Gaming Upgrade (<$800) - Need help

[Fury63]

Buy time: Soon
Location: USA
Experience: 2-3 builds over past 10 years - both AMD & Intel

This is primarily a gaming rig.
I have a 23" monitor and run 1920x1080.
Playing BFBC2 and hope to get into Arma2 as well as future proofing it a bit.
Looking to keep it under $800 for mobo, cpu, ram & gpu.
Leaning AMD due to price.
And I've never overclocked. I could always learn
Not SLI/Crossfire now but perhaps down the road (need to understand how to do this)


Current build
E8400
Gigabyte P35
8800GT
4GB OCZ
PC Power & Cooling 610W (49A on a single rail) ** Keeping this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703005
CoolerMaster Sniper Case (bad name but really great case) ** Keeping this

New build
GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard $189/$169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128441

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT55TFBGRBOX $209/$199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory $134.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311

EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550


Any issues mixing AMD CPU/MB with Nvidia GPU? Can I run an SLI config or do I need to stay ATI for that?
Any concerns or suggestions would be appreciated. Again looking to stay under $800.

** Sorry for multiple edits - new to forum & trying to post correctly

 

[Timop]

You can not SLI on AMD based Mobo, but the HD6870 is a very attractive option for you.
For $240 you get lower power consumption, near-identical performance, and comparable Crossfire scaling with the GTX470 for ~$20 less.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102909&cm_re=HD_6870-_-14-102-909-_-Product

However, your parts selection isnt the best, and with a 1055T, you will probably need to buy a cooler and OC to feed crossfired 6870s. But since your gaming only, the 955/65/70BEs would actually be better choices especially if you're not comfortable with OCing. FInally, 8GB is overkill, gaming is perfectly fine with 4GB and you could always add more down the road.

Heres my suggestions, you save $165 ($150 after the 1055Ts $15 gift card):
CPU+Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.537713

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231274

 

[Fury63]

I like your combo. I've been reading up on the 955/965 for gaming as opposed to the 6 core models and that makes sense.

If I never add a 2nd vid card, any issue with going with the 470?

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Timop]

I like your combo. I've been reading up on the 955/965 for gaming as opposed to the 6 core models and that makes sense.

If I never add a 2nd vid card, any issue with going with the 470?

Thanks for the reply.

If you never add another card, I would still suggest the 6870.
The 6870 is simply a better card for less, consumes less power, makes less heat while having nearly the same performance.
Heres a review: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6870/29.html

However, the 470 isn't a horrible choice, so if you REALLY like it alot you can go ahead and get one, though you might want to get a cheaper 870 Mobo while doing that as the 890FX chipset's extra features wont be worthwhile anymore.

 

[japps2]

No issue with going the gtx 470 route, but the 6870 is very close to the 470...and you would have the option of going a second one in 6 to 12 months for cheaper. Xfire is giving 70 - 90% returnes on the second card now as far as performance...which would be a fast gpu setup

 

[Fury63]

Best answer selected by Fury63.

 

[Fury63]

THanks for your responses. The 6870 makes sense. I appreciate your help.