Now that I've looked into it, there doesn't seem to be much of an impact on performance. thank you for your response.

Since that is resolved I have looked into another motherboard, the GigabyteGA-MA785G-UD3H

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128395&cm_re=ud3h-_-13-128-395-_-Product

This one has 2 PCIe slots but one runs at 16x while the other is 4x.

Will this really hit the performance of that card significantly?

I've recently decided to build my own computer and I have almost finished finalizing the "blueprint" (this was a very long process :?)

so, I was about to finish but then I looked over some reviews of the motherboard I planned on buying and I'm not so sure anymore....

The motherboard is the GigabyteGA-MA790XT-UD4P

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

I've been reading that this board can use crossfire at 8x/8x and that it bottlenecks some cards.

some reviews said it wouldn't bottleneck mid range cards like the HD 4850 in crossfire but would perform less with say, dual HD 4890's.

I just wanted to know if this board is good for crossfire for future upgrades or if I would stick to 4850's for the best performance.

Hmm....It seems that the 720 won by a unanimous consensus.

I will buy the Phenom 720 then.

I thank you for your help in this matter, and will begin to order the parts, before I go over budget from looking for better parts.

once again this board saved me from my ignorance and indecisiveness. I say again, Thank You

So, I am building a new computer for gaming but I seem to have hit a snag in the processor department.

The MoBo I plan on buying is AM2+ socket and I was looking at a few different processors to put in.

So far I have down to 3:

-AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 3.1 GHz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

-AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 2.8 GHz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103652

-AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6 GHz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706

I've been looking throughout different sites to find out which one has the best performance but I get too many contradictory answers.

So, which one would you guys consider the best for gaming?

Ok then, I added the 4GB of DDR3 RAM that NLahren suggested.

Now it seems that the build is complete for now.

Thank you all very much :D

I saw this build on the system builder marathon on tom's hardware but I made a few changes.

CPU: AMD athlon II X4 630 2.8 ghz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704

CPU Cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-SD964 92mm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233014

RAM: Corsair 4GB DDR2 800

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145238

Motherboard: ASRockM3A785GXH/128M AM3 AMD 785G

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157167

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

CD/DVD Burner: SAMSUNG Black 22X Burner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151192

Case: Antec Two Hundred Black

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129070

I already have a 8800 GT I'm going to use until I get some more money to buy a good card, and I also have Windows 7 for the OS.

so is this a good build? I've never built a computer before so I want to be absolutely sure it would work.

[QUOTE="bcroger2"][QUOTE="dared3vil0"]

Will be good. I would consider upgrading to a Quad-core or even an i7.

Luminouslight

OCZ Platinum XTC 4GB Dual Channel PC6400 Memory

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4282846&CatId=3412

I have been wanting to buy and build my own pc for a while. i finally took the time and created my own with the following parts. please assess this build because this will be the first one I have ever attempted to build.

Sapphire Radeon HD 4870

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4459666&sku=A271-4875

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Processor

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4256897&sku=CP1-DUO-E7400

Intel DP35DPM Motherboard

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3038920&sku=I69-2148

OCZ Fatal1ty Series Power Supply - 550-Watt

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4362117&sku=O261-2020

Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB Hard Drive

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4499974&sku=TSD-500AS7

Lite-ON iHAP222-06 DVD Burner

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4412159&sku=L12-1180%20OEM

Windows Vista Home Prem 64-bit DSP OEM DVD

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2864283&sku=M17-7414

Ultra X-Blaster Black ATX Mid-Tower Case

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2337810&sku=ULT33178

the total for this was $760 with shipping. I didn't include a monitor because i already own an hd monitor that i plan on using.

well i found one with a pci-e connector

is this one a good power supply

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3986693&CatId=1079

i am going to get a geforce 8800gt and i need to upgrade my power supply

i wanted something cheap and i found one but it doesnt have a 6-pin pci-e connector

i wanted to know how that 6 to 4 pin connector works and if i even have that connection

just for future reference what is that 4 pin connection called in specifications page? like there is pci-e, 8-pin and all that