$1,000 gaming/movie rig parts recommendation help

[DRod3186]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next 3 months BUDGET RANGE: $1,000 more or less

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming, photoshop, watching movies, internet

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I need everything basically

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I have no preferred website, just looking for the best deal. So far I've been dealing with newegg though.

PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: don't have a moniter yet, but was hoping I can connect the rig to my Sharp Aquos 32" LCD TV (LC-32D40U) via HDMI

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'm looking to spend $1,000 more or less (price range is only for rig not peripherals i.e moniter, mouse, keyboard, etc.) for a pc that performs well for games, capable of using my LCD TV (model listed above) when watching movies, internet browsing, photoshop editing, and ready for future upgrades.

Below is a list of what I have so far. Any suggestions on parts that will give me a better bang for the buck and better compatibility are greatly appreciated. Also, anything on my list can be replaced except for the AMD processor. Thanks in advance to everyone's future reply. As a first time poster I'm looking forward to some great information and answers.

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AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131363

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145200

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

LG Black 6X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 6X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA Internal Blu-ray Burner Super Multi Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive Model GGW-H20L - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137

XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

SAPPHIRE 100270SR Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB 512-bit (256-bit x 2) GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102809

 

[gkay09]

^ Nice setup...
But you can save some cash with some alternatives, without any decrease in performance...

1. Mobo - Change the mobo to this...Has more than enough options for o/c and is highly rated.
GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128378

2. RAM - The corsair RAMs are very good no doubt...
Here are few good alternatives for less...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227320
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227324
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227448
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146873
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227447

3. CPU cooler - For the AM3 socket, get the classic Xig...
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

4. Maybe instead of the 4850X2, get 2 4850s as the drivers for the 4850X2 could have bugs as it is specific to a single company and are very long than any of the cards and heat is a major factor...
And you can get 2x 4850s 1GB for about $240 now...

 

[computersss]

i would change the ram to

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBPI - Retail(better and has lower timings)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231200

i would change the video card to

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4890 TOXIC 1GB DDR5 2DVI PCI-Express Video Card, Retail(ewiz.com has it for about 20 dollars cheaper than newegg and it is as good as the 4850x2 and it is also cheaper and overclocked)

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-489TX1G

i would combine the cooler with

Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003

edit:+1 to gkay,a question to gkay09 will the classic Xigmatek be as good as the Darknight?also wouldn't the 4890 i suggested be better especially if he decided to CF ?

 

[sjwpwrpro]

This might be a dumb question but why not go for a 6gig ram kit like this one,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227375
it's not that much more and the timings are decent.

I do agree with gkay09 Ive used that motherboard in a build for a friend and its a great board.

 

[brendano257]

If you need speakers, consider Logitech's Z Cinema speakers. It's listed as a $300 speaker set marked down $80 and it comes with a remote to use with Windows Media Center and all your other multi-media programs, you should consider it.

 

[not moose]

If you aren't buying for 3 months, just wait for core i5 to come out.

 

[gkay09]

@computerss people generally suggest the Xig dark knight because it comes with all the required backplates for all the sockets...But the Classic Xig is as good as or maybe slightly better than the Dark knight because of the all copper heat pipes compared to the aluminum alloy found in Xig darkknight...

And the HD 4890 is a very good alternative for the 4850X2 but it can beat it in performance...The 4850X2 2GB would give out more FPS than HD 4890...But the main selling point of the 4890 over the 4850X2 woulld be :
- Less Heat
- Uses less power
- Future xfire option.
- Better drivers as the 4850X2 is a single company card and the bug fixes with newer games might take long than standard drivers fixes...

But if you are sure to add one more card in crossfire, then the 4890 is the better option because 2x 4850X2 is actually Quad- fire, and those cards wont scale well compared to 2 cards in xfire...

 

[gkay09]

@sjwpwrpro those kits are designed for working in tri- channels configs- Mainly for i7...So dual-channel kits are preferred over that,,,

 

[DRod3186]

@gkay09 Thanks for the suggestions.. I think I'm switching my RAM to the "OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3RPR16004GK" you suggested in your earlier post.

As for the MoBo... Is the "GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard" a better choice over the "ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard" because of the price or because it's better hardware? Because in the case of the MoBo I wouldn't mind dishing out the extra cash if the Asus one is indeed a better board.

@computersss I believe I'm gonna go with the "Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4890 TOXIC 1GB DDR5 2DVI PCI-Express Video Card" from ewiz that you suggested. It seems like a better card/deal for now.

@brandono257 those logitech speakers look great for the price. Definately will consider..

Thanks everyone for your responses so far.. Keep them coming... they are greatly appreciated and as you can see they are already causing some changes to my hardware probables.

edit: @gkay09 about the "XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler" will i need to buy something extra to fit it onto the x4 955? I ask because when looking at the specs I only noticed compatibility with AM2, but no mention of AM3.

 

[gkay09]

^ I wouldn't say that the Gigabyte is better than the ASUS in terms of features...

The FX chipsets are designed for enthusiast, who want to have all possible BIOS options, to push their hardware to the limit for benchmarking, breaking records in 3DMarks, etc...
Other good FX boards...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000200022%201070946178%201071933047&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=N82E16813130223%2CN82E16813131363%2CN82E16813128377

The X chipset offer more than enough features for very good overclock and are for the mainstream market...

So you decide in which category do you fall and then get the mobo that suits you...
Check out more reviews of the mobo so you can have a better idea of the features that it offers and the features that you will/ can use...

 

[gkay09]

The AM2 and AM3 sockets are physically identical, they difference is in the pin count.
So any cooler that fits AM2/ AM2+ would fit AM3...