First time building Budget PC for Gaming [$700]

[flamelord5]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next month (sooner is better, but not imperative)

BUDGET RANGE: $650-750 Before Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Watching Videos (both from hard drive and streaming), Internet

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

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

PARTS PREFERENCES: None

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

CROSSFIRE: Possibly in the future? (raises issues with mobo and possibly psu?)

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This is my first time (in about eight years) building a PC. I've been researching for about a week now to try to find exactly what I need, and I believe I have got the hang of the basics. I do not need to buy these parts immediately, but the sooner I do, the sooner I can use my new PC!

I am planning to run this build with Windows 7. I would like to be able to play games such as Starcraft II, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age on High Specs.

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-770TA-UD3 AM3 AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX440WFGIBOX

GPU: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Memory: G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO

HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

PSU: XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W ATX12V 2.2 / ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

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

DVD: SAMSUNG 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 4X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24x DVD Burner - Bulk LightScribe Support - OEM

Fan/Heatsink: Cooler Master RR-B10-212P-G1 Hyper 212 Plus 775/1156/1366/AMD/AM2/AM3 Universal Direct Contact Heat-Pipe 120mm Fan CPU Cooler

Total Cost (After Combo Deals and Shipping, Before Rebates): ~$695

If anybody wants to make any specific 22"-24" monitor suggestions (in the $225 price range) that would be awesome.

Any other advice (as my keyboard/mouse/speakers are getting a little old) would be great, thanks!

 

[Mark Heath]

I'm terrible with AMD mobos, so somebody else can tell you if that's good.

I don't know if there's any specifics that makes RAM compatible with AMD, but look at these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231321&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=3463938&SID=
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303&cm_re=g.skill_4gb_ripjaws-_-20-231-303-_-Product

I'm not too sure how good most XFX PSUs are. (they might be good I haven't heard much good or bad about them) Anyway, this Corsair's good if that XFX isn't:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012&Tpk=corsair%20hx-650

Don't get that CPU cooler. That'll only be as good (maybe even worse *shock horror* than the Intel stock cooler) If you're willing to buy from Amazon (Newegg on this item's a ripoff), this is way better and is the recommended cooler for its price:
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Universal-Heat-Pipe/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1278862731&sr=8-1

If you're happy with that case, then it's good enough, but if you want an alternative:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066&Tpk=antec%20300%20illusion

 

[flamelord5]

I've heard good things about the ECO RAM, so I will definitely make that switch.

The only real reason I chose that PSU over others is because of a combo deal with the GPU. If it really isn't good I would switch to a better one, can anybody else help with that?

Moreover, is the PSU overkill for the rest of the machine? Also, I've been thinking more about at least leaving the option for Crossfire open...would this PSU cover that? (I realize I would need to switch the MOBO)

Amazon is great, never had any problems with their products, so I would happily pick up a good CPU cooler from them.

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[Mark Heath]

650W should be enough for 2 5850s and the rest of the system. I dunno how good XFX PSUs in general are. If you're happy with that then I can't stop you from getting it.

Happy to help