Need advice on compatability for new system

Thanks for the fast reply!

I currently already purchased the mobo and processor for the system, they're the ones mentioned above. As far as the hard drive goes, is it recommended that I get a SATA HD. Are they really that much faster?

Also, this computer is predominately going to be used for gaming. Hopefully the processor and board I chose will run games well. I would have loved to spend a little more, but i'm kind of on a strict budget.

I purchased 2x2gb g.skill ddr2 RAM which I noticed was being used by many people, I made sure that was compatible with the board too.

I still need to buy a graphics card. I was planning on SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card, $149 on newegg.com. Is that a decent card?

**edit -- Question about the power supply too, will 500W be enough?

sata is the best atm an its a very good card

SATA drives arent faster than IDE drives, however modern motherboards can only support 2 IDE devices and the SATA cables they come with are much longer and easier to work with.

The 720 will run games quite well. What resolution are you going to be playing at? That determines what graphics card you should get.

What power supply in particular? There are alot of 500 watt PSU that will run it fine, however there are also alot of cheap ones that will not stand a chance.

So I should purchase a SATA drive? It makes me happy to hear that the 720 will run games well, what a relief!

Graphics, hmm... Well, I want them to be good, but I know my system isn't the greatest for gaming. Needless to say, I don't want to run anything on 800x600. I'm really not sure what will run comfortably on this system i'm building, you would know better than me. Since I don't have a halfway decent monitor already, I will be basing the size of the monitor I purchase on the card I get (I read somewhere that this is important also?)

Ha, you tell me the good power supply brand, I merely had a number in mind.

Also, I bought a laptop about a year ago so I have a copy of windows vista 32-bit. From what I know, I can use this key on three separate computers to register windows vista? To save some money I planned on putting it on my new computer. Since this is a 32-bit version and I'm capable of running the 64-bit version, am I missing out on a lot of potential power?

Get that sapphire 4870 and this monitor, they will work well together, you should be able to play everything on high easily
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Since you have a crossfire board you may want to get a PSU capable of handling 2 4870s in crossfire down the line, like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Or if you are on a budget this one will work for a single 4870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Most games are only dual threaded anyway so a 720 will still let you kick some serious ass.

AHH, your killing me with the price for this monitor. I'll keep it in mind but can you recommend something a little smaller? 22" is a tv, ha.

check edit^^

Haha, alright, i will see if i can find you something cheaper.

Download the windows 7 RC from the microsoft website, you can use it for free until may of next year
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/download...

The main difference between 32 bit and 64 bit is that 32 bit only allows you to use about 3.2GB of ram, 64 bit will allow you to use more than newegg has in stock.

This one is about the cheapest i can find
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
but with it you can drop down to a 4850 saving you $30 and the 500 watt PSU, should save you enough to get the monitor. Unfortunately they are rather expensive and dont seem to be dropping in price very quickly.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

OK, will I be able to download windows 7 on my new system without anything installed on it prior? Will my system even boot up and be able to go online to do that? I need to install vista first, then upgrade it off of vista right?

Is windows 7, at the least the version i'll be downloading, 64-bit? Should I upgrade to 6/8GB of RAM down the line? sooner than later?

Yeah download the 64 bit version. You said you have a laptop right? Download it onto that and burn it onto a DVD. You have to start the download before august 20th. Then you use an ISO burning program to burn the image onto a DVD, put the DVD in the new system and it will boot off of it and install windows. You cannot upgrade an old version of windows with windows 7 RC, you have to do a clean install.

Toms has done a couple of tests, and it doesnt show a significant bonus above 4GB of RAM, however once all programs switch to 64 bit and can each use more than 2 GB of ram a piece im sure there will start being a noticeable difference, so its always good to have the option to upgrade the ram in the future.

Sounds good. Thanks a lot for your help, if I run into any problems getting this windows 7 ISO onto a dvd can I p.m. you? for starters, what type of dvd do I need to buy, seeing that I don't have any writeable ones.

certainly