I am putting together a new system and have the following components already: -CPU - AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition (retail) Question-Is the heatsink/cpu fan that was shipped in the box sufficient if I don't plan on doing any major overclocking? -Motherboard - Biostar TForce TA790GX 128M Question-Is the onboard graphics (ATI Radeon HD 3300) sufficient for "everyday" home use/no gaming? -RAM - OCZ Fatal1ty Edition PC28500 4GB (2x2BG) -HDD - Western Digital Caviar 320GB 7200rpm 16MB cache (I know - only 320GB, but all I could afford after eveything else, but it will be used primarily for operating system and programs as I already have 2 other HDDs for storing music/video/photos) -Case - HEC Compucase mid-tower with X-Power 585W PSU My main concerns/questions are with the PSU and an add-on video card. I have read that PSUs that ship with cases are generally not that good. Would I be safe to go with this one for a short period until I can save enough for a better one, or is there a strong possibilty that this could damage the CPU, Motherboard, and/or HDD right off the bat? As for the video card that will come at a later date, do I need to look at only ATI cards since this Motherboard has ATI chipset, or does this matter? In other words, are nVidia cards compatible with ATI chipsets and vice versa? Any other comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The PSU with the case is terrible (You should replace it immediately, don't even plug it in), so you'll need to bin that. I also need to make you aware that the CPU you have is slower than some dual cores in a similar price bracket. The board is fine, while I'm not fond of OCZ RAM (poor quality) the Fatal1ty stuff seems OK. ATI's onboard graphics are relatively good for normal stuff, as long as you don't watch 1080p high def video or play games it'll serve you fine. There's nothing to stop you plugging an nvidia card in an AMD/ATI chipset, but right now, ATI graphics cards offer the best performance to cost ratio in all sectors of the market.
Thanks for the input! I will definitely get a better PSU. I know from reading other threads that you recommend Corsair 450W, so I'll look into that one. The MOBO, CPU, RAM, and HDD arrived Friday. The case/psu I ordered will arrive today and I wanted to start getting everything put together, so in your opinion would I be OK with this PSU until say Friday, or will I risk serious damage if I go ahead with the one I get today on a 1 week basis? If I need something immediately, I'll be limited to what BestBuy has on-hand, as most other computer parts retailors in my area have gone belly-up. Either that or be without a home PC for another 3-4 days until I can get one shipped from the egg. As to the CPU, I got it in a combo deal with the MOBO at what I thought was as decent price. I mentioned no major overclocking, but that will change as I can afford better PSU/Cooling options. My first choice was going to be the X2 7750 BE (already had it in my cart before I saw this combo deal). I wanted to get best CPU I could at this time, as I don't update my system all that often, and this seemed to be more suited to future apps. and has been reviewed as being better than some of the X4s for everyday apps.
You are always at risk of serious damage with a bad PSU. They can set fire to things, and destroy components in an instant. Resist the temptation and leave the system until you have a decent PSU. Don't buy from BestBuy unless there's something good there - wait. The Phenom II X3s are pretty slow CPUs per thread, and they're only three threaded versus quad cores. Overall, if you wanted to get the best you could for the money you should really have bought an Intel system.
