Building a new Gaming PC?

I have a case, (vented) all internal fans except the cpu fan, 500w psu, dvd burner (IDE) plenty of hard drives. I need the motherboard, cpu, cpu cooler, gpu (i have a 7900gt laying around) and ram. Lets say I had $450. What would change if I had $550? Im thinking AMD for financial reasons, like a Phenom 9850. Here's what I had in mind:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealD...
($210 after rebate) or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealD... ($223 after rebate)
a 9800GTX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...
($125 after rebate)
4GB of OCZ 1066mhz RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...
($48)
So that would come to $385, I figure about $415 for shipping, and it'll take a while for the rebates....whatever....Also could someone tell me why 2GB ram seems to do the best on 3dmarks? All the leaders have 2048mb RAM...I'll post that seperately no worries. But is there anything I'm missing here, like selecting something that has a reputation for sucking.

 

sorry that was http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.160277 for the motherboard cpu combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130420 for the 9800gtx and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227362 for the ram

 

I would consider a phenom 2. It would put you just above 450 shipped (probably 470) but it would be worth it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103472

 

Oh yes definately go Phenom II, my Phenom 9750 is dire

I wish we had cheap prices like newegg here in the Uk, I would have gotton a Phenom II 940.

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

There's one thing some people overlook and that's the PSU. What is the brand name? Antec? Thermaltake? OCZ? The 500w is okay, but if you're using an 'el cheapo' you could be asking for trouble in the form of life span and efficency. It wouldn't hurt to check!!

 

I overlook nothing LOL

I was thinking that actually, a nice CoolerMaster should do the job, i've been posting this same PSU type on MG for too long :-D

This is a good strong PSU & it will last a L-O-N-G time: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171018

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

As for 'Cooler Master,' even though I have never used one of their PSUs I do know that they are a reputable company and have been around for some time. The only reason I brought it up about a PSU is because Jadawgis732 said he\she had a 500w PSU, but didn't mention the brand name and I'd hate to see him\her spend the money on a decent machine and then couple it with a PSU of questionable quality.

The PSU you suggested is fine, but has an efficiency rating of 70% and non-PFC (Power factor correction). A similar Antec 500w (same price) has an efficiency rating of 80%+ and APFC (active power factor correction). PFC comes in two 'flavors,' active and passive. So while there's nothing wrong with the PSU you suggested, it would be to jadawgis732 advantage to get the most 'bang for the buck,' don't you agree?

 

I've never had an Antec PSU, but I hear good things about them. I reconmend Coolermaster because if it can handle my 4870 & AMD (power hungry) Phenom then it should easily power jadawagis732's stuff.

I am also a little new to PSU's I know about the importance of rails & how they work, wattage is the easy part & the rest is generally efficiency & safety tech.

But yes I do agree 80% efficiency is better & so is the PSU if it'sthe same price, you should post that link so he can buy it :-D

:major2-Bit-Geek:major

 

these are my favorite here (i dont go cheap on psu's)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703015
I have the 750(60 amps 1 rail) this one has 35 amps 1 rail

 

Thanks so much guys. Yea I'll spend $50 extra and get a brand name psu, if I don't will the trouble I am asking for result in damaging the component's life expectancy, or just the psu? I also have a dell 2409 its 1920x1080. I sold a syncmaster 2493hm 1920x1200 to buy it, I like the 16x9 screens much more. Will games display with that res? or will i have to use 1680x1050 or something? I think I'll go with Phenom II, but maybe a triple core. 740 maybe....Right now I am trying to decide between a 260 core 216 or a 4870...any opinions? I really like Phys-x on the nvidia but I dont like the power consumption (I'm really bothered by wasting) also I think I want to go with 6-8gb ram but I don't know if it's any better than 2, because all the best 3dmark score machines have 2gb. Anyway...thanks again, also I have one of those antec vcool things for my 7900gt and I think i'll be using it for the 260 or 4870 because they both get really hot, will that increase my ambient temp so much that I'll need to go beyond stock cpu? I dont plan on overclocking the cpu too much, because the bottleneck will more likely be the gpu...okay any info will be truly appreciated. I posted at guru3d and yahoo answers and didnt get help either place....you guys are the best. Oh I'm a him by the way

 

I would go with the 260. Had less driver issues with nvidia. You can adjust fan speed on the card and keep them cool and no, extra cpu cooling shouldn't be neccessary. I run an 8800gt and run 1920-1200 on a hanns g 28" no problem and both the cards listed are stronger then what I have so it shouldn't be an issue. I play cod4, WOW, AA, BF2, and fallout 3 with no issues. As for ram I use 4 gigs personally but use what you feel comfortable with. I base mine on my own pc in my environment not some program that I don't use everyday.

 

this is my power supply, you think itll handle the 260? only 31a amps on the 12v rails....not the end of the world, buying a new psu though http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817342010

 

For gaming I can think of nothing better than a Sapphire 4870 1GB, it has GDDR5 VRAM and lots of it where as the Nvidia 260 has DDR3?

I play new games as high as my HANNspree Xm allows 1440x900 720dpi & have had excellent FPS from it. As for that 2GB of RAM you keep seeing it'll be gaming RAM like Corsair, Kingston Hyper, OCZ. Get 2 or 4GB in dual channel mode, only if the RAM supports it of course LOL

If a PSU goes it can mean the apocolipse for the rest of your PC, if it surges for example it will fry eveything connected to it that doesn't have it's own surge protection, the thing is everything is conneted to the PSU :-D. Or you could be lucky and it will just burn out, I personally wouldn't take the risk.

I would go for the best stuff you can afford really, a 940 Phenom II & a 4870 X2 is the ideal mix for Gaming, there are lots of downloads on the AMD/ATI website that you can take a look at that can optimise them to run together.

:major2-Bit-Geek:major