New computer build video card question

[bmxscion]

I am building a new computer, and this is what I have sitting at home as of now:

Corsair Graphite Series 600T

ASUS Sabertooth 990FX

SeaSonic X-850 P/S

16 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 RAM

ASUS VE248Q 24" Monitor

Kingston Hyper X 120 GB SSD

Creative X-Fi Sound blaster sound card from my current setup. Can't remember all the specs on it. It has all gold connectors and is 7.1. but no optical inputs/outputs.

I plan on using an AMD FX 6100 processor and a Corsair H-100 water cooling system which I have not ordered yet. I may add a Blu-ray burner but I am still undecided at this point.

My Question is, video cards....I have been looking and researching all the new ones and everything in between. I am not building this as a gaming rig, but would like to be able to play some games on it every once and a while. The main purpose for this system is multi-tasking, HD video streaming, internet, and some video editing. I don't think I really need a $300+ video card. This is one area I think I can shave off some costs and still have a good balanced reliable system that will do everything I need it to do. What would be some recommended video cards that would work well with this system? I have been looking at the 6000 series Radeon cards. I know that if I use a 6000 series card combined with the 990FX chipset and FX-series processor it becomes "the Scorpian" which is supposed to be the best configuration for this setup. I have a copy of Windows Home Premium to install fresh on the SSD as well.

I am open to any advice and critisism about this setup. My goal is to try and keep the total cost below $1500 and with everything listed it will be real close, the only real deciding factor being the cost of the graphics card. I appreciate any advice as this is my first computer build. I am also currently deployed overseas so I just browse and research stuff most of the day, since my job here is super easy. I will be building this rig when I come home for my R&R. Thanks in advance for anything that will be helpful.

[xplayazplayzonx]

really good graphic card and its in between. so if your not gaming hard this will be perfect.

GTX460

[Hotdog]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130660

[bmxscion]

The monitor I have has a display port connection on it. Should I use that instead of HDMI for the connection?

[xplayazplayzonx]

The monitor I have has a display port connection on it. Should I use that instead of HDMI for the connection?

that would be up to you! you can use either or the only time people use the display port if they are trying to fit 3 monitors on one graphics card

[bmxscion]

Thanks for the quick replies...I have never heard of display port until recently. I guess I need to get out of this damn desert and get back to reality someday. Technology is not the best here. I need to do some updating to my build log for my car as well, and hopefully this new computer set up and my new Sony HDR-PJ10 video camera I got will be able to make high quality vids with good audio pickup too to share with everyone.

[theTank77]

The monitor I have has a display port connection on it. Should I use that instead of HDMI for the connection?

display port is the best right now if you have a monitor that supports it... use it. as for the video card it all depends on what you want. I have a XFX Radeon 6950 which does everything. For a budget card that can still do a lot I would say get a XFX Radeon 6970 for $190 or a EVGA NVIDIA 560 SO for $200. if you go Radeon you get more for your $. a 6970 for $190 is the same as a gtx580 for $500. only difference is nvidia cards have physx and cuda, but unless your playing games that use physx a lot then its not needed

[bmxscion]

The monitor I have has a display port connection on it. Should I use that instead of HDMI for the connection?

display port is the best right now if you have a monitor that supports it... use it. as for the video card it all depends on what you want. I have a XFX Radeon 6950 which does everything. For a budget card that can still do a lot I would say get a XFX Radeon 6970 for $190 or a EVGA NVIDIA 560 SO for $200. if you go Radeon you get more for your $. a 6970 for $190 is the same as a gtx580 for $500. only difference is nvidia cards have physx and cuda, but unless your playing games that use physx a lot then its not needed

That XFX Radeon 6970 is actually one of my top choices from what I have been looking at. It has a $20 rebate on it until the 15th of this month too. I like how it has dual display ports(mini) and HDMI so it is very versitile in how you can connect it. IF I wanted to upgrade to something more serious later, it would be super easy to add another card and run it in CrossfireX. I think I may have a winner...Thank you.

[theTank77]

The monitor I have has a display port connection on it. Should I use that instead of HDMI for the connection?

display port is the best right now if you have a monitor that supports it... use it. as for the video card it all depends on what you want. I have a XFX Radeon 6950 which does everything. For a budget card that can still do a lot I would say get a XFX Radeon 6970 for $190 or a EVGA NVIDIA 560 SO for $200. if you go Radeon you get more for your $. a 6970 for $190 is the same as a gtx580 for $500. only difference is nvidia cards have physx and cuda, but unless your playing games that use physx a lot then its not needed

That XFX Radeon 6970 is actually one of my top choices from what I have been looking at. It has a $20 rebate on it until the 15th of this month too. I like how it has dual display ports(mini) and HDMI so it is very versitile in how you can connect it. IF I wanted to upgrade to something more serious later, it would be super easy to add another card and run it in CrossfireX. I think I may have a winner...Thank you.

the 6970 is a serious card. the only step up from it in the 6 series is the 6990. with one 6970 you can run 3 monitors in eyefinity. the new 7000series is out but those cards are $500ish. one 7950 beats two 560s in sli. I can play BF3 with everything maxed out at 1080 and still get no lower than 40fps with my 6950. with Radeon cards I highly suggest going with XFX cards for their double lifetime warranty. ooh yeh and with your H100 I suggest getting better fans. the corsair fans suck and their loud as hell. and in all honesty the intel 2600k is better than the amd 6100. 8 cores are nice but the architecture sucks which slows performance substantially. just my 2c. and I'm a AMD guy so dont thing I'm biast twords intel

[bmxscion]

with Radeon cards I highly suggest going with XFX cards for their double lifetime warranty. ooh yeh and with your H100 I suggest getting better fans. the corsair fans suck and their loud as hell. and in all honesty the intel 2600k is better than the amd 6100. 8 cores are nice but the architecture sucks which slows performance substantially. just my 2c. and I'm a AMD guy so dont thing I'm biast twords intel

Yeah the warranty part of XFX is another good thing about that card. Also thanks for the heads up on the fans. Is that H100 cooler really necessary or would a another option be better? I just wanted to be able to mount the radiator in the top of the case in place of the 200mm fan that it comes with. Do you know anything about the fans that come with the Graphite 600T case? Should I look into upgrading any of those or adding any more? As far as Intel vs AMD...I already have the MB which is AMD so I am kind of locked into an AMD processor. The 6100 is a 6 core, and the 8100 is the 8 core in the FX series. Thank you very much for all your guidance, and I can't wait to get this thing together. I havent upgraded my desktop since like 2007!! It needs to be refreshed super bad.