First time builder

[WolverineM]

I have been reading about building my own computer for a while this site being the best source of information I have found. Last night when my wife broke both of the USB connectors on the laptop (it being our only computer) I saw an opportunity to convince her that I should build my own now. I have been doing some reading today and would like to build a computer for around $500 that has the potential to be upgraded to something better in the future. For now I am forgoing the video and sound card for now but plan to add them both at a future date. I plan to run Windows 7 and add a nice LCD monitor. After adding a video card, sound card and possibly upgrading the memory I hope to be able to do some gaming. Nothing hardcore but would like to be able to at least run most games at a decent frame rate. Any feedback on the components I am considering would be greatly appreciated.

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

Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128444) GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727) AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145299) CORSAIR XMS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Ultra Stable Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1333C8

Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136794) Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289) LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM

[RickyTick]

That's a terrific setup. Adding a video card later would be perfect. Maybe a Radeon 6850 1gb or Geforce GTX460 1gb.

Here's a couple of options to think about.
The Sonata III is a great case/psu, but at $130 plus $14 shipping it's not such a great deal. I've seen it as low $99 with free shipping. Consider the Antec 300 with the 430 watt psu. It's $90 and has free shipping, PLUS a $20 rebate. If you think the 430 watt psu is not going to be enough to power future upgrades, then you can get the Antec 300 case alone for $60 with free shipping AND a $10 rebate. Then add the Antec BP550 psu for $55 also with free shipping. Just something to look into.

You can also get a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB hard drive for $65. The trade-off is that it has a 3 yr warranty and the WD has a 5 yr.

[zburns]

Did you choose your RAM from a memory support list from Gigabyte on your mobo choice? If you did not, you should go to the gigabyte mobo page for your mobo, find the memory support list and confirm that yours is there. If it is not, you should choose memory from that list. Another question is whether or not that is a 'late model gigabyte mobo choice'. You have plenty of 6 gig SATA connections, but only two USB 3.0/2.0 ports on the rear connector panel; I do know that this is really important. But I am curious as to why the small number of USB 3.0 ports -- I will look at this later today. I do suggest that you check your memory!!!

[WolverineM]

I did not check the memory against the Gigabyte homepage, I will do that thanks for the suggestion. You lost me a bit on the question about the USB ports. It looks to me that there is 4 USB 2.0 and 2 USB 3.0 ports on this board, am I missing something?

As far as the case I will take a look at seeing if I cant find a better price for it as a matter of fact I will probably check for best prices for all the parts, it was easy to put things together on one site to begin with though. I really like the design of the Sonata III case and it passed the wife inspection, but thanks alot for the suggestions.

[RickyTick]

http://www.provantage.com/antec-sonata-iii~7ANTG04H.htm

[WolverineM]

After another week of countless hours reading and researching components on the web I have order the components to build my first computer. Below is what I ordered now I just have to wait to receive it all and get some time to do the build. Hopefully all goes well but should I encounter problems I will be back for more excellent advice.

Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233) COOLER MASTER HAF 912
Processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727) AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128444&cm_re=gigabyte_motherboard-_-13-128-444-_-Product) GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H AM3 AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010) CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.9
Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193) G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) (verified compatible with motherboard via the Gigabyte website!)
Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185) SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive (SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s) SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner
Card Reader (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820223103) Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5" Internal Card Reader

Total Cost: $548.73 minus $30 mail in rebates makes it $518.73