Building a gaming rig

[Loopy53]

Okay, so I want to build a new computer, by myself, from scratch! Here is a list of all the parts I am interested in looking at:

Motherboard:
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
CPU:
Intel Core i5-3570 Ivy Bridge
GPU:
Asus GTX 660 Ti 2gb
PSU:
Corsair enthusiast series 650 watt
HDD:
Western Digital 1TB 7200 RPM sata 6gb/s
RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Case:
Antec Nine Hundred black steel gaming case
DVD Drive: (subject to change, suggestions appreciated.)
Lite-on Black 48x drive
Windows 7 home premium OEM
Keyboard & mouse:
Logitech Mk520

Total cost with shipping and handling: $1320 so we will round up to $1400 + a monitor so lets say $1500.

Now, I need a monitor, and I'm not sure which one to get. Preferbly 22" 1680 x 1050 and DVI. Now I could get a bigger resolution, but for me anyhow 1680x1050 is big enough.

The purpose of this rig would be to play the battlefield series, CoD series, numerous RTS games (supreme commander, civilization to name a few) battlefront 2 (duh) and normal usage.

I am not too interested in SSD's but if you guys can find one with a fairly low space (100gb) then I may downgrade the HDD to 750 gig and use the SSD. The intel i-5 is great for gaming. The i-7's just add 2mb cache and hyperthreading, not worth it in my opinion. I could get away with a lesser GPU but I may as well make the investment while im at it, and future proof my PC too. I will consider all suggestions. Cheaper/better products are appreciated. Please tell me what you think in the poll!

[Twilight_Warrior]

You should probably spend a bit more and get some DDR3-1600 RAM sticks, at least. 1333 is a tad too slow for intensive gaming, in my experience.
I'm using the G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 and it's just a little over your asking price (same price if the sale expires)
But, actually, if you want to stick with Mushkin, THESE ones are the exact same price for better speeds.

As for SSDs, there are plenty of them around 100Gb, 120Gb is pretty much a standard for them. And if you plan on playing some more modern games on the system, I'd highly recommend it, you'll notice a significant boost. I got one to play Battlefield 3 with, and it was definitely worth it.
Here's the Newegg page for that specific search, but Mav was kind enough to show me a website called pcpartpicker.com to use a great resource

[Loopy53]

Hm... I think I will take the g-skill ram. Which SSD would you recomend? And by that I mean manufacturer/space. Can an SSD and an HDD be paired in RAID? (or whatever it would be)

EDIT: Any suggestions for monitors??

[Twilight_Warrior]

I'd personally recommend the OCZ Vertex 4 but that's only because PC Gamer recommended it to me.

And while I think they CAN be paired with RAID, I wouldn't recommend it, as RAID is mainly for multiple, identical drives.

Hidden/Spoiler:

And after a quick Google search to confirm, I found this
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/279312-32-gaming-only
[quote]please do avoid buying two and putting them into a raid 0 array, this isnt fully supported by windows and in my experience causes a faulty SSD within three to six months. [/quote]

What I'd do is install your OS onto the HDD, keep all your non-gaming stuff on there, as well, and then install games and the like to the SSD, as a separate drive.

As for monitors, I salvaged mine from my Dad's old desktop, so I don't really have a recommendation, as I've never shopped for one before...

[Loopy53]

Actually, wouldnt you want to install windows to the SSD? I would also put my antivirus on it, and some games. I would want to get a smaller HDD if I was to get an SSD though. heck, a 500gb HDD would work. I will look into storage. As for monitors, This Acer Monitor would probably be good.

[Twilight_Warrior]

Both should work, I'm just saying what I'd do. Most of my PC games are on Steam, so they'll run from any drive, regardless of where Windows is. However, now that I think about it, installing the OS on the SSD would probably decrease boot time. That's about the only advantage I can think of, though.

[Maveritchell]

I'd personally recommend the OCZ Vertex 4 but that's only because PC Gamer recommended it to me.

The V4 is a good SSD, but in looking at reviews from a variety of sites, this SSD has appeared to be a lot more highly-received (I think it averages 5 stars at Newegg):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007R67FNA/?tag=pcpapi-20

And because of the sale, it's significantly less-expensive, too.

And here's your original build with a little optimization of retailers; it ends up going to below $1100 instead of over $1300:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/r5Xl

[Loopy53]

wow, thanks mav! I really apreciate that!

[Maveritchell]

I'd suggest signing up for a Tom's Hardware account and posting something like this over there - that's where most of my information has come from. I don't know a whole ton about building PCs, but the guys over there are really quick with an answer and can usually make pretty meaningful upgrade selections.

[Loopy53]

What I did is get the motherboard off newegg, the rest on ncix, and the monitor will be a philips LED 22" 2000000:1 contrast ratio 16:9 aspect ratio 1680x1050(or bigger) But I just havent yet found the right one/price for it. thanks for the help!