Thoughts on this AMD build for gaming.

[shingletingle]

The most intense thing this PC would be doing is gaming. Thoughts?

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231193

MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130275

AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision HDZ555WFGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103846

MSI N460GTX CYCLONE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127510

I went with the AMD 555 dual core since it is half the price of the comparable quad core. Plus, there is the chance I may be able to unlock additional cores. If not, oh well. I believe for gaming, only a dual core is really necessary?

Memory -- are we at a point where 8GB is recommended now? Is 4GB still ok?

Graphics card, so many to choose from but I believe I found the best deal right now.

Total cost for all of this is $487.96 minus $40 in rebates. So $447.96.

I don't need anything else (mouse, keyboard, monitor, etc.) These would be the parts necessary for an upgrade. My monitor's native resolution is 1920x1200.

 

[Sp12]

Unless you can unlock a core that dually isn't really a good buy at this point. I would spend ~13$ more for an Athlon X4 quad. Tricores are a significant step up from duals at this point. And some games (BFBC2/GTA4) can use hexa/quad cores already.

 

[mfenn]

A quad core will definitely make more of a difference in gaming than 8GB of memory. I would spend the extra on the 955. Here's a combo with the 955 that gets you a mobo for the same price as the one that you have picked out, only without a rebate. Here's the same mobo with a 555 and with a 640.

 

[MisterDonut]

Go with a 955BE. You can find a ton of combos (Fry's, Egg, etc.) for the 955 + mobo. And you'll get a lot more life out of that over the dual core version.