Mini wall of text incoming, so bear with it please D:
So this going to be my first time building a PC, and I've been locked up reading guides everywhere for the past month to prepare for it.
Just making it known that I have a relatively low tech level... especially when it comes to determining what a good PSU is other than going off of user reviews from Newegg, because I honestly don't understand the rail thing and PSU guides are so complicated to me. So anyway,
After trial and error, advice from friends and just reading around, this is my build that I've put together without using any Newegg deals or combos (I'll be purchasing all the parts around the end of this April).
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=15880952
Total: $820.91 - I was originally intending to make a ~600 budget build, but most of the public ones featured lesser Athlon X2s which was unacceptable for me since I need a decently-clocked CPU (Pcsx2 recommends 3.2 ~ 3.5 ghz) to run PS2/DC emulators at 40+ FPS. So now my budget is ~$800 BEFORE mail-in rebates excluding monitor/mouse/keyboard. I'll upgrade my peripherals in May most likely.
Initially I had difficulty in trying to decide what my gaming needs really were, since I've never been able to play much of anything. I've used an Athlon 64 X2, 1g ram, Radeon 215 MB card for the past 6 years, and the only FPS game I can play is Halo Trial with all settings on low on 1024x600, and I still can't scope all the way with the sniper rifle because my FPS cuts to 10~... with Gamebooster on.
Basically what I'm going for is a PC that will be able to play pretty much any game out there with 30+ fps on a 1080p monitor, probably 22" (planning dual 22" monitors in the future). The reason I went with the 6870 is because after watching videos of people playing maxed Crysis, GTA4, Metro, etc. on a 5770 and being surprised/happily satisfied with the performance, I figure a 6870 would be more than enough for my needs, and hopefully the PSU will be able to support everything there, but this is where I call for your assistance.
1) How would you rate the performance it presumably would get @ 1920x1080 on some recent games with max settings?
2) Are there any unnecessarily strong parts that could be replaced to cut the total cost a bit? To recap, my needs are maxed/smooth Ps2/DC emulation and maxed PC games / MMOs (I have no problem lowering settings to get steady FPS, I've done it for this long... but I'd rather not). I don't mind if you just decide to throw together your own list instead of going through the hassle of picking weak links in mine (no combos/deals, ~$800 before mail-in RB, no peripherals in case you do)
I also have a few other tiny questions.
When running a virtual machine and you allocate, say 2 Gigs of ram to it, does that mean that the host machine will actually be running with 2 Gigs of less ram (or anything like that) to support the VM?
Will adding a second 22" monitor increase the need for a stronger PSU or GPU?
How the heck do you determine a good PSU?
What would a newbie like myself look for after throwing all my parts in a PSU calculator?
I greatly appreciate anyone who reads my wall and provides some input.
If I have any other questions I'll be sure to ask.
So this going to be my first time building a PC, and I've been locked up reading guides everywhere for the past month to prepare for it.

After trial and error, advice from friends and just reading around, this is my build that I've put together without using any Newegg deals or combos (I'll be purchasing all the parts around the end of this April).
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...umber=15880952
Total: $820.91 - I was originally intending to make a ~600 budget build, but most of the public ones featured lesser Athlon X2s which was unacceptable for me since I need a decently-clocked CPU (Pcsx2 recommends 3.2 ~ 3.5 ghz) to run PS2/DC emulators at 40+ FPS. So now my budget is ~$800 BEFORE mail-in rebates excluding monitor/mouse/keyboard. I'll upgrade my peripherals in May most likely.
Initially I had difficulty in trying to decide what my gaming needs really were, since I've never been able to play much of anything. I've used an Athlon 64 X2, 1g ram, Radeon 215 MB card for the past 6 years, and the only FPS game I can play is Halo Trial with all settings on low on 1024x600, and I still can't scope all the way with the sniper rifle because my FPS cuts to 10~... with Gamebooster on.

Basically what I'm going for is a PC that will be able to play pretty much any game out there with 30+ fps on a 1080p monitor, probably 22" (planning dual 22" monitors in the future). The reason I went with the 6870 is because after watching videos of people playing maxed Crysis, GTA4, Metro, etc. on a 5770 and being surprised/happily satisfied with the performance, I figure a 6870 would be more than enough for my needs, and hopefully the PSU will be able to support everything there, but this is where I call for your assistance.
1) How would you rate the performance it presumably would get @ 1920x1080 on some recent games with max settings?
2) Are there any unnecessarily strong parts that could be replaced to cut the total cost a bit? To recap, my needs are maxed/smooth Ps2/DC emulation and maxed PC games / MMOs (I have no problem lowering settings to get steady FPS, I've done it for this long... but I'd rather not). I don't mind if you just decide to throw together your own list instead of going through the hassle of picking weak links in mine (no combos/deals, ~$800 before mail-in RB, no peripherals in case you do)
I also have a few other tiny questions.
When running a virtual machine and you allocate, say 2 Gigs of ram to it, does that mean that the host machine will actually be running with 2 Gigs of less ram (or anything like that) to support the VM?
Will adding a second 22" monitor increase the need for a stronger PSU or GPU?
How the heck do you determine a good PSU?



I greatly appreciate anyone who reads my wall and provides some input.
