Help choosing between various specs on a new build

[CraigHarrison]

I'm going to be building a new gaming rig in two months approximately.my budget is between 1000 and 1200$. These are the specs
1. AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0 GHz
2. Gigabyte GA880GM-USB3
3. { G-Skill DDR3 1333 MHz RAM 8GB 4x2 Kit }
4. { Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB }
5. Cooler Master HAF 922
6. ViewSonic 22" Full HD LCD Display
7. Microsoft Sidewinder X4
8. Roccat Kone [+]
9. LG H55N DVD R/RW SATA Optical Drive
10. Creative 2.1ch Speakers
11. XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB
12. { 500-750 watt PSU }
(All components within Curly Brackets are those components where I need help)
I have to choose between
1. 8GB RAM and 1 HDD
2. 4GB RAM and 2 HDDs on RAID0
both of those combinations work out to a similar price.

I intend to go CrossFire, but only in 2-3 years. at which stage I intend to update my Mobo and CPU as well. If I can get a card that outperforms 2 6950s on CrossFire at a reasonable price at that future date then I will abandon CrossFire in favor of that GPU.

I really need help on that PSU. I have little experience with as I have always been content with whatever PSU came with my cabinet (Graphics Cards didn't exactly need separate Power Connectors back then). whatever PSU I get it has be within 40-50$. Preferably 750W (so I won't have to upgrade that if I were to go CrossFire). but if a decent 750W PSU isnt available at that price, a 500-600 or whatever wattage PSU is okay. It has to be or exceed 500W to support the 6950.

Thank You for your help and time

 

[batuchka]

Negative on
Gigabyte GA880GM-USB3 - it only has 1 x PCIex16 gen 2.0 slot so if CF is the name of the game have a look at Asrock 870Extreme3 or the 790X mobos?

A 700W 80+ PSU is what i would lok at if CF on the table

4GB + Deneb instead of Propus for me ^^

 

[batuchka]

This was an email suggested config

$736AR

 

[JackNaylorPE]

If building in 2 months, I'd go Sandy Bridge rather than AMD.

On the PSU, I'd use an XFX Black Edition 850. It's only $110 thru Feb 15. You can't buy any PSU worth anything for $40-50.

If I can get a card that outperforms 2 6950s on CrossFire at a reasonable price at that future date then I will abandon CrossFire in favor of that GPU.

You can do that now. Two 570's will outperform two 6970's (Guru3D had 873 fps total in all their game tests versus 825 for the 6970s). I'd suggest getting one now with a decent PSU and a 2nd around XMas 2011. You are going to have some problems finding a matching GFX card in that 2-3 year time frame ... unless you go e-bay.

RAID 0 has its place in particular applications but it isn't going to do anything for gaming.

Go for the 8GB DDR3-1600

Set $45 aside for a CPU cooler and TIM .... Scythe SCMG 2100 cooler and Shin Etsu TIM