First time building a gaming system

[kommakazi06]

Hello,
It's my first time building a computer.
I'm experienced with upgrading,but never built one.

I have a few parts so far.
-computer case
-AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core Processor
-Windows Vista
-CD/DVD Drive

Will the rest of the components that i have lined up be compatible?
- MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
- OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s


Now i need
-Awesome graphics card $100-250
-Dependable power supply,with lots of connectors for fans and components $50-150


Any ideas or things i should get instead?
The computer will be for gaming/movies
Any advice is appreciated

 

[megamanx00]

For the Graphics card get a Radeon 4850 1GB, like this one from Sapphire

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102759

As for power supplies you can go with something in the 550 - 700W range if you want to crossfire latter own down the road.

For around $100 you can get this guy

FSP Group FX600-GLN 600W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104014


That board you have allows for 4 way crossfire, so if you were thinking about getting one GPU now, and going up to 4 latter, you're going to need more power. Each 4850 consumes around 110W. Overall looks like a good rig.

 

[br3nd064]

I'd say either a 4850 for ~$170 or (if you want to go a little over budget) a 4870 for ~$270.

There are lots of power supplies to choose from. I have this power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009 It would be great if you plan to crossfire, but would be overkill for a single card.

 

[rwpritchett]

If you only expect to ever run one video card, the Corsair 450vx is an excellent choice for a power supply and can run any single card setup.

For a video card, the best bang for buck cards have the Radeon HD4850 chipset(~$150), or if you can stretch a little go for the Radeon HD4870 (~$270). If you like nVidia, go for the Geforce 9800 GT or GTX.

You may want to step down to DDR2-800 RAM and save some money. AMD boards that support DDR2-1066 speed require a Phenom CPU to use the full RAM speed I believe. With the X2, your DDR2-1066 RAM will run at DDR2-800 speed.

EDIT- Dang... two posts beat me to the punch while I typed!

 

[megamanx00]

If you want something with a modular power supply, since that non modular fortron can get unrully ^_^, new egg has a really good deal on this Antec 850 right now for 149.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009

And this Corsair PSU is a pretty good unit as well

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

 

[dokk2]

Hmmmm,you do not say what the speed of your cpu is,but,,according to Tom's here you will need at least 2.6ghz to not bottleneck anything from the 8800gt and up.

As for psu's any known brand name ,Enermax,OCZ [my present psu @ 600w],Pc Power and Cooling,American Power,etc ,etc from 550-600watts should do the trick,you might keep your eyes open for a modular psu that way you only need to plug in what you need,note:,before you lay down any $$$ for either mbo/ram be certain that they are compatible,as in voltage supplied and voltage required,my thought is that right now any AMD cpu below 2.6ghz native speed is a tough sell for any video card 8800gt and up,in any event enjoy,be careful,have phunn.
And if I may,,I recommend the Arctic Cooler 64 Pro,if you intend any overclocking my temps are so low on my 5000+Be that I don't believe them myself,,, of course you will have to reverse the cooler's attachment so it will blow to the rear....:
And you can always check in at Frostytech.com in case certain AMD cooler are not available in your area...)

 

[kommakazi06]

It's a 3.0GHZ processor

 

[kommakazi06]

I'm taking everyones advice on getting the RADEON HD4870
I found this PSU.
Looks like it will work well for SLI?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817128010


So it's not worth getting DDR2 1066 RAM with an X2?

 

[rwpritchett]

So it's not worth getting DDR2 1066 RAM with an X2?

If you plan on upgrading to an AM2+ chip in the future, you may be able to make full use the 1066 RAM later on. With the AM2 X2 it will only run at 800 speed though.

 

[kommakazi06]

If you plan on upgrading to an AM2+ chip in the future, you may be able to make full use the 1066 RAM later on. With the AM2 X2 it will only run at 800 speed though.

Oh,
I see.
Thanks for saving me some $$!