Need advice on some components

[pretendead]

Approximate Purchase Date: 1st week of December

Budget Range: $850

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Parts Not Required: Monitor, mouse, keyboard

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com for reference only, not the price

Parts Preferences: AMD build

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core

ASRock 890GX Extreme3 AM3 AMD 890GX HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX

SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

Thermaltake V4 Black Edition Gaming Chassis Mid Tower Steel Computer

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9S-4GBRL

COUGAR CMX 700 COUGAR-700CMX 700W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC

Overclocking: NO

Crossfire: Yes but it will take a half year to get another card

Monitor Resolution: 1440x900, i wont go changing my monitor for a long time.

Hi, guys. I need advice with my psu and casing. Is cougar cmx 700w well recommended? Should I change it to Corsair TX650 650w? And about the case, will all components fit in Thermaltake V4 specially the HD 6850?

Oh btw, im getting a UPS, what should I get? Is this ok APC Smart-UPS XL 750VA USB & Serial 230V ?

 

[fffblackmage]

If you're only gaming at 1440x900, xfire will be overkill. A 700W PSU is somewhat overkill even for two 6850s. Stick with a single 6850 and go with a 500W PSU (Antec TP-550 or Seasonic S12II 520). Save that money for a better monitor instead.

890GX is overpriced versus 870 mobos that will suit your needs just as well. In fact, if you're willing to spend that much on the mobo, you might as well go with the i5-760 + P55 mobo instead. Only a few bucks more, but better performance where it actually counts, the better cpu.
($281 for the 955+890GX you picked out versus $305 for the i5-760+P55.)

 

[pretendead]

hmm, yeah. Im actually planning to buy a new monitor before crossfiring but that will be for later. How many watts will the system be without crossfire? and with crossfire? Plus a monitor. Coz im getting a UPS. Im confuse with the watts calculator lol

 

[fffblackmage]

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-crossfirex-review/4

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1445/17/

 

[mfenn]

Agree with blackmage on his recommendations.

I would like to add that the future is a murky thing, and IMHO the upfront cost of leaving open the "upgrade to Crossfire" option is just too great. I've seen it happen dozens of times and only 1-2 people have actually gone through with it. The rest realized that upgrading to a faster single GPU was a better idea.

 

[jaydee]

Save some money on a motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131651

As for power supply, keep an eye open in the hot deals forums for 380W-550W name brand psu. Corsair, Antec, SeaSonic are the usual three. There have been some great deals the past few weeks and I assume more to come as BF closes in.

Everything else looks decent. Have you thought about an SSD? You should be able to afford one within your budget.

 

[Axon]

Solid. Do you have a Microcenter near your house? They have ridiculous AMD deals - essentially a free motherboard: http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html

I was there yesterday and they had the 955+ MSI 785 ATX board for $150. Can't beat that IMO.

Also had 4 GB ADATA RAM for $50.

 

[pretendead]

Getting a SSD? hmmm. I think im gonna pass on that one coz im getting an UPS which i really need. What UPS should I get?

 

[jaydee]

You'll probably get a better response on a UPS over in the "Power Supplies" forum.

 

[muskie32]

Getting a SSD? hmmm. I think im gonna pass on that one coz im getting an UPS which i really need. What UPS should I get?

We have 2 of these on 2 of our DVR's. So far they have worked great!