Maximum PC

So after awhile out of the PC world ive decided to comeback to play SW:TOR, Battlefield 3, and COD. I don't really have to play with graphics to the max but I don't really want to lag. I'd like to keep my budget around $1000-1500 but obviously the less expensive the better. I do not care about where I buy or AMDvsNvidia. I've been out of the game awhile since my last graphics card was the ATI Radeon x850.

Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower $99.99
I figured it was decent since it was already set up with fans.

CPU: Intel i5 2500k $219.99

Power Supply: Corsair TX750M 750W Power Supply $129.99

SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120gb $198.99

Hard Drive: Hitachi 500gb 7200rpm $39.99

DVD: Basic Black Sony $16.99

Video Card: MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II Radeon HD 6950 2GB $254.99

Mother Board: GIGABYTE GA-Z68P-DS3 $89.99

1. Ram wise, I do not know if 8gb or 12gb is worth it?
2. I was debating on getting a 10k rpm hard drive instead of the SSD since I keep reading they go out after a year. I have no experience with SSD either. And do I need 120gb on a SSD?
3. Although the case does come with fans, I have no idea about case cooling.
4. I also have no idea about motherboards. I just picked on that seemed to fit the bill.

Any and all help and advice is appreciated guys. Thx

You might want to look into Intel smart response technology. It caches frequently used data from a HDD onto a small (60GB and under) SSD. Just something to look at as it might be just what your looking for as far as hard drive performance and price are concerned. A 60 GB SSD is less painful to lose then a 120 GB SSD plus you wouldn't lose any data if the 60 GB fails.


8 GB (2X4GB) of RAM should be enough but if you want more later on you can always add more.


If your going to get a overclockible CPU you should think about getting a after market CPU cooler.

Sandy bridge is only dual channel, so yes, 8 GB is plenty. RAM prices are low. So you could go crazy with 16 GB but you'll mostly see very little of it being used.
Only since you mention that you have not been in the "PC world" for a while, I'll mention that you have to buy a 64 bit operating system. With a 32 bit O.S. will only see 3 GB of RAM. You probably knew this but I wanted to make sure.
The problems with the Rosewill case I bought in February are: extremely flimsy plastic pieces used to mount the drives, the front mesh grill had a 3 1/2 inch opening and this piece of mesh kept falling inside the front unaccessible part of the case and the front grill was extremely hard to take off, which I had to do so I could bailing wire this trashy piece permanently into place.

Ok the first changes ive made are:

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Video Card: EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1573-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD(Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850 V2 850W
Memory:G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Mother Board: Asus Z68 LGA 1155
SSD: OCZ Solid 3 SLD3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus

1. I changed the video card to the GTX 570 HD.
2. Also, the power supply got moved to 850w. I would like to get another GTX 570 as they go down in price over time and run SLI. Is 850w enough?

Ok the changes I've made so far are:

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX850 V2 850W

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

Video Card: EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1573-KR GeForce GTX 570 HD

Mother Board: ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68

SSD: OCZ Solid 3 SLD3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3

1. I changed the video card to the GTX 570.
2. I also changed the power supply to the 850w because I would like to get another GTX 570 as they fall in price and run in SLI. Is 850w enough?
3. I think I picked the right mother board for the SSD and SLI.
Thx for the advice so far guys.

That looks good from where I sit. I am running the P8Z68-VPro and your choice is good. I am running the same ram and it is good. Incidnetlly, The Intel Smart Response is in the BiOS of that MOBO so you are fine. I think you'll do fine with that. I have yet to adopt SSD. Maybe later. Have fun.

if you can spare another $20 upfront and get $10 rebate i would def go with this PSU...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

i have it,and pushin SLI..Flawless piece of hardware is all i can say

I am running the 850TX and it is fine. The HX will make wire management a bit easier though.