Finalized gaming rig..

[zukzuk]

case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

$54.95

mobo: ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard

$189.99


gpu: SAPPHIRE 100269SR Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video

$219.99

psu: Antec EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS

$79.99


cpu: AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor Model HDZ720WFGIBOX

$139.00


ram: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model

$64.99


how does it look so far? any changes i should make? or should i stick with this

 

[kevin1212]

I saw some 4890's going for as low as $185 on newegg. If you wanted to save even more money, you could go for an AM2+ setup instead of AM3, it would give you a cheaper board as well as cheaper memory, without losing performance. It depends on your budget really, if you're not over any limit, then stick with the AM3 build. My AM3 preference is the Gigabyte 790FX for $180, a bit cheaper is their 790X for $140, thats just me though. Good build otherwise.

 

[Andraxxus]

The cheapest HD4890 on Newegg is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161277
But I think he should stick to Sapphire.

 

[rooseveltdon]

Very solid gaming rig,with a good upgrade path since am 3 is a new socket nice choice of gpu as well There are some cheaper AM3 motherboards on newegg that are highly rated but that depends on your preference and which manufacturer you trust,the psu comes with the case in a bundled combo deal, it is pretty good i usually buy BFG and Corsair but the antec should do the job fine....so overall i'd say you got a pretty solid build,you could find cheaper mobos but the one you got is one of the better am3 boards out there so it's all good. If gaming is your main concern the phenom 2 x2 550 would serve you just as well since most games are not optimized to take full advantage of more than two cores and you could always upgrade to a quad core later on whenever you feel the need to,just my two cents but to be honest your build is pretty good and would make a great gaming and multi media system.

 

[zukzuk]

k so i purchased all of these off newegg for around $820.

Also, i plan to use my harddrive, since i hvae so much info in there and i dont want to delete any of my files/memory...is it ok to just plug it into my new system? will it not work since the bios will be from my old motherboard, or will it be ok?

Also, i am using stock heatsinks and not adding any fans, but is it ok to OC my cpu/ram/gpu?

 

[Fortunex]

You will be able to OC your CPU a little bit, but not very much unless you get a very, very good chip.

Your RAM should be fine, but I would just try to tighten the timings instead of up the clock speed.

Your GPU should overclock quite well.

 

[zukzuk]

wat timings would u recommend my ram to be?

how much shold i oc my gpu? i never oc'd a gpu before, and how do i do that? do i do it thru bios or somewhere else?

also is it ok if i use my old haddrive and plug it into my new build? will it not recognize it since the bios will be from my old copmuter, so does the hard drive have to be completely reformatted?

 

[rooseveltdon]

As far as timings and gpu overclocking there are some really great articles here on tomshardware and the overclocking forums,your drive should work fine with your new mobo if you can back up your data before connecting them do so it is safer (just a precaution), your timings will depend on your type of ram some ram modules are very limited but you should be good to go wth g.skill at least my friend was fine adjusting timins with them, i never got into that.