First build. need some experienced aproval.

[kdude101]

ok heres what i want to do for my first build. i know it could be better but this is really pushing my budget:

Antec 300 case + 2 intake fans

Seagate 250gb hdd (kinda small but plenty for my needs)

HIS Radeon HD 4850

GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT am3 mobo

AMD Phenom II x3 720

Arctic cooling freezer 64 pro cpu cooler

Arctic cooling mx2 thermal compound

2x2gb g.skill ddr3 1333

corsair 650w psu

 

[Axeon]

This is a really nice setup good job! Mkae sure to install the standoffs in the mobo tray lol, my buddies usually forget this and it has a high chance of shorting the motherboard.

 

[Axeon]

Also do you need the DDR3 for the PII 720?

 

[gkay09]

Also do you need the DDR3 for the PII 720?

Well the motherboard he has chosen is an AM3 mobo, which supports only DDR3...
It is not necessary but going with that mobo and the DDR3 RAM is more future proof thats all...

 

[xthekidx]

I think I would opt for the GA-MA790X-UD4P MB instead and G Skill HK ram and either pocket the ~$60 savings or upgrade the GPU to a 4870, but its your money. You won't see much of any improvement with DDR3-1333 over DDR2-800, you would need to get faster ram to see any real improvement in performance. Also change the HDD to a WD3200AAKS, its pretty cheap, larger, and will be much faster than that drive you picked.

 

[Helloworld_98]

also the cooler you mentioned won't be much better than the cooler than comes with the cpu.

 

[Rancifer7]

the kid is spot on about the drive you picked. Newer bigger drives not only get more storage but much much more speed.

Spend the few extra dollars to upgrade to a 4870, they are really cheap now and very good cards.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

+1 for getting DDR2 RAM and a motherboard that supports it. The motherboard that xthekidx suggested would be great. I would go with DDR2 1066 RAM, though. Intel chips don't benefit from DDR2 1066 RAM, but AMD ones do.

I don't know where you're planning on buying your hardware, but these two kits would work great if they're available to you:

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

or

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231246