Ok, so I'm looking for a desktop and have come to the conclusion that I would be better off building one than buying a pre-built one. There are a number of reasons, but the main 2 are cost and graphics card. I intend to game on it and would like to be able to play on high/highest in most games (1920*1080, not 2560*1600), for some time to come (I know the hardware will eventually become obsolete, but I would like to have a card that will be able to perform decently, say medium-high settings in 2 years or so).

Seeing as I live in Ireland, sourcing parts can be a bit of a...hassle. So far, the best place I've come across in Komplett.ie. I think I'm going to source most of my stuff there and then see if I can find anything elsewhere for less. It also helps seeing everything in the cart at once, so I have some idea what the final price will come to and if I am missing anything.

One of the first things you should now, is that this will be my first PC build and I'm not sure if certain components are incompatible. That's why I thought I'd come here, to get some help (and also hopefully some helpful suggestions if you see anything I can improve or something I don't need). Just to show how little I know, I'm not even sure if I'm getting the right case and if everything will fit in it.

Anyway, here is what I'm looking at so far:

As I've said, I don't really know what I'm doing. Suggestions on the parts I can't even come up with would be absolutely brilliant. Also, if you think something is overkill, let me know, or if I need to upgrade something now. Also, if I've missed anything, please let me know. I don't know what cables I'll need or if they come with the parts. I don't know about cooling paste etc. As I've said, this will be my first build, so it'd be very much appreciated if you could help me on my way.

Just to clarify, I don't expect to be playing Crysis (for example) on the highest settings. I'm thinking more along the lines of...Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead 2 etc. Any help, much appreciated.

Thanks,

GreyianStorm

Not a bad setup however i think you should probably spring for the 5850 for your graphics for future proofing. Also just so you know you dont really need 8 GB of ram. There will be no performance benefit over 4 GB when it comes to gaming and system performance.

No point in spending twice as much on memory when that money would be better spent on a better VGA card for a gaming PC.

I'll be surprised if PC games start requiring more than 4GB of system memory to run properly any year soon.

And buy a quality PSU. While PSU failures don't happen happen on a regular basis, there's no point in risking a decent system with a generic PSU, especially if you plan on doing any overvolting/overclocking.

I've changed to 4gb of RAM.

Could you give me any suggestions on a PSU, because I don't even know which manufacturers are good brands.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=340676

This is a good solid Corsair PSU. 8 Sata connectors, 650W rated for $84

You can probably step down a little on the ram branding etc. Just get a solid normal looking set of 2 by 2GB from somewhere like Kingston and you'll be good.

I would suggest the 5850 if you're picky about frame-rates and the 5770 if you're not so much and wouldn't mind say upgrading in a year if you find it starts falling behind your needs.

Hard to go wrong with Corsair as a brand in general, but they are a bit more pricey. Just don't buy more wattage then you need and it should be reasonable. Their warranties are among the best in industry which speaks for their quality.

Seasonic is another good brand, as are Enermax and Silverstone. I'm just throwing these out since I don't know what the availability is in your region.

All decent PSUs these days will be rated as 80 plus efficient at minimum.

Wattage will be dependent upon whether you plan on adding a second VGA card for SLI/Crossfire later, how much you plan on overclocking your CPU, and how many internal devices you're planning on running down the road.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

For what you have listed, a 500W PSU would be plenty. If you intend to do SLI/Crossfire, between 600-700W is safer. Don't shoot for the minimum wattage rating with PSUs though. Even if it falls within safe range, a lower wattage PSU is working a lot harder (and cranking out more heat) if it constantly has to run at say 80% max power.

^ Agreed i also reccommend Corsair brand RAM and i have also had good luck with thermaltake PSU's.

Here are 2 motherboards that will work for the cpu and the ram that you want
asus board http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=490260
gigabyte board http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=575117

For the video card go with a 5770 or even a lesser model. The 5850 is overkill for pc games since most pc games are just console ports with console graphics. Wait until the next-gen consoles come out before you buy the top of the line video card.

also i agree with twistedpixel get a quality psu, this is one area not to cheap out on the computer.

Did you check out GarcianSmith's thread? It offers pretty solid advice.

I got this PSU, and it's working nicely: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=339898
Higher wattage isn't needed really, at least if you're going with the HD5770, which I would recommend; it runs most games very nicely, only starts to struggle with bad ports or insanely demanding games, and it uses less power than my HD4890. If for some reason you do want higher wattage anyway, I would suggest you stick to Corsair. They do make great PSU's.

Also, make sure that you get a case that is right for you. Preferebly one with easy access to the Hard Drive Disks and toolless operation and dust filters. A good case can have a longer lifespan than all of your other components put together, so don't gimp out on it.

Oh, and here's Garcian's The gaming PC Upgrading/building thread

The Radeon 5830 was released yesterday, it's between the 5770 and the 5850 in terms of both price and performance, but it's closer to the 5850 in performance.

Also, some of those cards are really pretty looking.