New PC, need advice

Hey guys!
I plan to build a new PC, initially used for 'old school' gaming (quake 3, unreal tournament 2k4, counter strike etc) and school work.

As i am on a budget i look for bang for buck and request guidance, its worth noting during xmas i plan on getting a ati 5850 with an earthwatts 650(?) and mw2

atm i have a Sapphire PURE 790GX AM3 Mobo, 1.3tb HDD (2HDDs), and dvd r/w and 4gb crucial 1333mhz ddr3 ram I am going to use the onboard gpu till xmas as it should suffice, after i get 5850 i'd want to try all the crysis games, bioshock 2, mw2, battlefield, dirt 2 etc maxed at '1680/1440 x' and dx11 for win7/gaming

Also the phenom x3 720 is the tip of my cpu budget and seems good bang for buck, i can't go any higher.. for someone who uses sony vegas, games alot, movie streams quite a bit, plays music 24/7, and uses windows live messaging etc is the cpu sufficient? I dont plan to upgrade for 3 years and will oc mildly with w.e cpu i get (+0.2 - 0.5ghz?) is this sufficient for the time frame? Any recommendation for a soundcard also?
I'm going to use a headset so I don't need a 7.1, 5.1 etc, are there any GOOD ones with just a mic and sound input jack?

I'm a 16 year old student so I cant max out budget wise.. Hope u understand.

P.S - My previous set up was a 8800gt / C2D E7200 @ 1280/1440 and was fine for me, but my psu blew it up (generic 400watt) and am resistant to getting another dual core cpu.
Also will a coolermaster elite 330 w/ a 350w psu @ebuyer (im on mobile, cant link) hold till xmas, just to power the cpu, ram, hdd, dvd rw, soundcard + case fan? Am i going the right way?

Your plan sounds fine, only change I can think of is to get a Corsair 650 over the Antec earthwatts. Price should be about the same, but the Corsair is a better quality unit in my opinion. Don't go with a bundled PSU, 9 times out of 10, they're bundled because the PSU is crap, and they wouldn't be able to move them off the shelves any other way. Antec occasionally has bundled case / PSUs that aren't accidents waiting to happen, but they aren't always available.

Also, a soundcard at max £40 sorry for not adding

Thanks, im going to up my budget and await the corsair hx650 and asus ta-m21.
Is it worth overclocking the crucial ballistix ram mildly? AM3 only reads 1333mhz right? pointless? I'd o nly want 1600mhz

By sharp i'm guessing you mean nice thanks i think that too

I forgot to mention I did sell my system, I wanted an upgrade anyhow, although I may have been better off for now with just that, the case was generic to and had 0 fans, hardly helped..

It seems the ram I want is fine at stock? As it fails to start at lower timings from what i read at another review.

Are you 100% sure I dont need a soundcard, i'm planning to go semi-pro and maybe they produce louder footsteps etc?

Well my old build was solely for bioshock with pc speakers among other stuff as i played xbox 360 competively - but as my mate says 'i have a dignitas t shirt waiting for me'

I'd have to poll em i guess, i've learnt that most stuff is for sole marketing which gets a bit annoying!


Thanks for your help dearly

^+1. It's all in the device. I spent far too many years of my life with 1.6, and a high end set of headphones are the best investment you'll make besides a mouse if you're looking to go pro .

Netherwind that is completely dependent on skill level, experience and game being played, if someone misses a snipe from behind you in say cod4, you wont know any better and they get an extra shot or two in.

As for headsets i have purchased a hd555 for music, speedlink medusa 5.1 for gaming and music and plantronic gamecoms 777 as a temporary should the medusas die, i did assume a soundcard would further help but i havent tried any of those headphones yet as my pc isnt complete.

Would running 2 different ram sets in dual mode (ballistix slot 1,3 and tracers slot 2,4) cause issues?