Amd Build help

[feria]

Hi guys, and gals, I am new to the forums, new to building but certainly not new to gaming

Approximate Purchase Date: 1-2months(or sooner)

Budget Range: 800-1300

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming only

Parts Not Required: Os,speakers,headset, Mouse and keyboard is up for grabs

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Country of Origin:

Parts Preferences: by brand or type (e.g.: I would like to use an AMD CPU

Overclocking: Yes/Maybe leaning towards yes down the road

Crossfire: Maybe in the future

Monitor Resolution: unknown.. 37inch tv maybe or i might purchase two 24inch monitors down the road(idk resolutions of either sorry)

Additional Comments: Looks are important but I will never sacrifice performance for looks.



Case:60$(originally 90)
NZXT Apollo Black SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146025

Cd/dvd $21
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
Does it matter it is OEM?

HDD $80(originally 90)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

MOBO $155(originally 185)
ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131655

GPU- $370 -This is where I was looking to go big at
ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121417

PSU $100(originally 150)
hec XP1080 800W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V / EPS12V CrossFire & SLI NVIDIA HYBRID-SLI Certified Modular Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339035

Memory $49(originally 75)
Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3X1K2/8GX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104266

CPU $170
AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ980FBGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934

For a total of 1004.92

Is there anything I am missing? Anything I should swap?
I need suggestions on thermal paste/fans/cooling etc?
Anything I should go bigger on? Anything I should go lower and save money?
Any compatibility issues I am overlooking?(I am not very knowledgeable but I tried my best)
Please and thank you for taking the time to help out.

Additionally, I need a sound card suggestion that is cheap, just so my on-board doesn't bog down my CPU any? and so my Turtle beaches sound nice.

 

[p4nz3rm4d]

you look set to go... but i have 1 alteration i would reccomend. splash out a bit more, and get a phoenom ii x6 instead. it will fit in that mobo perfectly and you will see the preformance gains in abundance... i got the x4 980, and was disappointed, so i got the x6 1090t and am very happy!!!
good luck for the build btw...

 

[ps3hacker12]

why buy an outdated 8-series chipset i would highly reccommend going with a 9-series chipset:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262

 

[feria]

I can grab
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 3.3GHz, 3.7GHz Turbo 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDE00ZFBGRBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103913
for only 20$ more. Is it worth it when it comes to gaming? I was doing as much research as possible and was told the CPU being more powerful was more important than the amount of cores for gaming since most games don't take advantage of all of the cores?
Thanks for your reply

 

[feria]

why buy an outdated 8-series chipset i would highly reccommend going with a 9-series chipset:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262

Is that a better board? and is my 1600 memory compatible? Under memory standards it shows DDR3 2100(OC) / 1866(OC) / 1800(OC) / 1600(OC) / 1333 / 1066 / 800
So would my memory have to be OC'd to 1600 ?
Once again, I apologize for my lack of knowledge.

 

[008Rohit]

Why spend so much on a PII 980? A 955BE can be grabbed at 120$ and be overclocked to 3.7Ghz and it'll deliver the same performance as 980.

 

[billybobser]

Buy a cheaper phenom II, maybe take a chance on unlocking a dual core,

and wait for better cores (bulldozer).

Though the one caveat for that is, Bulldozer has a track record of not appearing.

Coversely, you can do it in stages, assuming your previous set is not a write off. Adding things such as GFX to the old system to bump performance while you wait for the (supposed) new tech to arrive.

EDIT:

Also, another consideration, 2x 6850's in xfire is just below a 5970 (>6970) in terms of performance (3dmark)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_6850_CrossFire/21.html
and works out cheaper, maybe less noise and spread out heat.

Also, I don't see a cpu cooler

I'm looking at

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118056&Tpk=zalman flex
plus a couple of 120mm fans seperately.

It's big however and will most likely obscure tall ram.

 

[cbxbiker61]

Sabertooth 990FX motherboard all the way!!!!

Compatible with Bulldozer when it appears. Overclocks well, I'm running my X6 at 3.5GHz. Just a few dollars more than that "old spec" board you listed.

 

[feria]

Swapped out the MOBO thanks for the suggestion.

 

[ps3hacker12]

Is that a better board? and is my 1600 memory compatible? Under memory standards it shows DDR3 2100(OC) / 1866(OC) / 1800(OC) / 1600(OC) / 1333 / 1066 / 800
So would my memory have to be OC'd to 1600 ?
Once again, I apologize for my lack of knowledge.

no as seen here:
http://asrock.com/mb/memory.asp?Model=970%20Extreme4

it will natively support the 2gb DDR3 1600Mhz kingston ram modules you are buying (its 2 times 2 gb modules so 2, 2gb ram sticks).