My laptop has developed a couple of problems and will soon be out of warranty, so I've been thinking of getting a desktop instead. After looking around a bit at pre-built systems, I decided I was rather dissatisfied with the choices out there, as well as the reliability of those systems (one attractively-priced desktop had multiple reports of failures). So anyway, I've settled on building my own.
I'm a complete novice when it comes to this...I've never built a PC before. I'm looking to build a fairly-serious gaming rig, for games such as Crysis, GTA IV, BioShock, and Far Cry 2. My budget's around $1500, give or take.
Note that I'm not really concerned with using more than one video card, so using the 1156 chipset isn't an issue for me. I'm most concerned with building a good gaming rig that will let me play games comfortably for the next few years before I need to upgrade.
Also about the wireless adapter: It's the only one I could find where people mentioned getting it to work with Windows 7, and my PC would be in an area where the only real option is wireless.
I already have a monitor, speakers, keyboard, and mouse.
Now you didnt mention the specifics on your monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse. You could always upgrade these as well with the money saved over getting a 5870 for example. For example, pick up a good gaming mouse a like a Razer or the Logitech G15 is extremely popular, or you could pick up a nice 22 inch monitor.
I already have a nice 22" monitor, so I'm good with that. My speakers are nice as well...great range of sound with a nice sub. My keyboard and mouse aren't anything special, but they've never been a burden when playing any games...even highly-competitive online ones.
I keep getting conflicting reports as to whether I should go with an Asus or a Gigabyte mobo...my wishlist has been updated to reflect my current thoughts. I'm also pretty sure I'm sticking with the Radeon 5850 since the 5870 is $100 for only a marginal increase in performance in most cases, only really being apparent at freakishly high settings which I will never play at.
CPU: 8/10 - Reasonably good value, but unnecessarily overspec'ed for a gaming machine. The i5 750 will do you fine, and costs $90 less.
HDD: 10/10
RAM: 10/10
PSU: 5/10 - A great unit, but massively overkill for your system. the components you listed will use less than 300W at full power. The 650W TX version will be ample for anything.
DVDRW: (I'm not that well-up on the best optical drive brands, but Liteons get reasonable reviews lately)
GPU: 10/10
Antistat strap: Waste of time, if you're careful you won't need one.
Case: 7/10 - Better than the original Nine Hundred, but the NZXT Tempest is a much better version of the same design without the flaws. Plus it costs less.
OS: Fine
Motherboard: Asus: 5/10 (highest rating I give to Asus motherboards due to their low build quality), you want a Gigabyte P55A such as the P55A-UD4 for a gaming system.
