Buying a new PC, upgrading 6670. Should I crossfire or buy 6850+?

[miyelsh]

So I am purchasing a CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2098 and i wanna make sure it fulfills my plans. First off, with the 6670 1GB that comes with it can/should I buy a second 6670 and crossfire it or buy a 6850+ GPU for more. If anything i believe i will upgrade the GPU first because from what I heard it is the weakest link and maybe the PSU as it is only 500w. I would be grateful if you will answer these because i want to be positive I am making a good purchase.
Also can my Mobo even support crossfire?

Specs:General Spec

Brand
CyberpowerPC

Model
Gamer Ultra 2098 (GU2098)

Type
Gaming

Processor
AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz

Processor Main Features
64 bit Quad-Core Processor

Memory
8GB DDR3 1333

Hard Drive
500GB SATA II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM

Optical Drive 1
24x DVD±R/±RW Dual Layer Drive

Graphics
AMD Radeon HD 6670 1GB

Audio
Sound card - Integrated

Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet

Power Supply
500W

Keyboard
Xtreme Gear USB Keyboard

Mouse
Xtreme Gear USB Mouse

Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Special Features
AZZA Orion Gaming Case

Motherboard

Chipset
NVIDIA GeForce 7025

CPU

CPU Type
AMD FX-Series

CPU Speed
FX-4100(3.6GHz)

CPU Socket Type
AM3+

CPU Main Features
64 bit Quad-Core Processor

Graphics

GPU/VPU Type
AMD Radeon HD 6670 1GB

Memory

Memory Capacity
8GB DDR3

Memory Speed
DDR3 1333

Memory Spec
4GB x 2

Memory Slot (Total)
2

Hard Drive

HDD Capacity
500GB

HDD Interface
SATA II

HDD RPM
7200rpm

Optical Drive

Optical Drive Type
DVD±RW

Optical Drive Spec
24x DVD±R/±RW DUAL LAYER DRIVE

Audio

Audio Chipset
Integrated

Audio Channels
7.1 Ch Audio

Communications

LAN Chipset
Integrated

LAN Speed
10/100/1000Mbps

Front Panel Ports

Front USB
2

Back Panel Ports

PS/2
2

Rear USB
4

RJ45
1 port

Rear Audio Ports
Yes

Expansion

PCI Slots (Available/Total)
1x PCI-e 16x
2x PCI-e 1x
1x PCI

Physical Spec

Dimensions
20.00" x 17.00" x 7.5"

Weight
30.6 lbs.

 

[amuffin]

Thats kind of expensive considering you could build an i5-2500k machine that will outperform the fx-4100 for around the same price.

 

[miyelsh]

Yes but this would be my first gaming desktop so I would assume having a custom pc built would be a better choice because it is kind of risky building my own at my experience level.

 

[amuffin]

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/CyberPower_Z68_Configurator/ you can upgrade to an i7-2600k according to them.

 

[miyelsh]

I am buying this off of newegg for $550 so I can't order it from cyberpowerpc. It is around 300 more custom ordering it compared to the price on newegg. Do you have any Ideas on what I should do with the gPu because that is more important to me right now?

 

[AxemanACL]

Miyelsh, the people of this forum are happy to pretty much pick out all the parts you would need for a computer. Go read the how to ask for help thread from the stickies in the systems forum section, and make a thread there. I'm sure we could get you a better computer for the money. Building it really isn't that hard. Plus there are many things on this forum and the web giving instructions on how to build one.

By the time you upgrade your graphics you are looking at least $700 at the very minimum.

 

[miyelsh]

Axeman, thanks but at the moment I just want to step up from my 2 year old dv7. I have my mind set on purchasing one even if it costs more because if anything this will helP me understand a computer more than any thread can. I have spent around two months looking for my best bet and I believe this will be the best in my opinion for a beginnner like me.

 

[AxemanACL]

Axeman, thanks but at the moment I just want to step up from my 2 year old dv7. I have my mind set on purchasing one even if it costs more because if anything this will helP me understand a computer more than any thread can. I have spent around two months looking for my best bet and I believe this will be the best in my opinion for a beginnner like me.

Fair enough, I know doing your first full build from scratch is scary. I had to have friends at the time walk me through it, and pretty much tell me what to buy.

 

[miyelsh]

Fair enough, I know doing your first full build from scratch is scary. I had to have friends at the time walk me through it, and pretty much tell me what to buy.

Well if you would like, I would love it if you gave your opinion on what graphics card I should buy because I want to play games at pretty high settings with a 1600x900 moniter?

 

[AxemanACL]

Well if you would like, I would love it if you gave your opinion on what graphics card I should buy because I want to play games at pretty high settings with a 1600x900 moniter?

Do you have a budget in mind for the graphics card? And do you have a preference between Nvidia and ATI?

 

[miyelsh]

Do you have a budget in mind for the graphics card? And do you have a preference between Nvidia and ATI?

I would rather purchase ATI because I know their brand better and they are generally less for a high end card. Could I get a HD 6950 with $600 budget if I were to build my own PC?

 

[AxemanACL]

If you were willing to go for a budget processor then yes probably. The HD 6950 is going to run you $230-250. That isn't leaving you a ton left. Do you need to fit keyboard, monitor, speakers, etc in the build or is it just internal components?

The king of gaming processors right now is the Intel i5-2500K which could be as low as $180 up to $210, so you probably don't have enough left over for that. If you decide you want to build your own I would go post in the Systems-New Build forum, you will get better and may more answers there.

 

[miyelsh]

I changed my mind based on waht you guys have said and I am now going to build a PC. Heres the link to the new thread. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum2.php?config=tomshardwareus.inc&cat=31&post=325682&page=1&p=1&sondage=0&owntopic=1&trash=0&trash_post=0&print=0&numreponse=0&quote_only=0&new=0&nojs=0