Was wanting a general opinion on this build...

[lunchboxhunter1]

The final decision

keep in mind I am re- using my case, psu and displays


Displays: 2x benQ 20" LCD wisescreen 1680 x 1050 max res.
Case: Thermaltake Tsunami Dream Full ATX Tower
PSU: Thermaltake Purepower 700W
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131736
Memory: CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145315
Vid Card: XFX HD-687A-ZDBC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150520
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
OS: Windows 7 Home premium
Total Cost after rebates, shipping, combo discounts and promo codes
$752.93

 

[jeremy1183]

Are you on a budget?

 

[mjmjpfaff]

get a single 6950 2gb. you might want to look at a am3+ board because those am3's are a dead end. get a samsung spinpoint f3 1tb hdd they are faster and cheaper

 

[Timop]

Your board is fine and should run AM3+, but i would still recommend a 990FX board, SLI support makes upgrading much easier and uefi is fun. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157248'

Get rid of the dual 5770s though, a single 6950/GTX560ti would do much better. Though for your needs, a 6870 seems perfectly adequate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506&cm_re=6870-_-14-150-506-_-Product

 

[lunchboxhunter1]

Yes I'm on a budget... this economy is murder =)

right now the selection of AM3 mobos is fairly slim on newegg and the couple of other sites Ive perused...however I considered the Asus sabertooth 990FX heavily. Its currently 200 bucks at the moment tho

 

[jeremy1183]

I agree drop the 5770's and go for the 560ti/6950 if you are wanting to stay under 200 for GPU then look at 6870 or the gtx460.

Here is a bench of 6870 vs 460
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=313

to bad the $149 hd 5850's are all out of stock

or you could try and save a bit more and sli some 460's that beat 1x 6970
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/292?vs=314

cheapest 1GB 460 on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500202&cm_re=gtx460_1gb-_-14-500-202-_-Product

 

[mjmjpfaff]

here's this mobo- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510&cm_re=am3%2b_motherboard-_-13-128-510-_-Product

 

[lunchboxhunter1]

edited specs for current suggestions... that actually gets the build cost down to about $715 after rebates. I put in a single XFX 6870. with a am3 socket on that gigabyte mobo and everything being crossfire ready that certainly leaves me some upgradability a little further down the road... any other opinions/ suggestions? I was looking to spend around 750 bucks...I could possible take the cpu up to a X6 1100T.... or would I be better off waiting for the new new bulldozer line of AMD CPUs and upgrade to one of those later from the x4 I currently have shown

 

[jeremy1183]

Could get a decent cooler and do some cpu overclocking if you wanted.

 

[lunchboxhunter1]

definitely...or do what you said and put the few extra bucks into a pair 460's....i have to admit Im a little torn now

 

[jeremy1183]

Yes, it sucks when choosing parts....i find myself staring at the screen for what seems like forever when thinking about it

 

[lunchboxhunter1]

I know what you mean....this being my first build in 6 years heightens it as well... my current rig is a AMD Athalon FX... one of the first gen 64bit cpus if Im not mistaken.

Being on a budget these days tho... I, like everyone else in my position, just want to get the most bang for my buck and not seriously overkill on hardware vs what I use my PC for. WoW, Warhammer, Rift, Aion... not exactly hardware intensive titles...but Ive missed out on some of the newer PC games with this old machine and want to get another 4 to 6 years of playability with this new rig

 

[Timop]

Since you don't need the GPU power, I think a pair of 460s wont do much. You do get higher performance, but it leaves you with little upgrade room and a CPU gap.

If you have money leftover than you want to spend though, go for the Sabertooth and a nice cooler. A cooler not only make thing run quieter even if you don't plan to OC, you can also uses for quite a while.

 

[lunchboxhunter1]

edited the first post with the final specs on what I purchased


Any thoughts on the final specs?