New to cpu building and could use some advice

[Guest]

Hello, I've done a little bit of research, but not enough to know enough of what I should yet, so here goes! First of all, I will be using 1920 x 1200 screen resolution with my 24" gateway monitor. I would like to run everything at max settings smoothly, so I've chosen the following components:

CASE: NZXT CS-NT-PANZER-B PANZERBOX
MOTHERBOARD: MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX
MEMORY: Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3
COOLING: ZALMAN CNPS9900LED 120mm

And finally, I haven't chosen the video card, but the HD 5870 is looking very appealing, considering HD 5850's can not be found anywhere else. I am planning to do some overclocking in the future, after I gain a thorough understanding of exactly what I need to do. I am also planning ahead to where I can do some upgrading sometime in the future as well. Now my questions are regarding memory, cooling, psu, and the video card.

How would I go about upgrading my memory, should I want 8gb in the future (as well as overclocking), and is it even practical considering my setup?
Do I really need this cooler, or can I settle for one that is less expensive?
Will this PSU provide adequate power, should I ever want to upgrade to, say, HD 5850's/5870 in crossfire
should I spend the $400 for the HD 5870, or would that be overkill considering I will only be using 1920 x 1200?

And finally, if anyone has suggestions to add then I'm more than willing to listen. I was personally thinking of buying 2 HD 4870's, but after seeing that the performance is so close to a single HD 5870, I almost feel that it is my obligation to go the the ladder, considering the DirectX 11 support.

 

[hunter315]

Dont get a 965, the 955 can have its multiplier increased by 1 to give you the same speed for free.

Also, a 790FX board wont be worth it unless you consider quadfire, but for 2 cards 8x/8x crossfire vs 16x/16x crossfire there is almost no difference
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5850,2433-14.html

A 790X board will save you quite a bit while still offering good crossfire potential.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.293441

If you choose to upgrade to 8GB of ram in the future, buy another matching kit and install it, ram upgrades are easy.

The 850TX is more than enough for 2 5870s, a good 750W PSU is usually all that is needed for 2 high end GPUs.

You may want to consider something like the HAF 922 as it is larger and provides excellent airflow, in the test here the 2 5870s in crossfire were so close they started throttling due to heat so good airflow is definitely important
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&cm_re=HAF_922-_-11-119-197-_-Product

 

[Guest]

Oh wow, thanks for the quick response! I really picked out the power supply because it was on sale for $140. I don't think that was too bad, but if I can save $20 and use it on better quality components then, sir, you have me sold. I have reached my verdict: I am going with the Corsair CMPSU- 750TX. Now hopefully I can find an OS and the graphic card for cheap.

 

[terribleteee]

I haave almost the exact same system and I'm also still pretty new to all this. The biggest difference between our systems however is the case. I went with this one.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4197077&CatId=1510
With the atx board and I intend to run quadfire eventually I was worried about the case getting cramped and heating up. This is the largest case I've ever seen and with an efficient design its good at moving the air. If you havn't bought the case yet look at this one its worth the extra sixty or so dollars.

 

[Guest]

Okay, so I have ordered and received the 955 BE, Asus M4A79XTD Evo, Corsair 850tx (it was on sale for the same price as the 750tx), Cooler Masters HAF-922, and Zalman CNPS9900 so far. The memory was unavailable and the CPU was virtually impossible to find. After waiting a little while, I've found a new combo deal for the RAM and GPU: OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB PC3 12800 and SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100269VXLE HD 4890 1GB. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.279855 . Should I consider this? I would be ordering 2 of each, or would this be overkill?