Which is the best way to build a computer?

just a quick question, if i have 200 dollars and want to buy parts for a computer, would it be better to build a higher end CPU/MB, and use onboard graphics till you can afford somthing else, or buy a lowerend computer and have all CPU/GPU/MB?

for instance would it be better to build a
Athlon x4, with lower end MB with 4gb of ram, and a like HD 4780 (or somthing just thowing things out there)

or a

Phenom ii x4, with 8gb of ram, with mid range board, and currently using Onboard HD 3000 Graphics? (which is the way i went)

was i right to chose this path? or should i have just built quick ( i would also like to note i RARELY get money for things, so it might take me FOREVER to get the money .

so was i smart?

thnx for the feedback

How can you have an AMD CPU, and Intel integrated graphics? I hope you didn't order incompatible parts.

Ahh, I thought you meant the Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics that come with some i5s and i7s. Anyway, how does it fare in the games you play/things you do.

Trust me, you absolutely did the right thing. It's better to get the cpu and mobo you want then figure the rest out later than to cut back on them so you can just get an ok gpu. Having to replace the mobo later would be a pain IMO.

Don't "upgrade" to bulldozer, it's more of a sidegrade and in most games gives worse performance than phenom ii, even on the best FX 8150 chip.
You may be able to unlock cores on that board since the 960T has two locked cores.
They also OC very well up to 4-4.2ghz.
The PSU could be better, the new one you are having shipped will be able to handle at max these gpu's 5770/6770/7770. They ask for 500watt minimum but that antec should do fine even though it's one of antec's lesser quality psu's.

You could always buy a CM 212+ for like 20 bucks and be good for a long time. The TDP might be showing high depending on your voltage, what's it at? do you have it overclocked at all? CPUz showed my phenom ii at 125 when i had it unlocked, and when overclocked it didn't change even though i pumped alot of voltage through it. Might just be an error.

It's just a calculation max/average when running under full load and such
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/ [...] 56466.html
personally i wouldn't worry about it. I've run chips well over the TDP or watt the boards supported and have had them run for years until the point where i couldn't see keeping them any more

Which do you prefer, AMD or Intel flatform? I don't know if the $200.00 is enough for MOBO and CPU.

Once those cores are unlocked it will give you weird readings like that for TDP and core temps possibly too, it's fine.
If you plan to unlock and overclock make sure to test before an unlock what the core temps are and add an estimate of like 5C when unlocked to give you an estimate incase you can't read the temps when unlocked.

I wouldn't worry about TDP too much, as voltage is the killer of boards 99% of the time. There shouldn't be any danger, but i'm not going to lie, doing anything but stock could cause problems or damage. As long as you don't push voltage too high and don't have temps reaching 60 or higher under full load you are fine and should have nothing to worry about.
When i unlocked my phenom ii 720, my temps were still readable as was the 960T i unlocked and overclocked for a friend.

Also its actually running at 41C average

ok, how long should i run it? and im guessing i use 64bit, for 64bit os?

If you run the 64 bit windows yes, and you should see your max temps in about 15-30 mins and if the temps are in check and not over 60, you should stress for at least 6 hours, I always stress for 24 hours to insure my rig is 100% stable for 24/7 use. You get a general idea of how stable it is in about 30 mins to an hour. If it passes an hour it should be generally stable to play on, just make sure to do a full 12-24 hour test when you sleep and go to work the next day.

If you have some fresh cpu paste try reseating the heat sink. You can run at 60-65C for a long time, heat is a very slow cpu killer so if you watch a graph/chart rise on something like speedfan, if you don't see it start leveling out before it reaches 60C then you may need a new cooler.