Building a system around the Phenom II x4 955

zeusvii

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Jun 26, 2009
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I'm looking to build a robust system around the phenom II - it's so sexy :) Anyways, I'm not looking to do anything to heavy on it, but I'm looking to make this a very long lasting unit, ie., upgradeable when necessary. I'll be ordering most of the stuff from Newegg, if that makes any difference.

For the MoBo - I'm considering the MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130223
Since it supports crossfire - something I want to take advantage of in the future, though I plan on starting with only one GPU for now (~1gb)

So, since I'm quite new, I'm not looking into tweaking or OC'ing the RAM or CPU (minor tweak, if at all) so, I don't believe excessive cooling would be in order.

I'm considering the OCZ 2x2gb ddr3 1600 (run at 1333)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16820227297
With the possibility of adding a second 4gb of ram at a later date.

My questions are basically then:
Can you recommend a good reasonable (<$150) chasis that will work well with this board (simple is fine), PSU, and audio card (since the MSI onboard sucks?) Plus, any other recommendations that I should take into consideration - remember, I'm new, I have little to no clue what I'm doing! :) Thanks so much in advance.
 
Since it supports crossfire - something I want to take advantage of in the future, though I plan on starting with only one GPU for now (~1gb)

OK but be aware that usually if you don't add a second card in about 6 months you generally won't. That's just the way it works. Single GPUs get faster, old models become unavailable, etc. Things move fast.

audio card (since the MSI onboard sucks?
So don't buy it? Asus has a board for a little bit more that has built-in X-fi:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131392

But maybe you had better think about this.

955 -245
790FX -200
DDR3 -76

That's only about 100 bucks behind a much nicer i7 build:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.203779


A good crossfire PSU is going to run you at least $110, so instead get this great deal on a case/PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.195790
It's more case than you were planning, but the combo price is very nice.

Or
HAF and 750TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.201930

Or

CM 690
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
and PC P&C 750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009