Help me with a PC build

[Skizle]

Ok, I haven't kept up with technology in the last 3 years and this is the build I came up with back in November with the knowledge I know:

ASUS M4A77TD Pro AM3 AMD 770 ATX
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V
Sony Optiarc Black 24X
LITE-ON SK-1788
GIGABYTE GV-N275SO-18I GeForce GTX 275 1792MB 448-bit GDDR3

Now I have the cash to buy my first real gaming computer and I would just like a second opinion. Also I have two questions: Is Intel better than AMD now? and NVIDEA or ATI?

My budget is $900 (around £596 because I'm nice) and I don't want to go any higher than $1000 for leeway (around £623) so if anyone would want to add / take away anything from this build they are more than welcome and in advance, thanks.

 

[anthony87]

[link]http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_build_awesome_pc_647[/link]

There ya go. That guide will tell you more than I could, don't know if it'll be exactly what you're looking for though.

 

[Skizle]

[link]http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_build_awesome_pc_647[/link]

There ya go. That guide will tell you more than I could, don't know if it'll be exactly what you're looking for though.

The biggest thing I want out of this is to play Dragon Age at the highest setting or the best I can get with this budget.

 

[SniperWolf427]

I'd look into getting an ATI Graphics Card, considering that your processor and motherboard are both AMD already.

Besides, think of all the DX11 goodness you can have with a Radeon 5770.

 

[Avaholic03]

For that price, AMD is probably better than Intel. If you have an unlimited budget, I'd go with Intel, but you do pay a premium for the name.

As for GPUs, I've always preferred Nvidea, but that's more of a personal preference thing, since both makers are pretty close.

 

[Horticulture]

Overall, that's a very good build. You could stand to drop down to a smaller PSU, like Corsair's Antec 300 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004] is solid, cools well, and looks relatively unobtrusive without breaking your budget.

As for Intel vs. AMD and ATI vs. nVidia, Intel has the fastest chips available and ATI the fastest cards. However, AMD competes very well in the sub-$200 range on CPUs, so the Phenom 955 is actually a very good processor choice. However, I wouldn't buy an nVidia card at this time. They haven't brought their newest range of cards out yet, and the older ones have been creeping up in price. If you can squeeze a Radeon 5850 into your budget, it's much faster than the 275 and not vastly more expensive. Otherwise, look around for a 4890 - it's similar in speed to the GTX 275 and usually cheaper. The 5770 could save you some cash over either of the others, but it's slower. You won't notice the difference in most games below 1080p, though, so it's not a bad call on a smaller monitor.

Edit: FWIW, Dragon Age ran well for me (max settings, no slowdown) on a GTX260 at 1920x1200. The 5770 should do fine with that game.