Building a new rig need suggestions

Want to put a rig together for newer games Arkam City, starcraft 2, the New Diablo, etc. as well as web surfing, some Abobe CS 4 work, and some instructional designing (if I get one of the new jobs I have applied/interviewed for.

It has been probably 4-5 years since I have upgraded/built my last rig. What I need is a little guidance. I really would like to keep the overall cost below 800.00 if possible. I will post what I have in my current build when I get home from work tonight.

1) First processors: AMD or Intel? I have always done intel before. Currently looking at

AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8120FRGUBOX
or
Intel i5-2400 or 2500 Not sure if I will do much overclocking inorder to need the K version.


2) Motherboards - have been an ASUS guy in the past, is that still a good bet, or has Gigabyte surpassed them now? Not as familiar with the AMD boards. For the Intel 1155 boards do you recommend P67, H67, or Z68? I am really out of the loop on MBs. Minimum Wattage and volts per rail on the power supply for AMD vs intel? I prefer full ATX sized boards for getting into them and accessing without scraped up knuckles.

3) Memory: I believe I want at least 6gb if not 8gb. What do you recommend based on price/value/performance?

4) Video cards. Do I go cheap and SLI/Crossfire? or do I pay more for a single card. I have been reading that Nvidia has regained the lead from ATI thoughts?


pricewise is it better to just buy into a prebuilt and switch out compenents at this stage?
Thanks a bunch folks!

-Matt

How much can you spend.

I would like to keep under $800.00 if possible and will steal drives, keyboard, mouse, monitor from one of my old rigs if needed. I definately do not need OS, office, Hard Drive as I have ones to cover this. I may do a new case/PS if needed.

Here are the specs on my last build(ie stuff I can bring forward):

Logitech Media Elite 967559-0403 Black USB or PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard
Item #: N82E16823126178

Logitech LX7 5 Buttons Tilt Wheel USB RF Wireless Optical Mouse
Item #: N82E16826104193

OCZ S.O.E 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2SOE6672GK
Item #: N82E16820227118

OCZ S.O.E 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2SOE6671GK
Item #: N82E16820227117

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136074

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822136283

Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148840 (just purchased)

ASUS 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black PATA Model DRW-1814BL R LightScribe Support
Item #: N82E16827135149

Acer AL2051W Black/Silver 20" 8ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
Item #: N82E16824009105

Creative 70SB073A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Item #: N82E16829102006

XION Solaris XON-403 Black with Green LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811208009

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835186134

Linksys WMP54G 32bit PCI2.2 Wireless-G Adapter
Item #: N82E16833124115

XFX PVT71PUDD3 GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814150209

ASUS P5NSLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI Intel Edition ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131032

LITE-ON LightScribe Black 20X DVD±R Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write Black IDE Model LH-20A1H-186 LightScribe Support
Item #: N82E16827106045

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80557E6600
Item #: N82E16819115003

Antec True Power Trio TP3-650 650W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply with Three 12V Rails
Item #: N82E16817371001

Intel Core i5-2500 Quad-Core 3.3-3.7GHz Turbo 95W

ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0

Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CAS 9 1.5v

Radeon HD 6950 2 GB

Seasonic M12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Modular

NZXT LEXA S LEXS 3 x 120mm 1 x 140mm


All that can be had for under 800 bucks and if you PSU is a few years old I say get a new one.

Can I ask why ASRock over similarly priced Gigabyte and Asus boards?

ASRock is top quality....

I with Richard on this one, AsRock has actually upped their quality, the little brother/sister of Asus has carved it own spot.

Been using there MB's for the last couple of builds, stellar...I even go back further, the Dual Sata II series was killer for its day....754 and 939 runnings option on the same board, I still have a customer on one of these, running a 939 riser card, all four mems slots filled (4x1) and it still performs rather well for his uses...including some gaming...

Laterzzzz....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bldegle2

I with Richard on this one, AsRock has actually upped their quality, the little brother/sister of Asus has carved it own spot.

Been using there MB's for the last couple of builds, stellar...I even go back further, the Dual Sata II series was killer for its day....754 and 939 runnings option on the same board, I still have a customer on one of these, running a 939 riser card, all four mems slots filled (4x1) and it still performs rather well for his uses...including some gaming...

Laterzzzz....

---

That the Dual Sata II was the first Asrock motherboard I owned. It was one of those rare motherboards that did both the PCIE and AGP at full FPS. All the online reviews were real happy with it.

Let's put it this way, IF the Asrock X79 Extreme9 had arrived on the shelves at the same time as my Asus Rampage IV Etreme, I'd have been seriously undecided as to which to get. I'm impressed with Asrock progress, the boards all appear to be of good build quality, quite OCable, the Extreme9 came with its own discrete soundcard! Man, if only Asrock had it out earlier.....

Wow... the little Asrock sure have grown up!!

Alright, Had a financial setback, but that has been rectified. I now have up to 1200.00 to spend (including monitor and a multifunction printer). What do you recommend today, with an increased budget?

Thanks!

-Matt

Go with the Ivy bridge processors from Intel. Like this one... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116504