Build Compatibility- Divulge your wisdom!

[TheNiceManCometh]

Hello,
I am extremely (painfully?) new to the world of technology, and I was just wondering if any of you high priests could help a layman out. I'm checking for compatibility and functionality, and would love your input or advice.
The things that I'm getting aren't exactly first-rate, but the price is right! My rig:

CPU-Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

GPU-NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1280MB DDR5 PCI Express PCIe Dual DVI Video Card HDMI
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-560-Ti-1280MB-DDR5-PCI-Express-PCIe-Dual-DVI-Video-Card-HDMI-/190798707157?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item2c6c7d39d5
(Specs at the bottom of that page)

PSU-Builder Series CX600 600 Watt ATX 12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Mobo-Gigabyte MA770 UD3
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3302#ov

Memory-GSkill 2x1gb DDR2 1066 PC2-8500 and 2x2gb DDR2 PC2-8500
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

Cooling- ZALMAN CNPS10X Extreme 120mm CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118051


Plan on using this rig for some mild gaming, doing homework, avoiding homework, surfing the web....
Let me know what you think!

 

[DarkSable]

There are two things that scare me.

First, you're using a 560ti. The 500 series runs hot and noisy - that's also not a good price for it. I'd change it for a 7850 if you can find one in your price range. (A comparable 600 series is also a good pick - the 660, perhaps?)

Second, and this is the scary part, you're using DDR 2 ram. That's painfully slow.
Get a different motherboard that supports DDR 3 - 1600MHz and go with that.

Third, why are you spending $70 on a CPU cooler? Buy a $25 Hyper 212+ and use that money to upgrade your base platform.

 

[TheNiceManCometh]

The reason that (perhaps a dubious one) that I chose to make a computer is because I just inherited the motherboard and the CPU cooler. So, what motherboard would you recommend? Thank you so much, by the way, for your insight.

 

[Proximon]

It's not a bad board, unless it is of course. The problem here is that it's OLD. DDR2 is OLD tech. It's not going to be quite that slow, but it's not good to throw away money on old stuff.

You have linked a 4GB kit of DDR2, costing $62.

A similar DDR3 kit will cost less than half that.

If someone gave me an old working DDR2 motherboard, I might look to piece together a system from used parts. I would not want to spend too much on it.

So, a good motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

But then you have to ask yourself why go AMD at all? Do you have a budget?

 

[g-unit1111]

It's not a bad board, unless it is of course. The problem here is that it's OLD. DDR2 is OLD tech. It's not going to be quite that slow, but it's not good to throw away money on old stuff.

You have linked a 4GB kit of DDR2, costing $62.

A similar DDR3 kit will cost less than half that.

If someone gave me an old working DDR2 motherboard, I might look to piece together a system from used parts. I would not want to spend too much on it.

So, a good motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

But then you have to ask yourself why go AMD at all? Do you have a budget?

Yeah I agree - the 965 is old. The 560TI is old. DDR2 is old. Knowing the budget would help to suggest a better system.

 

[TheNiceManCometh]

If it's all old- at least it's consistent. Yes, so I got the motherboard, the 2x1gb RAM, the cooling, all free. I would definitely go up to the 7850, but it is only supported on 3.0 PCI, which this board has. That board that you linked me to is unable to support 3.0, and it looks like no AMD mobo's can- which is annoying.
All the stuff up there, I could get for under $300.
Thanks again.

 

[TheNiceManCometh]

Even buying new, it seems like AMD mobos+processors are a lot cheaper than their Intel equivalents. MicroCenter especially seems to have deals which would make going the Intel route a lot more expensive.

 

[Proximon]

Ah, well then the list is fine. You did not mention you got the RAM for free as well. You kinda need 4GB though, not 2.
However, the PCI-E version is not important. Backwards and forwards compatible and the speeds will not make a difference until you get to very high-end video cards.

Some better PSUs at better prices

Seasonic 520W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

Rosewill 530W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182199

The equivalent Intel CPU is probably not what you are thinking it is. They don't compare like that.
i3-3220 would be a bit faster in most apps except well threaded ones.

I wasn't suggesting it's a poor CPU choice, only that if you were looking at building a new system you might need to re-evaluate which platform to start with.

 

[TheNiceManCometh]

Best answer selected by TheNiceManCometh.

 

[TheNiceManCometh]

I regret that I have but one "best answer" to give. Special mention goes out to DarkSable and G-Unit.