Lil Help with System Build

[White667]

So, I've only ever owned one desktop, an old windows 98 thing which cost me £5 from a friend whose dad worked with computers. I'm definitely a laptop dude, =P I've bought five over the last four years alone.
Soooo... Need some help judging if this is a good build or not, whether it's worth it and if it'll play games and HD films right or not:

Processor
*AMD Phenom II X2 550 Dual Core CPU
3.1GHz x2 / 7MB L2/3 Cache / Socket AM3 / 80W / Retail Boxed - Fan Included
RAM
* 4GB CCL Choice 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Memory Kit
Original Branded Memory / High quality RAM chosen by the experts at CCL / 800MHz / CAS 6 / 2GB (2 x 2GB Sticks)
Motherboard
* Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2H Motherboard
SKT: AM2, AM2+, AM3 RAM: DDR2 upto 800Mhz (8GB) / VGA: OnBoard SLOTS: 1xPCI-e x16, 2xPCI 1xPCI-e x1 / NETWORK: 10/100/1000Mbps LAN USB: 12 / SOUND: 5.1 SATA: 6 (RAID) FORM: mATX
Cooler
* Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Quiet (Rev 2)
3 Dual Heat Pipes / Built-In 92mm Arctic Cooling Fan / 107 x 96.5 x 126.5 mm / 0.9 Sone / Intel CPU Support: 775, 1156, 1366 and AM2/2+/3
Hard Drive
1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue 3.5" Hard Disk Drive
SATA II / 7200rpm / 32MB Cache / OEM - Drive Only
Graphics
Sapphire ATI Radeon 5670 1GB
Core Clock: 775MHz / Memory Clock: 4000MHz GDDR5
Optical Drive
* LG GH22NS50 22x DVDRW
CD Write Speed: 48x / DVDR Write Speed: 22x / DVDR DL Write Speed: +16x -12x / Black / SATA / OEM
Case
* Galaxy III Black
24 Pin 450 Watt PSU / USB2 / Audio / See Through Window and LED Fan / Bubble Tube Lights
OS
* Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM


Soooo, all that costs £435.89 ex VAT, £512.17 inc VAT (and includes a £25 build cost) So that's like, sorta what I'm thinking about getting. It is a bit more expensive than I'd like but I can't seem to find anything cheaper and available to the UK.
Just, looking if there are any major oversights or whathaveyou. Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT: changed the graphics and processor, just, yeah.

[White667]

To clarify, I want something fast enough to play most Steam games in windowed mode and which I won't need to upgrade for at least a year, hopefully longer. I've purposely chosen a motherboard which can have up to 8GIG RAM so that I can upgrade that if needed.

[Capt_Thad]

The 5670 is not a great video card... Either grab the 5770 (or the 5750 if you have to) if you're set on the 5000 series (and it's a good card for a great price), or grab a 4850 in the price range you're looking at. I'm still running a 4850 myself.

The CPU is solid, and I use the same cooling option myself... The mobo is passable but it's micro ATX, if that's a consideration. Smaller form factor, so fewer expansion slots. Since you're buying an AM3 CPU anyway, you should also weigh in whether or not you want to grab an AM3 socket mobo and DDR3 RAM. Marginally more expensive, might not be worth it with your pound conversion and VAT thrown in.

Build cost? You using a service to build this? Got any links?

[randir14]

I think you should get a quad core, look at the phenom ii x4 940 or 955. You can also overclock them easily.
I had a 3 ghz dual core and I upgraded to the 955 a couple weeks ago. Games with multi-core support run way better now, like GTA IV, Just Cause 2 and Bad Company 2. In the future I'm sure there will be even more games that need a quad core to perform well.
They're more expensive than the dual core you listed, but I think it would be better to save a little more money in order to get a quad.

[Syl]

Yeah, i'd go for a quad or tri-core. You lose a bit in the ghz but you gain it in future support.

Also, the Nvidia GTX 460 that just came out is probably the videocard you want. Best price/performance ratio available at the moment and it has nifty DX11 effects and PhysX support, etc.

[brandonjclark]

Yeah, i'd go for a quad or tri-core. You lose a bit in the ghz but you gain it in future support.

Also, the Nvidia GTX 460 that just came out is probably the videocard you want. Best price/performance ratio available at the moment and it has nifty DX11 effects and PhysX support, etc.


Syl ain't lying...... Toms just reviewed the little beast RIGHT HERE> (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-gf104-fermi,2684.html).

[Syl]

I don't care for tom, but Anandtech and about 20 other sites that were linked from daily tech all had glowing things to say about it.

I'm just kinda pissed that the GTX 460 is simply more powerful than my HD4870.

That damn urge to upgrade is happening, but i must wait! I shall wait!

[Capt_Thad]

Man I've been waiting for a decent upgrade option... was hoping for a price drop on the 5850. That GTX 460 is pretty tempting though, might have to get the first NVidia card I've had in years.

[Tintivilo]

If you want to waste your money on 4gb of ram with only 2 slots on a microatx board, and later upgrade to 8, which will greatly increase your per stick cost(4GB per stick), screw microatx, if you are getting a 64bit os, there isnt much point in only having 4GB of ram anyways

[mahoku]

ill wait for sandy bridge

and it will my first intel experiece