Am I in the right direction?

[MonkeyMhz]

Is this a good enthusiast desktop?

Well, even though I don't plan on buying my PC till June'ish. I still would like your input if im headed in the right direction, and making sure im not leaving anything out. I also want it to be pretty future proof/upgradeable, and AMD will be supporting their 800 series chipset on AM3 so it seems like decent bet.

Target Budget is < 2000$ CANADIAN for the tower.

Does this look tempting ->

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core

CPU COOLING: Zalman CNPS9700NT Copper CPU Heatsink 110MM Fan

GPU: XFX Radeon HD 4890 1GB 850MHZ 1GB 3.9GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E

RAM:2X Corsair XMS3 DHX TW3X4G1600C9DHX 4GB 2X2GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24

HD: Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM

MOBO: ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 ATX DDR3 790FX 4PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 eSATA Motherboard

CD DRIVE: Samsung SH-S223Q/BEBS 22X DVD+-RW SATA DVD Writer Black Lightscribe OEM

PSU: Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 140MM Fan

CASE: Azza Solano 1000 Black ATX Mid Tower Case 10X5.25 1X3.5 8X3.5INT 2X230MM LED Fans & Window No PSU

So its,
AMD Phenom II X4 955BE @ 3.2Ghz
XFX Radeon HD 4890 1GB
8GB DDR3 RAM
1TB HD

*How much difference would i see between,
9-9-9-24 and 7-7-7-20 and 8-8-8-24. Would it be noticeable?.

So that comes to $1660'ish. So with the left over I guess get another HD. Or save for ATI 5000 series GPU, also I guess we will add a extra 100$ish for Vista X64. And of course a couple dollars for the *Good* thermal paste.

So how does this look, did I do well? Or am I making a mess?

 

[BG-0]

Zalman 9700 is pretty horrible a hsf. Sure, it does cool, but not as much as the bulkiness of that thing suggests. Get a Thermalright 120 Ultra Extreme with 2 120mm fans.
Case... Wouldn't get that one, but seems to have decent cooling for its price.
I would get a Gigabyte board, MA790FXT-UD5P instead of that Asus, or maybe something quite much lower-end, however if you think/know(=have read from a trusted source) that the 790FX gives future-proof, then it's very fine.
RAM, there would be a difference. Would it really be noticable in real life usage (not benchmarks, etc), no.

Other than that, looks tempting. Will you get me one?

 

[MonkeyMhz]

Zalman 9700 is pretty horrible a hsf. Sure, it does cool, but not as much as the bulkiness of that thing suggests. Get a Thermalright 120 Ultra Extreme with 2 120mm fans.
Case... Wouldn't get that one, but seems to have decent cooling for its price.
I would get a Gigabyte board, MA790FXT-UD5P instead of that Asus, or maybe something quite much lower-end, however if you think/know(=have read from a trusted source) that the 790FX gives future-proof, then it's very fine.
RAM, there would be a difference. Would it really be noticable in real life usage (not benchmarks, etc), no.

Other than that, looks tempting. Will you get me one?

Thanks for your reply.

The Thermalright 120 Ultra Extreme looks great, I just hope it fits in the case.
Thanks for the suggestion.

May I ask what you would get for the case?, and why Gigabyte instead of the Asus?

And why would you go lower end when the AM3 motherboards are so cheap?...

 

[MonkeyMhz]

Update, heres what im thinking now,

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7264/setup1eju.jpg

 

[BG-0]

Gigabyte is more reliable motherboard manufacturer than Asus, IMO. MSI is fine too, not especially better than Asus, but good. There's nothing really wrong with the build you've made into a pictured list... EXCEPT. The price of the 955 BE. 940 BE: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35467&vpn=HDZ940XCGIBOX&manufacture=AMD NO point getting the 955 at that price difference. The performance difference is about 5%..
Case. It is fine. I would get maybe an Antec 900/1200, CM 690 or HAF 932... Nothing wrong with the one you chose.

 

[MonkeyMhz]

Gigabyte is more reliable motherboard manufacturer than Asus, IMO. MSI is fine too, not especially better than Asus, but good. There's nothing really wrong with the build you've made into a pictured list... EXCEPT. The price of the 955 BE. 940 BE: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35467&vpn=HDZ940XCGIBOX&manufacture=AMD NO point getting the 955 at that price difference. The performance difference is about 5%..
Case. It is fine. I would get maybe an Antec 900/1200, CM 690 or HAF 932... Nothing wrong with the one you chose.

That coolmaster case looks tempting (HAF 932), but fulltower is a bit big, id like to stick to medium. I was thinking the Antec 900 originally but it has no side fan. But then again that wont make much a difference, so ill have to decide between the Antec 900 and Xion.

As for the CPU, yes the 955 has a painful price right now. But im sure by teh time it rolls arond to get it, it wont be too much. Ill see when I buy it if its too expensive, Ill go for the 940 BE.

As for the motherboards I needa think about them more, they each have their ups.

MSI: 4 PCI E slots nicely spaced, can have quad crossfire (not like ill do it, but its nice to have that in your mind), looks good.

ASUS: Fairly reliable, lots of features (some i dont like, stupid instant on), 4 PCI E slots (no quad crossfire, i dont think).

DFI: Looks great, and its a DFI!.

Gigabyte: Very Reliable, Good Features (idiot proof bios), looks kinda lame (blue and gray, it looks like a smurf!).

 

[juane414]

First of all, if you're concerned about RAM timings, there will probably be better offerings around in June. I'm planning on building a desktop this fall or maybe around Christmas time. I've been looking at cases and power supplies and that's about it. Who knows what RAM or cpu's will be available around then. If there is nothing better than the Phenom II 955 then I will probably go for that. I'm not even thinking about RAM at this point...

If you want a mid tower case I would recommend the Cooler Master 690. That was my last chassis and I really liked it. It can accommodate many fans, including side fans if you're looking for that. If you like the Antec 900 but want a side fan, then check out the Antec 902. It's a revised version of the 900 and it does have a spot for a side fan. Otherwise, the Cooler Master Scout case is scheduled to come out in May, and it is at the top of my list for potential cases. I looked at the HAF, but I prefer the more simple design of the Cooler Master ATCS 840. So, if I go for a Mid ATX I'll probably go for the Scout or Antec 902. If I choose Full ATX then it will either be the Cooler Master 840 or Antec 1200.

Check those cases out.

 

[BG-0]

Gaah. Didn't see the part where you mentioned June'ish. It's propably at a reasonable price by then. Anyways... Better to bump this thread when the time comes. As juane mentioned, who knows what will be available around Ju(a)ne.

 

[MonkeyMhz]

Gigabyte: Very Reliable, Good Features (idiot proof bios), looks kinda lame (blue and gray, it looks like a smurf!).

It actually seems appealing when you put it like this

I know someone who recently bought this board so ill see what they say.

Thanks for the help everyone.