New system build. Help?

[NoobClocker]

Hi guys i'm a bit inexperienced when it comes to building a rig from scratch and want to build a decent gaming machine that'll still run games at the high end settings in a year or so with little adjustment(Was thinking of crossfiring when i can afford it).
This is my first draft of the setup if you like. Could you let me know what you guys think in terms of compatibility for overclocking and anywhere where you think I might have invested money in the wrong components. Thanks guys

Mainboard: Asus Crosshair IV Formula AMD 890FX £144.98

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 980 Black Edition "140W Edition" 3.70GHz £139.99

Graphics card: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB £214.99

RAM: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel £64.99

PSU: Corsair HX 850W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply £148.99

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache £73.99

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case £106.99

CPU cooler: Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler £43.99

CD drive: Pioneer 24x Internal S19LBK DVD Rewriter £19.99

Display: Asus VE228H 22" Widescreen LED Multimedia Monitor £134.99

Total: £1,093.89

The main things I wasn't sure about were the PSU(could I get away with a smaller one?), the mainboard(is it worth getting the 900 chipset instead?) and is the CPU cooler a bit over the top?. Anywhere I could save money would be cool.

Cheers for your time guys, any help at all would be really appreciated

 

[NoobClocker]

Most likely yeah.
I didn't really consider intel because I've always used AMD but I looked it up after your post and saw the performance difference, didn't realise how big it was.
If I did switch to a 2500k what would be the best mainboard to go with?
Would the rest of my setup still be okay round a 2500k?

 

[NoobClocker]

Hi and welcome,

Personally for that money I would be looking @ an intel build.

Working with £1000 I would look at something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 Game £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £155.99
1 x Iiyama ProLite E2409HDS 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £149.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £139.98
1 x XFX 750W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £99.98
1 x Cooler Master HAF 922 Case - Black £81.98
1 x Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA775/AM2/AM3) £47.99
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £44.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222AL/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
Total : £992.51 (includes shipping : £22.20).

I threw that case in because you chose the HAF 932 in. And they are similar styling wise.
The 922 is a great case, not to mention big which will help with installation.

The PSU will be fine if you need to add another card down the line. Also the motherboard will handle it as well.

CPU cooler is one fo the best so you can play with your overclocking.

Reasons to go intel over current AMD is that it uses less power, produced less heat, is quicker in almost all situations and has a larger overclocking head room. Most can reach at least 4.5 with out a problem.

Thanks dude
This looks like a cool setup, would it be worth sticking with the 8GB kit I chose or is it overkill?
Can't believe i've been converted to intel so easily but the 2500k looks awesome.
I reckon I'll work off the build you suggested. Still saving at the moment so I've got a while to think it over.
Cheers man.
Any other thoughts would be cool, thanks for the input guys, really helping me out here

 

[NoobClocker]

how long is "a while", as that spec might change back to AMD if Bulldozer can deliver when it's released

I'm not sure at the moment, still waiting for my contract to be sorted out lol
I was aiming to build before november for skyrim's release but now that you mention it I might wait it out and see what the bulldozer chips have to offer. If i've got the money ready before bulldozer arrives I'll probably opt for the intel.
Thanks for the ideas guys I think you've given me a good starting point to go from.
Will it be worth posting my final rig when I make the decision here or should I get a new thread going?(sorry sort of new to forums)
Cheers for the advice guys