$600 midrange gamer

[daidalas]

Here's what ive got so far, let me know where you see room for improvement/money saving! Budget max is $600.

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor Model HDZ550WFGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392

G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

LITE-ON SK-1788/BS 2-Tone 104 Normal Keys PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823107120

SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810

Subtotal: $583.94

Only need parts listed here.

 

[armi]

Good build.

You can change your RAM to OCZ which is cheaper, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227377

and if you don't care, you can buy a cheap case + a decent psu which will save you more money.

Using all of the money you saved + a tiny bit more, you can buy a 4890 which will have more impact on your games.

 

[rooseveltdon]

There is a huge problem with this build. Your motherboard is based on the am3 socket and cannot take ddr2 ram,only ddr 3 so you are going to have to change that (you can also downgrade to an am2+ motherboard since the phenom 2's are backwards compatible and still use ddr 2 that way) the psu looks iffy, i always prefer to buy separate power supplies to make sure you get the very best. A bad power supply can mess up your entire system so make sure whatever psu you choose is solid and reliable everything else looks good so far.just change the ram to ddr 3 and check the psu to make sure it is good for your set up

 

[nadroj1485]

XFX 4870 1GB

use code Sizzle15 for another $15 off dropping this card to $127 with free shipping. Also you can use bing.com cashback to save another 5%(Superbiiz.com)

 

[mabran]

There is a huge problem with this build. Your motherboard is based on the am3 socket and cannot take ddr2 ram,only ddr 3 so you are going to have to change that (you can also downgrade to an am2+ motherboard since the phenom 2's are backwards compatible and still use ddr 2 that way) the psu looks iffy, i always prefer to buy separate power supplies to make sure you get the very best. A bad power supply can mess up your entire system so make sure whatever psu you choose is solid and reliable everything else looks good so far.just change the ram to ddr 3 and check the psu to make sure it is good for your set up

The PSU in that case is an Earthwatt 500, which is more than capable and very reliable supply. I agree with going down to AM2+.

If he was buying a cheap case I could see being skeptical but that case and PSU are of very good quality.