Phenom II X3 on a GA-M61PME-S2P AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX

I'm putting together a box for a very good friend on a tight budget. I think I've gotten it together, but as a novice, I'm having second thoughts about my CPU/MOBO pairing.


GA-M61PME-S2P AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128383

Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649


I understand the X3 is backward compatible with AM2+ MOBOs, but I still have my doubts.

Also, I plan to cram in a video card that is a little on the large side, but I think it will just fit. Does anyone care to tell me I'm a fool for trying?


SAPPHIRE 100248L Radeon HD 3850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102794


Last, and very much least, the case I'm putting it all in has a 120mm fan just a few inches from the processor, but I still think I want to replace the stock heatsink with something better; cheap but respectable. I was thinking this:

ARCTIC COOLING ALPINE 7 92mm CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186009
What say ye? Overkill?


Again, I'm a novice. I'm sorry that these questions are no all relevant to the subcat, but my main concern is. If anyone could tell me whether I'm about to make a very big mistake, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

oh.. that gfx is way too old(and costly for the performance you get).. go for the 4670 or 4830(same price i think).. also, i don't think that motherboard supports full hypertransport speed, that's what you're looking for.. see what the cpu is running, iirc its something like 2600mhz on the hypertransporting, and you need to find a motherboard matching that.. 780G or something a little older than the newest should do the trick i believe.. (when on a budget)..

You've all been extremely helpful. Thank you very much. I've moved some items around, struck the cooler, reconsidered some CPU decisions, and this is what I've got come up with:

ASRock A780GXE/128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813157139

AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor Model HDZ720WFGIBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2G10664GK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227362

SAPPHIRE 100265HDMI Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102822

I've found the hypertransport language to be a bit confusing, but all the boards I've found on NewEgg in my price range haven't shown a lot of variance in that regard.

Also, in addition to affordability, I'd like to aim for adaptability. Do any of my options strike you as foolish?

Thanks again for all of your help.

The DDR2 1066 wont make much differnce on the performance side unless u are gonna overclock tat X3 beyond 3.4 or 3.5....u can get this and save some more...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231122

but even ur selection is gud...jus a thought though...