$1800 Work/Light Gaming w/30" monitor (Phenom X3?)

[cindua]

Hi All,
I'm trying to put together a general purpose rig for around $1800, so far this is what I've come up with.

Usage: Light Gaming (no FPS), Poker, Movies & TV, Web Dev
Budget: $1800 or so, flexible if I'm getting much better value by going a bit higher.
Vendor: Prefer newegg, but I can buy from separate sources.
Already have: 24" Dell Monitor, keyboard, mouse.
Caveats: I really need the workspace of a 30" monitor, and would like to use my existing 24" as a second display too. Unsure what card I should use to do this, or buy a cheapo 2nd card to drive the smaller monitor?

So far I'm considering:
[strike]AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz - $147
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P - $109.99[/strike]
AMD Phenom II X4 940 + GIGABYTE GA-MA7900GP-UD4H - $313.99

SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL Radeon HD 4870 1GB - $189.99

[strike]Kingston 4GB DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - $40[/strike]
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) - 2 x $52.99 = $105.98

Antec Sonata III 500 Black w/500W PS - $119.99

WD 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB - $79.99

[strike]LG Black 6X Blu-ray/DVD/CD - $109.99[/strike]
LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD/CD - $24.99

Samsung 30" 305T 6ms Monitor - $999.99

Total: $1834.92

I'm most worried about my processor/ram/mobo selection, and well basically everything else. I can drop the Blu-ray drive to save cash as I mostly download anyway though.

Thanks!

 

[Outlander_04]

If you are not playing 3d games then you may not need even a 4870 gfx card

Newegg has combo deals for processor and mobo . You may be able to get a 940 be combo for around $290 , but if not your processor is fine

Phenom can use faster RAM . Not a huge improvement but this might be a better way to spend $$$ than on a 3d gaming gfx card designed for high fps in fps games

 

[xthekidx]

I'm pretty sure that 25x16 res requires 2 dvi inputs...someone correct me if i'm wrong here though.

Buy this combo, better mobo with the processor, and cheaper. That mobo has onboard graphics which I think you can use for the 24" monitor, (but might be wrong about that too,) then use the other discrete gpu for your 30" which will require 2 dvi inputs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.165024

 

[xthekidx]

Here is the 940 BE in that combo with that mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.165047

 

[cindua]

I like that 940 BE combo - changed it above.

I've updated the ram to 1066, and also boosted it up to 8gb total. Since I run Vmware a lot, I think it's worth the extra money.

As for the graphics, I don't play heavy FPS but I did want something that could manage some Steam games now and then. Figured the high res will be pushing any card to the limit and the 4870 1gb seems like a great value?

 

[cindua]

Hate to bump...but can anyone give feedback on the latest build above? I'm hoping to pull the trigger today or tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Helloworld_98]

You'd need an x2 card if you want to use both monitors, or two 4750/4670's without crossfire if you go with ati.

 

[cindua]

I figured I could use the onboard video from the motherboard like xthekidx mentioned, it's got a:
ATI Radeon HD3300 graphics built-in 128MB DDR3 1333MHz SidePort Memory

Will that not work?

 

[xthekidx]

I figured I could use the onboard video from the motherboard like xthekidx mentioned, it's got a:
ATI Radeon HD3300 graphics built-in 128MB DDR3 1333MHz SidePort Memory

Will that not work?

I'm not sure if it will work or not, but if it doesn't work you can just get a cheapo $40 GPU later and add it on. Try to see if onboard will work or not first.

 

[cindua]

Thank you for your help, I bought today - with luck I'll have it Friday.