Yeah, it's about that time again. The rig I'm on now is several years old (fall of '06) and I'm starting to notice the limitations it has. It's running a 7950 video card, core 2 duo @ 2.13gHz, 2 gigs DDR2, etc. Runs most things okay, but with my new monitor and high resolution I can't even watch a full screen hulu stream without it looking choppy.
I'm not new to having custom built computers (this is my 2nd one that I'm using now), but I have never actually built one myself, and have always had a friend build it for me. Now I want to learn and do it myself. I don't have much money to spend, so looking to make a mid level machine. Here's what I am thinking about picking up:
Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Mother Board: GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard w/ USB 3.0 & SATA 6 Gb/s
Processor: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
Video Card: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
I am already using monitor: ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 ASCR 20000:1 (1000:1) Built-in Speakers
I've already done quite a bit of checking to make sure things are compatible with others, and had to change many parts out to make sure they were. Mobo that works with ram and processor, etc. But as I'm really new to the process there is easily something I could have overlooked.
If anybody could look over those parts and give your opinion? Something that won't work, or a suggestion for an alternate piece of hardware?
I also have these questions for anybody able to answer: Is 750 watt power supply necessary? Or can I safely get a cheaper, less powerful one with this setup? I'm intending to leave room open for doing SLI with a 2nd video card, as well as putting in more RAM. And on that note, is only 4GB of ram sufficient? Would I notice huge slowdown with Windows7?
Thanks a ton for any support!