Maximum PC

Hi All,

I'm looking build a dedicated gaming PC for online gaming with steam games such as Half-life, TF2, Global Agenda, and also MMO's such as Eve online. I took the article [url]http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_build_kick-ass_gaming_rig_under_700] How to build a kick-ass gaming rig under $700[/url] and tweaked it a little. Here is what I have so far:

[url]http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1tKs] PC Part Picker[/url]

CPU
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115076] Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge 2.8GHz (3.1GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52300[/url]

Memory
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220557] Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGD38G1333ELK[/url]

Hard Drive
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136770] Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKX 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive[/url]

Video Card
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908] SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity[/url]

Power
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182199&Tpk=ROSEWILL%20RG530-S12] Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7,i5" Power Supply[/url]

So as you can see I am missing a motherboard, cooling system, and optics drive. As far as the motherboard goes I know I would like an MSI. I have no clue what cooling system I need. And it is proving a bit difficult finding a white optics drive to match the case. This is a budget build, so I would like to save money where I can, but other than that I am open to idea.

-Thanks

I am not a fan of Rosewill PSUs if I was going for a budget PSU then OCZ would work but I am more of a Corsair/Seasonic person myself.
For a MB right now Gigabyte has the budget Z68 MBs pretty cheap and good build quality you should be able to grab one for around $100-$120
A Hyper 212+ is a great inexpensive CPU cooler and really is good i use one myself and i think it kicks ass even with a hefty OC on a i5-2500K.
It really is difficult to find a color other than black for optical drives that isn't IDE for some reason honestly if you want a white bezel just paint it white your self its a lot easier and less costly. its up to you. the front bezels are easy to remove and the can of primer and white paint should be less than $7 so you do the math. grab a $20 DVD burner and call it a day.
If you would like some links let me know and I will add them in.

Rosewills are only good for goodwills, they suck. I've had 3 of them 2 of which burned out within 3 months. Even though its a house brand of newegg, they suck. Stick with the name brand stuff like Antec, Corsair, Seasonic or the cheaper OCZ, Cooler Master and Thermaltake brands that work just as good. For the same price of $50 you can most likely find a 550-650 watt psu easily.

As for the RAM, just get these: G.Skill 1600 cas9 2x4gb ddr3 for $52

While the i5 2300 is a decent chip, its only a few bucks more for the kickass i5 2500k, you can find them on sale around 180 or so, atleast it was last week. 200 most places now I guess. Well worth the extra 30 bucks.

In terms of the 6850, its a great card, good value for the money. Alternatively, you can get a gtx 460 that's about the same power for about $10 cheaper (125) although I just picked one up for $100AR last week at us.ncix.com. It's only 2-3 frames per second slower in most games at 1080p.

+1 for the CM 212+ CPU cooler, best buy. Alternatively the Corsair A70 is about the same thing for about the same price.

For a motherboard, stick with the z68 chipset, its the latest and costs the same as the older p67 but the z68 has a few new features, such as the SRT ssd drive feature. Not something that you'd use in your budget system, but its a nice feature if you do decided to upgrade to an ssd.

Also, for the same price, here's a 500gb 7200rpm hitachi drive. They are a bit old but dependable. I've been running 4 of them in my 5 yr old gaming rig in a raid 5. $30, not to shabby.