$600 Gaming Rig - Please Critique

[bin82]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 2-3 Days (Unless I chicken out!)

BUDGET RANGE: Below $650 After Rebate

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Mostly Gaming and watching videos

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD

OVERCLOCKING: Yes (Unlocking Cores and very mild OC)

Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes (in the future)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680 x 1050 (BENQ Monitor, Model: Q22W6 [Got it a while back...)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Im a big cheapo, so Im most concerned about price; I dont expect a super duper gaming machine with a $650 budget. I am a bit concerned about my hardware selection - mostly the MB and Ram, the reviews on NewEgg for the ram were less than stellar. I do eventually want to put in another HD 5770 when the time comes for an upgrade, but I want to make sure the MB is compatible and that the CPU will give enough juice to support. Thank you for your help!

CASE:
ENERMAX Staray ECA3170-BL Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 1 Apollish Blue LED Fan and Mesh Front - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811124132
This case comes to $46 after the rebate and shipping - if there is a case similar in price after shipping, but is of better quality, I would like to change. I don't care about aesthetics, it can be ugly as sin.

MB:
ECS BLACK SERIES A790GXM-AD3 AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135236
$99.99 ($78.99 after $21.00 Mail-In Rebate) *Free Shipping
Has the 2x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots for the future upgrade. Ive noticed that other boards will have 2 slots, but one is for x16 and the other is for x4; from what someone told me the HD5770 uses x8, so if there is another MB with a comparable price that has one x16 and another x8 Id be willing to switch.

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X2 555 Deneb 3.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846
$101.99 *Free Shipping
Hopefully I can unlock a core and get this OCed a little bit. The reason I am getting the CPU cooler is to make sure that this thing does not break from the unlocking/OCing.

OPTICAL & COOLER COMBO:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" Long ... - Retail
$34.99 + $7.56 Shipping
SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM
$19.99 + $1.99 Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.343537
$64.53 - $10.00 Combo Disc. = $54.53 Net
The Cooler is for the CPU above, if you honestly don't think I need it, I wont get it. Ive never OCed or tried to unlock a core before, so Im a bit concerned.

PSU & HD COMBO:
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
$79.99 - $20 MIR = $59.99 * Free Shipping
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$54.99 * Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.329555
$59.99 + $54.99 - $20.00 Combo Disc = $94.98

GPU & RAM:
HIS H577FM1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
$152.99 - $10.00 MIR = $142.99 * Free Shipping
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1333LV4GK - Retail
$105.99 - $20.00 MIR = $85.99 * Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.339722
$142.99 + $85.99 - $17.00 Combo Disc = $211.98
Ive heard some negative things about both the ram and the GPU which worries me - but I on the flip side there are many people that do not have a problem either.

Grand Total: $679.93 (Including Shipping)
Total w/ Rebate: $588.93

I really like the after rebate price...

Please let me know where I can improve - Thank you!

 

[bin82]

A little bump~

 

[saint19]

Well is a good rig. But definitely i would change the mobo.

 

[bin82]

So you think the ram and GPU are ok? Maybe newegg will have a sale on a mobo I need.

 

[saint19]

Yeah, the RAM is good and the price is very good.

Now, for CPU you have a Phenom II X2, that's a dual core with cache L3 and unlock multiplier for OC. IMO is a good processor for your OC needs.

Now, if you want you also can take a look of this two options:

1- Phenom II X3 720, is more expensive, but you get a X3, you can unlock the 4-core and this processor have a better performance in multitask and games.
2- Athlon II X4 620, is more cheap that the other two options. You get a real quad-core, is very good in games. BUT doesn't have cache L3 and is lock mutiplier, that means that the OC is limited. I think that with this processsor you can get a 3.2GHz with OC.

 

[bin82]

I see - I think that I will try and roll the dice with the xII, never tried, but always wanted to.

Is there another mobo that would be better for the price?

 

[saint19]

Well, two options.

1- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128419 USB3.0 and SATA III, BUT don't support X-Fire

2- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402 support X-Fire, but doesn't have USB 3.0 or SATA III.

 

[bin82]

The one that supports xfire is $30 more than the one I have listed (after rebate) - I think I might just roll the dice on the original mobo.