Holding a Gaming PC back

[spuchie09]

Hey guys im in the middle of my first build and all i have to buy is windows 7 (64-bit) and RAM. Here are my specs:
850W PSU
ASUS M4A79Xtd EVO
AMD Phenome II 4x 965 (3.4 Ghz)
Seagate Barracuda 500GB HD 7200
Radeon HD 4870 VGA
HP DVD optical drive
Thermaltake Blackwidow Case
80 mm intake fan
120 mm exhaust fan

i think thats it... My question to you guys is that im having a hard time deciding which RAM to buy. Im kind of on a budget, but as you can see im spending a good amount of money on this Gaming PC and i don't want to skimp out on the RAM. Some people Say that 2 sticks of 2GB ram is plenty for a gaming PC and some people say that more than 4gb is always necessary for gaming. My problem is i can afford 1 stick of 4gb right now but i cannot afford 2 sticks of 4gb. Will i be holding my computer back by only getting 2 sticks of 2gb (4gb dual channel)? Or should i buy 1 stick of 4gb ram and when i can afford it buy another stick of 4gb for a total of 8? I just don't know how long till i will be able to afford that second stick of 4gb. Is my computer going to be slower with only single channel 4gb? or will i not know the difference between 2x2gb, vs. 1x4gb?
I just don't want to spend all this money and then be holding my computer back because i didn't want to spend the extra 60 bux on the bigger stick of RAM. Please someone help me and give me advise on which ram to buy. thanks

 

[lunyone]

2 x 2 gb's is perfect right now, IMHO. If you need more later, just add another 2 x 2 gb's of RAM and your done for quite some time. If you needed to save some more $ on the build, I'd consider getting a quality 500-600w PSU, instead of the 850w one listed (although I don't know what the make/model is on the the one listed).

 

[Silvune]

Absolutely no need to get more than 4GB total of RAM unless you are pretty interested in video editing. So buy a 2x2GB set.
I agree with lunyone, 850W for the PSU is overkill, except for crossfiring 5970s, and it's power consumption is almost double the power consumption of a 4870. I understand that you've already bought it, so it's probably not worth the hassle to return it and get a cheaper one.

 

[spuchie09]

thanks guys thats what i needed to know. No video editing for me. mostly just FPS games for me. COD and AA3. I already bought the PSU and i might crossfire later, but for now, just one card, the PSU was not that expensive, its made by XION, i think it was only like 70 or 80 bux on newegg. is there anything i can do with all the extra power cords from the psu? there is like 8 different SATA plugs, wich i am only using two. which reminds me if there is like two long cords coming out of the PSU with 2 or 3 plugs on it, can i use the in line plugs on seperate hardware? or should i use a different cord.
EXAMPLE: Two long SATA power cords with 4 plugs on each. My optical drive is SATA and my HD is SATA, can i just use 2 of the 4 plugs on one strand and hide the other one? or should i use one plug from one cord and one plug from the other cord? thanks for the help again.
ps. where is the best place to try and hide excess power cords inside the case?

 

[ewood]

for sata a plugs use all the plugs on a strand if you want. hds draw very little power and with a 4870 no rail should be stressed that much, but make sure you use two different pci e cables for the 4870. no reason to knowingly load one rail a ton more than the others