Budget Gaming Rig. Suggestions?

[Destructicus]

Hello everyone

I'm considering upgrading my PC, mostly for Diablo 3. I'm planning to reuse my current case and 750W PSU.

With that in mind, and being as cheap as I could force myself to be, this is what I've come up with:

CPU- AMD FX-4100 Zambezi 3.6GHz $110
Mobo- ASRock 970 EXTREME4 AM3+ AMD 970 $100
RAM- G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series (2 x 4GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 $51 (after promo code)
Video Card- EVGA 01G-P3-1561-RX GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB $200 (re-certified)
Storage- Western Digital Caviar Black WD5002AALX 500GB $100

Note: I already have 1 WD Caviar black, and with this list I'd RAID the two of them for 1TB total.

Thoughts? I'm mainly curious where you folks believe the bottleneck would be, from a gaming perspective. It's my understanding that, although the i5 2500k blows the FX 4100 away in terms of bench marks, either one could keep up with a GTX 560 ti. Is that true? What if I want to get another 560 ti later? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Destructicus]

I should add that I plan to purchase a SSD at some point in the future, so 3+ SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports is a mobo requirement for me. Also, I'm comfortable overclocking to a reasonable degree.

 

[nekulturny]

Spend the extra 10 bucks for a Phenom II 965, its better performing processor than the FX-4100, yes you're right the 2500k is currently the best gaming CPU on the market today, but at nearly half the price the 965 is perfectly adequate to keep up with a 560 TI. The FX-4100 is not a true quad core, a 965 is.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

I am concerned about your choice in a refurbished video card, they generally have very short warranties, while it will probably be okay, thats a risk you have to keep in mind. For a little cheaper than 200 dollars, you could get an overclocked Radeon 6870 that will perform almost as well as a 560 TI that isn't a refurb job.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121418

 

[Destructicus]

Thanks for the quick reply

Is the AM3 Phenom II be compatible with the AM3+ Mobo? If so, would you suggest going to an older card anyway?

 

[nekulturny]

Yes, the Phenom II is compatible with AM3+. FX however is not compatible with AM3 (without the plus), I know that gets confusing. You can use the same mobo for either CPU.

The 6870 is actually a generation old, it was designed to compete with the Nvidia GTX 460, the fact that its able comparable to a 560TI says quite a bit.

You can see how it fairs here:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=330

And you're welcome.

 

[nekulturny]

Double post

 

[nekulturny]

Testing, lol.. (Not sure if server problem is on my end or Tom's)