Would like comments on my build.

[Jinuwine]

First of all, I live in Toronto, Canada. So I'm in the process of picking out parts on ncix.com. What will I use the computer for? Gaming (MW2, SC2, BC2, etc), Music, Movies, HD youtube videos, MSN, Web browsing, Word/Excel/PP and a whole lot of multitasking between all of those. What's the best bang for buck CPU for me? Initially I was going for an i5 750 build but I figure that might be overkill for what I use the computer for. Then I decided to go with the AMD Phenom II X2 555 BE and the Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 to save $120~ towards something else. I figure I can try to unlock the two additional cores if I ever need a quad core cpu, right?

What do you guys think about this build for me? Any suggestions on what to replace for a better and cheaper rig? I'm trying to keep the price as low as possible.. I cheaped out on the hard drive so I can pick up a SSD later when the price drops a bit. The main performance boost really comes from a SSD anways, not a high end CPU.

AMD Athlon II X3 440 Triple Core Processor AM3 3.0GHZ 1.5MB L2 Cache 95W 45NM Retail Box
Usually ships in 1-2 business days.
In Stock 50791 $104.99 $104.99
Price Match request for the above item
Competitor's price: $76.99, source url: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103843&Tpk=x3%20440
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$76.99 $76.99

Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3 ATX AM3 AMD 770/SB710 DDR3 PCI-E16 4XPCI-E 2XPCI SATA2 RAID USB3.0 Motherboard
Usually ships in 1-2 business days.
In Stock 50567 $99.99 $99.99
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Competitor's price: $84.88, source url: http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/226851/GA-770T-USB3/Gigabyte/
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$84.88 $84.88

XFX Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card
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In Stock 48038 $179.99 $179.99
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$159.97 $159.97

G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit
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In Stock 42745 $129.99 $129.99
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$108.29 $108.29

Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 32MB Cache 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM
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In Stock 49262 $99.99 $99.99
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Competitor's price: $77.22, source url: http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/?sku=225675&kw=samsung spinpo
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LG GH22NS50 Black 22X SATA DVD Writer OEM
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In Stock 40435 $29.99 $29.99
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Competitor's price: $19.72, source url: http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/?sku=217563&kw=lg gh22ns50
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$19.72 $19.72

Coolermaster CM 690 II Basic ATX Mid Tower Case Black 4X5.25 6X3.5INT Front USB eSATA Audio *No PSU*
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In Stock 49224 $84.99 $84.99
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$71.50 $71.50 - $10.00 MIR

Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA775 LGA1156 120MM
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In Stock 41337 $29.36 $29.36
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Competitor's price: $22.00, source url: http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/218427/RR-B10-212P-GP/COOLERMASTER/
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OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan 80PLUS Power Supply
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In Stock 35456 $94.99 $94.99
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$79.85 $79.85 - $25.00 MIR

Total BEFORE Price Match $854.28
YOUR TOTAL $700.42 - $35.00 MIR

Any parts you guys suggest swapping out for something better in the similar price range? I'm actually debating between the mobo, MSI 770-C45 or Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3. I only need a basic AM3, DDR3 mobo.

 

[LoneNinja]

Personally I would either grab an Athlon II X4, or Phenom II X3 instead of that Phenom II X2. I'm not one to gamble on luck of getting a working quad, and in anything that can use more than 2 threads the Phenom II X2 will be left behind, even on games that utilize the extra cores.

 

[lopri]

Get a higher quality motherboard. It's the backbone of any system and by far the hardest to upgrade/replace down the line.

 

[RussianSensation]

Mobo: I would pick Gigabyte motherboard over MSI any day. Gigabyte is generally superior for updating BIOS (can flash in windows, which you can't do on MSI, bios updates are quicker online), a lot more user friendly website, better overclocking, 3 year warranty.

PSU: I would go for a Seasonic Power supply: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=52174&vpn=S12II%20620&manufacture=Seasonic%20Electronics

Modular: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-095-_-Product

or Corsair PSU: http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=015708

CPU: I would probably get a quad right away: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-704-_-Product

Dual core is really not the way to go on AMD - X4 630 is faster than X2 550: http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/18448/7

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Quad for sure. The ocz power supply is okay. I got one for cheap on a combo deal for my wife's computer and it worked nicely powering a gtx 280 and i7 930. Love gigabyte boards as well. Listen to these guys. Good advice.

 

[-Slacker-]

x3 720 BE or x4 630 i'd say. And that psu is wayyy overkill.

 

[RussianSensation]

x3 720 BE or x4 630 i'd say. And that psu is wayyy overkill.

Ya 650-700 watt psu is overkill for that build. However, extra $20 today means you can reuse this over the next 2 or so builds. Plus, leaves extra room for more powerful CPU/Graphics card. Having said that, there are 520/550 watt models made by seasonic and corsair that are also very good.

 

[Jinuwine]

Great, thanks for all the helpful comments guys. Which mobo should I go for? AM3, DDR3, no cross-fire, usb3, sata3. Looking for a basic but new board. How about the Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3?

Happen to spot this monitor deal over at newegg.ca. What you guys think? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236059&cm_re=asus_23-_-24-236-059-_-Product

 

[RussianSensation]

How about the Gigabyte GA-770T-USB3?

What about this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128419

It's hard to say if Series 7 chipset will support Bulldozer. Hmm..you may want to ask guys with AMD boards. On a budget I'd spring for Series 8 chipset and SB850 southbridge: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131651

The monitor looks good for a budget TN panel. It's not IPS but for $160 it's great value.

 

[Jinuwine]

What about this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128419

It's hard to say if Series 7 chipset will support Bulldozer. Hmm..you may want to ask guys with AMD boards. On a budget I'd spring for Series 8 chipset and SB850 southbridge: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131651

The monitor looks good for a budget TN panel. It's not IPS but for $160 it's great value.

Initially I was going with the Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 but I wanted to save some money going with a cheaper board. Plus I hear people unlocked the cores successfully on the 7 series.

 

[Jinuwine]

Any other comments guys?

 

[mvbighead]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.381894

Get your MB and CPU as a combo from newegg to save some coinage, if you're going with what you have listed in your first post.

EDIT: Whoops, wrong CPU. Slightly lesser so you can safely ignore my post.

DOUBLE EDIT: Try this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubCategory=22&SortField=0&PageSize=100&Page=1

 

[solofly]

On a budget I'd spring for Series 8 chipset and SB850 southbridge: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131651

This would be my pick also over 770/SB710...

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

lulz @ flashing bios in windows.

Mobo: I would pick Gigabyte motherboard over MSI any day. Gigabyte is generally superior for updating BIOS (can flash in windows, which you can't do on MSI, bios updates are quicker online), a lot more user friendly website, better overclocking, 3 year warranty.

PSU: I would go for a Seasonic Power supply: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=52174&vpn=S12II%20620&manufacture=Seasonic%20Electronics

Modular: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-095-_-Product

or Corsair PSU: http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=015708

CPU: I would probably get a quad right away: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...-704-_-Product

Dual core is really not the way to go on AMD - X4 630 is faster than X2 550: http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/18448/7

 

[RussianSensation]

lulz @ flashing bios in windows.

:awe: Honestly, you think it's not a big deal but it is!!!

I've built 3 P55-rigs with Gigabyte boards and I one with MSI. I had to update the MSI board's BIOS and you can't do it in Windows. I had to spend $20 to get a USB thumb drive to flash my P55 MSI board....what a hassle.

When P55 first came out, you really could see the difference between tier-1 mobo manufacturers and everyone else. All my Gigabyte boards had revisions after revisions of BIOSes to fix initial bug 2 weeks following September 8, 2009. MSI took weeks....

I've been flashing Gigabyte boards in Windows since 2006 (GA-P35-DS3L) and no problems ever. Not to mention good boards like Giga and EVGA have dual BIOS chips in case one gets corrupted. At the end of the day, a motherboard should perform well and be easy to use for anyone (not just enthusiasts). I want 3 clicks of a mouse to get simple things done. I am not in the mood to read on Google how to flash BIOS in DOS...or how to format my USB drive before I can use it as a bootable device.

This is why Asus, Gigabyte and EVGA are head and shoulders above the other brands.

 

[deanx0r]

Flashing under windows works fine. I've done it countless times on Gigabyte motherboards and never had a problem. Their dual bios tech makes this fool proof as it allowed me to recover when the flashing procedure locked once or twice on me.

As for MSI, I think they are garbage from personal experience. I had several of their boards from 2000 to 2006 and they all eventually died or became unstable. Their bioses also needed more validation. Some of the boards I flashed became unstable afterwards and I couldn't revert them back to an older bios version. They may have improved their products now, but I've been burned so much with MSI that this brand is trashed for me.

Stick with ASUS or Gigabyte, their mobos have never failed me.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

interesting.
i've flashed BIOS on windows servers because i've done it before but server grade hardware is a lot more robust, and we have a good service contract with the vendor so if anything goes wrong, we have a new mb on site within hours.

even though i have gigabyte mb's, i always flash the bios outside of windows, and even then my fingers are crossed.
who doesn't have a usb drive these days?

 

[sandorski]

Flashed BIOS from Windows a few times on a Socket A MSI Mobo, never had a problem.