First Gaming Build - AMD - $700-750 Budget

hello guys, im new to this and with your help i've decided to build my own gaming rig. here it goes...



APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: by the end of October

BUDGET RANGE: 700-750 wouldn't mind if it were less than 700 either

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Movies, Music, Internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, amazon.com (im also open to others but i want reliable sources only please) thanks.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA (Los Angeles)

PARTS PREFERENCES: Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe?

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 19 inch monitor running at 1152x864

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: i want to be able to run games like americas army 3... would also like it to be easy to upgrade in the next 2-3 years.


here are some parts im interested in but need confirmation on compatibility and if it will be able to run americas army 3.


AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB $179.00

ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD $199.99

EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 $154.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 $89.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB &

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Combo Price: $99.98

TOTAL: $725


what else would i need besides the optical drive to run this? btw, would this build fit in an atx mid tower case? (i've read that some of these parts are rather big)

if you think my potential build is no good can you recommend me a build?

thanks in advance, your help would be much appreciated!

One more thing, as for power supply, depends if you want to run crossfire, tri-fire or quad fire.
Since you are not overclocking, this should power a crossfire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341016

Otherwise, take this that'd power tri or even quad fire. Bear in mind that I am only referring to using HD5770.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139006

this is what im going with so far:


AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB - $179.00

SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP - $159.99

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD - $114.99 ($15 MIR)

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 - $89.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB &

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Combo Price: $99.98

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready - $99.99 ($30 MIR)



a couple of questions...

im only interested in crossfiring, i'm barely learning about this and i dont want to screw up by attempting anything more than that. that being said, i am interested in crossfiring but not right now, maybe in 6 months to a year from now. does that makes sense or will my system be too old for me to take advantage of the crossfire capabilities? will an upgrade be easy with this rig in the next 2-3 years?

will my system run americas army 3 with this new build?


thanks for the help guys, much appreciated!

@OR1G1N
Yes, most likely you can run the game max out. The HD5770 can take everything you throw at it even at higher resolutions like 1920x1080 and your processor is rock solid. So I'd say it's quite a good deal. However, if you intend on upgrading to a higher end graphics card later down the road (which is not necessary because you can always do crossfire, but just IF), do consider assassin32's recommended power supply. Anything higher than HD5770 requires 2x 6-pin connector. The OCZ you have chosen comes with exactly two. That means you can get (for example) a HD5870 and that's it. You can't crossfire (can use adapters but not recommended) even though you have a crossfire motherboard. Down to the end, the choice is yours.

But by the look of things, I'd say crossfire 5770 is pretty much future proof for at least 2 years at your resolution all the way up to 1920x1080

^ The board only supports DDR3 and not DDR2.
And I would suggest this RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231278