~$1000+ Need a look-over by the experts!

[DPyro]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Starting tomorrow
BUDGET RANGE: ~$1000+ after rebates
SYSTEM USAGE: Gaming, Visual Studio 2010, distcc (for a to-be Linuxized laptop), number crunching, multiprocessing testing, GPGPU computing, torrentbox, movie rendering, 1080p movie playing, media server. Pretty much everything
OVERCLOCKING: Hell yeah, where cost-effective
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes, if I can upgrade to it. Need to know if I'll have enough CPU/wattage to do so with this build.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 or 1920x1200
CURRENT PARTS:
$90 - $10 promo WD Caviar Black 1TB (for Mr. /Program Files)
$300 - $30 rebate Galaxy GeForce GTX 470 Fermi 1GB
$187 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition & ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
$170 - $18 promo LIAN PC-K62 case & XFX 650W modular PSU (80+ bronze)
$100 - $20 rebate PNY XLR8 2x2GB 8-8-8
$255 - $20 rebate ASUS VH236H Black 23" HDMI 1080P LCD Monitor & Logitech 920-000914 Black Ultra-thin Illuminated Keyboard
$85 ASRock M3A785GXH 785G ATX AMD Motherboard
+$13 shipping so far
Free DVD-RW DL IDE (old part)
Free Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS PCI (old part)
Free 120GB x2 7200RPM Seagate Baracudas (old parts)

Yes I love Newegg combo deals!
Total so far: $1185 + $15 shipping - $70 rebates - $28 promo = $1103

■ Monitor: Is this good for gaming (and then movies)? I fling my mouse around with high sensitivity a lot playing my shooters (360s in a second!) so ghosting will kill me! Movie-watching is also a plus.

[strike]■ What's the overclockability of the CPU? Should I get a CPU cooler? And how loud will this all be? I'm going to have to sleep in the same room as this thing. [/strike]

■ Is 650W enough? What about if I want to toss in another GTX 470 and two more sticks of RAM in the future?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: dumped the SSD, added motherboard, added promo discounts
Edit2: added CPU cooler

 

[Lmeow]

Suggestions:

Sounds like you're into very heavily threaded work, the Phenom II X6 1055T would show up to 50% performance increases over the Phenom II X4 965 in these types of applications.

As for the motherboard, currently no desktop end AM3 boards have been equipped with four memory slots.

To answer your questions:

Monitor - I don't know sorry.

If you feel quick loading times are worth the extra $, then go for it. Otherwise I wouldn't really invest in one. Apparently the HDD/SSD hybrid from Seagate, the Momentus XT, isn't that much faster than a normal HDD although it does show some improvement.

If you're talking about the Phenom II X4s, the C3 965s can reach 4.0 GHz or so, while I've heart the X6s can reach 4.0 GHz +. If you want to overclock then you will want an aftermarket cooler. How loud the cooler will be depends on the fans you use.

650 W won't be enough for GTX 470 SLI, but currently no AM3 boards support the use of two GTX 470s, with the exception of the MSI 870A Hydra. You might want to invest in 2x4 GB RAM kits if your work is very RAM intensive.

 

[Proximon]

I did a great deal of research before buying this monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005126

I've had it for many months now and I'm still very happy with the response. Color and brightness are great and uniform. I play many kinds of games but mostly strategy and shooters.

I've just started using this Blu-ray player:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151199&Tpk=Samsung%20Blu-ray

And this software:
http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd/overview_en_US.html

And so far I'm very happy with what I'm seeing. All of the strange judder and other DVD weirdnesses seem to be gone now.


I don't think your budget is big enough for the SSD right now, and when you get one it needs to be large enough to take those games that really will benefit from it, like Crysis. I think 120GB minimum.

A single non-overclocked 470 can pull up to 230W, while a pair in SLI with moderate overclocks can hit 450W (although less on average loads). Throw in the rest of the hardware and I would not recommend the PSU. A single 470 is pretty good though. Perhaps you should save some money on the board and get a good 870 or 880G board.

You can OC the CPU well and easily, and yes you should get a cooler.

 

[rfatcheric]

That cooler is terrible, I'd get the Scyth 2100 sleeve cooler from newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142&cm_re=scyth-_-35-185-142-_-Product

Probably the best bang for your buck. Not overpriced like some either.