Critique my build?

[mizdahsparklez]

Hello all,

I really wish I knew of this site before I bought my parts. Great articles. I was wondering if you would critique my build and add suggestions or comments? This is my first build and I want to know how I did mostly performance wise. I know very little of system building so be brutally honest.

Lifestyle: Gaming/Video editing
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz
MOBO: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 1 GB DDR5
RAM: Corsair 4GB Dual Channel Corsair DDR3 (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 500 GB 7200RPM
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2 Enthusiast Series TX650 V2
CDROM: ASUS black DVD burner
COOLER: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V REV.W
CASE: NZXT M59 - 001BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

Total after rebates and discounts from Amazon, Newegg and TigerDirect was $745.95. My budget was <$750

Is this a decent build? Am I wasting features or speed? Compatibility? Longevity? Basically everything. Any and all replies are welcome. Thank you!

 

[ScrewySqrl]

you have a decent buildthat should be good for 2-3 years of gaming

you might have had some fat to trim if you were here first, but its a well-made build

 

[mizdahsparklez]

2-3 years? Deng, technology is stupid and fast.

I was wondering about my mobo. My mobo has dual 8x when crossfiring two cards. Is this something worth looking into later as an upgrade? Will I see noticeable benefits by say, for example, sticking in another 6870 down the road instead of upgrading one card altogether? Or am I limited because it won't be running 16x/16x?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

not really.
The difference between 8x/8x and 16x/16x is about 2%. so if something get s100 FPS in 16x/16x, it gets 98 in 8x/8x. Or if it gets 50 in 16/16, it gets 49 in 8x/8x.

IMHO its not worth it.