Phenom II 720 system $760

[hydroshock]

I've been going between parts for a bit and came up with this build. Undecided on overclocking as this is a build for my brother as a graduation gift.



AMD Phenom II X3 720 $145.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103649

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231189

GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

2x SAPPHIRE 100277L Radeon HD 4770 512MB $99.99x2 = $199.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102835

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black ATX-612WEB $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156078

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

Total : $784.92 + $47.34 shipping - $70 rebates = $762.26



I opted the DDR3 ram because that vs. the DDR2 ram I was looking at was $1, also went with the dual cards after reading the editorial on the front page instead of the 4870 I had earlier. I was also looking at this board vs XT of the same board and didn't really see the difference beside the memory (which truthfully I don't know if that will make a difference, i've never overclocked before).

So what do you guys think? Any input on incompatibility? I had a friend that I thought was really good with computer stuff, but he goes on and on that Gigabyte boards are not nearly as good as ASUS and G.Skill ram is trash etc. Though I never see people putting these products down.

 

[hydroshock]

I actually just found that the board and CPU can come in a combo savings for $30 off, i'm surprised it doesn't automatically apply that on Newegg. Also i'm not sure if I can bump down to this PSU but it offers a savings combo with the HD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016


With those changes the price goes to

$724.92 + $46.75 shipping - $70 rebates = $701.67

 

[macabre215]

I'm pretty sure that board is DDR2 only, might want to check that out first. If you get DDR3 ram I suggest these sticks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148227

read a review from a website that seen obscene amount of overclocking head room at good CAS latency

 

[macabre215]

I would also stay away from the ModXstream series of OCZ psu's. This is better from what I read.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10007111

 

[sprucebr1]

I agree, The motherboard looks to be DDR2 1333+ (that's overclocked) not DDR3. I would also go with a PSU change, possibly Corsair or Enermax. ASUS makes a good AM3/DDR3 motherboard, capable of having 790GX/FX chipsets. Otherwise PII X3 720BE is good, or even the 955 and 945 PII X4 CPU's just came out. Personally, I would take X3 720BE or X4 810. Hope that helps.

 

[hydroshock]

Both of you mentioned PSU changes, I don't know too much about PSU, what problems have the OCZ ModXstream ones had? What about the Fatal1ty ones?