[Petrachih]

I will soon be building myself a desktop and found a way to keep the rig cost below $500 (yay). These are the specifications:

CPU: -AMD Phenom 555 II x2
which I will [attempt to] fully unlock and OC to 3,6ghz. Which heatsink should I purchase?
Product Link: http://www.newegg.co...st=Combo.581978

RAM: -4GB DDR3 1066
better off with 1 4GB or 2x2GB sticks?

GFX: -5750 XFX 1GB
will probably overclock memory to 1250mhz (from 1150mhz) and ram to 460mhz (from 400mhz). How does Sapphire compare to XFX?
Product link: http://www.newegg.co...5750 radeon xfx

Motherboard: -BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 with SB710 for core unlocks
http://www.newegg.co...8-283-_-Product

HDD: 1TB Hitachi 7200rpm

PSU link: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817101048

Now, I chose a 600W PSU but I hear a little voice that says "overkill". I do not plan on going XFire (mobo probably doesn't support it anyhow) any time soon and will most likely not change any of the components besides an eventual increase in RAM. Which PSU would you suggest?
I used the eXtreme PSU Calculator and used the Phenom II x4 955 @ 3,6ghz and a 5770 instead of a 5750. Recommended PSU wattage is 392.

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Please don't buy a processor and assume you can unlock it because you can't guarantee that. If you want a quad core processor I'd recommend you purchase one labelled as such. Not all processors are overclockable.
Even if you can unlock it, no guarantee it'll work properly as it would have been disabled for that reason.
Same principle applies to over-clocking graphics cards.


Re: PSU: The actual wattage is irrelevant. A decent brand is far more important as it tends to mean when it finally packs up the difference between just blowing itself up and taking the rest of the machine out with it.

Memory: In theory 2x2Gb is faster but the difference is so marginal you'll never notice. It tends to be cheaper to have 2x2 as opposed to 1x4.

[Neil Jones]

Please don't buy a processor and assume you can unlock it because you can't guarantee that. If you want a quad core processor I'd recommend you purchase one labelled as such. Not all processors are overclockable.
Even if you can unlock it, no guarantee it'll work properly as it would have been disabled for that reason.
Same principle applies to over-clocking graphics cards.


Re: PSU: The actual wattage is irrelevant. A decent brand is far more important as it tends to mean when it finally packs up the difference between just blowing itself up and taking the rest of the machine out with it.

Memory: In theory 2x2Gb is faster but the difference is so marginal you'll never notice. It tends to be cheaper to have 2x2 as opposed to 1x4.

[Petrachih]

Yes, I do realize that not all CPUs are overclockable (even if the 555 does overclock well) and I do know that I may be able to only unlock the 3rd core or not even that. Either way, a quadcore isn't exactly what I need.

About the PSU, which brand would you suggest? Would a 450-500W Corsair do the job?