Trying to build a budget Gaming PC. Does it work?

[irritatedskin]

Will either be running at 1440 x 900 on a 19'' in monitor or at 780p on a 26'' TV so I don't need too many horses. Hoping to play Crysis, GTA4, UT3, and just about every other game I can get my hands on under Vista x64. I will also be running Linux on a partion, probably Ubuntu. I think I've squeezed the most value for my dollar.

MB & CPU: BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX & Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition. $164.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.150326
I was originally going to use TA790GX3(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138129) but it sold out today, and I'm not sure what the difference is except free shipping.

Mem: OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) $58.99 - $8.00 coupon - $30 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227364

Graphics: ASUS EAH4850 Radeon HD 4850 512MB $149.99 - $30 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121272

HD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

PSU: PC POWER & COOLING S75CF silencer 750w $99.99 - $30 MIR
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?&scriteria=BA25812

Case: ANTEC THREE HUNDRED $54.00
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?&scriteria=BA25453

DVD-R: LG GH20NS15 BLACK 20X SATA DVD RW $21.90
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?&scriteria=AA73972

Tax: $45.24
S&H: $8.97
Before MIR: $666.05
After MIR: $576.05[/b

I was aiming for $550 after MIR but I feel pretty good about it. Would just like know it's a good build. I intend on setting up Crossfire later with a HD 4870 around April, or upgrading the processor to a Phenom II, and setting up RAID 0 soon.

thx

Edit: Added "Black Edition" to processor description

 

[Proximon]

It's all fine except for that 7750:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-x2-phenom,2104.html

 

[godfatherscar]

it should work correctly, but i'd recommend a core 2 duo or quad core, the e8 series has some good cards with much more cache... bigger case would be smarter too, i bought an antec 900 case for 60 bucks on newegg....looks awsome with plenty of space, even had enough room for cold cathodes, bigger size means more work room, cooler temps, and more places to put stuff, also, antec 900 comes with 3 blue led 120mm fans, 1 200mm fan on top, and has room for 2 more fans on side and middle

 

[chechnyan]

add another 5$ and get extra 140 gb with
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

not sure about Ram but i would go for the G.Skill 2x2 800mhz 1.8v
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

i see this would be a better deal with the new 65nm part of 6000+ 3100mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.150324
yet cheaper

 

[effel]

If I were in your shoes, I'd give consideration to towards to the expandability and scope of your build. You want to do a Crossfire setup in an Antec 300? That's not really a good idea...I finally got a first hands look at one in a Fry's electronics, they aren't too big. Setting up cooling and crossfire in there, with the power supply on the bottom too..you're setting yourself up for a headache. I'd steer away from that.

Some good comments have been made so far. You'll want to bump up to the 640GB Drive. I recently got a look at the Caviar blacks, which I didn't know existed, aside from the 1TB. The 640GB is going to be a better choice than the 500GB, because its going to have 2 320GB platters, rather than 2 250s. You'll see better performance, and the capacity/$ increase to the next drive up is warranted. I know the older WD6400AAKS is great, but moving up to the Caviar black 640GB version is going to better, if not for the doubling of the cache, you also get an extra 2 years on the warranty. Its only going to be faster, and your product is going to be protected for longer.

Somebody mentioned the RAM. You're going to want faster ram for your Phenom II -I think- Its going to be a tad more expensive to get some 1066mhz stuff, but correct if I'm wrong in saying that its necessary for Phenom II. Will it need 1333 or will it run on 800 fine? If you decide to stick with 800mhz dimms, go for the 1.8v G.Skill ram. It's using better quality chips that run the same speed with less power. That fatal1ty ram isn't that great.

Aside from that, the graphics card looks fine--but you want to crossfire a 4850 and a 4870 in the future? Will that work ok? The power supply will power fine though, its a great piece of equipment you picked out there.

 

[irritatedskin]

Okay, I just want to make sure that the 6000+ is better than the 7750 BE, especially since it will only allow DDR2 800. I plan to over clock but probably wont be buying an after market solution at the moment, maybe at the end of Jan.

As far as choosing AMD over Intel, I would prefer Intel but my limited budget pushed me towards AMD for costerformance. Both the CPU's and MoBo's are cheaper, and they are all on special. I'm not too bummed because it looks like there will be a couple AM2+ Phenom II's that rival the highest C2Qs.

Memory is kind of a weak point for me, but the G.Skill 2x2 800mhz 1.8v is definitely a bit of bank breaker at $75. What about:
OCZ Platinum 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) $32 - After MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298&nm_mc=AFC-Bensbargains&cm_mmc=AFC-Bensbargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

or

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 $36 - After MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145214&nm_mc=AFC-Bensbargains&cm_mmc=AFC-Bensbargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA

Even if I go with the 6000+ the will work right? And they're latency is closer to the G. SKill. Or should I be looking less at latency and more at voltage?

Because the Antec 300 wont crossfire, I decided to swap the case for something cheaper and I will upgrade to something larger in April, which is when I will get my 4870.
ENERMAX Chakra ECA3052B $30 + S&H after MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811124114

As I was looking for a $640 WD Caviar Black, I found this:
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD753LJ 750GB for $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152100

The specs appear to be every bit as good and it is larger. I've never owned a Samsung drive, but I think I'll be fine.


I think this should all work?
I'm still not too sure what I should about the memory. I really am on the very edge of my budget. Any more money than $40 on memory and I'm looking at downgrading other spots on this build.

 

[effel]

Hey man, I think you aren't seeing the same ram that we are mentioning. Here are a few choices.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

If you can spring for the Pi Black, that would be better.

On the HDD, the Spinpoint F1 is a great drive, it seems like a good choice.

Case appears good, I'm not a fan of the aesthetics, but it's not my computer, heh.

About the Phenom II, I hear about the rivalry with the C2Qs and, I'm excited about it. With a good 790GX board, a Deneb chip should feel right at home, as it has two mem. controllers for DDR2/3 iirc.

Good luck with your build.

 

[mattigreenbay]

Hey man, I think you aren't seeing the same ram that we are mentioning. Here are a few choices.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

If you can spring for the Pi Black, that would be better.

On the HDD, the Spinpoint F1 is a great drive, it seems like a good choice.

Case appears good, I'm not a fan of the aesthetics, but it's not my computer, heh.

About the Phenom II, I hear about the rivalry with the C2Qs and, I'm excited about it. With a good 790GX board, a Deneb chip should feel right at home, as it has two mem. controllers for DDR2/3 iirc.

Good luck with your build.

Well, Phenom II is here... and it delivered. It's not i7, but do you want it to be . And not only that, but it only has ddr2 but whatever. I'm waiting for Phenom II 950 etc. with am3. One word, well that's not a word. But anyhoo, where's my multi threaded games, and my 256 core processors? Well, we won't have enough bandwidth for 256 cores until ddr37 let alone for 8 cores...


P.S. I love Chrome. It has almost no advantages, but the textboxes are resizeable, and it's addicting for no apparent reason.