Well then, you can stop calling this a "budget" build -- it's a proper gaming rig.

-mouser (June 17, 2014, 06:19 PM)

You see?  I knew I'd end up embarrassing myself.

I think your CPU spec is especially spot on. The i5 3570 is a great chip for the money. In fact, it's a great chip period.  :Thmbsup:

-40hz (June 17, 2014, 06:36 AM)

That's great to hear.  Thanks!

I'm always curious about cases - was there a reason you chose this one (used before, or was it just the reviews/price)?

-tomos

When I built my PC, Carol suggested I use the Antec 300, which has turned out to be my all-time favorite case for the price.  I was able to find the One on sale for $50 so I opted for it.

Looks pretty darn nice to me.  As for the crossfire, i wouldn't give it a second thought.
Does he need keyboard, mouse, printer, speakers?

-mouser

Hey mouser!  Yes, he will still need a keyboard and mouse and speakers.  I'm thinking of one of those wireless keyboard/mice combo's if anybody can let me know if they're worth it or not.  We don't want to spend hundreds on a fancy gaming keyboard and mouse.

If you're really concerned about crossfire:
http://www.tigerdirect.co...str=ClickCP&rrindex=1

But I wouldn't worry about it.  At one time, I was concerned... but I never ended up getting the second video card... and by the time I upgraded, the cards were always old and better served by just getting a better card.  And there are problems with crossfire support being in games, and concerns over the increased load of the additional card.  There are upsides, but I haven't missed it.

Not sure on the size of that Antec One case, but with my video card, there was barely clearance in my Antec 900 case, and I had to remove the HDD cage fan to get mine to fit.  Another thing to keep in mind.

-wraith808

You know, after reading your post, I started considering just buying 2 of the same GPU as yours and Crossfire them.  However, I'd have to then spend more on a 1000+ watt PSU and I don't really want to have any overheating problems or trouble with software not wanting to work right with Crossfire, so I think I'll just stick with what I've got.  I'm by brother's tech-support and I sure don't want to make my job any harder.   8)  And I can understand what you mean about upgrading later.  I'm in the same position with the PC I built for myself--my single GPU is doing just fine for me and the system just turned 2-years-old in April.