Building my first system just wanted to run this by others to see what the general opinion is. I had hoped to spend about $1000 but I went a little over that, no big deal I can live with that. The main uses of this system will be gaming, Internet general usage surfing, MP3’s, and forum browsing. But I do tend to open six or seven windows at a time when I surf.

My parts list



CASE -- COOLER MASTER HAF 932
PSU -- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
MB -- GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3
CPU-- AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz
CPU Cooler- COOLER MASTER V8
RAM G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
Video Card SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5
PCI Express 2.0

HD Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB
DVD Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model
AD-7240S-0B – OEM

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders - OEM
Any thoughts??

You probably won't need 8 gigs for what you do. Just go with 4 and if you aren't satisfied you can always get more.

Also, excellent choice for the processor, motherboard, and video card. If you have a monitor less than 22" you won't need a graphics card of that power, though.


Actually, everything looks like an excellent system. However, you could save a few bucks by getting this processor instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103680

Really up to you, quad cores aren't really utilized much nowadays.



Honestly, the one I linked could handle all of those things combined at once without a problem at all. in fact, my x2 7750 can as well but performance could be better with a phenom II x2 that I listed.


If you don't plan on using crossfire in the future (2nd matching video card working together), then get this motherboard to save you $60:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128392
It's basically the same thing with 1 PCI-Express video card slot instead of 2. The chipsets are different but I highly doubt that will have any effect on you unless you plan on doing a lot of overclocking.

I keep editing this post, but I want to add that you won't need a retail CPU cooler unless you plan on doing a serious overclock. Both the one you linked and the one I linked come with a cooler and you can even overclock with the stock cooler a bit.



Hopefully I helped you drop at least $100 off your cost. Maybe even $200.

This post has been edited by RPinney: Jun 11 2009, 09:23 PM

Double posting to bring this to your attention. The daily shell shocker deal on www.newegg.com is a quality 700 watt power supply for 50% off ($45.00 and free shipping). I woud jump all over this if I were you.

Sorry it took so long to reply my carp** computer locked up right after I posted that question and has since had a hard time opening this site (IE) had to download Fire Fox to make it work.

Anyway yes I read the reviews on the MB you posted and the price is sweet but I am right now torn between the UPD4 and 5. I don’t plan to cross fire right now but may want to down the road. And with the UP4D it has one slot at 16 and one at 8 Vs the 5 that has two at 16x. I also decided to splurge and get the 4870 Toxic for the better cooling. Wish I could swing the 4890 Toxic but my wife is gracious enough to let me throw cash at this thing as is.

As for monitors I am looking at a 23” and a 24” both Acer and 1200 x1080P

Just as to monitors I just got this ASUS promo special today:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...LP1B-_-24236048

The promo code brings it down to $219.99 > free shipping

Promo codes expire 06/29/2009

If you want the code send me a PM here.