$900 Gaming Computer

[Accurim]

I'm looking to build a computer for my girlfriends 14 year old brother. He will not buy another computer for a long time and he likes to play games. He already purchased a Sonata III case that includes a 500W earthwatts power supply. I'd strongly prefer to go AMD for his build and possibly crossfire. I have picked some parts listed at the bottom of my post but I'm still bugged by whether I should get a better video card (and will it even fit in a Sonata III), should I memory with better timings, etc. - so I'd like some advice from some more knowledgeable people



APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: ASAP

BUDGET RANGE: 900 Canadian(before tax,before rebates - the budgets a little flexible +$150 at most, but I'd prefer to stay at 900)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, movies, microsoft word and stuff for school, and surfing the internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, OS (Windows 7 64)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.ca (I'd prefer to purchase the parts locally from either Canada Computers, or FiltechComputer rather than Newegg.ca because of shipping costs.)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: CANADA

PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD mobo, I already have a Sonata III case with the 500W earthwatts

OVERCLOCKING: Yes
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

List of components
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor $183
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727&Tpk=AMD%20Phenom%20II%20X4%20965%20125W

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard $127.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402&Tpk=m4a79xtd%20evo

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100283VXL Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card $184.49
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102868&cm_re=radeon_hd_5770-_-14-102-868-_-Product

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ $111.49
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193&Tpk=f3-12800cl9d-4gbnq

Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply $129.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024&cm_re=sonata-_-11-129-024-_-Product

Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply (Included with Sonata III)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007&cm_re=earthwatts_power_supply-_-17-371-007-_-Product

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $29.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&cm_re=wd640-_-22-136-319-_-Product

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - CD / DVD Burners $29.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188&Tpk=sh-s223l

 

[Yadumadoda]

Most of it looks good besides the case/PSU.

Also, if you are planning to overclock(your CPU, I take it), then you should get an aftermarket cooler. A good recommendation would be the Cooler Master Hyper 212+.

A good case would be the Antec 300 Illusion or the Cooler Master 690(the first edition), as they are both the same price, at $70 I think.

A good PSU would be a Corsair 650TX, as you are planning to overclock your CPU, and possibly go crossfire.

EDIT: Did not see that he already had the case/PSU. Then he won't have too much room for comfortable OC'ing or Crossfire.

 

[amk09]

You should be fine with 500 watts, the 5770 even in crossfire doesn't consume much power, although the 965 can get pretty power hungry if you OC. A 550W-650W would be a safer option as the fella above me said. But thats all up to whether you plan on OC'ing or getting another graphics card in the future, if not, you can stick with the 500W.

The 5770 is a great card for a great price, with great crossfire performance. Just so you know he should be able to max most games with just one card.

 

[Accurim]

Thank for the comments guys. I already built the computer because he wanted it really soon. The Sonata III was small and hard to work in, I wish he had a bigger case haha. I'm almost worried about the cpu running a bit hot even with a Cooler master hyper 212 plus. I'll create another thread about it

 

[Accurim]

Best answer selected by Accurim.