Hello I just need finishing up a good computer for gaming and programming. I am hoping to build a computer which i will be able to upgrade single parts in the future so that it will last a long time.

What I currently am looking at this (All I know i cna use for sure is a case I have):

Motherboard:
ASUS M2A-VM - $62.99 on NewEgg
OR
GIGABYTE GA-MA69G-S3H - $94.99 on NewEgg
OR
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4 - $169.99 on NewEgg
(This is my first major question is that should I spend the extra money and get a AM2+ motherboard so in the future I will be safe with a faster processor or will it not matter that much?)

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ (Windsor) - $139.99 on NewEgg
OR
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (Brisbane) - $99.99 on NewEgg
(This I was looking on reviews on the Brisbane and how the memory clocking worked out (AMD's multiplexer causeing it to run slower) and am wondering how that will affect gaming and if so should I really take it into account.)

GPU:
AMD Radeon 3850 or 3870

RAM:
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) - $54.99 on NewEgg

PSU:
Rosewill RP550-2 - $51.99 on NewEgg
(I am pretty sure I need this as my current PSU is only 400W)

Finally I am guna get a $30 DVD burner which is a upgrade I have been negelecting in the past.

Rosewill PSU's are terribly bad.

You want something with 550W, but a quality 550W. Try these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817151027 (I know expensive, but you will save on energy bills, and it will last.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341001 (slightly cheaper and less efficient)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139001 (slightly less than 550W, but quality on par of the Seasonic. Efficiency not as good)

Processor: You might wait a week to see what price the lower Phenoms are at. Four cores will last longer than dual core.

My hope is to be able to wait about a year or 2 and upgrade then. Also those PSU's are all guna put me over budget really fast... how about this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817189005

I'm in a similar position to you with my build.

I got the ThermalTake 500W from newegg (with the rebate)
Mobo was Asus m2v
Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2x1Gb ddr2 800 (good rebate)


CPU will either be x2 5000 BE ($130) or X2 6000 ($160)

Video card will likely be X1950Pro 256MB unless I see a good deal on a 3850

I'll wait till mid-December for the video card/cpu prices to drift down before ordering.

I don't think it is recommended either. Check with someone else. Remember that greater efficiency is less money on electric bills, so your extra money spent may be compensated for elsewhere.

The Corsair HX520w PSU is on par with Seasonic because it is a Seasonic.

I know that.

Okay here is what I would do to make your budget and still have a decent setup for now (assuming your wanting to upgrade to Phenom in the future).

CPU - $100 shipped Good solid CPU for the $.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane 2.5GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103778

Mobo - $70 shipped Good choice here. You can upgrade later to a better, and cheaper, 700 series mobo later.
ASUS M2A-VM AM2 AMD 690G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131172

GPU - $186 Cheapest and probably one of the better GPU's in this price range for now. You can always add another later, if you like.
SAPPHIRE 100216L Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102714

PSU - $70 shipped - $30 MIR = $40!!! Probably the best PSU in this price range (after MIR) that you can get 30A on the 12V rails with.
Antec earthwatts EA430 ATX12V v2.0 430W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371006

Memory - $90 shipped - $40 MIR = $50!! One of the best sets of memory you can get right now!
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146565

DVD Burner - $37 shipped Comes with burning software and DVD viewing software too. This is a RETAIL version.
LITE-ON 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM IDE DVD Burner included extra White bezel - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827106079

Total ~$543 shipped! - $70 in MIR's = $473!! Now if you have room to spend more, I'd upgrade the GPU first and then possibly mobo or CPU. The GPU upgrade would net you a little better result than if you were to upgrade the mobo or the CPU, but that is MHO.

I would still go Intel. AMD just can't hold a candler to Core 2 (except in Cysis it seems...)

$83 - e2160 (OC to 3.0ghz)
$95 - Gigabyte P35 motherboard
$50 - 2gb DDR800 Crucial Ballistix
$250 - 8800GT (bestbuy.com)
$67 - Corsair 450vx- 32amps, 80+ effeciency, made by Seasonic (buy.com)
$30 - Your choice DVD burner

Total $575. Intel is bound to drop the Q6600 or the replacement to compete with Phenom at the low end quad market.


I'm not a fanboy, I'm rolling an AMD Opteron right now.

That was the other option that I was going to suggest, but the OP appeared to be going with AMD, so that is why I suggested what I suggested. I don't think the 8800gt will be available anytime soon for the $250 price, so the 3870 might be a easier and quicker choice at the moment.

I am looking at AMD mostly because the moves they seem to be making are going to benifit me more inthe near future (espeically with the compatablity moves they are making) my only question about thta build was what about the PSU that one only has 30W more then my current is that going to be enough in the future?

Which PSU are you talking about? The Antec 430w has 30A on the 12V rails and can power a 8800gtx and an OC'd e6600, so I'm not sure which PSU your talking about.

The Antec was what i was talking about. How about this one or am i crazy?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817190012

Short summary:
*Quality is important
*Most PSUs lie about capacity, reporting peak, not continuous power
*Where the watts are matter
*The Antec Earthwatts (not all Antec PSUs) is a quality unit with a sufficient 12V line.

Unless you are running a seriously power intensive (multiple GPUs, heavy overclock, etc.) a 400W power supply is *way* more than you need. The trouble with PSUs is that many (most?) companies sell PSUs that are not actually capable of outputting their listed wattage all the time. Add in the possibility that bad power will either destroy of shorten the lifespan of your components, and investing in a power supply may be a very good idea. These boards are filled with tales of power supplies gone bad, taking high end components with them.

The Antec power supply listed is made by Seasonic, who is the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for many high end power supplies (Corsair HX, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic themselves). Furthermore, voltage on the 12V rail is becoming more and more important, so 400W (where most of the power is on the 5V rail) is not the same as another 400W (where most is on the 12V rail). Thus, unless you determine the specs (12V power in watts(W) or amps(A) and brand) of your PSU, we can't make an accurate assessment whether or not this is an important upgrade for you.

Lunyone and Noya have some good suggestions. Choose a PSU from Tier-3 or better from this list: http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiere [...] ngs?t=anon

Xion and XClio are both on Tier-5. If I needed to buy a PSU, right now I'd probably choose a Corsair 520HX, although I've also been happy with my Tier-T Mushkins.

A Corsair 450vx will power that system with no problems. For added security you could opt for the 550vx which is actually a better value. These are not on the Tiered list because they came out after. They would easily fit into at least Tier 3 if not slightly above.

I realize most folks select the PSU last, but in reality it should be first. Without a good PSU, it really does not matter what else you buy since it will likely end up in the trash bin.

There really is not much of a benefit if you look into Intel's upcoming offerings, unlike some THG authors.

The E2160 will provide you a much faster CPU to start with now.
The upcoming Phenoms will also easily work in your mobo - 1600FSB is relatively slow nowadays and most current boards easily blow past this.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/0 [...] page6.html
(Effective FSB - 2080 Mhz, But the system is System Bound not FSB bound at this point.)

Initial Intel Quads are shown to hit 4.0Ghz on Air w/o much of a problem.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/1 [...] r_cooling/
Upcoming Revisions will likely hit 4.5-5.0 Ghz on Air.
(Note: 4.5ghz on air has not been a problem for some review sites already.)

This basically means that AMD has a LONG way to go to come close to meeting what Intel has to offer today.
AMD has hope os one day being able to hit 3.0Ghz on an OC, but the Current Intels are still up to 50% faster Clock for Clock and these chips will be a good 10%-15% Clock for Clock faster based upon the fact that the Q6600 was on average 9% faster than the yet to be released 9700 and the upcoming Intel Penryns are about 7% faster clock for clock for the outgoing Intels.

All in all, the Phenom would likely need to be hitting 5.0 to 5.5Ghz to really start matching Intel.
From the looks of things, AMD might be able to hit that performance in 2009 when the ship their NEXT generation after Phenom. With delays, that would likely be 2010. And all of that is to just match what Intel has today.


So bang for your buck with upgrades in mind, the E2160 is a great place to start.
Then in about a year, look at replacing that with a nicely priced Intel Quad.