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Revise my build

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Currently my system has:

Phenom x4 965
Crosshair IV Formula
HD 6970 PCS+ (Soon to be two!)
750w PC Power & Cooling
4GB DDR3 GSkill Eco
750GB Green Caviar

NZXT Hades

I was thinking my system is fine for what I want, but I can see the CPU as a bottleneck soon, is their any point in even looking at the 990x for Gaming/Benchmarks?
If not I plan on waiting for Bulldozer which hopefully outdoes SB.

Besides that I was maybe thinking of more/better RAM and a better Case/PSU
I doubt I need faster RAM but maybe a little more would help.

I enjoy playing very hard to run games like Metro 2033, Crysis etc and hope to setup Eyefinity later on :D 

Sorry about all the info but I just want anyone to bounce around idea for new things to boost my system, I know SSDs are fantastic but I still feel like they could get cheaper (Vertex/Agility 3) and I heard mixed reviews about them.

Budget ~1000 USD bang/buck preferred!

More about : revise build

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Looking at 990x no, there is no point. Looking at a i5 2500k sandy bridge system, yes.

As for the PSU it's probably tight, but it should be able to run the 2 6970's and the phenom II. A good 850W would make sure of it of course.

What you could get is this:
CPU: i5 2500k ~$220
MB: Asrock P67 Extreme 6/Z68 Extreme 4 $159 / $189
Memory: 8 Gigs of CAS9 1.5V 1600Mhz $70

You could get a faster HDD and it would probably help as well, the Caviar green is not known for it's speed.
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB $64.99

This is optional in case the PSU runs into issues with the Crossfire setup.
PSU: XFX Core Pro850 $120 something similar from Corsair or XFX. ~$120-180


I am pretty much on the same lines with the SSD's, they are still a bit too expensive and downright unreliable, or so it seems.

Generally all that would give you additional performance and still fit the 2nd 6970 in the budget :) 

rvilkman said:
Looking at 990x no, there is no point. Looking at a i5 2500k sandy bridge system, yes.

As for the PSU it's probably tight, but it should be able to run the 2 6970's and the phenom II. A good 850W would make sure of it of course.

What you could get is this:
CPU: i5 2500k ~$220
MB: Asrock P67 Extreme 6/Z68 Extreme 4 $159 / $189
Memory: 8 Gigs of CAS9 1.5V 1600Mhz $70

You could get a faster HDD and it would probably help as well, the Caviar green is not known for it's speed.
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB $64.99

This is optional in case the PSU runs into issues with the Crossfire setup.
PSU: XFX Core Pro850 $120 something similar from Corsair or XFX. ~$120-180


I am pretty much on the same lines with the SSD's, they are still a bit too expensive and downright unreliable, or so it seems.

Generally all that would give you additional performance and still fit the 2nd 6970 in the budget :) 

That's what I was thinking!

Now is there any point in getting 12GBs of RAM? and/or the 2600k?
I've seen the 2500k tie the 2600k in just about everything I think but I'm not sure about the extra RAM.

PS: The budget doesn't have to include the 2nd 6970 I already paid for that :D 

Best solution

Not a big difference in the memory. 8GB is enough for pretty much everything.
i7 2600k would only help if you were doing heavily threaded stuff like video encoding. For gaming the i5 2500k is as good.

Since the GPU is not part of the budget then i think I would definitely get the larger PSU when there is a nice 850W on sale like Corsair HX850.
Or possibly power and cooling 950W one.

And if you don't want to jump to the SSD bandwagon yet, I think you would be all set. With what I suggested.
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rvilkman said:
Not a big difference in the memory. 8GB is enough for pretty much everything.
i7 2600k would only help if you were doing heavily threaded stuff like video encoding. For gaming the i5 2500k is as good.

Since the GPU is not part of the budget then i think I would definitely get the larger PSU when there is a nice 850W on sale like Corsair HX850.
Or possibly power and cooling 950W one.

And if you don't want to jump to the SSD bandwagon yet, I think you would be all set. With what I suggested.

I agree, but I think the mobo choice will be the hardest part xD

And should I get 8GBs of faster RAM or just 4 more gigs of my current RAM?

rvilkman said:
Considering the cost, just get 8GB of faster stuff as it's hard to say if the voltage is 1.5V in the old ones.

Well I have decided I would like a different mobo so I was looking at the Professional ASRocks and the Maximus IV and I was thinking about some RAM @2000 maybe Corsair I hear good things about them.

Obviously you can spend more money on the Mobo if you want to, you won't get that much of a benefit but it can be done. I kind of gave the principal idea what to look for. The Maximus IV Extreme and Extreme-Z are both great motherboards.

With the memory in addition to the specs, also make sure you will be able to fit the memory with your HSF. So that you won't run into any unexpected clearance issues.

Well I just wanted to ensure the mobo was quality as I would like to get the most OC potential.

I found some DDR3 @2000 and I think it would be possible to get it to 2200, but I'm not sure what HSF to get something like the H70 maybe?
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