Sandy Bridge Upgrade Help

[Actuary]

1) PC will be used primarily for gaming, movie-watching, and other everyday activities like web browsing.
2) I'll spend on what I feel is good bang for the buck, but let's set a hard limit of $900.
3) I live in NJ.
4) CPU, CPU heatsink/fan, Motherboard, RAM, video card, possibly a SSD (not sure, convince me), new DVD-RW drive (I think the old one is gonna go soon, plus it is using a huge ribbon cable).
5) Reusing the following:

• Corsair CMPSU-650TX
• HAF 932
• Assorted WD Hard drives (1tb, 1tb, 500gb, 500gb, 400gb)
• Creative XtremeMusic

6) Will probably go for a "mild" overclock of 4ghz.
7) I use a 22" 1680x1050 dell.
8) Immediately.
9) I don't think I'll ever go for SLI or Crossfire. SATA 6gb/s would probably be good, although that looks like it's included on the 1155 boards I've seen.
10) Win7 Home Premium (making sure to use 64bit this time )

I'll be hitting a Micro Center on Sunday (I just happen to be going to a party literally 1 mile from one), so I need to order any parts that I'm not buying in the Microcenter immediately. My thoughts:

2500K @ Micro Center - $180
Asus P8P67 @ Micro Center - $160
8gb 1333 G. Skill - $90
XFX 6950 - $310
Asus DVDRW Drive - $20
Total = $760

I'll probably throw in a couple SATA cables and a couple 4pin->HD power converters. Any recommendations on a cpu heatsink/fan? Like I said above, I won't be going for any outrageous overclocks, so nothing extreme necessary.

Normally I would try and go for a more "bang for the buck" type video card, but I'm really not sure. I could go down to a 6870 and pocket the almost $100 in savings. There's also the newegg Hot Deal on a 5870 for $199 (including $30 MIR, would have to order today). Looking at some recent reviews, the 5870 performs just a tiny bit worse than a 6950 at my resolution. Thoughts?

Edit: Can probably forget about the SSD, I can't justify it at over $200 right now.

 

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Any recommendations on a cpu heatsink/fan?
Coolermaster Hyper 212, it's about $30 and is really good.
Corsair A70 is on clearance at BB for $25, and is pretty good too.

Socket 1156 heatsinks are compatible with the new socket 1155.

 

[Actuary]

Any recommendations on a cpu heatsink/fan?
Coolermaster Hyper 212, it's about $30 and is really good.
Corsair A70 is on clearance at BB for $25, and is pretty good too.

Socket 1156 heatsinks are compatible with the new socket 1155.

I'll probably go with the Hyper 212, but on Amazon for rewards points (and it's $27 with free shipping). Thanks. If anyone knows of any decently priced DVD Burners on amazon, throw those up too.

My main concern at this point is choice of video card (i.e. 5870 @ $199 vs 6950 @ $300 vs. 6870 @ $220).

On a related note, does Arctic Silver 5 go "stale"? I'm pretty sure the tube I have at home is ~6 years old.

 

[Porter_]

FYI the Hyper 212+ comes with thermal paste. I'm unsure of the quality, but I decided to forego the "high end" thermal paste for the Hyper 212+ I just ordered. Also make sure to google how to apply thermal paste to an HDT type cooler, if you are not already aware of the best practices.

 

[Actuary]

Ah, here's an MSI 6950 for $280 after MIR (someone confirmed in the Hot Deals thread that MSI will honor the MIR with Amazon). Still undecided on the video card. 5850 vs 6870 vs 6950.

Any last minute thoughts before I put the orders in? Looks like I'm going with the MSI 6950 @ $280.

Where's Danny Bui when I need him to chime in and confirm I'm not a total fool.

I've ordered the optical drive and the RAM from newegg. Waiting on Chase to clear my payment on my Amazon rewards card to place the ~$330 Amazon order (consisting of video card and cpu cooler). Don't want to miss almost 1,000 rewards points (hey, it's like $10). Yay for only having a $2,000 limit on a card you use for just about everything to get free rewards.

 

[Dangman]

Any last minute thoughts before I put the orders in? Looks like I'm going with the MSI 6950 @ $280.

GPU wise, do not get the HD 6950 card at all. It's stupid overkill for your small resolution. It would be a really really bad buy. Unless you're planning on upgrading to a 1920x1080 res in about 1-2 months, go with the HD 6870 if the deal on the HD 5870 expires for you.

The Coolermaster Hyper 212+ does come with its own tube of thermal paste that's just as good as AS5 so you can throw out your tube of of AS5. I think after six years, it's not gonna be a good idea to use it.

The rest of the parts choices seems fine.

Where's Danny Bui when I need him to chime in and confirm I'm not a total fool.

Sorry, woke up late today

 

[Actuary]

GPU wise, do not get the HD 6950 card at all. It's stupid overkill for your small resolution. It would be a really really bad buy. Unless you're planning on upgrading to a 1920x1080 res in about 1-2 months, go with the HD 6870 if the deal on the HD 5870 expires for you.

The rest of the parts choices seems fine.

Sorry, woke up late today

Guess my fiancee was wrong when she said size doesn't matter.

That said, the 6870 (either Sapphire or XFX, obviously going to go XFX for lifetime warranty) is $20 more than the 5870 deal. Any reason to go with the 6870 other than the rebate being $20 instead of $30, so less potential loss if it doesn't come through, or if someone had a grudge against Sapphire (the 5870).

 

[Dangman]

That said, the 6870 (either Sapphire or XFX, obviously going to go XFX for lifetime warranty) is $20 more than the 5870 deal. Any reason to go with the 6870 other than the rebate being $20 instead of $30, so less potential loss if it doesn't come through, or if someone had a grudge against Sapphire (the 5870).

Meh I do have slightly grude against Sapphire But in any case, the HD 6870 does use less power and generates less heat while it's performance isn't that far below the HD 5870. And then there's the likelihood that AMD is gonna release more updates for the HD 6xxx series than with the HD 5xxx series cards.

 

[Actuary]

Meh I do have slightly grude against Sapphire But in any case, the HD 6870 does use less power and generates less heat while it's performance isn't that far below the HD 5870. And then there's the likelihood that AMD is gonna release more updates for the HD 6xxx series than with the HD 5xxx series cards.

I was thinking this as well. Less power and heat is always a good thing, and given what I've heard about the state of AMD's drivers lately (not trying to start an AMD vs. Nvidia war here, just stating what I've heard) I'd rather go with a newer card with a higher likelihood of frequent updates. I think I'll grab the 6870.

Sapphire isn't exactly my favorite brand either.

Looks like my total for CPU, CPU heatsink, Motherboard, RAM, Video Card, and Optical Drive will come in just under $800. Not bad if it lasts me as long as my e6400 did. Also, paying tax at newegg blows.