BleepingComputer.com: first time builder

I have an old Dell Dimension 4700 laying around, its been in the closet for about a little over a year. I started thinking, hey why don't I learn about this computer stuff and start to build one like all of my gaming buddies always suggest I do (rather than buying a new comp). So, I was thinking that I can just use the case and pretty much replace everything else. I am a gamer and will be playing games like BFBC2 and other new games as they come out.

So, this is what I have come up with this far. I welcome any and all feedback and my biggest question at this point is, can my case house this stuff? Its not the prettiest case but if it saves me $100 so be it.

Motherboard
MSI 870A-G54 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2 GHz

Vid Card
SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB

Power Supply
Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W
I really have no idea on power supply, is this enough? Also what is CrossFire as I've seen it mentioned here numerous times...edit..I think I learned it, its just being able to hook up 2 vid cards right?

Memory
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

CD/DVD drive
ASUS Black

Hard Drive
SAMSUNG HD754JJ 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
I don't need much space, don't do much with photos/videos/music/etc....just games

Monitor:
ASUS VH235T-P 23" 5ms widescreen Full HD 1080p LCD

And of course Windows 7 64 bit.

Like I said, I am brand new at this so if you see something that sucks or if I would be overpaying for brand x when brand y is just as good but cheaper then let me know. Many thanks to all that offer advice, great forum you have here.

This post has been edited by Zebug: 03 June 2010 - 01:21 PM

crossfire is yes hooking 2 cards together in order to combine their power...usually with a bridge connecter that will come with either ure video card or motherboard. u may need a bigger case simply because that video card and componants may not fit...i recommend a full tower like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...9-043-_-Product

and i would go a 750w psu like the one i have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...6-049-_-Product

there r probably cheaper psu's out there but i love this one!

ex of crossfire: 2 hd radeon 4870's in crossfire=1 4870x2 card

Hey! I have the same PC!

I agree with Blaze413 about the PSU & case size. I looked at how many watts the vid card you want requires: min 480w. Add that with the power you're planning on with the CPU & MB and you might have a problem with a 650w. Be careful when getting a PSU. Antec is good, so is Thermaltake. Space might be an issue for you. I'm looking at my tower right now and I have to say...things are a tight squeeze. You should look up the 4700 specs...pretty sure they're online somewhere and see if everything will fit. Honestly...you're better off just buying a new case. You could probably get a used one for under $100.

Also...be sure to get a thermal compound. You'll need it as a buffer between the processor & heatsink. And maybe you ought to think about getting 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB. Crucial has really good RAM and recommendations. All you do is input your MB & CPU and they hit you with a list of suggestions.

I would honestly suggest buying another case. If you don't there's a good chance you're going to have issues with the form factor of the mobo, drives, and the PSU.

Hey good stuff guys thanks for the tips.

Also i was poking around inside that old dell identifying parts and I saw a network card in there but i never hear of anyone mentioning them anymore....are they just built into the mother board nowadays?

Yeah they are. Some new MB's have dual network interfaces built in too...I'm assuming you have a LAN set up?

How can I ensure that a case can hold my mobo? For instance, the mobo I am looking at above has dimensions of 12" x 8.46".

I saw a case (full tower) that said mobo compatibility: 12" x 13" E-ATX

Does that mean that case can hold UP TO 12" X 13" so my 12" X 8.46" can fit, or does it mean that ONLY 12"X13" mobo's will work?

it means it will fit...any full tower should be able to hold any type or size of motherboards available....fulls r bigger than u would think (they r HUGE!!!)

Blaze413, on Jun 7 2010, 07:25 AM, said:

You ain't kidding!!
Reading the dimensions of a case, and then actually seeing it...............HOOOLLYYYYY COW!!!
The dimensions don't do it justice.

To give you an example, here's my full tower Coolermaster Cosmos.
That's a 21.5 " monitor behind it.
As you can see, the interior dwarfs a full ATX motherboard.

I am just getting my first build finished actually as far as power supplies are concerned it depends on what you will be hooking up and how much things like your graphics card will take. I don't know much about MSI boards as mine is an ASUS. the case is up to you. but it too will depend on what you want in it and how big of a video card you have. this was mine in the beginning stages.

This post has been edited by Rage Skywolfe: 07 June 2010 - 11:59 PM

Well I just got my case yesterday in the mail and OMFG holy mother of jesus....its giagantic. I could water proof it and float out to sea in this thing. In fact, I may just move into it.

Here is my case, it was one of the cheaper ones (was only $79 when I bought it). I actually thought it was kind of ugly when I bought it, but seeing it in person made me like it more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811103033

I'm awaiting the next billing cycle on the good old credit card, so at the end of the month I will buy all the guts to the comp and start building over the July 4th weekend.

I do apologize for the slight necro posting, but since this was my first post on the forum, I thought I'd just let you all know that I built my computer, and it actually turned on and everything is cruising along perfectly.

I can't thank you all enough, I've learned a great deal about this computer stuff from you and when I went to throw it together I somewhat knew what I was doing. You all rock, and now I blame you because I'm hooked. I pretty much got what I posted in my original post but I did go with the case shown just above. Got different hard drive and DVD-RW but the main components are the same as the first post. I'm freaking pumped!!!!!!!!