Hi. Looking to build my first rig. My intentions are to play and program games. I'm trying to stay under the $500 mark. I've looked around newegg and listed below are the parts I'm considering as well as questions I have for each:

Motherboard : ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Taken from one of the reviews: "As of this past month (11/07/09), AMD released new revisions to their top line of processors (starting with the 965 125w). DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOARD WITH THAT (OR ANY OTHER C3) PROCESSOR. AMD supports these chips in the most current version of the BIOS (v.2002). However, in order to flash your BIOS, you have to have another AM3 processor. The board will NOT boot at all with these new processors." Does this apply to the processor I have listed below?

Tower Case : APEVIA X-Gear ATXB5KLW Beige Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX 420W power supply for AMD/Intel Power Supply - Retail

Are both the motherboard and this compatible? I'd assume so since they're both ATX.

Why do cases come with PSUs and not the motherboards? I would think that it would be the latter since that's the one being powered.

Processor : AMD Athlon II X3 440 Rana 3.0GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor - Retail

How much more powerful is the Phenom II version of this? I know it depends on the application I'm running and how many, but on average, is the Phenom II X3 far superior to Athlon II X3? Is there a huge difference if I were to play/program games with either?

Harddrive : Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

I read that most hard drives don't come with a cable to connect to the motherboard, and since this is listed as a bare drive, I'm assuming I'm in the same boat with this hard drive. So what kind of SATA cables should I look for? I don't know which one is ideal for this setup.

Does anyone know if this harddrive is fast and reliable?

Graphics Card : EVGA 512-P3-1242-LR GeForce GT 240 Superclocked 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

Chose this mainly for its support for OpenGL 3.1, its price, and the fact that it has a D-Sub/VGA output port.

RAM : Kingston HyperX 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3/2G - Retail

I read that the connecting pins on the both the motherboard and RAM should be made out of the same material: tin or gold, but it doesn't say in either specs what materials they are. Is there anyway I can verify this?

CD/DVD Drive : LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDP118-08 - Retail

No comments or questions.

Is there anything I'm forgetting? I already have a monitor that has a D-sub connector, a USB mouse and keyboard, and an ethernet cable.

And most importantly, everything is compatible, right? I've looked around and researched the heck out of these for almost a day but I would very much appreciate a look at these from experienced builders. Thanks.

Edited: 03/05/2010 at 10:36 PM by 16bit_port

Hmm ok my $0.02

Your config is weak in 2 important areas namely
1. GPU
2. Reliable, capable PSU : free PSU with case no to the max @@
A suggested $485 AR config featuring an 80+ certified PSU and a GTS 250 (HDMI/DVI/DSub):


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