New Rig Questions - Help Please

Hi Guys.

I am planning to buy a new rig this diwali. My budget is 1000$ +/- 100$ Please post your suggestions.
Below is some of my requirements.

1) I need a entire system with monitors, keyboard etc but without speakers and UPS.
2) I need a 22" monitor and min 500 GB of HD space and 4gb of ram.
3) The system should be upgradeable with minimum effort (after 2years) and should provide good performance for at least 2 years.
4) It should provide good gaming performance in a 22" monitor.
5) I don't need costly cabinets and coolers.
6) I am ready to sacrifice some performance for money.

Here are some of my suggestions and concerns.

AMD Phenom X4 9950
AMD 790GX
Transcend Ram 4GB
WD 640GB
HD4850
cabinet
Viewsonic 22"
keyboard + mouse
Cooler Master 500w SMPS

Reasons for choosing AMD Rig
1) Amd quad can be easily over clocked.
2) AM2+ socket is future proof unlike LGA775 of intel.
3) HD4850 works better with AMD mobo and processor (Is it so?)
4) Can save some money.

Questions
1) Does the integrated HD3300 and HD4850 can be put in hybrid Crossfire.
If yes how the performance will be.
2) How C2D and phenom match in gaming ( As far as i know there only some 5 to 10 fps difference as gaming depends on GPU and not CPU)
3) Do I have to go for intel rig instead of this?
4) And of course any other valuable suggestions please.

Thanks in Advance

Not sure where you are from. Here is $1,000.00 Intel option. Intel will beat AMD anytime. AM2+ is not future proof. HD4850 works good with either platform. Hybrid Crossfire works only with the 3400 series.

Antec Sonata III case + 500w PSU $85.24
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L Motherboard $111.49
Q6600 $201.49
Xigmatek X1283 CPU Cooler $39.49
Xigmatek S775 Retention bracket $7.49
4Gb DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 $74.56
Saphire 4850 $169.88
Wd 640Gb Hard Drive $90.49
Samsung DVD/RW $27.99
Vista Home Premium $184.67

Total $992.79

I haven't kept myself really up-to-date on AMD performance so I cannot really say how well it will run. However, you should mention what games you want to play; good Crysis gaming is far from good HL2 gaming...

One thing I know about AMD is that when they say sockets are compatible, they mean "pin-compatible"; if the MB manufacturer does not provide an updated BIOS, you are still left behind. It happened to some people when socket AM2+ was introduced, so the same thing could happen for AM3. I don't say that to discourage you, I just don't want you to base your decision on false assumptions.

For the case/PSU, if you want something decent at good price take a look at either Antec Sonata III (comes with an EarthWatt 500W) or Antec Sonata Plus 550 (comes with a NeoPower 550W (no idea how it compares to EarthWatt in quality)).

BTW, ATI (AMD) cards don't work better with AMD CPUs/MBs, you can go either way.

Evongugg forgot that the OP said he needs a new monitor in the budget.

I suggest this monitor. For the keyboard, I recommend going to a store and trying different ones out. Pick the one you feel comfortable with and that has the style you like.

Acer X203Wbd Black 20" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 2500:1 ACM - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009126