First time build

[Helgol]

I was wondering if I could get some opinions/help on this build, this is my first attempt at trying to build. Thank you for your time.

Budget: ~$450 or cheaper

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($98.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($61.97 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.98 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon HD 6850 1GB Video Card ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 370 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Cooler Master 500W ATX12V Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $405.14
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-21 16:12 EDT-0400)

 

[mocchan]

Swap your RAM for this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422

2x4GB > 1x8GB so you can get a little more performance taking advantage of Dual Channel.

Also swap out your PSU for this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&Tpk=CX430

It's MUCH higher quality than the Cooler Master unit you have listed, and you won't risk blowing up the rest of your components if your PSU fails.

Otherwise you did a good job with your list

 

[Helgol]

Thank you, mocchan. I was hoping to add in another 1x8GB stick later on, but I'll go with 2x4GB. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[mocchan]

You're welcome

Also, I'm assuming you're going to use this build for gaming. For gaming, anything more than 8GB of RAM is highly overkill IMO. Most games won't use 6GB of RAM, so I would rather save the money and invest the money elsewhere.

 

[Helgol]

Best answer selected by Helgol.