Minor hardware advice

[Broken]

What's the minimum CPU to avoid a bottleneck with an ATI Radeon HD 4870.
I'm looking at cutting down the price of a computer I'm putting together, but I can't seem to google a good answer to this question.

I'd Like to stick with AMD because they seem to have the price per performance on their side at the minute. I'm currently eyeballing an AMD Phenom 9600 for $100, but I'm also considering an 6000+ X2 because of the higher clock which should help in gaming at a cheaper price.

This is a secondary question,
what do you guys think of the cheap SSDs that OCZ is putting out. In particular I'm thinking of this one. Seems awful cheap compared to many. I really haven't kept up on the news about these guys.

[Cabalo]

i have also a sapphire hd4870 on a E8400 running at 4,2ghz.
For what i've read , you need some cpu/ram combo that does around 18 secs superpi 1mb to avoid bottlenecks.
pretty fine gfx that one.

[clocker]

I'd Like to stick with AMD because they seem to have the price per performance on their side at the minute.

I'd rethink that assumption.
I'm not aware of any AMD/Intel clock-for-clock comparison that favors Green.

[Broken]

I'd Like to stick with AMD because they seem to have the price per performance on their side at the minute.

I'd rethink that assumption.
I'm not aware of any AMD/Intel clock-for-clock comparison that favors Green.

Clock for clock no AMD is not equal to Intel.

But, buck for buck, according to the benchmarks AMD does a good job in keeping things even. For example, the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 is equal in both price and performance to the AMD Phenom 9950 (which I just purchased) - both about $160. If I was in a position money wise to build a high in system, Intel dominates the charts. I'm not though, so, it doesn't matter.

Anyhow,
parts are ordered.

I'm very anxious to put it all together when it comes in Monday. Really interested in seeing how my new motherboard works out, an ASROCK AOD790GX/128M AM2+ RT. It features something new from ASROCK called Instant Boot. The system will go from off to a fully loaded and responsive operating system in 4 seconds! There's videos on youtube - it really is impressive.

[clocker]

It features something new from ASROCK called Instant Boot. The system will go from off to a fully loaded and responsive operating system in 4 seconds! There's videos on youtube - it really is impressive.

Doesn't "sleep" mode do exactly the same thing?

[tesco]

It features something new from ASROCK called Instant Boot. The system will go from off to a fully loaded and responsive operating system in 4 seconds! There's videos on youtube - it really is impressive.

Doesn't "sleep" mode do exactly the same thing?

Yes but ASROCK never mastered it.

[Broken]

It features something new from ASROCK called Instant Boot. The system will go from off to a fully loaded and responsive operating system in 4 seconds! There's videos on youtube - it really is impressive.

Doesn't "sleep" mode do exactly the same thing?

It's not the same thing. You get the advantages of sleep mode (fast on) combined with the advantages of a clean reboot every time.

@tesco
ASRock really turned things around awhile ago, they produce very nice, reliable, and exceedingly inovative mobos that have features no other manufacturers have.
They don't venture into the high end market, but I would say that their product quality now even exceeds that of their parent comapy Asus in the low and mid level market.

[tesco]

Doesn't "sleep" mode do exactly the same thing?

It's not the same thing. You get the advantages of sleep mode (fast on) combined with the advantages of a clean reboot every time.

@tesco
ASRock really turned things around awhile ago, they produce very nice, reliable, and exceedingly inovative mobos that have features no other manufacturers have.
They don't venture into the high end market, but I would say that their product quality now even exceeds that of their parent comapy Asus in the low and mid level market.

How does it work?
Just save an image of the computer in it's 'just booted up' state so that the next boot will just reload what's in the RAM (same concept as hibernation just applied differently)?

[Broken]

You got it.
Not 'revolutionary', but very innovative I thought.

[clocker]

I am intrigued (and somewhat skeptical, I'll admit).

You must report back and tell us if it really works.