Gaming + General use PC $1200 advice +compat check

[tanston]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next Week BUDGET RANGE: 900-1250 (hardly any wiggle room at the max)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (diablo 3!), internet, music, photos, minor video editing (home movies mostly)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor (multisync FE2111SB) , speakers, microphone.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com amazon.com tigerdirect, COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: uhmmm not mars

PARTS PREFERENCES: by brand or type: Already picked AMD (parts list) not against intel but AMD seems to be the most bang for the buck

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe if it's safe and easy SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe in the future, can't afford it now.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1440

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would like to make my computer build pretty hassle free. I want to plug in some parts install the OS, throw some drivers at it and be good to go. Future proof is something i'm keenly interested in as i'm currently on year 9 of my current computer I will likely be stuck with this one for awhile.
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I've already picked out all the parts based upon reading your forums for a few days and the build guide by jbakerlent.
Mostly I just want someone to tell me all this stuff will fit together with no problems. And if there's any suggestions for different parts/brands that will either save me money and/or get me better performance for my money I'm all ears.

antec three hundred illusion black steel atx

Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3

AMD Phenom II X4 955

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)

Antec TruePower New TP-750

XFX Radeon HD 5850

Windows 7 home premium 64bit

Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB

OCZ Agility 2 SSD
I'm a little shaky on the SSD, there seems to be a lot of debate as to the value of these things for people on a smaller budget. Will I really be in love with the speed of this or would I be wishing i'd saved money and went with a 1TB spinpoint?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[beerhelmet]

honestly it really depends on how important waiting an extra X seconds to boot, or whatever is to u
i personally never found a need for an SSD since i basically keep my computer on all the time and like to
build/paint warhammer when im waiting for stuff to load (pretty much the only time i get to do that stuff)
so of course in my personal opinion i would just go with the 1TB spinpoint especially if u need that much space
(music, photos, videos take up quite a bit of space very quickly) and heck if u get into heavier gaming then u
can probably afford a 5870 without that SSD

just my two cents!

 

[banthracis]

No to SSD at your budget range. Especially with a huge price/gb drop inc later this year.

Go with a GA MOBO.

A great one is the 790x UD4 $110 after $15 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128416&cm_re=gigabyte_usb_3-_-13-128-416-_-Product

the 890x chipset is a bit more futureproof, but also a bit more expensive $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128435&cm_re=gigabyte_usb_3-_-13-128-435-_-Product

Rest looks fine, cept that kit will be harder to OC with than 1600 kit if you plan on doing so.

How do you have a 1920 x 1440 monitor?

 

[tanston]

No to SSD at your budget range. Especially with a huge price/gb drop inc later this year.

Go with a GA MOBO.

A great one is the 790x UD4 $110 after $15 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128416&cm_re=gigabyte_usb_3-_-13-128-416-_-Product

the 890x chipset is a bit more futureproof, but also a bit more expensive $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128435&cm_re=gigabyte_usb_3-_-13-128-435-_-Product

Rest looks fine, cept that kit will be harder to OC with than 1600 kit if you plan on doing so.

How do you have a 1920 x 1440 monitor?

Any reason why you recommend the GA motherboard over the Asus? Or just price? I was considering the GA but ultimately picked Asus mostly because I've used that brand in the past and had good luck.

One of my main goals when picking a motherboard was to pay a little more to get longevity so I definitly want to stick with the 890x chipset.

It's sounding more and more like I should skip the SSD, maybe get one next year when the price per GB is more favorable.

I don't know how I have a 1920 x 1440 monitor I just pulled out the instruction book and also confirmed via google that it is my max res. It's a pretty old CRT I wanna say 7 years. Beautiful picture, it will be a sad day when this thing burns out.

Thanks for the input.

 

[banthracis]

GA quality is fine, and it's a fair bit cheaper, that's why I recommended it. I've used both Asus and GA, over the years (~7 years now) and haven't had issues with either company.

That's the weirdest resolution I've ever seen/heard of haha.

Wait on SSD at least until the end of year when 25nm flash ones comes out.

 

[tanston]

I must admit memory compatibility looks like latin to me, would this be the 1600 kit you are referring to?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

Seems like it's a few dollars cheaper which seems odd since it's a bit faster.

 

[banthracis]

Wrong timings on that kit^^

You want either this kit which has some combo's or this G SKill eco kit, which is basically ripjaws on a lower votlage.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303&cm_re=ripjaw_1600-_-20-231-303-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231321&cm_re=eco_1600-_-20-231-321-_-Product

 

[beerhelmet]

^ + 1 on banthracis' recommendation for mem
apparently the lower voltages will give u more overclock room
but i think either will work beautifully

CRT monitors for the most part have a really good range of resolutions, but not all the recent games will be compatible with it
since its a CRT though, theres no reason u cant set ur resolution to anything u want (well except if 1920x 1440 is the highest u cant go higher)

seems like a great build though, have fun building it!