Review on Build thanks!

[Retalia]

Hey, just wanted one last review on my build.
Budget-$1,200
Crossfire-Yes
OC-Yes
Location-USA
Parts Preference-any major retailer.
Products not needed-Speakers, Mouse

Case-
Already bought an RV02.
$160

CPU-
AMD Phenom II x4 955
$144.99

Motherboard- (Would like to see any other recommendations for motherboards $100-$140)
MSI 790FX-GD70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130223
$164.99

PSU-
Corsair 650tx
$89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005


RAM-
Corsair Xms3
$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

GPU-
Sapphire 6850
$184.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908

Monitor-
ASUS VH242H
$179.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236052

DVD-
Sony Optiarc
$19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039

HDD-
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb
$69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

OS-
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
$99.99

Keyboard-
Saitek Eclipse III
$34.84 w/ Giftcard
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mad-Catz-PK24-Eclipse-III-Backlit-Keyboard/13213264

Last an NZXT White 2m LED sleeved strip
$15.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6824468&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

Total-~$1200 w/o Rebates or Shipping.

 

[mdd1963]

I saw an Asus 890GX chipset board, for $20 less, that also supports the newer USB3 spec ports and SATA 6 gb/sec....

 

[Retalia]

Link please ?

EDIT:Nevermind, got it! Wish it had a rebate. I was also thinking about the Asrock 870 Extreme 3.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Mobo: I'd swap it for an ASRock 870 Extreme3. You'd save $60, and you won't lose anything important. 16x/16x Crossfire isn't really important, as it's only a 3-4% performance difference, yet costs around $50. It only has a real world impact if you're using dual 5970s. After that, Crossfire does not scale well past two cards. It's completely worthless to get a board with more than 2 PCIe 2.0 slots because the added cost of the third/fourth card doesn't match the performance you get from it. In addtion, MSI isn't the best quality. Neither is ASRock, but it's quality is significantly higher.

RAM: The sticks you have are alright, but I'd consider the G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 for a little more. They'll be a lot better for overclocking. Either set would be good though.

PSU: A decent choice, but the Antec Earthwatts are so much cheaper right now for roughly the same quality. The 750W version is $61 after promo and rebate, while the 650W version is $50 after promo and rebate.

Optical: There is no reason to pay $25 (with shipping) for an optical drive. Get the cheapest one you can find to save some money, in this case $9.

GPU: Now that I've saved you $70-100 on the board and PSU, upgrade to either the HD 6870 or HD 6950 (which with a BIOS change is a 6970).

Don't forget to check for combos.

 

[Retalia]

Thank you for a well thought out quality post! Appreciate it!

 

[Psychodabble]

Mobo: I'd swap it for an ASRock 870 Extreme3. You'd save $60, and you won't lose anything important. 16x/16x Crossfire isn't really important, as it's only a 3-4% performance difference, yet costs around $50. It only has a real world impact if you're using dual 5970s. After that, Crossfire does not scale well past two cards. It's completely worthless to get a board with more than 2 PCIe 2.0 slots because the added cost of the third/fourth card doesn't match the performance you get from it. In addtion, MSI isn't the best quality. Neither is ASRock, but it's quality is significantly higher.

RAM: The sticks you have are alright, but I'd consider the G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 for a little more. They'll be a lot better for overclocking. Either set would be good though.

PSU: A decent choice, but the Antec Earthwatts are so much cheaper right now for roughly the same quality. The 750W version is $61 after promo and rebate, while the 650W version is $50 after promo and rebate.

Optical: There is no reason to pay $25 (with shipping) for an optical drive. Get the cheapest one you can find to save some money, in this case $9.

GPU: Now that I've saved you $70-100 on the board and PSU, upgrade to either the HD 6870 or HD 6970.

Don't forget to check for combos.

All great tips, I'd just add that if you're going to go 69xx, you should probably just get the 6950 and unlock it to the 6970 for free.

 

[MadAdmiral]

That's why I typed 6970, but linked a 6950...

 

[Retalia]

Best answer selected by Retalia.

 

[Retalia]

Selected best answer. Changing to 'solved'.

 

[Psychodabble]

That's why I typed 6970, but linked a 6950...

Oh, you're fancy!

That'll teach me not to follow links!