Building a gaming PC - Help with compatibilty

[mikey_birge]

Hi,
I'm currently in the midst of building a gaming computer, but I'm having some compatibility questions.
Build:

APEVIA X-PLORER2 Series X-PLORER2-AL Black / Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

BIOSTAR A870 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard

GIGABYTE GV-N550OC-1GI GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
OR
SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT51264BA1339

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX

Window's 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM


Just looking for compatibility help.

 

[cutebeans]

Weirdly, that Athlon II you listed says it needs an FM1 motherboard.

I'd get this $105 with promo code. Phenom is better than an Athlon
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Don't get coolermaster junk

Get this Cx430w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&Tpk=cx430

 

[mikey_birge]

I won't be able to get the Phenom due to the promo code expiring in 3 days, which it'll take another 5 or so before I can order it.
I chose the Cooler Master 500w due to the video card 'requiring' at least 500.

Otherwise, I'll have to dim down the video card to either a Radeon 6750 or a GTX 550ti. And since I planned on picking up a i7 CPU & intel motherboard next year (Fall) I wanted to keep a high-quality video card in this setup.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

that 6850 will run just fine on the Corsair 430W. I use it that way myself.

that CPU is actually a Llano with the built-in video disabled,

Consider this for $75.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103652

it has a 50-50 shot of unlocking the 4th core, but even if not it should EASILY overclock to 3.6 GHz.

but it will need a custom cooling solution, the Hyper 212+ will work
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

 

[mikey_birge]

Alright, so;

I dropped the Radeon 6850 to a GeForce GTX 550ti, and upped the processor to a AMD phenom x4 as said above.

So far everything looks okay to me, but not entire sure.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

eek. 550ti is not a good value

an 6790 is better, and just about the same price.. $20 more gets you a 6850

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Please list component names so we don't get RSI clicking on all ya links.

 

[mikey_birge]

http://www.hwcompare.com/9964/geforce-gtx-550-ti-vs-radeon-hd-6790/

The 6790 uses up more wattage, with a hardly noticeable difference in memory bandwith as well as anisotropic filtering; None of my games require high filtering. So the 550ti is the better product for what I do.

And yes I'll list the component names in just a moment.

 

[mikey_birge]

Updated

 

[ScrewySqrl]

http://www.anandtech.com/print/4260

you'll see that the 6790 comes out ahead of the 550ti in almost every benchmark