600-700$ Budget Gaming System

CPU - Upgrade to a Phenom X4 955 Black Edition. Assuming you added the Hyper 212 to overclock, the Black Edition will be much more friendly simply bumping the multiplier.

HD - Scratch the WD Blue. Samsung F3 1TB => http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

PSU => Corsair Enthusiast Series 650w for $80 => http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Why? The Antec Truepower New is the better power supply. Agree with you about everything else tho.

I'd also suggest teh ASRock 870 Extreme 3 over the Biostar 870, it give syou the option to add a second 6850 for crossfire later.

also 6850s are REAL power-sippers, you can crossfire them with a good quality 550W PSU

Alright so change things to:


G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
$46.99

ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
$89.99

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$69.99

PowerColor AX6850 1GBD5-DH Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
$168.49

Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE ...
$99.99

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
$99.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$69.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible
$29.99

Subtotal: $745.42

(DVD drive removed when I realized I could use my old one)
Come to think of it, what kinds of extra fans should I get and should I get thermal compound or will the one coming with the CPU be good enough?

The Hyper 212+ has it's own thermal compound in the accessory pack. You won't need to get anything else.

With the 2 standard fans in the Antec 300 you should be OK. It's certainly enough to start out safely. If you find your system temps are running higher than you like you can always add more fans later.

PSU is sized for an extra HD 6850 should you ever upgrade your 1680x1050 monitor, along with some CPU and GPU overclocking. And maybe an extra HDD or SSD upgrade.

It looks like you're good to go there.

Be sure to let us know how things work out.

Here is a Step-by-Step Guide to Building a PC

Look over the forum's "System won't boot" checklist to see some of the common build errors and how to avoid them.

-> The usual advice; read the manual / install guide; look at the parts, read the manual again and if everything makes sense and looks right - then go ahead with the install.

While you're waiting you can download the online version of the motherboard manual and start getting familiar with it. Same for the other parts you want to order if they have install guides or manuals available.