Need help selecting parts for my first build

[mariotheotaku]

Hello everyone, I been out of the PC world for a few years and I have decided to come back and start building my first rig, a gaming/entertainment system. I haven't really been in check with the newest parts but I know what I'm looking for in this build:

Able to support dual monitors (play games in one, watch movies on the other)
motherboard and monitors that have hdmi port to connect for blu-ray support.
latest intel CPU, (something around 2.8ghz)
Video card(s) something from ATI if possible

I don't plan to OC this PC, and I only have the case I would like to choose (Cooler Master Cosmos). As far as monitors go, 24" ones will do.

Sorry I don't have much info on the other parts, but friends told me this forum was very helpful in finding parts.

Thank you.

[jdbnsn]

I just put together a system with an Intel i7 quad core and an ATI 5870 video card and it is smokin' fast! It multi-tasks like you wouldn't believe, but the 5870 is not very available right now. You have to watch the sites and get lucky to find one in stock.

[mariotheotaku]

Thank you, quick question, can u connect a monitor with only an hdmi cable or do u also need to connect a VGA clable to the mobo?

[SgtM]

That depends. Do the video card and monitor have HDMI connections? If so, go for it. If not, there's nothing wrong with DVI.

[mariotheotaku]

ok, ty I was just wondering since I was planning to buy this Blu-ray drive http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...ge/?q=node/435

[Locum51]

I'm kinda going along with jdbnsn and here are some suggestions.

Mobo: LGA 1366http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131365
or
LGA 1156http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131404

Video Card: New Radeon HD 5770 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102858
or
Nvidia GTX 285http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130480

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115202
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115214

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145267

Those are just some suggestions but what ever you plan to do, this will definitely help!
http://educations.newegg.com/tool/ps...y%20Calculator

[mariotheotaku]

Thank you for the suggestions, actually some of those parts where the ones I was planning to buy, here is what I got so far

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-138-_-Product


Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186176


Video Card: New Radeon HD 5770 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102858
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150447


CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115214

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145265 (2 sets for a total of 8GB)

Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136175

Monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236066 (2 of these, I will purchase another one in the future, since I want to watch movies in one/play games and surf web on another)

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136283 (possibly 2 of these, I want to use one exclusively for movies and music and the other one for the OS and games)

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139006 (not too sure about it though)


I still would like suggestions on things I'm missing like cpu cooling and ram cooling ( not sure if the ram I chose would be ok without cooling, im still somewhat new at this), and I wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be any compatibility problems. Also something I forgot to mention is that I plan to use programs like Photoshop, Flash and such since I'm studying Graphic Design and wanted to know if this system could also multitask with programs like these.

Thank you all for your help so far

[Locum51]

I know this is bias towards MSI but i found that their PSU Calculator is a little more specific and gives a better estimation on how many watts needed.
http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=power

These should give you more than enough power for your system and Water Cooling if you were to go that route.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817121037
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139007

As for cooling i'll leave it to the other to suggest ( i'm not that experienced in the cooling field) haha.

[mariotheotaku]

thanks for the reply, from the looks of it I will probably need a 700W-800W PSU (Watts usage was around 500W or so) and I'm not to sure about water cooling yet, I know I want to have a good cooling system but this being my first build I'm a little concerned with water cooling, is it safe? how much does a good system goes for? How often do I need to clean the parts and replace the water?

[slaveofconvention]

If you aren't overclocking, you don't need to watercool - it's expensive and there are more than adequate air-cooling solutions available which are effective and quiet...