EggXpert

I was wondering if some of you might take a look at the build I have put together and give me some pointers. I don't do any 3-D gaming, at least not right now, I may in the future but it is hard saying. I use my PC for iTunes, PowerPoint, Word Processing, Internet, and a 2-D graphical game called "Tibia".

I understand that the machine is probably more then what I will need but that is ok, I want to put a machine together that is solid without breaking the bank.  My biggest areas of confusion are selecting a motherboard and a graphics card. I know that with what I do an on-board graphics card is sufficient but I want better then that. Something around 100-150.00 max, the lower the cost the better.

Overall I'm hoping to keep the build around 700.00 but I do not mind spending money on quality. I've been told to invest good money into the motherboard and power supply.Here is what I have so far...

CASE:                                                                                                                                                                                                     Apevia X-Cruiser- BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower-                                                                                                                                          Any better recommendations?                                           http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144151                                          50.00

POWER:                                                                                                                                                                                                    Antec earthwatts EA500 ATX12V v2.0 500W Power Supply                                                                                                                   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007                                          90.00

or

CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply                           http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004                                         90.00

MOTHER BOARDS:                                                                                                                                                                                    ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131273                                          95.00

DFI LANPARTY DK 790FX-M2RS AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard     http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136044                                         150.00

The ASUS cannot support the Phenom CPU. Should I buy a board now that can support the Phenom incase I upgrade later, or should I just look to upgrade the board and CPU later if the need comes up? I plan to have this build for probably 3-4 years. The DFI board seems great but is it overkill in your opinion? I'll probably go with the ASUS unless you think there might be a step up I should look at?

PROCESSOR:                                                                                                                                                                                            AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Black Edition Processor     http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194                                          85.00    

HEATSINK:                                                                                                                                                                                          ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler                                                                 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223                                          45.00

or

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler                                     http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185125                                           25.00

MEMORY:                                                                                                                                                                                               Crucial Ballistix 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148183                                         110.00     

or

OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227267                                         110.00

I will be running XP Pro-32 bit. I know the OS cannot handle the full 4GB but it can read 3GB. SHould I look to get just 3 GB or just go with 4GB here it is so inexpensive? Someone mentioned running the onboard graphics card and using the extra "wasted" RAM as a framebuffer? I have no dea what this means...

Also which RAM is better the Crucial Ballistix or the OCZ?  The OCZ looks badass with those heatsinks.

VIDEO CARD:                                                                                                                                                                                             MSI RX3870-T2D512E OC Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127315                                         160.00  

HIS Hightech H385F256NP Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire              http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161211                                          120.00

I honestly have NO IDEA on how to match up a video card. I obviously don't need anything over the top but I want something good. What are your thoughts? Of these cards which would you recommend?  Is there a better match for my system?

OPTICAL DRIVE:                                                                                                                                                                                 SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B                     http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151153                                            30.00

HARD-DRIVE:                                                                                                                                                                                        Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive       http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262                                            60.00

I really appreciate your help on this. I'm a first time builder. This is probably the 4th or 5th build I have configured but feel like for the most part this will be the last. I really just need to determine a great mother board and a good video and I think I will be set. Any recommendations on any of the above would be great.

Thanks,

Josh