Help with Motherboard/videocard compatability

[geeknation]

I am currently in the process of trying to build my own computer for the first time. So far i am in the "design" stage, or planing which ever. This is proving difficult due to the order of parts. To start i was able to get a Blu-ray disc drive free from a friend of my dads. It wouldn't work on his computer which ran at 2.8 (I'm guessing he meant Ghz?) and the drive required a mother board that ran 3.2 or better. the mother board that i found and chose is the Asus M4A78T-E w/ AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad Core Processor bundle available at Tigerdirect.com ( http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4897114&CatId=14 ) i am now looking for a video/graphics card, I've been looking at a few but was conserned about the compatability. The video cards i was looking at ran DDR5 memory, the motherboard however only supports DDR3, i don't know whether this is an issue, such as i read the wrong stats or do i have to go and find different graphics cards. If i do does anyone have any suggestions on good gaming graphics cards(multi-monitor support preferred) or a motherboard that will support the cards i was looking at or other good cards that are ATX form with a running speed of 3.2 or better?

List of components

Motherboard/CPU
Asus M4A78T-E Motherboard with AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad Core Processor
link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4897114&CatId=14

Video Cards
Sapphire 100283-3L Radeon HD 5770 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI
link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5660536&CatId=3669

XFX HD585XZAFC Radeon HD 5850 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI
link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6078264&CatId=3669

Sapphire 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI
link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5993935&CatId=3669

XFX HD587XZNDC Radeon HD 5870 XXX Edition Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI
link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6089481&CatId=3669

Sapphire 100281-2GVXSR Radeon HD 5870 Vapor-X Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI
link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6233447&CatId=3669

 

[hunter315]

The memory on the card does not interact with the system memory, any of the 5xxx cards will work fine on the M4A78T-E.

What is this system going to be used for and what is the resolution of the monitor you will be using, those two are the important points in deciding on the GPU. Also be aware that with a large GPU like the 5850 or 5870 you will need a good PSU.

 

[mjsharma]

wat psu are u goin to use?

 

[geeknation]

PSU?! Whats a PSU? Every thing i mentioned in my message is all i have selected (minus the case, which is still under research) the only thing i forgot to mention is the specifics of the CDD, which is as follows:
LG Blu-ray disc rewriter model:gbw-h20L
Like i said before this is my first time building a computer. Don't get me wrong, Im not completly stupid, its just that the only "computer" ive ever had is an old 1999 iMac running on original OS. So i don't have to much experience with any actual PC, the ones my school have are slow and outdated, my dad's was running microsoft 98 and riddled with virusus, heck im using my mom's MacBook to researchthe parts and my iPod to write in this forum.

 

[hunter315]

PSU = power supply unit, needed to power the system. You need to make sure its strong enough to power everything in the system, if you post your intended parts list we can look over it and make sure everything will work for you.

 

[geeknation]

Ohhh, ok sorry. I didn't get the initialism. I know what your talking about know. My plan was to get a 1200w, i found one on tigerdirect.com for a good price (for me atleast) i figured that would be more than enough to run everything. I ddn't write down the model or price yet since i was waiting to see how much i would actually need and then make a better decision from there. But until then in my mind i settled on the highest power i found, that being the 1200w. Is that a good PSU?

 

[hunter315]

Woah, dont do that, if you found a 1200W for a "good price" odds are its not a good unit. The quality on power supplies varies widely, from the cheapo raidmax units that are prone to exploding to the new AX series from Corsair which if its 1200W unit is a good representative of the line its going to be the best of the best. For a single 5870 all you need is a good 550W unit with 40A between its 12V rails, if you want to crossfire down the line(your board supports 8x/8x which wont limit you too much) all you need is a good 750W unit with 60A between its 12V rails, the only reason to get a 1200W unit would be for 4 GTX 480s or some other extremely high power rig.

 

[mjsharma]

go wid a 750 w ...
just to leave some space if u want to do cf in future...
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6089481&CatId=3669&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=TnL5HPStwNw-iYOgl0uatoZfPUeTP1kClQ
this would b a good choice...

 

[geeknation]

Ok thanks for the tip. Oh and to me a good price is anything under $1000, i have no real budget or time slot.
P.S. Would an 800w be good? The case i was looking at from xoxide.com had an option to include a PSU and they had an 800w.

 

[hunter315]

Included PSUs tend to be the crappiest one they could find to keep the cost of the case/PSU bundle down. My usual recommendations for a 750W unit are the Corsair 750TX or the Antec TP-750, both are good solid units with plenty of power
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16817139006
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371022&cm_re=tp-750-_-17-371-022-_-Product

 

[geeknation]

It doesn't come with the case, the site just sells them in additio to the cases and can ship both of them together. but yes you are right about actual Case/PSU bundles. I will check out the PSUs you've linked to.