I have been tossing around the idea of building a computer for the past few years (and have asked for help a few times on the forums tech thread) and have finally decided to man up and do it. The problem is that the website I am using stocks so many parts that it seems near-impossible for a beginner like myself to build a computer and buy parts that are fully compatible with each other. The idea of this build is to get a decently powerful to extremely powerful computer out of all of the parts I will buy but I am having some trouble working out whether or not these parts will actually do that job and whether or not they are compatible.

Here are the links to the parts I may buy, as long as they meet the criteria listed above:

http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=921


http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=4915


http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8989


http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8731

http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8685


http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=7100


http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=7993


http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8711

The total cost came to 1227

The videos I have watched on youtube explaining how to build a computer have explained it rather well but they have always missed out on explaining the sound card and the internal modem.

Also this is an Australian website so I am not sure whether or not people from outside of Australia can access it.

The first thing I would as is why you are going for a Sandy Bridge CPU rather than the newer Ivy Bridge? An Ivy Bridge CPU and compatible motherboard is roughly the same price, and you'll be future-proofed for much longer.

Your case is good - Coolermaster make fantastic cases.

A 550W PSU will be fine, but I'd personally bump it to at least 650W. But that's mainly me being paranoid. It's useful if you ever plan on overclocking or adding a second graphics card though.

I'm not too knowledgeable on ATI GPUs, but as far as I know, that's a pretty high end one, and should play anything on near max settings.

Regarding your HDD, I'd get a WD Caviar Black instead - it's significantly faster.

As for installing an internal modem and soundcard - well most motherboards come with all of that built in. As for the soundcard - just shove it in a PCI slot and you're good to go.

Thanks very much for the help, but I couldn't help but notice that you said that the GPU could play anything on near max settings. My main concern is running ArmA II on it's highest settings at a decent framerate, as that would probably mean it could run most things extremely well. Is that possible with this rig, with the changes you mentioned?

Also, if I found an Ivy Bridge CPU and compatible motherboard would I still be able to use the other parts I have listed?

I have a humbe 2GB Nvidia 560 ti and I can run ARMA 2 at max settings, 1920 x 1080 resolution, and I get 45-60 fps consistently. Your card is quite a bit better than mine, so you should be fine. I do have a better CPU than the one you linked, but the difference is unlikely to make much of a difference in most games. You'll likely get a better framerate than me.


Yeah, everything else will work fine.

Thankyou again. One last question, how will I know a motherboard that is compatible with the Ivy Bridge when I see it? The motherboard I have listed states that it is compatible with the core i7 processor but not which type, neither Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge.

It has to be socket 1155. Also, the difference between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge is pretty minimal, maybe 10% at best. Plus, since Sandy Bridge can dissipate heat more effectively it has a bit more overclocking potential on air cooling, which pretty much eliminates the difference. It really comes down to the price of the CPUs. Also, I'd make sure you're getting a K-edition CPU so you have a fully unlocked multiplier.

Edit: Accidental double post

Oops, it appears I got mixed up - it appears the CPU you linked is actually an Ivy Bridge and that motherboard is compatible with it. So it looks like your good to go! But if you can get the 2600k, all the better. It should only be slightly more expensive.

Perhaps this? http://www.msy.com.au/product.jsp?productId=8968


Thankyou very much hyrule