Building a rig for my cousin [UPDATE]

[Didzo]

Not so sure about your case choice. Lian Li is a good manufacturer, but it is a bit pricey and comes with only 2 fans... Though that's mostly a thing of personal preference. Check out the Antec 300 variants and some CoolerMaster cases.

I would go for a WD Caviar Black hard drive instead of Seagate. Seagate seems to have poorer reliability.

Try finding a normal sized (non-micro ATX) motherboard. You're getting a normal sized case and a big graphics card, so a mobo that isn't cramped would probably be a good thing.

Screen size does not affect performance. Screen resolution affects game performance. And the 30 inch TV might explain the need for a wireless mouse and keyboard. I have a Razor Mamba and it works sexy in both wired and wireless modes, though I think any old wireless mouse/keyboard combo would work perfectly fine for his purposes.

[KarthXLR]

Not so sure about your case choice. Lian Li is a good manufacturer, but it is a bit pricey and comes with only 2 fans... Though that's mostly a thing of personal preference. Check out the Antec 300 variants and some CoolerMaster cases.

I would go for a WD Caviar Black hard drive instead of Seagate. Seagate seems to have poorer reliability.

Try finding a normal sized (non-micro ATX) motherboard. You're getting a normal sized case and a big graphics card, so a mobo that isn't cramped would probably be a good thing.

Screen size does not affect performance. Screen resolution affects game performance. And the 30 inch TV might explain the need for a wireless mouse and keyboard. I have a Razor Mamba and it works sexy in both wired and wireless modes, though I think any old wireless mouse/keyboard combo would work perfectly fine for his purposes.

Seagate is cheaper and comes with the combo, same with the motherboard. I trust them enough, but I would pay for a new hard drive if this one died.

I guess the biggest thing I'm worried about is that the rig's about 150 bucks more expensive than I thought it would be. Probably my fault for not taking the OS into mind.

[WaR1761]

How about:

Motherboard: ASUS M4A78T-E

Graphics Card: I don't have an opinion at the moment however I do like a water chamber cooling method, sapphire calls it "vapor x" basically its like a mini water cooler so you can run the fan speed a little slower then stock coolers which means less noise if this is in a "home theater" setup.

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB or 640 GB.

Power Supply: For non modular: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX or CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX

If you take the jump to modular see CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX or CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-650HX

I have built with and without modular power supplies if your case is big then go for non-modular it will be a little cheaper but you just have to hide the cables behind the motherboard.

CD/DVD Drive: Current one looks good, but just thinking about if its hooked up to a TV would he be tempted to watch blue ray movies. However that brings up a whole nother slew of issues with sound output and integration.

Wireless Network Card: Rosewill RNX-N300X you can get 300mb/s transfer rate on this model so network sharing and network printing will be faster compared to 54 mb/s.

Case: I don't really like how the case you picked only has 2 fans, with what your putting in it especially the graphics card of that size.

The Antec 300 has dual front fans, one for HDD, and the other for the graphics card. Another main benefit is that it has a top fan to remove general case heat. If for some other reason your cousin decides to add another graphics card he could install a fan on the side door to help with cooling issues.

Also as a generic tip once again if he is using this as a home theater box, bigger fans = slower speeds = less noise

[KarthXLR]

Already changed it up. I think I'll swap the wi-fi card for that one, but here's what the rig looks like as of now:

[WaR1761]

Also make sure to swing by home depot and pick up some adhesive wire mount plates and mini zip ties to make it look sexy. Not sure how tall the case is but if you get the ga870a-ud3 I see that the 8 pin motherbord power is on the top of the case so you may need an 8pin cable extension to make it fit with out stretching.

[Didzo]

You do not need to buy any cooling compound. The CPU comes with a fan with a pre-applied compound that works just fine.

Consider this case. It has four fans, but has blue LEDs. Best cooling for the price, but the light might not be the best for a home theater setup. If your cousin is bothered by the light, you could just cut the LED wire on the fans.

[KarthXLR]

You do not need to buy any cooling compound. The CPU comes with a fan with a pre-applied compound that works just fine.

Consider this case. It has four fans, but has blue LEDs. Best cooling for the price, but the light might not be the best for a home theater setup. If your cousin is bothered by the light, you could just cut the LED wire on the fans.

Thanks, that drops the price down to only a little over 900 including shipping.

[KarthXLR]

Ordering this tonight, let any last minute advice commence!

[KarthXLR]

Bought. Locking thread.