System Longevity

[Evolv]

Stick with Intel, the Q9550 is slightly better than the new Phenoms.

I actually have the 22" version of your monitor. The one you picked has 1080p and will be watching movies and such.

And probably switch out that psu for what Luke said. The Corsair's have single 12v rails and that adds to the quality of a psu.

 

[Monkey]

I need to bring the price down like 150 or 200 though.
Anything you guys can think to trim ?

If I switch to this phenom Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 920 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
I save $100 right there and if the intel is "slightly" better than the phenom i will change out $100 for a little bit less performance.

of course I would need a good AMd mobo.

 

[Luke]

Well comsidering you are not going to oc, then yes, you could do that...

 

[Monkey]

do you think that would be a bad idea luke?
What AMD CPU/MOBO combo would you recommend?

 

[Luke]

^ no, that would not be a bad idea, quite a bit cheaper for the amd, and similar performance...i guess i should have been recomending it instead of the q9550 in the first place as it is more of an ocer chip. Since your not ocing then amd would be your best bet.

I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to new amd cpu's as i have not bought one since my 3200+ back in the day. Since you are not ocing though, a higher end mobo is not really needed (the higher end ones are better ocers)

Newegg.com - MSI K9N2GM-FD AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Man that board is cheap, and should serve you just fine if you don't plan to oc.

I will look to see if i can bring down the cost in other ways and post back if i can.

 

[Evolv]

^ That board actually doesn't support Phenom II. This one does though:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-MA78GPM-DS2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

This one would be better if you can snag it when it comes back in stock:
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

 

[Luke]

^you sure? (i did not check) but most am2 boards will with a simple bios flash...

 

[Evolv]

Yea, I actually checked out MSI's website because I have nothing better to do.

 

[Luke]

^thanks, i was about to (dial up takes so long lol) So skip my recommendation...gt7's is fine...