Support NeoGAF

[snack]

http://www.microcenter.com/storefronts/powerspec/index.html

Down at the bottom, bundle #2. 2500k and P8P67 for $300 flat.

This is a steal. Too bad I don't live in the States or I'd be all over this.

 

[-viper-]

Here is what I am planning to get. Does PC GAF approve?

Intel i5 2500k
MSI P67A GD55 <-- I'm not sure what is a good cheap Crossfire MOBO to be honest, but this seems to be the cheapest. The Asus is like £40 more!
Coolermaster Hyper Plus 212
Fractal Design R3 Case
LG SATA DVDRW

Will reuse:
600W OCZ ModXStream PSU
1TB WD HDD
For now, XFX 8800 GTS 640MB.

Later, I will buy AMD Raedon HD 6850 x2 (Crossfire).

 

[Shadowhaxor]

This is a steal. Too bad I don't live in the States or I'd be all over this.

DAMN IT DAMN IT.. Stop. I don't wanna upgrade yet..... Must resist!

 

[Zzoram]

Do the original LGA 1156 motherboards work with Sandybridge? Do you need a firmware update?

 

[Shadowhaxor]

Do the original LGA 1156 motherboards work with Sandybridge? Do you need a firmware update?

No. SB is 1155, so you'll need a new Mobo. Curse you Intel.

 

[gragy10]

Can anyone recommend a decent contemporary wifi card for win7 x64? I know a lot of teh older ones are riddled with driver issues..

 

[Azzurri]

Bought everything

Asus P8 P67 Pro
Intel i5-2500k
OCZ 8 Gig DD3 Ram
Crucial 128 GB SSD C300 HDD
Segate 1TB 7200rpm 32mb HDD
Corsair H50 Cooling
Silverstone 1000w PSU Modular
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

EVGA GTX 580 Black Ops Edition
Apple LED Cinema Display 27"

I'll probably upgrade the CPU later on when new ones come out and add another GTX 580 too.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

Bought everything

Asus P8 P67 Pro
Intel i5-2500k
OCZ 8 Gig DD3 Ram
Crucial 128 GB SSD C300 HDD
Segate 1TB 7200rpm 32mb HDD
Corsair H50 Cooling
Silverstone 1000w PSU Modular
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

EVGA GTX 580 Black Ops Edition
Apple LED Cinema Display 27"

I'll probably upgrade the CPU later on when new ones come out and add another GTX 580 too.

Damn, what that cost you?

 

[Azzurri]

Damn, what that cost you?

Forgot to add the Corsair 600T. The Apple LCD was 970$ alone, around 1500 w/o the monitor. The thing is I rarely spend a lot of money since I don't like too :lol , but since i haven't bought anything big in the past 3 years I thought I would, plus I had some gift cards which was nice.

 

[Kalnos]

Forgot to add the Corsair 600T. The Apple LCD was 970$ alone, around 1500 w/o the monitor. The thing is I rarely spend a lot of money since I don't like too :lol , but since i haven't bought anything big in the past 3 years I thought I would, plus I had some gift cards which was nice.

Is this a gaming rig? That Apple monitor is great for things like graphic design but I don't think it's the greatest gaming monitor with that 12ms response time. I really can't say for sure, but something like a Dell U2711 (IPS) might have been a better investment for gaming.

 

[MysticX]

Here is what I am planning to get. Does PC GAF approve?

Intel i5 2500k
MSI P67A GD55 <-- I'm not sure what is a good cheap Crossfire MOBO to be honest, but this seems to be the cheapest. The Asus is like £40 more!
Coolermaster Hyper Plus 212
Fractal Design R3 Case
LG SATA DVDRW

Will reuse:
600W OCZ ModXStream PSU
1TB WD HDD
For now, XFX 8800 GTS 640MB.

Later, I will buy AMD Raedon HD 6850 x2 (Crossfire).

I´m fairly certain that the internal VGA is better than the 8800GTS, and why do a crossfire? I would rather start by buying a single 6950 and flash it to 6970 and buy another one later on.

 

[iNvid02]

Bought everything

Asus P8 P67 Pro
Intel i5-2500k
OCZ 8 Gig DD3 Ram
Crucial 128 GB SSD C300 HDD
Segate 1TB 7200rpm 32mb HDD
Corsair H50 Cooling
Silverstone 1000w PSU Modular
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

EVGA GTX 580 Black Ops Edition
Apple LED Cinema Display 27"

I'll probably upgrade the CPU later on when new ones come out and add another GTX 580 too.

the apple cinema display has stupidly accurate colours but isn't a good choice for gaming, a 27" dell would have been better plus they have 10x the connectivity options.

 

[Mr_Brit]

I´m fairly certain that the internal VGA is better than the 8800GTS, and why do a crossfire? I would rather start by buying a single 6950 and flash it to 6970 and buy another one later on.

:lol :lol :lol :lol A SB integrated GPU is nowhere near as powerful as an 8800GTS. Seriously, what would lead you to make such a ridiculous statement?

 

[iNvid02]

it can compete with the weakest discrete graphics cards, like HD 5450 or GeForce 210 without any problems. Once you start comparing it to more expensive solutions lke the $60 HD 5550 or GT 430 the performance difference suddenly becomes huge: GT 430 is over 2.5x as fast as Intel HD Graphics 3000 - and it includes support for DirectX 11.

still some way to go before the integrated gpus catch up

 

[Hazaro]

Can't wait to see that $1500 build!

Eh, I sort of put one together but all resemblance of values falls apart :lol
It's just the $1,000 build + another 6950 + a 850W + an SSD really.

If you are spending that much I'd advise the person to simply copy the format in the OP and we can tailor a bit more.

 

[Azzurri]

the apple cinema display has stupidly accurate colours but isn't a good choice for gaming, a 27" dell would have been better plus they have 10x the connectivity options.

Yea, but I liked the Apple, lol. Plus I've read reviews and played some games on it, and everything went well.

I was gonna go Dell U27, but wanted the apple monitor. People who have games on it said nothing but good things.

 

[Mr_Brit]

Eh, I sort of put one together but all resemblance of values falls apart :lol
It's just the $1,000 build + another 6950 + a 850W + an SSD really.

If you are spending that much I'd advise the person to simply copy the format in the OP and we can tailor a bit more.

SSDs and a better/more GPUs is the only thing you can add to the $1000 build to boost performance. So I'd say you're right not to make one.

 

[MysticX]

Quoting myself:

Besides, I am seriously considering buying the HD6950 2GB, and have two questions:

1: Which model should I take? Wasn´t someone with lifetime garranty? Otherwise, it´s between Sapphire, XFX, Asus, Gigabyte, Club 3D, HIS or MSI, pricewise they are all very much alike, though Sapphire, like the 5770 I have now is the cheapest one. I am also thinking about quiet.

 

[Mr_Brit]

Quoting myself:

Besides, I am seriously considering buying the HD6950 2GB, and have two questions:

1: Which model should I take? Wasn´t someone with lifetime garranty? Otherwise, it´s between Sapphire, XFX, Asus, Gigabyte, Club 3D, HIS or MSI, pricewise they are all very much alike, though Sapphire, like the 5770 I have now is the cheapest one. I am also thinking about quiet.

Warranty and cooler are the only real differentiating factors in that card. Except for that they're pretty much identical cards which all use the AMD reference board.

 

[MysticX]

Warranty and cooler are the only real differentiating factors in that card. Except for that they're pretty much identical cards which all use the AMD reference board.

True, though sometime you here that one is more preferable than the other.

 

[-viper-]

I´m fairly certain that the internal VGA is better than the 8800GTS, and why do a crossfire? I would rather start by buying a single 6950 and flash it to 6970 and buy another one later on.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950/12.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6850_CrossFire/8.html

The crossfire 6850 has almost double the framerate of the single 6950.

I already mentioned my PSU is 600W. I'm pretty sure a XF setup with 6950s would not work on my PSU.

edit: Here is a 6950 crossfire review to compare with

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/Radeon_HD_6950_CrossFire/12.html

It's a bit better (10-15fps depending on game) but, also FAR more expensive. The XF 6850 seems like a good compromise if you ask me.

 

[Hazaro]

Quoting myself:

Besides, I am seriously considering buying the HD6950 2GB, and have two questions:

1: Which model should I take? Wasn´t someone with lifetime garranty? Otherwise, it´s between Sapphire, XFX, Asus, Gigabyte, Club 3D, HIS or MSI, pricewise they are all very much alike, though Sapphire, like the 5770 I have now is the cheapest one. I am also thinking about quiet.

Personally I'd go with XFX. Double lifetime warranty and good support.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950/12.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6850_CrossFire/8.html

The crossfire 6850 has almost double the framerate of the single 6950.

I already mentioned my PSU is 600W. I'm pretty sure a XF setup with 6950s would not work on my PSU.

edit: Here is a 6950 crossfire review to compare with

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/Radeon_HD_6950_CrossFire/12.html

Framerate increase doesn't seem to be that much.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/Radeon_HD_6950_CrossFire/8.html

Only 4 extra FPS in Metro 2033 1080p too.

I originally had xFire 6850's in my build. Other reviews sites have the differences not be that larger and I'd much rather propose a strong single card over a dual solution anyday.

For anyone subbing dual 6850's, go ahead it's a great value.

 

[Jin34]

The awesome Microcenter bundles are in-store only?

 

[Mr_Brit]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6950/12.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6850_CrossFire/8.html

The crossfire 6850 has almost double the framerate of the single 6950.

I already mentioned my PSU is 600W. I'm pretty sure a XF setup with 6950s would not work on my PSU.

edit: Here is a 6950 crossfire review to compare with

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/Radeon_HD_6950_CrossFire/12.html

It's a bit better (10-15fps depending on game) but, also FAR more expensive. The XF 6850 seems like a good compromise if you ask me.

No they're not, not even close. You should expect around a 50% increase in framerate but you'll get the typical CF issues with drivers and games and programs not supporting them so you're stuck using a single card and siginificantly weaker tesselation performance. Then you also have twice as much memory on the 6950 which will help at higher resolutions or when adding AA. All in all I wouldn't recommend a CF 6850 solution over a 6950 especially when they all unlock to a 6970.

Edit: CF 6850s are more expensive than a 6950 as well so that makes them even less reccomendable.

 

[scorcho]

now i have another crucial decision to make - do i reuse my old case and powersupply (Antec Sonata III and a Rosewill 650W PSU), or do my part to drive an economic recovery and go all new?

i've been eying a CM 690II Advance and have come tantalizingly close to buying it on amazon a few times. does anyone in this thread have this case? how is the SATA dock on the top? does the motherboard tray slide or swing out of the chasis?

 

[-viper-]

No they're not, not even close. You should expect around a 50% increase in framerate but you'll get the typical CF issues with drivers and games and programs not supporting them so you're stuck using a single card and siginificantly weaker tesselation performance. Then you also have twice as much memory on the 6950 which will help at higher resolutions or when adding AA. All in all I wouldn't recommend a CF 6850 solution over a 6950 especially when they all unlock to a 6970.

Edit: CF 6850s are more expensive than a 6950 as well so that makes them even less reccomendable.

Hmm... okay. Had no idea about that.

I guess I'll buy the XFX 6950 2GB instead. What do the rest of my components seem like?

edit:


Intel i5 2500k
MSI P67A GD55
Coolermaster Hyper Plus 212 (not really sure what is a good SB cooler, but this seems to be popular?)
Fractal Design R3 Case
LG SATA DVDRW
XFX 2GB 6950
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM

Will reuse:
600W OCZ ModXStream PSU
1TB WD HDD

 

[Mr_Brit]

Hmm... okay. Had no idea about that.

I guess I'll buy the XFX 6950 2GB instead. What do the rest of my components seem like?

edit:


Intel i5 2500k
MSI P67A GD55 <-- I'm not sure what is a good cheap Crossfire MOBO to be honest, but this seems to be the cheapest. The Asus is like £40 more!
Coolermaster Hyper Plus 212
Fractal Design R3 Case
LG SATA DVDRW
XFX 2GB 6950
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM

Will reuse:
600W OCZ ModXStream PSU
1TB WD HDD

The rest looks perfect IMO. Wouldn't change a thing!

 

[Ikuu]

now i have another crucial decision to make - do i reuse my old case and powersupply (Antec Sonata III and a Rosewill 650W PSU), or do my part to drive an economic recovery and go all new?

i've been eying a CM 690II Advance and have come tantalizingly close to buying it on amazon a few times. does anyone in this thread have this case? how is the SATA dock on the top? does the motherboard tray slide or swing out of the chasis?

Motherboard tray isn't removable, the SATA dock on top works fine, not really much to say about it. It's only really useful if you need to move a HDD between systems or for short use as the HDD will heat up pretty quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed4RC6r2NTk shows off the case well and should answer any questions you have, it's a great case and I'm glad I upgraded from my Antec 900.

 

[-viper-]

The rest looks perfect IMO. Wouldn't change a thing!

I'm really in no rush to buy my PC parts. Would it be reasonable to expect 'slight' price drops in the upcoming couple of months?

 

[Mr_Brit]

I'm really in no rush to buy my PC parts. Would it be reasonable to expect 'slight' price drops in the upcoming couple of months?

Highly doubt it. If anything they might go up if demand is high enough.

 

[Joe Molotov]

Braved the ice and snow this morning to get my i7-2600k and MSI P67-GD65. They said they had received over 150 web orders at that store since midnight, and there was probably about 30 people there at opening time, and there wasn't enough processors for everyone. Luckily, I'd reserved mine around midnight, so I was good to go.

 

[TheExodu5]

Loving the HAF X with the fan controller. Got all the fans spinning at like 450RPM (and the 140 at around 630RPM), and it's incredibly quiet. The only thing I can hear is this abortion, the stock Intel cooler. Can't wait to receive the Thermalright this week. The Intel cooler wouldn't be loud, except it's got this really annoying buzzing...it sounds like a miniature hedge clipper.

 

[Slayer-33]

Am I the only one that HATES side panel fan exausts?

I always block them off with the mobo safety packaging filters and tape.. My airflow is so much more efficient with dual front 120mm+ fans, 120mm back and120mm top fans + hsf obviously..

Clear side panels is fine and all but for fucks sake stop putting side panel exausts holes for fans in cases!

 

[TheExodu5]

Am I the only one that HATES side panel fan exausts?

I always block them off with the mobo safety packaging filters and tape.. My airflow is so much more efficient with dual front 120mm+ fans, 120mm back and120mm top fans + hsf obviously..

Clear side panels is fine and all but for fucks sake stop putting side panel exausts holes for fans in cases!

I've never seen a side panel exhaust...only intake.

Side panel intake is great for running hot video solutions, and extremely great if you're cooling something with an open HSF design, like many aftermarket GPU coolers. Side panel intake on my CM690 allowed me to drop my GPU fans by 10%, which was well worth it.

There are tons of cases out there with no side panel intake. In fact, there are far more cases without side intakes, than with. I don't see why choice is such a terrible option. Why would you buy a case and tape up its side panel intake, when you can just buy one without the intake?

 

[Spiderjericho]

You can use the integrated GPU on either the K part or the non-K part. Only you can only make use of quick sync if you have a monitor plugged into to the motherboard that you are using. So basically you can overclock with the P67 board and it has the better integrated graphics on it, but chances are if you're overclocking you're using a dedicated GPU anyways which makes the HD3000 useless and you're SOL if trying to use quick sync.

Oh, and the K parts don't support the same virtualization support that the non-K parts do. It's really fucked up right now.

I guess I didn't pay attention to the virtualization support and extension support when I looked at the reviews. Now, I'm going to return the 2600K for a 2600 vanilla (the motherboard was an H not a P anyway, so I wasn't going to play with the multiplier).

 

[TheExodu5]

Samsung F4 5400RPM drive is not that quiet. Needle is very audible. My WD Green is a lot quieter.

 

[Slayer-33]

Because I bought an antec 300 I love the case.. I'm just being bitchy because I also prefer to keep nois levels low.


And yea sorry I meant side panel intake or exausts use for whatever reason.

I just don't like the damned hole on the side of the case, more dust etc

 

[TheExodu5]

Because I bought an antec 300 I love the case.. I'm just being bitchy because I also prefer to keep nois levels low.

I've got a massive HAF X, with 4 fans. It's nearly inaudible. I'm complaining about the noise levels of a 5400RPM drive, if that's any indication.

Big fans, low rpm = lots of air, low noise.

 

[Krauser Kat]

i walked into a microcenter at 2pm and walked out 210pm with a i2500k and an P8p67 Asus for 329 tax included. cant wait to order some ram (thinking 8gb) and another heatsink.

 

[snack]

i walked into a microcenter at 2pm and walked out 210pm with a i2500k and an P8p67 Asus for 329 tax included. cant wait to order some ram (thinking 8gb) and another heatsink.

Hook me up.

 

[Slayer-33]

I've got a massive HAF X, with 4 fans. It's nearly inaudible. I'm complaining about the noise levels of a 5400RPM drive, if that's any indication.

Big fans, low rpm = lots of air, low noise.

You bastard I need to sell my current rig and rebuild like you

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Just got back from Microcenter. Got the very last P8P67. Crappy and hasty webcam pic incoming:

Thanks again, InertiaXr, for bringing this to my attention

 

[TheExodu5]

I do hear my GTX 570 in Furmark, though. Hoo boy. Thankfully, it never gets nearly that loud in games, but it's still the loudest component in the case. Hopefully dual GTX 570, vsynced, should be quieter in most games (since each card will be stressed less).

 

[Krauser Kat]

Just got back from Microcenter. Got the very last P8P67. Crappy and hasty webcam pic incoming:

Thanks again, InertiaXr, for bringing this to my attention

sitting in the trunk of my car as we speak. Good by q6600 you were awesome since 2008, but now you will be just be an htpc or mame cabinet.
Gonna buy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227539
and this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018
( or this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608020 )

 

[grkazan12]

Alright GAF so I got some help from a friend and made a build on newegg. So what say you GAF, is this overkill or just right?.

Totals at around $1,209.90.

DVD:ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner
Case:COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
HD:Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
GPU:EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
PSU:CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
Ramatriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV38G1333ELK
MOBO:ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Intel Motherboard
CPU:Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
CPU Cooler:COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...

 

[Shadowhaxor]

Alright GAF so I got some help from a friend and made a build on newegg. So what say you GAF, is this overkill or just right?.

Totals at around $1,209.90.

DVD:ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner
Case:COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
HD:Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
GPU:EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
PSU:CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
Ramatriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV38G1333ELK
MOBO:ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Intel Motherboard
CPU:Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
CPU Cooler:COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...

The PSU might be a little overkill, but you are rocking a GTX570, looks good. Might also get away with just 6GB vs 8GB, but that's trivial.

 

[Hazaro]

Well done

 

[TheExodu5]

Alright GAF so I got some help from a friend and made a build on newegg. So what say you GAF, is this overkill or just right?.

Totals at around $1,209.90.

DVD:ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner
Case:COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
HD:Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
GPU:EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
PSU:CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
Ramatriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGV38G1333ELK
MOBO:ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Intel Motherboard
CPU:Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
CPU Cooler:COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...

Looks perfect. Very powerful PC there. Overkill? Nah.

 

[kIdMuScLe]

Hey guys, i've been gaming on for the past year on a 1GB nvidia gt220 card that i bought for $25. I could run some games on max and on others it runs mid to high on 1680 x 1050 resolution (plus i only i get around ~15-8fps on high-mid for crysis =_( ). so what's the best $150-$100 card i could get in a few months? I'm going to use part of my tax refund for the vid card.

here's my approx. $250 computer specs:

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H
AMD PHENOM X4 B35 (4th core unlocked from x3 435 processor)
6GB DDR3 10600 RAM
NVIDIA GT220 1GB
COOLER MASTER GX650W PSU
COOLER MASTER V6 GT CPU FAN

 

[MrGame&Watch]

Alright just got back from microcenter and got one of the sandy bridge bundles, a freaking steal if you ask me. I also picked up a case(Antec 300) and windows 7 64 bit.

I've never built a pc before, and while I've been researching, it's all fairly overwhelming. So I have a few questions

1.I have a 1tb external hard drive. Does it make sense for me to get a small SSD as a boot drive and then just use the 1tb for extra space?

2.I know nothing about graphics cards, so when the people at micro center were telling me about cards that were over $200, I decided to do more research to find more bang for my buck. I'll be doing game development, using flash, photoshop, illustrator, maya, 3ds, as well as playing crysis 2 when it comes out. Is there anything out there for under $100 that's worth it?

3. What power supply should I get?

4. Should I get 2 X 4gb DDR3 or is that too much?

5. Anything else I need?