Mid level gaming pc

[Jun aka Pekto]

I am going to buy a new desktop probably early next year, here is the specs I have in mind...

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Box Ed.
Mobo: Asus M3A78-CM
RAM: 3X 2GB Kingston DDR3
HDD: 1TB Seagate or Western Digital 7200RPM
GPU: Inno3D 9800GT 1gb ddr3 256bit /hdmi
Soundcard: Creative SB Audigy 7.1 Value
PSU: 600w
Casing: I will just use a cheapo generic, afterall in a PC its the inside that counts.

No more optical drives cause I will just use my external DVD drive to save on cost. Also I already have a 19" LCD from my current desktop as well as keyboard and mouse.

You might want try a different motherboard. That ASUS* is designed for older Phenoms. You'll want an AM3 socket as well as one that uses DDR3 ram. Check out mine which is the Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H. You probably won't need a standalone soundcard. The onboard Realtek has been good for a while now. I have an Audigy 2 Value sitting here unused.

We seem to have similar components. You have the better cpu and bigger hard drive while I went for a quicker video card (HD 5770) and more ram (8gb).

Obviously you'll need a 64-bit OS to make use of the 6gb ram.

* The Phenom II X4 might work. But, that may also require a bios update and compatibility isn't always guaranteed. Me, I rather not take chances. So, I went with an AM3 board right off the bat.