New multipurpose machine

[antihexe]

Blah. It's been four years since I've built a new machine, and two (three?) since my last upgrade. I'm not completely out of the loop, so I threw a build together--I think it's decent enough. Any input or suggestions are welcome, thank you. ; )

[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131631"]ASUS M4A89GTD PRO[/URL] *Area of concern
[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851"]AMD Phenom II X6 1055T[/URL] or alternatively a [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849"]AMD Phenom II X6 1090T[/URL]
[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150476"]XFX 5870 1GB[/URL]
[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277"]Two (2) G.SKILL Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600 Kit[/URL]
[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012"]CORSAIR HX Series 650W (Modular.)[/URL]
[URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185"]Two (2) SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM [/URL]
Assorted: Two 120mm case fans, a Cooler Master Hyper 121, 
Lian-Li Case (undecided...I may just use my 5 year old Lian-Li case.)

Edit: updated with suggestions

1) What will you be doing with this PC?

Gaming, writing reports, frequent handling of relatively large sql backups.​

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

Upper end should be around $1,350.​

3) Where do you live?

Oregon, United States​

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?

Just the tower and all components within: Processor, Graphics Processor, Memory, Motherboard, Hard Disks (redundant setup, 1TB,) Power Supply (Modular.)​

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?

A pair of SATA CD/DVD RWs, my ancient audigy SE sound card.​

6) Will you be overclocking?

Probably the processor, if possible. Only a moderate overclock.​

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

I have one HNC 27.5" display at 1920 X 1200, and a Dell Ultrasharp 2709W 27" at 1920 X 1200. They are side by side--dual displays.​

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

I am planning to buy before the end of the month, but before the end of the summer for certain.​

9) What features do you need in a motherboard?

The only feature that I really need out of a motherboard is a good RAID controller. I'm also looking for a motherboard that I can continue to use for at least five years. An upgrade probably will occur within 3 years. Don't want to replace the motherboard at that time. I'm not on the up and up in terms of what I need, but some things that look like will give it some longevity might be SATA 6Gb/s, the newest Northbridge/Southbridge. ​

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?

I'm using Debian Linux and Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, yes.​

 

[Dangman]

Ditch the DDR3 2000 RAM. You're not gonna notice an iota of difference between those sets and this RAM set:
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM

Ditch the AC7 Pro HSF. It's not adequate for a modern CPU. Get this instead:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

What exactly do you mean by "good RAID controller?" What kind of RAID setup were you planning on creating? Also does your Lian Li case still uses 80mm fans? In fact, which Lian Li case do you have now?

 

[E4g1e]

Ditch the DDR3 2000 RAM. You're not gonna notice an iota of difference between those sets and this RAM set:
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM

I agree with this part.

Ditch the AC7 Pro HSF. It's not adequate for a modern CPU. Get this instead:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

Unfortunately, that cooler is no longer $30 - but $43 shipped.

The big problem with the AC7 Pro, as I mentioned in another thread, is that it is all too similar in all respects (including size) to the stock cooler that comes with a boxed Intel i7-980X CPU. In other words, too small for a big heat producing CPU such as the hexa-core AMD X6.

 

[antihexe]

Ditch the DDR3 2000 RAM. You're not gonna notice an iota of difference between those sets and this RAM set:
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM

Ditch the AC7 Pro HSF. It's not adequate for a modern CPU. Get this instead:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

What exactly do you mean by "good RAID controller?" What kind of RAID setup were you planning on creating? Also does your Lian Li case still uses 80mm fans? In fact, which Lian Li case do you have now?

Ah. So the DDR3 2000 isn't useful? Shows how much I know. Thanks for both suggestions, I'll adjust accordingly.
I'm just going to be running raid 1 initially, but it must be able to to do RAID 5.

I agree with this part.

Unfortunately, that cooler is no longer $30 - but $43 shipped.

The big problem with the AC7 Pro, as I mentioned in another thread, is that it is all too similar in all respects (including size) to the stock cooler that comes with a boxed Intel i7-980X CPU. In other words, too small for a big heat producing CPU such as the hexa-core AMD X6.

Aside from the price, is this cooler (Hyper 212) a good buy?

 

[E4g1e]

Ah. So the DDR3 2000 isn't useful? Shows how much I know. Thanks for both suggestions, I'll adjust accordingly.

In fact, no current memory controller on any system (save for the Extreme Edition versions of the Intel i7 CPU) officially supports memory at higher speeds than DDR3-1333. And many of those systems do not work well with memory running faster than their official maximums.

And the reason why we are recommending DDR3-1600 memory is that a given DDR3-1333 memory kit costs the same as or more than the same company's DDR3-1600 kit within the same line.

 

[E4g1e]

Aside from the price, is this cooler (Hyper 212) a good buy?

It's still a good cooler. It's just that it is no longer as good of a value as it had been the past month or so.

 

[antihexe]

Any further comments on my chosen motherboard? This component is where I am most unsure. --e This board doesn't state whether it supports DDR3 1600 or not, although it does support DDR3 2000 and DDR3 1333. Previously, I bought from EVGA... unfortunately they do not sell AMD boards.

 

[Shadowssong]

It is good, asus makes quality motherboards and the 890 chipset is the most up to date chipset. You won't run your ram at DDR3-1600 stock anyways, you would have to OC to run at those speeds. Most likely it will downclock to DDR3-1333. You get the DDR3-1600 because its basically the same price and gives you additional overclocking headroom.

 

[Dangman]

Ah. So the DDR3 2000 isn't useful? Shows how much I know. Thanks for both suggestions, I'll adjust accordingly.
I'm just going to be running raid 1 initially, but it must be able to to do RAID 5.

Hmm, just a FYI, if you're planning on running RAID 5 using the onboard RAID controller (basically software RAID) in Windows, you're looking at a constant CPU usage ranging from 10% to 50% at all times depending on the size of the array and CPU. In addition, software based RAID in Windows have a relatively low read/write speeds. So basically, RAID 5 using the onboard RAID in Windows is not exactly a good idea.

Aside from the price, is this cooler (Hyper 212) a good buy?

Unfortunately, that cooler is no longer $30 - but $43 shipped.

Aside from the price, is this cooler (Hyper 212) a good buy?

Easily fixed. Just buy the Coolermaster HSF from Amazon.com for $29 shipped:
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1274318769&sr=8-1-fkmr0