my first build - needs compatibility check + advice please

[babicz]

My first build, so if I have some big issues, I wouldn't be surprised. Post any problems of course, along with your thoughts and/or suggestions!!! Thanks so much.
_____________
Budget = +/- 800$
*Looking for something powerful, moderate-high gaming capabilities, multitasking, fast.

CPU
AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black (**Heatsink+fan included, but should I buy separately?)
119.00$ - Newegg
SWITCHED TO:AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
$165.99 - Newegg

Board
ASUS M4A79 Deluxe AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
178.99$ - Newegg
SWITCHED TO:
ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
$188.99 - Newegg

GPU
MSI R5750-PM2D1G Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support
144.99$ - Newegg

OR (can't decide, but biig price difference...)

ASUS EAH5770/2DIS/1GD5/V2 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support
174.99$ - Newegg

RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1200 (PC2 9600) Desktop Memory Model F2-9600CL6D-4GBRH
109.99$ - Newegg
SWITCHED TO:
Patriot Gamer Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGS34G1600ELKA - Retail
$104.99 - Newegg

HDD
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000KSRTL 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
69.99$ - Newegg
SWITCHED TO:
Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$69.99 - Newegg

Optical Drive
PLEXTOR Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 22X DVD/CD Writer LightScribe Support
51.99$ - Newegg
SWITCHED TO:
LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 24X DVD-R SATA Black 24X DVD Writer LightScribe Support - Retail
$33.99 - Newegg

Case
Rosewill R5717-P SL 120mm Fan Pre-Installed on the Top and 80mm Slim Fan Cooling HDD,ATX Mid Tower
34.99$ - Newegg

Power
SILVERSTONE ST50F 500W ATX12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
74.99$ - Newegg

And that's what I got so far. As it being my first build, I might have overestimated/underestimated some items, and what not.
Forget about keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, OS.

Any thoughts, tweeks, suggestions, concerns? I really appreciate it.

[Aaron_8015]

Hi and welcome.

I would change the motherboard to something that will take DDR3... with prices the way they are you may as well invest in the newer tech for similar cost.

Newegg.com - ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
(same board pretty much, that will take DDR3)

Also look into the WD caviar black drives.

[babicz]

Hi and welcome.

I would change the motherboard to something that will take DDR3... with prices the way they are you may as well invest in the newer tech for similar cost.

Newegg.com - ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
(same board pretty much, that will take DDR3)

Also look into the WD caviar black drives.

Thanks a lot, I looked into that and I've made an update.

[pullmyfoot]

I would go with a cheaper motherboard and a better video card. why do you need such a high end board when you cant tell the difference between a nice mid range board and that? you will more easily notice a better video card right away

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

in fact, you could go even cheaper, and I garantee you unless you really know what to do with the extra features you are not going to notice anything. this is a very capable and well built board by one of the top brands out there. dont let the price fool you, its of the same build quality (perhaps higher even) than that $180 ASUS board. it just uses a cheaper and less featured chipset, where most of the cost comes from (that doesnt mean its any slower too).

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

that then gives you money to go for one of the fastest video cards in the market today, something you will actually notice a difference in.
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

you also want to be going for the black edition of that hard drive. its pretty much the same price but faster...

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

[babicz]

I would go with a cheaper motherboard and a better video card. why do you need such a high end board when you cant tell the difference between a nice mid range board and that? you will more easily notice a better video card right away

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

heck if you can putt out a hundred more you could get one of the fastest cards out there today
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100282SR Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Haha thanks, that why I'm getting experienced advice before I buy. Thanks for the advice; I think i'm going to stick with Radeon HD 4770 because it's a nice card and I don't have the need to be playing Crysis on ultra settings. $300 card for my 1st build isn't going to happen haha.

[pullmyfoot]

i edited my post.

and also, in that case, you really dont even need any of the boards mentioned before, just go with the Gigabyte 770 based board I have in my post. you will really not notice any difference whatsoever. you lose crossfire capabilities, but thats the only thing you will really notice. even then, multi-GPU setups are mostly a waste of time. more heat, more power and often the same performance as a single card of price of both.

oh and you made a typo. 5770 not 4770. big big difference. the latter is a generation older and slower.

[babicz]

in fact, you could go even cheaper, and I garantee you unless you really know what to do with the extra features you are not going to notice anything. this is a very capable and well built board by one of the top brands out there. dont let the price fool you, its of the same build quality (perhaps higher even) than that $180 ASUS board. it just uses a cheaper and less featured chipset, where most of the cost comes from (that doesnt mean its any slower too).

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Wow will I be ok with only 1 PCIe 16 slot? What if I want to expand in the future?

[pullmyfoot]

read my last post.

[babicz]

Thanks

[pullmyfoot]

yeah, even if you dont really game you can still go for the 5850 with the money saved. or you could go for a faster quad core CPU.

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

or you could also save your money. you decide. but I really think you would be wasting your money on an expensive motherboard. It makes it even worse if you dont overclock it, because thats what most enthusiast boards are basically built to do. at the very most go for the 790X board I suggested. but really one of the only differences between 790X and 790FX (what you have now) is that the FX has 32 lanes of PCIe bandwidth, so if you crossfire you get a full 16 lanes for each card. the 790X can give a max of 24 I think, so you get 16 on one and 8 on the other. but as I said muiti-GPU setups are a bit of a waste of time, especially since you dont seem all that big a gamer.

[babicz]

yeah, even if you dont really game you can still go for the 5850 with the money saved. or you could go for a faster quad core CPU.

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

or you could also save your money. you decide. but I really think you would be wasting your money on an expensive motherboard. It makes it even worse if you dont overclock it, because thats what most enthusiast boards are basically built to do. at the very most go for the 790X board I suggested. but really one of the only differences between 790X and 790FX (what you have now) is that the FX has 32 lanes of PCIe bandwidth, so if you crossfire you get a full 16 lanes for each card. the 790X can give a max of 24 I think, so you get 16 on one and 8 on the other. but as I said muiti-GPU setups are a bit of a waste of time, especially since you dont seem all that big a gamer.

Exactly, I'm not an enthusiast, but I would really like to play FO3 PC on medium-high settings smoothly, as well as CoD 5/6, maybe 7. Since I will NOT be using multiple GPU's (kind of a retarded idea, for my needs at least), I'll stick to 790X or 770. Then, Radeon 5770 or 5750 (still deciding), and probably with the Phenom II x4 955 CPU. Why would I need the 965 you mentioned above? It just seems so excessive.

[pullmyfoot]

well, dont get it then. its basically the same thing, just a bit a bit faster. and naturally it costs a bit more too. you decide if its worth it (or if you need it).

I suggest just going for the 770. dont waste your money. personally I own both the boards I am recommending to you, and I can tell you there is hardly any difference between the two. my the 770 overclocks just as well as the 790X. in fact, im pushing the former way harder than the latter because of the nature of the CPUs Ive put in each, but that gets a little complicated. the other differences between the two are basically that the 790X supports more hard drives, can do more fanciful raid setups, things like that. not really important to you I would say.

go with the 5770 and call it a day. its not that much more anyways. save the hundred bucks you save. or you could get a nice cooler and try overclocking your CPU if you want. you could probably hit 4ghz with that 955 with some patience.

[babicz]

well, dont get it then. its basically the same thing, just a bit a bit faster. and naturally it costs a bit more too. you decide if its worth it (or if you need it).

I suggest just going for the 770. dont waste your money. personally I own both the boards I am recommending to you, and I can tell you there is hardly any difference between the two. my the 770 overclocks just as well as the 790X. in fact, im pushing the former way harder than the latter because of the nature of the CPUs Ive put in each, but that gets a little complicated. the other differences between the two are basically that the 790X supports more hard drives, can do more fanciful raid setups, things like that. not really important to you I would say.

go with the 5770 and call it a day. its not that much more anyways. save the hundred bucks you save. or you could get a nice cooler and try overclocking your CPU if you want. you could probably hit 4ghz with that 955 with some patience.

Ok thanks a lot, you've been a lot of help! Depending on my final budget, I'll considering going up a notch in CPU. Depends on how much accessories and stuff will cost. Thanks again.

[pullmyfoot]

yup. you can go get yourself a nice big screen or something

[technon1]

Try an ASUS P5 series motherboard they support 64 bit

[ShyguyXPC]

Try an ASUS P5 series motherboard they support 64 bit

WTF?

Just about ANY Motherboards these days support 64-bit. so why suggest just one series of one manufacturer.

Very few support only 32-bit.

[pullmyfoot]

Try an ASUS P5 series motherboard they support 64 bit

haha?