[Solved] Help with an AMD budget build

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week.

BUDGET RANGE: $700

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: BR movies, Homework, Surfing, Streaming Video, CoH

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard,Mouse, Monitor, Speakers, CPU

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, frys.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: Have an AMD Penom II 550 BE (batch 0924BPMW)
http://www.frys.com/product/594236 [...] IN_RSLT_PG
looking at an AM3 Gigabyte Mobo
pref ATI GPU
pref Antec PSU but will consider others
1 TB SATA HDD
4 GB min RAM

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe, will try unlocking cores though

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 (46" Samsung HDTV, LN46B540)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Haven't done a build in a while and giving my parents my old one. Can't reuse parts as they will need them or are too old to work for me (ie. it has a BFG 7950GT 256MB video card). I have a license free version of Windows XP Pro.... but it isn't 64. I am thinking of installing the free beta of Windows 7 to putoff the cost of an OS for a year or going Linux 64. This build will be part of my entertainment center (read HTPC).

You really need that blu-ray drive? It costs you $100 extra, and it cannot burn blu-ray.

Its also not important, IMO, since blu-ray is old compared to the storage capacities of other media, you pay alot for relatively few capacity. And they are not durable at all, so unusable as backup solution. In short, i don't think the optical drive has that much future, its mechanical in nature like HDDs and it hasn't evolved quickly enough to compete with other alternatives that are much more reliable and durable.

If you pick a motherboard with nVidia Geforce GPU, like GeForce 8200/8300 for AMD-platform, you can use this onboard GPU to accelerate some HD-codecs. They often come in Micro-ATX size so have only one PCI-express x16 slot, but hey do you need crossfile/SLI at all?

It would shave off some 180 dollars of your build price. Using DDR2 memory will decrease price now. But i suggest you buy enough memory if going for DDR2 as prices will only increase. Note its probably faster than the DDR3 memory you picked, as DDR3 has a higher latency is needs more MHz to compensate. So only the fastest DDR3 is faster than DDR2. And by a small margin. So look at capacity and price, as they are more important. Also i prefer to buy 1.8V (stock voltage) memory, instead of memory that's running "overclocked" at factory settings.

Xbitlabs did a nice review on the GA-MA770T-UD3P. They were able to unlock CPU cores with the board.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/m [...] -ud3p.html

Here's a couple quotes from the review:

"And despite AMD’s objections against the use of this function, Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P allows unlocking processor cores, that is why there is EC Firmware Selection function in its BIOS. By setting it to Hybrid, you can enable the old CPU firmware version allowing the use of ACC for unlocking the disabled cores."

"Unlocking disabled cores also didn’t cause any problems. When the EC Firmware Selection is set to Hybrid and you enable ACC technology in the mainboard BIOS Setup, the dual-core Phenom II X2 magically turns into a quad-core CPU. And this processor works flawlessly not only in nominal mode but also during overclocking."

"...during our test session, we didn’t reveal any serious issues that could give anyone the reason to underestimate Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P. Especially, since it performs and overclocks just as good as Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P, for instance, that belongs to a much higher price range."

Looks good! Let us know how it goes.

That's a good deal, but the OP already bought his CPU. He's just trying to build a system around it now.

ok. got the PSU, MOBO, HDD, Patriot RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220286

and a cooler master 690 case.

will try putting it together soon and see what happens. IMO not worth hanging onto the CPU if the cores won't unlock. I mean I could trade it in for the 250 @ 3.0 Ghz that has been known to OC higher than the 550 (3.9 vs 3.8 stable). And the 250 is like $25-$30 less.

Wouldn't you know it, the graphics card is sold out on the egg. Hope they get some more before the sale ends. good card for the price.