AM3 Build Advice

So Payday is here and I'm sorely tempted.

So talk me out of this:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 BlackEdition, Sok AM3, 3.2GHz, 8MB Total Cache, 125W, Retail £127.13

Asus M4A79XTD EVO, AMD 790X, AM3, PCI-E 2.0(x16), DDR3 1333/1600/1800, SATA 3Gb/s, ATX
£82.77

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR3, PC3-12800 (1600), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9, DHX £84.74

Silverstone Raven RV02B-W Black Case with Window w/o PSU Latest Rev 2.0!!
£113.79

I can salvage other bits from my current rig for the time being, though I'd like to add a proper CPU cooler and switch to a couple of Samsung F3s.

Any alternatives? I'm mostly unsure about the RAM and Motherboard, they seems pretty good for the features (Ideally want a motherboard capable of X-fire), and I do need a case as my current one is BTX and I'm loving the look of the Raven 2.

EDIT: by salvage bits I mean I've a 500w silverstone PSU, some random hard drives as stop-gaps DVD drives, and the 4850, so I should be okay till I get more funds for the F3s and maybe a new GPU in a few months.

hehe I've just done the same....

so I'm not talking you out of it! :D Good luck!

Spec it against an i5?

And do you really need a new PC? start with the raid F3s and work backwards waiting for price drops and some newer cpus to come out? Can't really talk you out of it!

Apart from the case which seems quite expensive it looks a decent upgrade from an X2 5000!! :)

I know the case is a bit pricey, but since I'm stuck with the Dell BTX I'm seeing it as more of an investment than anything else.

I had to stop myself pulling the trigger this weekend, bought a Roccat Kone to sate my spendlust, but just found out I have a week's wages owed to me for next friday so I might well be in the same imposition in 7 days.

Spec'ing it against an i5 sounds like a good idea, the reason I went AMD is the perceived price/performance ratio and I assume AM3 might last me a second CPU cycle before they change the socket.. it seems intel pull a switcheroo every 12 months - but they might have big plans for 1156/1366

It's mainly to be used for gaming, and to be followed by a GPU upgrade and a new monitor in the coming months. I might dabble in encoding my dvds to my drives, but I don't see that as justisfying the price hike to i7.

TBH, an X3 720 will still do the job in most cases. A quad will last a bit longer but the £60(plus the cost of a decent ATX socket 1156) could be better put towards a graphics card update in a year or so.

However compared to a Phenom 955 based build you are looking at another £30 or so will get you a Core i5 which is faster.

Of course if you go for an AM2+ motherboard the cost will be even less as you could re-use your old RAM.