Need Assist Building

[jack_bay]

Hey TH,
Ok so In a few weeks I plan to build myself a PC used mainly for gaming and later on video editing

I'm looking for a more price to performance then overall power house in my system so I was thinking of the following:
- AMD Phenom II X4 940 or 920
- CMPSU-650TXUK - 650W TX Corsair PSU
- 4GB Kingston Ram
- ATI 4870 1GB Ram

I already have a hard drive/dvd r/w and cables and such, but I was wondering is there anything I could change there to be more price efficient? I am also in need of a motherboard as I am not sure which ones will support what my graphics card and processor. I've built a PC before also so will use the old case with just new components.

I am thinking of crossfire mobo but I am not sure the FPS increases in gaming benchmarks I've seen make it worth it, also will a 64bit OS make a difference in gaming and video editing? If so does XP or Vista win? I wish to have this PC also for quite a while (3 years minimum) so I wish for it to be future proof without any major upgrading (hopefully just a ram upgrade here and there), hopefully in future gaming is not an issue with the whole resolution stuff as my monitor only supports 1440 * 900 and I am used to playing at 1024 * xxx or 1280 * xxx anyways and I know how higher res eats up FPS.

Please bare in mind I am going for a performance to power and any changes to my choices + additions to that I need help with are welcome

My budget will be about £550 excluding the OS edit: I do not plan on overclocking either

Thank you in advance.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132563 £69.64inc vat
Corsair 550W VX Series PSU - 120mm Fan, 5 Year Warranty

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140701 £84.23inc vat
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4 790X Socket AM2+ 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

 

[xthekidx]

At 1440x900, that GPU you picked will play any game you want, even crysis maxed out.

You can go with a 550vx for a PSU instead of the 650tx, it will be fine for just one 4870.

Look at the Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P for DDR2/AM2+ or GA-MA790XT-UD4P for DDR3/AM3, which is a little more expensive but will allow for a processor upgrade down the road if you want.

Honestly, if you are building your own system you should be planning on overclocking. Processors today are pretty much designed for it. A light overclock is easy to do and has almost no risk for your components, just get a $30 CPU cooler and you can get a big boost in performance.

XP 64 bit is tricky, if you really know what you are doing then you can make it work, but honestly I would stay away from it. Windows Vista is pretty smooth right now, and you should definitely be looking at getting a 64 bit OS.

 

[jack_bay]

hey man, thanks for the pretty prompt reply, a Vista 64 bit it is.
As for what i chose, are they ok? No bottlenecks as such? Should I opt for higher ram or anything?
I cant find much on the mobo you recommended so I will go with why_me's, thanks for that mate, dont think I could have found it that cheap.

I'm quite relieved to hear I could be running those games smoothly which is all I want, especially crysis maxed out which I am guessing will beat some of even this years big releases.
Overclocking, it killed my E7200 years back when I bought it, but I'll take your word for it as I was using a stock fan.. Any brand specifics I should go for? And will it reduce the processors life? (as I want something a bit more sustainable)

 

[xthekidx]

Just make sure your temperatures don't get very high, use RealTemp to monitor your temperatures when you overclock and you should be fine. Look at the Scythe Mugen 2 or Sunbeam CCTF Core Contact Freezer or Xigmatek HDT-S1283 for decent cheap coolers (check to make sure your case can fit them though). Heat is what kills processors over time. Going for an OC around 3.5ghz or so should be fine with those coolers I listed.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-000-TQ&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Xigmatek-HDT-S1283-(HDT)-120mm-PWM-Fan-x3-Heat-pipe-LGA775-K8-AM2-Cpu-cooler-Quad-Core-Ready

This is one of the best coolers out there and a good price on it, you have to buy a fan separate though: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Thermalright-Ultra-120-eXtreme-120mm-Heat-Sink-Fan-for-AM2-CPU-(Without-Fan)

Your build looks good otherwise, look for DDR2-1066 ram, as AMD chips benefit from the extra speed.

 

[jack_bay]

thanks mate, I'll measure up the case later on when I have enough time, just one more question - would this motherboard be any good?
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158829

It'll support the CPU and such or should I stick with the other suggested ones?

 

[xthekidx]

I didn't know saphire made motherboards. I think I would stick with the other ones, I haven't heard anything about saphire motherboards.

 

[jack_bay]

thanks for the help mate!