Help With Custom PC Build

[MrPudding28]

I plan on building a gaming pc for christmas and if anyone on the site has already built a pc that knows a thing or two about components could help me that would be great.

Here is a list of the components I'm would be using:

Case: COOLER MASTER HAF X
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair V Formula AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
Video Card: XFX HD-687A-ZDFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB
PSU: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RS850-AMBAJ3-US 850W
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Heatsink: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
ODD: ASUS 24X DVD Burner
Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600

Total Cost: $1150.10

Since I'm 16 I'm a bit strapped for cash but I'll have this amount plus a little extra for my first iPhone (C Spire unlimited data FTW) , but I plan on adding another 6870 to crossfire later.

I plan switching from console gaming to pc mainly because of games with a heavy modding community like fallout, oblivion, and in the near future Skyrim .

This is going to be my workstation from now till (I hope) 10yrs (upgrading along the way)

Any building tips would also be greatly appreciated.

Later during christmas my senior year in high school next year I should be able to scrounge up enough to buy a base model macbook pro 13". My final question is if having a beast of a desktop would allow me to skimp on my laptop's performance and still have a good computing experience?

 

[MasterBSOD]

I think the 850w PSU is a bit overkill. Maybe go down to a 700, and with the money you save get Windows 7 Professional.
In my opinion, the Home editions of Windows are the Pro versions, with the useful stuff taken out.
Also, if you want to save money... I may be walking on the rules line here... Buy the Upgrade version of Windows. When you install it the first time, don't complete the install. Reboot and and try installing again. The upgrade version will look for some sort of Windows Install on the hard drive, it doesn't care what it is.

 

[MrPudding28]

I think the 850w PSU is a bit overkill. Maybe go down to a 700, and with the money you save get Windows 7 Professional.
In my opinion, the Home editions of Windows are the Pro versions, with the useful stuff taken out.

I plan on overclocking the cpu, gpu then later the gpus.
Also I decided to get a 850w so later when gpus start improving the amount of wattage required will also increase, plus it will give me wiggle room so I don't ever overload the psu and strain it. Also I looked at microsoft's compare page on windows and I don't think I would be using the extra features in professional compared to home.

 

[MasterBSOD]

I plan on overclocking the cpu, gpu then later the gpus.
Also I decided to get a 850w so later when gpus start improving the amount of wattage required will also increase, plus it will give me wiggle room so I don't ever overload the psu and strain it. Also I looked at microsoft's compare page on windows and I don't think I would be using the extra features in professional compared to home.

Like my NRA card says... "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."
Just a thought.

 

[MrPudding28]

Like my NRA card says... "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."
Just a thought.

Well I think the psu would be a better choice over professional, but that is my opinion.

 

[imaketouchtheme]

I'm on my iPhone and I didn't look up the prices on any of the components, but that total seems somewhat high for what you're getting. I would recommend getting a WD Black HDD over the Barracuda.

 

[phas3]

if you can spend a little more, I would go Sandy Bridge and OC that chip to 4.8-5.0ghz

Here's a build I did:

To those of you who knows a thing or two about WC yes I know DYE has the possibility to stain and gunk WC parts. I am aware of what the consequences are.

This build without WC was slightly over 1k and it was a SB overclocked to 5ghz.

I can give you a list of parts if you'd like.