First time gaming build: advice appreciated

[groigroy]

Hello

I am planning to build a mid-range gaming PC for the first time with a budget of up to £600. The components I am proposing to get are as follows:

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 £109 (dabs)
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 £80 (ebuyer)
Ram: Corsair XMS3 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600Mhz £43 (amazon)
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB £41 (amazon)
Case: Lancool PC-K58 DragonLord £50 (pixmania)
PSU: Antec TruePower New 650W £70 (ebuyer)
GPU: ASUS Radeon HD 6850 DirectCu 1,024MB £143 (kikatek)

I would like something upgradable that will last for a few years, slightly behind the curve of the latest games.

I know the drawback with the motherboard is that it only supports Crossfire of 16x and 4x. However, I don't envisage getting a second GPU in a hurry. Will I regret this limitation in time? For £100 I can get the Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3. This however includes an integrated GPU: is that something to be avoided? (I was hoping for USB3 support).

The other question I would like help with is cooling. The K58 case comes with a 140mm 1000rpm intake fan and a rear 120mm 1500rpm exhaust fan near the CPU. In the ceiling of the case are two places where you can install 120mm or 140mm fans.

Should I be upgrading the included fans or adding an additional fan or fans?

Any other suggestions very welcome - I've not bought anything yet and I'm totally new to this!

 

[batuchka]

Given the low power yet succulent CF scaling of the HD6k series i would really swap that single GPU slot Gigabyte 870 for the Asrock 870/880G/890GX?

Here is a juicy Asrock 890GX Extreme3 for 87 quid
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/204534

HD6K: single/CF review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/amds-radeon-6870-6850-renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market/8

 

[groigroy]

Thanks batuchka, I may go for the Asrock (two or three PCIes at 8x are better than one at 16x and one at 4x right?), and also see if I can stretch to a 6870 instead of 6850.

 

[batuchka]

Definitely 8/8 >> 16/4 for CF Yep u are welcomed

 

[Guest]

8/8 are definitely better

 

[jedi940]

Here's another option for 97 from Gigabyte. 8x/8x USB 3.0
GA-890GPA-UD3H
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/197546

 

[Onus]

^+1 @Batuchka. I have yet to be let down by an ASRock board, and I have all the parts except the RAM (coming tomorrow) for a friend's build, using another one.