Sub 600 computer

[tipmen]

Sub 600

LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS50 - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136167
$24.99



Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
$74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319



ASRock K10N78M AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157160



SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card -
$139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102810



COOLER MASTER RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Power Supply - Retail
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel , SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
-$25.00 Instant
-$40.00 Combo

$109.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.208534




AMD Phenom II X3 710 2.6GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor Model HDX710WFGIBOX - Retail
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail


-$8.00 Instant
-$25.00 Combo
$150.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.203452



Subtotal: $555.93 --- I would like to keep it around this area. Under $600 is my goal.

This system will be bought in two to three weeks time. I know the combo deals are going to change however I believe there will be other ones like them. This is mostly going to be used for Gaming and Movies and some video/music conversions.
Any suggestions are welcomed I'm not biased towards any brand or platform, I just want the best bang for the buck.
Thanks for any help provided.


Please try to stick to Newegg if possible but i am open to other places.

 

[Outlander_04]

That will all work well , but the nVidia chipsets in the mb are not the best option

AMD chipsets give you better performance

so I'd replace the mb with either
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157154 for $70

or a full atx board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157157 for $76
after rebate


Another alternative you could research is using a 550 be dual core processor . It has one less core but its clocked higher and is easier to overclock further because of the unlocked multiplier
These benches
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3572&p=9
show that very few games currently use all cpu core so higher clock speed is often more important . The 710 is probably better at multitasking , but for gaming I'd save the money on the cpu and see if it makes a 4870 1 gig or even a 4890 affordable

 

[tipmen]

True the Dual core is slightly better and way more overclockable due to it being unlocked but the triple core doesn't lag too far behind it. The 4870 1gb doesn't make much of a difference on my friends LCD 1680 by 1050. I don't think hes going to go any bigger on the LCD till next year when he finishes his schooling. By then he will do a full rebuild with the new hardware being released.

I did replace the Board with the Full ATX seeing how it has more offerings then the one i had selected before. The PSU should do Crossfire without much problem if he feels the need, but on the platform that has been pre-built adding another card won't give much performance boost. That is where I might consider the Higher clocked Dual core over the triple core.

Any other advice?

 

[gkay09]

My suggestion would be faster RAM...AMD CPUs can take advantage of faster RAM...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166