My First PC Build - £ 800

I am planning on making my first pc, and i have decided to go down the amd route as it seems to provide better value for my price range.

PURCHASE DATE: Within the Week.

BUDGET RANGE: £700 - 800 sterling

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Surfing, Movies.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers. Although i am considering buying a secondary screen with the savings. And will upgrade to second when i have the cash.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: ebuyer, Overclockers.co.uk, scan.co.uk

PARTS PREFERENCES:

AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =6&subcat=

Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] ubcat=1481

Or

Asus M4A78T-E, AMD 790GX, AM3, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1600(OC), 1333, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX, VGA
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asu [...] ID-ATX-VGA

Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ 120mm PWM 17dBA+ "HDT" CPU Cooler (775/1366/K8/AM2/AM3)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Tit [...] 8-AM2-AM3)

Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB DDR3 1333C9DHX Twin3X (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9DHX)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] ubcat=1387

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =GX-188-SP

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD6401AALS)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =HD-244-WD

Optiarc (Sony/NEC) AD-7240S-0B 24x DVD±R, 12xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 ,12xRAM SATA, Black, OEM
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Opt [...] -Black-OEM

Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] subcat=160

66I-03525 - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English 1pk OEM + Windows 7 Offer Form
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Win [...] Offer-Form

Total - £708

OVERCLOCKING: I would like to overclock.

CROSSFIRE: I plan to upgrade to a second graphics card when i have the cash.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024, 1920x1080 on the new screen.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: As i am planning on overclock the tri core, hopefull of unlocking the 4th, i thought the gigabyte mobo would be best, but as i plan to crossfire was thinking that it would be best to get the asus as it has 16x2 istead of the gigabyte 8x2.

Also is it worth getting a blu- ray optical drive, or should i wait till they are cheaper? Also, can someone advise me on the ability to use a pci slot to get my computer to function as a TV, or would it be better to use already with digital and just have it as a screen?

Finally, is the PSU im getting as i plan on keeping it through the next few builds or is it suitable.

I would get a different case since the antec 300 is quite hard to work with, try the CM-690.

what PSU will you be using?

both motherboards have 20 PCIe lanes, 16 of those for graphics cards. But the 5870 is coming out soon (a bit better than two 4870's and it will support DX11) so it would be a better investment to pay the extra £50 or so to get that instead of a second 4870.

Thanks for the advice, my final build now looks like this. I am a little apprehensive about this as this is my first build so could someone just comfirm that all these parts are compatible. And i havent accidentally missed any vital parts.


AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =CP-238-AM

MSI 790FX-GD70, AMD 790FX, AM3, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 1800(OC), 1600(OC), 1333, SATA II/RAID, ATX
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/MSI-AM3-MOBO-790FX-GD70

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Ready Modular Power Supply
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =CA-032-OC

Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ 120mm PWM 17dBA+ "HDT" CPU Cooler (775/1366/K8/AM2/AM3)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Tit [...] 8-AM2-AM3)

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS3, DDR3 PC3-10666 (1333) 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB [...] S-9-9-9-24

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =GX-188-SP

500 GB Seagate ST3500418AS Barracuda 7200.12, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 16MB Cache, 9.5 ms, NCQ
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500 [...] ache-11-ms

Optiarc (Sony/NEC) AD-7240S-0B 24x DVD±R, 12xDVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RWx6 ,12xRAM SATA, Black, OEM
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Opt [...] -Black-OEM

Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] =CA-101-AN

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit English 1pk OEM + Windows 7 Offer Form