115&ref=dynamitedata.com - $64.99

Again with the lower ranking stuff i suggested 700wt is fine but 850 is over kill so shave some money of here but always by a recognised brand with power packs


If we compare the 2 prices (im only counting in your list the stuff i have talked about and useing the cheapest cases)

your price- $1168.33
My price- $784.92

Specs
yours - Better specs allot more expensive
myn- Cheaper but less powerful however it has awesome over clocking power to keep it up to scratch better value for money

 

[fix-the-spade]

Are you sure about the SAPPHIRE GPU?
I havn't heard much about it, which either means its solid or overpriced.

I use a Sapphire (an old one so only half relevant), it's been pretty stable and reliable in it's 3 1/2 years so far. The only thing it really doesn't like is too many layers of particles, it handles hdr very well, which is good considering current gaming trends.

 

[minarri]

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful suggestions and advice! <3

I've rearranged my ideas for parts, and edited my initial post in this thread. Hopefully it's looking a bit better now...

 

[Horticulture]

editz: Thanks for all of the suggestions. I've altered my initial ideas and here's what I currently have in mind:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115054]
MoBo: ASUS P5Q Pro [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131377]

I'd personally recommend against using a Core 2 processor in a new build in favor of a Core i7 or AMD AM3 CPU. Core 2 is about to be replaced by Core i5(confusing, huh?) in September, so it's unlikely that many CPU upgrades will be available in the future. DDR2 RAM is also on the way out, so it'll likely be pricey to add more in a few years.

If you do stick with Core 2, consider a motherboard brand [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041] and save a few bucks.

RAM: CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145194]

If you're going to overclock (I'm assuming so based on the cooler), 1066 MHz RAM [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166] will take you further. It's a little cheaper, too.

HDD: Two WD Caviar Blue 640GB [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218&Tpk=WD%20caviar%20blue%20640GB-] HDs

Though they're $5 more a piece, Caviar Black [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319] drives are noticeably faster than the blues.

Case: Antec Three Hundred [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042]

That's a very good case, but make sure to either get one or two 120mm fans for the front of it or buy the version that comes with them pre-installed [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066].

Edit: I should also thank you...after reading this thread, I noticed that the price of the motherboard in the hardware thread's high-end build had gone up in price by $70! It used to be a good deal, I swear