Upgrading old rig

[Seijuurou]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$700 shipping included
3) Where do you live?
Stuttgart, Germany. APO Box
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU
Motherboard
RAM
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
XION Supernova XON-800R14N 800W
ATI HD 5770
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Have a 21"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Plan on purchasing in the next 2 weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
RAID
USB 3.0
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate

I have been looking at the following components:

MSI 890FXA-GD70
AMD Phenom II x6 1090t BE
8gb G. Skill F3-12800CL6D-4GBPI
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1

I've been going back and forth between AMD and intel for a bit now while I wait on my tax return but I can't seem to get an i7 for the price point that I'm looking for. I'm also trying to stay a bit ahead of the curve technology-wise which is why I want USB 3.0 in case in the future I want it but can't support it in the future.

 

[E4g1e]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$700 shipping included
3) Where do you live?
Stuttgart, Germany. APO Box
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU
Motherboard
RAM
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
XION Supernova XON-800R14N 800W
ATI HD 5770
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Have a 21"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Plan on purchasing in the next 2 weeks.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
RAID
USB 3.0
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate

I have been looking at the following components:

MSI 890FXA-GD70
AMD Phenom II x6 1090t BE
8gb G. Skill F3-12800CL6D-4GBPI
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1

I've been going back and forth between AMD and intel for a bit now while I wait on my tax return but I can't seem to get an i7 for the price point that I'm looking for. I'm also trying to stay a bit ahead of the curve technology-wise which is why I want USB 3.0 in case in the future I want it but can't support it in the future.

You might have to look for another reseller: Newegg does not ship anything outside the Continental U.S., IIRC.

In addition, the motherboard is definitely overpriced for an AMD motherboard. In fact, spending $203 for an AMD motherboard completely defeats the one advantage of an AMD build: Good performance for a good price. (I don't include any rebates whatsoever in the final price due to them never being a sure thing.) As a result, spending $403 for an AMD CPU/mobo combo will actually get you a slower system than an Intel quad-core i5/mobo combo at a higher price.

Second, the RAM is way overpriced for just 4GB, and neither CL6 nor DDR3-1600 offers much if any practical performance improvement over DDR3-1333 RAM @ CL9 to justify the $40 extra cost. In fact, if you're dead set on AMD, it does not officially support memory speeds above DDR3-1333.

 

[Dangman]

I concur with E4g1e 100%: Don't bother with that setup: It's simply overpriced.

For your needs, the Core i5 760 CPU is more than enough. It outperforms the 1090T in games and provides roughly the same performance as the Core i7 CPUs in games:
The i5 750/760 is just as fast as the Core i7 950 in gaming as shown here:

The 2.8Ghz Core i7 930 only provides about a 2 to 5FPS difference over the Core i5 750 as shown in this review:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gaming_the_core_debate,1.html

Additional proof: The $1040 3.3Ghz Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU is only 15% to 30% faster than the Core i5 750 with only a specific set of games and video cards:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpus-and-games-2010.html

So considering the the i7 975 is faster than the i7 930 and i7 950 and yet only provides 15% to 30% under the most ideal conditions, the Core i7 930/950 is definitely not gonna be that much faster than the i5 750 or i5 760. At least fast enough to justify the higher costs anyway. In addition, there's very little real world difference between triple channel and dual channel RAM in real world apps and games.

So platform wise, you can save around $150 to $200 if you switch to the Core i7 750/760 route and still get very similar performance in games. Dunno about you but $150 to $250 is too high for minimal gains in gaming. It'll only extend the life of your PC by 2 months at most.

Anyway, I recommend the following:
$210 - Intel Core i5 760 CPU
$180 - Asus P7P55D-E Pro Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$100 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9S-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
---
Total: $520 shipped.

Better bang for the buck RAM, faster CPU, and a slightly more flexible mobo (Has both SLI and Crossfire support) are all big improvements over your current planned setup.

 

[E4g1e]

I concur with E4g1e 100%: Don't bother with that setup: It's simply overpriced.

For your needs, the Core i5 760 CPU is more than enough. It outperforms the 1090T in games and provides roughly the same performance as the Core i7 CPUs in games:
The i5 750/760 is just as fast as the Core i7 950 in gaming as shown here:

The 2.8Ghz Core i7 930 only provides about a 2 to 5FPS difference over the Core i5 750 as shown in this review:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gaming_the_core_debate,1.html

Additional proof: The $1040 3.3Ghz Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU is only 15% to 30% faster than the Core i5 750 with only a specific set of games and video cards:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpus-and-games-2010.html

So considering the the i7 975 is faster than the i7 930 and i7 950 and yet only provides 15% to 30% under the most ideal conditions, the Core i7 930/950 is definitely not gonna be that much faster than the i5 750 or i5 760. At least fast enough to justify the higher costs anyway. In addition, there's very little real world difference between triple channel and dual channel RAM in real world apps and games.

So platform wise, you can save around $150 to $200 if you switch to the Core i7 750/760 route and still get very similar performance in games. Dunno about you but $150 to $250 is too high for minimal gains in gaming. It'll only extend the life of your PC by 2 months at most.

Anyway, I recommend the following:
$210 - Intel Core i5 760 CPU
$180 - Asus P7P55D-E Pro Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$100 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9S-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
---
Total: $520 shipped.

Better bang for the buck RAM, faster CPU, and a slightly more flexible mobo (Has both SLI and Crossfire support) are all big improvements over your current planned setup.

Agreed there. The OP's planned build actually costs a whopping $593 shipped - and the AMD IMC will likely not handle a full load of memory modules at faster than DDR3-1066 speed. It's also not a good buy because that setup has all four DIMM slots filled, which often forces the AMD memory controller to not function properly above DDR3-1066 and also leaves absolutely no room at all whatsoever to add more RAM without having to throw away any of the expensive RAM he were to have bought.