$600 gaming rig (Woo, challenging!)

[Peaknuckle]

So I have $600 and want to get a reasonably decent gaming machine, however I have no previous experience with building PCs. I already have 2 hard drives. an 80gb SATA 7200rpm and some other I don't remember (it's upstairs in the room I'm using if it's really that important). I also already have all the peripherals I need, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and a cd drive. I could use a good dvd drive if there's one that's reasonably cheap.

I've already weighed the advantages for a video card and so far I'm going with a GeForce 8600GT ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150229 ) for $149 with a $20 rebate. My question to you, aside from advice on a better video card or a dvd drive at all, is what I should choose (or what I should look for when browsing them as I've never done this before) by way of motherboard, cpu, power source, and whatever else I'm overlooking.

[Effef]

I've already weighed the advantages for a video card and so far I'm going with a GeForce 8600GT ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150229 ) for $149 with a $20 rebate. My question to you, aside from advice on a better video card or a dvd drive at all, is what I should choose (or what I should look for when browsing them as I've never done this before) by way of motherboard, cpu, power source, and whatever else I'm overlooking.

You REALLY want to avoid a 8600 of any form if you can help it. They are absolutely crippled by a 128mb memory interface. If you can, try to get at least an 8800 GTS 320mb. ATI's midrange suff is worth looking at as well.

[Peaknuckle]

Hokay, to wrap up this thread so I don't have to come back and check it, the complete shopping list is:

RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WBP Black SECC STEEL ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail

Item #: N82E16811156062

EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Item #: N82E16814130082

WINTEC AMPO 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 3AMD2800-1G1K-R - Retail

Item #: N82E16820161067

ASUS P5B-VM SE LGA 775 Intel G965 Express uATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Item #: N82E16813131178

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6420 - Retail

Item #: N82E16819115016

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler

Item #: N82E16835186134

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

Item #: N82E16835100007

The grand total is $772.90. Hopefully Newegg will be nice and get it here before the weekend. I do so want my new rig <3

[Dhsu]

Looks good. I would probably recommend against the stock power supply, though...might consider getting rid of the CPU fan and thermal compound if that puts you over budget. Stock cooling should be fine as long as you don't overclock and don't mind the noise. You could also look at cheaper-but-still-decent alternatives to the 8800.

[Peaknuckle]

Why would you recommend against the stock power supply? It's 500w, 150-200 more than I'd need. Well, I don't know how much the 8800 takes, but I'm sure it'd be nowhere near 500.

[Smoke]

Why would you recommend against the stock power supply? It's 500w, 150-200 more than I'd need. Well, I don't know how much the 8800 takes, but I'm sure it'd be nowhere near 500.

Because wattage listed on a power supply tends to be meaningless. What you DO need to look at is the amount of current it can pull on the +5V and +12V rails in particular, how well it cools, how quiet it is and how well it's constructed(Grounding). On top of that, you can also look at connections offered.

Cases that include PSUs tend to have cheapo no-name brand PSUs in them, and those tend to be shitty.

On my own old system I actually fixed some minor issues I was having by replacing the stock PSU with a new PSU from a reliable brand, even though both had the same wattage listed.