Help with $600 Gaming Build

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Palomino

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My son and I are thinking about building a gaming computer, but we have limited budget. Here is what we have selected so far. Any comments are appreciated.

PSU Thermaltake W0093RU 500W ATX
CPU AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Black Processor
GPU SAPPHIRE 100258-1GHDMI Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
RAM OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
MOBO GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P
HDD Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA
OD SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223B - OEM
Case COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC

Right now the total is $597 w/o shipping.
 
That's a solid build, but if you want to get it under 600 with shipping I would suggest switching the hd 4850 with the hd 4770. Also, you could replace your ram with 4 gigs of low latency ddr2-800 ram. The performance difference with these two modifications would be minimal, and you would shave off a few dollars.
 
Any concerns about the upgrade patch on the CPU? Seems like good performance for the price, but I didn't see that many compatible motherboards.

Also, this is outside the budget, but I will likely have to pick up a copy of Vista. I have a copy of XP home someplace, but would like to take advantage of directX 10.
 
Sorry to be such a noob, but I thought that you had to have a mobo that is compatible with the triple processor CPU.

Right now, everything is coming from newegg.
 
the cpu has to fit into the socket. the 720 is am3 so it will work with that gigabyte mobo since its an am3 mobo. but you have ddr2 ram listed. only ddr3 ram will work with the mobo youve chosen. if you gimme a sec, well see if we can rework your build a little.
 
Thanks, that was one question I had. Are there am 3 mobos that will accept ddr2 ram? I am concerned ddr3 will push up the cost.
 
Nice, a better PSU, GPU and mobo for $23. Don't know Liteon DVD drive, but no biggie. RAM is 800 vs 1066, but another poster said not big performance hit there.
 
By the way, we completed the build with the Gigabyte 770, the 720 CPU the DDR3 ram, the 4870 GPU and coolermaster case and power supply. It has eaten up anything we've thrown at it. Final cost was $632.
 
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