How hard is it to build a powerful gaming PC?

How is my Gaming PC Build?

• 1 x Case (Rosewill Thor V2 Gaming Case - Black)) 1 x Case Lighting (None)) 1 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction (Advanced - iBUYPOWER Harmony SRS Sound Reduction System)) 1 x iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion (None)) 1 x Processor (AMD FX-8150 CPU (8x 3.60GHz/8MB L2 Cache))) 1 x Processor Cooling (Liquid CPU Cooling System [AMD] - ARC Dual Silent High Performance Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow))) 1 x Memory (16 GB [4 GB X4] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand - FREE Upgrade to Corsair XMS3)) 1 x Video Card (AMD Radeon HD 7970 - 3GB - CrossFire Mode (Dual Cards))) 1 x Video Card Brand (Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA)) 1 x Motherboard ([3-Way SLI] Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 -- AMD 990FX w/ 5x PCI-E 2.0 x16)) 1 x Motherboard USB / SATA Interface (Motherboard default USB / SATA Interface)) 1 x Power Supply (1350 Watt - Thermaltake Toughpower-1350M - Free Upgrade to 1500 Watt Toughpower-1500M ($40 Savings))) 1 x Primary Hard Drive (1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive)) 1 x Data Hard Drive (None)) 1 x Optical Drive ([12X Blu-Ray] LG BLU-RAY Reader, DVD±R/±RW Burner Combo Drive - Black)) 1 x 2nd Optical Drive (24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black)) 1 x Flash Media Reader / Writer (12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer - Black)) 1 x Meter Display (None)) 1 x USB Expansion (None)) 1 x Network Card (Killer 2100 Gaming Network Card)) 1 x Operating System (Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit)) 1 x Keyboard (Corsair Vengeance K90 Gaming Keyboard - Black w/ Silver)) The CPU is on back order, so I'm getting some opinions on the build while I wait. (Open to suggestions for a better MMO-Friendly CPU.)

• Answer:

  I'm not a fan of iBuyPower - they tend to use cheap components. a couple things: - That PSU is incredible overkill - there is NO WAY you'll ever need half of that. - The RAM is overkill - you don't need 16GB, ever. - The bulldozer CPUs aren't very good, for what you need I'd suggest grabbing an i7 2600k. - You're getting two DVD burners and a BR READER - not a writer. I hope you realize that. - You're probably getting fleeced on the cost. For pricing... I put together an i7 build with equal or better components to what you listed - including a BR Writer - for just under $2k (plus tax) on the NCIX website. What's iBuyPower charging you? Includes - Intel Core i7 2600K (3.4GHZ), ASUS P8P67 Pro Motherboard (support for four way SLI and Crossfire), Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB 2X4GB DDR3 1866MHZ PC3-15000, Seagate Barracuda 1TB, XFX Radeon HD 7970 OC Black Edition 1000MHZ 3GB 5.7GHZ (x2) + a good case with front USB3.0, a corsair modular PSU (1000W), a corsair liquid cooler for the CPU, and Windows 7 HP x64.