Mobo & Case Advice

[SpoodBeest]

Putting together an AMD build for gaming without breaking the bank. I've decided on the AMD Phenom II x4 960t, which I hear can be unlocked to 6 cores with certain mobos and would like to OC to get as much out of it as possible. So, my question is what mobo do you advise I get? I'm really not sure what is usually advised given that, up until now, I had planned on an intel build (though I was no doubt planning beyond my financial means).

I'm also completely stuck on the case, I would like to know which you guys think has the best space for upgrades/future builds, cable management and cooling for under £70-80. Preferably something not too noisy as well. Is the Corsair Carbide 400R good in these regards?

Thanks.

 

[sosofm]

To unlock that CPU you need a motherboard with UCC :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280&Tpk=ASRock%20970%20Extreme%203 this board had unlocked many 960T.
Carbide 400r its a good case you can buy CoolerMaster 912 , its a little cheaper but is a great case.

 

[SpoodBeest]

To unlock that CPU you need a motherboard with UCC :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280&Tpk=ASRock%20970%20Extreme%203 this board had unlocked many 960T.
Carbide 400r its a good case you can buy CoolerMaster 912 , its a little cheaper but is a great case.

Thanks alot, I knew I'd heard one of the ASRock boards mentioned. Time to spend some money I guess.

 

[Max1s]

Some cheaper cases:
Sharkoon T9
CM 431/430
Zalman Z9

 

[SpoodBeest]

Thank you Max1S.

Now, one more thing ....

I was planning on getting the 6950 but I'm wondering whether I should just get the 68XX alternative since I'm paying near double for the 6950 and want to keep cost down. It seems this is viable, afterall there are plenty of slightly older games I want to play and the 68XX seem to be able to run new games on high settings if not max. If I did should I go for 6850/6870? At the moment I'm swaying towards the 6850 because I've heard it can be overclocked to outperform the 70.

Sorry for being cheeky and adding more, any help is once again appreciated.

 

[Raiddinn]

If you want to use a 6850 instead of 6950 and you are willing to accept a bit lower performance then go for it.

I have a 6850 and I get 33 FPS on Furmark which isn't bad. My old 4870 got 23 FPS on it.

I don't have a real good processor, though, which may affect that too. Your 960T is better than my processor so it should outperform my 6850.

The 6850 may be OCable to beat the 6870 non-OCd, but I wouldn't think it could beat the 6870 OCd. I haven't seen a benchmark comparison between these two cards, though.

Anyway, if you are willing to accept slightly lower settings the cost savings can be pretty nice for those on a budget. The 6850 is a really good budget card.