First build, gaming system, 500-600$, am I missing anything?

[ZedPower]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: next few days, possibly even tonight

BUDGET RANGE: less than 600$ CAD after rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, not necessarily cutting edge

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers, will possibly reuse video card

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.ca

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

PARTS PREFERENCES: looking at AMD CPU/mobo, I'm not knowledgeable enough to want specifics for other stuff

OVERCLOCKING: no

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: err, if I don't know, does it matter?

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: i need a quiet machine, the main reason I upgrade from my current one is that it's always been incredibly noisy, and I now I find myself trying to record audio. also it's a single core CPU and modern games pretty much require dual core by now.

Heyo! I've been tooling around computers for a while and I'm fairly confident I'll know what to do when it comes to the actual construction, but this is the first time I plan to build a system myself and I'm not up to date on the hardware. I can't afford the cutting edge necessarily, but I do want a solid base that will last me for a while.

I think I've got a decent parts list but I mainly want to make sure I'm not making some disastrous newbie mistake. What I've picked so far:

--Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
--ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
--AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
--Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
--Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380815AS 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (I already have a recent 1TB hard drive, but I want a smallish/cheap one here mostly for the OS and various applications. Also I'd like to be sure my new machine works on its own before I start taking apart my old one.)
--LITE-ON DVD drive with Lightscribe
--Not too sure about the RAM right now, but I'm thinking about a 2GB stick, DDR3 1333. As long as it's even a marginal upgrade from the two 1GB DDR2 sticks I got in my current machine then I don't mind too much. I'm thinking about this one
--I'm thinking about reusing the Geforce 9600 GSO I have right now. I figure it's not too completely outdated, and I'm not sure if anything I could get for around 100 bucks would be a significant upgrade.

So, that's about it. I was this close to ordering already but I thought it wiser to seek advice before I committed to that sort of expense. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[kolkim]

You can get all that for 600$? With shipping and handling in CANADA! Mayybe, but for like 60$ more, u could get a 5770 or 5750 which are very decent and better if your going with AMD. do you mean 2 x 1 DDR3 or 1 2GB DDR3 stick then later should buy another same 2gb stick.

 

[Juanchioo]

AMD ATHLON II X3 RANA 440

MSI GTX 460 1GB CYCLONE

GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H

XFX 650W or CORSAIR HX650W

G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 1600MHZ CL7 7-8-7-24

SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F3 500GB


whit that build ur done

 

[ScrewySqrl]

juanchioo has a very good build there. If you can swing the extra money, get a real video card. The 9600 GSO is pretty marginal for modern games, even at 1280x1024. It'll do games at moderate settings, but I woulsd expect something like the 9400/9500/9600 to be onboard video next year

 

[ZedPower]

To kolkim:
Well, my shopping cart gives me a grand total of 611.50, but there's like 50 bucks of tax and shipping on there, plus a couple of extra SATA cables, and I've got a combined total of 45$ off regular price for the HD, case and PSU. Technically I'm over budget but I'm not gonna sweat the 11.50 if the stuff is decent.

For the RAM I meant a single 2GB stick so I have space to upgrade later. I plan on using my old Windows XP anyway, probably; can't afford a new OS on top of that.

I'm gonna keep the 5770/5750 in mind for the future, but I'm seeing prices of 160-220, which starts being expensive to me. I already have the 9600 GSO here right now, so I might endure it a little longer.


To juanchioo:
Hmm, interesting. A quick and dirty price search gives me a total of around 750 before tax and shipping, but I'll look into it more in depth tomorrow, see if I can shop around. Thanks!

To ScrewySqrl:
Yeah, that's the weakest link, but to be honest the main thing that convinced me I could afford a new machine was that I thought I could get away with not buying a new video card. For a while I've felt that it's my current 3GHz single core cpu that's holding me back the most, so that's where I figured I needed the biggest step up. I am definitely being tempted by some less antiquated hardware though, it's just a question of being able to pay for it. It's certainly the next thing I'll be looking at.

Thanks for your help, everyone! At first I mostly wanted to make sure I wasn't making a basic mistake like trying to build a time machine without a flux capacitor, but you're giving me food for thought on top of that.

 

[Juanchioo]

if u want cheaper u can downgrade psu to ocz fatal1ty 550w, mobo to gigabyte 770(be sure to get am3), and if u need to downgrade it more u can change gpu for 5770 (but gtx 460 its much better inversion)