~$500 gaming build review, first time builder

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Feb 21, 2009
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18,510
MSI R4830-T2D512 Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail $94.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127420

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $59.95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042


ASRock P43Twins1600 LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157130

Antec earthwatts EA500 500W ATX12V v2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail - $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E5200 - Retail - $72.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail - $45.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM - $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM - $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171

XIGMATEK HDT-S963 92mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail - $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233001


This is my very first build and I'd like to know what you guys think.
Would all the parts go together well?
Is there any way to put the price at or below 500$ without gimping the cpu and gpu?
I plan to overclock the cpu to about 3.2 ghz
tips and comments appreciated. Thanks
 
So I made a few adjustments and that brought the price down a little.

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
I think this is a better motherboard for overclocking the e5200 than the micro one

A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Cheaper ram to keep the build under 500

Rosewill R222-P-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Cheap case for the budget

Antec earthwatts EA500 500W ATX12V v2.0 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
A quality PSU with some headroom for gpu upgrade in the future

XIGMATEK HDT-S963 92mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
After market cooler to allow for overclocking. As stated above, I plan to overclock the CPU to about 3.0~3.2 ghz

POWERCOLOR AX4830 512MD3-H Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
slightly cheaper hd4830

Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

So this all comes down to $482.91 before tax shipping and rebates. 462.91 after rebates
I plan to buy all the parts this tuesday. Any more suggestions for this build?
I really don't like to count on rebates since you won't always get them. I look at the price before rebates for my budget.

 
Considering what you have, nice job. The only suggestion I have is if you still need it cheaper, drop the aftermarket cooler. Run with the stock one while you build it and get it set up and working. After you get the funds, and your sure the computer is working the way its supposed to, get a cooler and then overclock. This way you can get whatever cooler you want, as opposed to one that keeps your build under XXX amount. You will also make sure your computer runs the way its supposed to before you introduce whatever overclocking might introduce.

Either way, looks good. For $500, not a bad build at all.