Would this make a good gaming PC?

[BoMBeRMaN316]

I'm building my first computer and i mainly want to game on it. I want to be able to play games such as Empire: Total War, Shogun 2: Total War, Starcraft 2, Diablo III all at nice settings where i can enjoy the game with minimal to no lag. My budget is $650.

Here goes:
Processor: AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103727

Motherboard: Asus M4A87TD EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131647

Memory: G Skill 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231223

Video Card: GeForce GTX 460 Fermi overclocked
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130571

Hard Drive: Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM 6.0GB/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136795

Power Supply: Antec BP550 550W ATX 12V V2.2 modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371016

Any suggestions for cheaper parts for same performance value would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[aznshinobi]

Change the CPU - Perform about the same with same overclocking headroom
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&cm_re=955-_-19-103-808-_-Product

Drop the motherboard - Newer chipset same price better features
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262&Tpk=asrock%20extreme4%20970

Drop Memory - Only LGA 1366 supports triple channel, no other chipset.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226092&cm_re=4gb_ddr3_1333_mushkin-_-20-226-092-_-Product

Drop the card - This will have more OC headroom and perform better.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948&cm_re=6870-_-14-102-948-_-Product

Drop the HDD - Overpriced, performs the same with F3, less space, louder.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=samsung%20f3%201tb

I would've changed everything.

 

[rvilkman]

The CPU's are actually the same price this weekend with the coupon code, so 965 is ok as well. If they are not the same price, yeah go with 955.

^+1 on the motherboard, it's a brand new one, they don't even have a picture yet

^+1 on the HDD, esp since the samsung is 49.99 this weekend with the coupon code.

^+1 on the memory dual channel for the board

The GTX460 is not bad if you can get it for a good price ~$140:ish.
But the Sapphire 6870 suggested above is a very good card as well. So at the same price I would pick the 6870.

 

[aznshinobi]

^+1

 

[BoMBeRMaN316]

Appreciate the advice guys. Quick question about Video card compatibility. Can i use the 2.1 6870 in a 2.0 slot?

Thanks again.

 

[aznshinobi]

Yes you can, all PCI is backwards compatible.