My first build, last minute advice

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

I'm just about ready to order all the parts I need to build my first system. I just wanted to see if the community here has any advice before I click buy on Newegg. I'm hoping for this to be a pretty capable budget gaming rig. Here's what I'm thinking:

CPU: AMD Phenom x4 965 BE

GPU: Saphire Radeon 7850 1gb

Ram: Team Xtreem Dark Series 8GB (Not ideal, but the price is right)

Mobo: MSI 970A-G43

Hard Drive: Western Digital WD Blue 7200 RPM 500GB

That's it, though I may end up breaking down and getting a 120gb SSD (SAMSUNG 840 Series). So, any thoughts?

bigshootr8 · May 8, 2013

IF anything I would break down and spend the extra to get the 7850 2 gigabyte card instead of the 1 gigabyte card you pay 10 dollars more for a gigabyte it feels like a no brainer

However, when talking about SSD's I would NOT purchase the non pro 840 it comes with a cheaper flash and isn't as durable over time as the Pro version if you go for a Samsung 840 series SSD look at the 128 gigabyte Pro edition.

tiny voices · May 8, 2013

What PSU will you be using?

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

tiny voices :

I'll be using a Corsair CX 500M, I've already purchased that so I didn't include it in the original list.

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

bigshootr8 :

Will the extra gig of video ram make that much of an impact. According to some of things I've read, the extra video ram really only comes into play if I'm encoding video and stuff like that. Is that true?

Also, thanks for the SSD tip!

bigshootr8 · May 8, 2013

A lot of the newer games that are coming out are using above 1 gigabyte and rarely are they going over 2. It will impact performance/visuals in games. For example say you like Battlefield 3, Far Cry 3, Crysis 3, Max Payne 3 games along those lines and the game needs 1.5 gigabytes to run at the higher settings but you only have 1 gigabyte you will have to scale back your settings for your card to run stable at whatever those settings are.

rex4235 · May 8, 2013

965s are good, (I use one) but are getting old -- Definitely OC it; you can get it from 3.4 to 3.6-8 no problem with decent air cooling

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

rex4235 :

Yeah, I keep hearing that. But honestly, I find the idea of OCing a little intimidating since I've never done it before. I'm worried about frying my system, and I don't really want to spend the extra for a new CPU cooler (at least not yet). I was considering the FX-4100 instead of the 965 for while, but the internet seems to be in general agreement that 965>FX-4100.

rex4235 · May 8, 2013

Well, on the stock AMD sink you may be able to pull off 3.5/6... Overclocking isnt as bad as it seems, you just have to do your homework -- the worst that you can do is overvolt past its limits which isnt really required until you try to get to get past 3.6

bigshootr8 · May 8, 2013

The 965 is a stronger contender then the 4100 I would be sure however if you were to look towards the 6350 maybe that would be different. If I was building a AMD rig it would be between the 6350 and the 8350.

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

rex4235 :

Yeah, I'm sure I'll end up trying it once I've built up the nerve (and after a considerable amount of homework). But I'm curious, how much of an impact would I really see if I bumped it up to the 3.5/6 range.

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

bigshootr8 :

Yeah, those were both tempting too. Especially the 6350 for it's price point. But I figured it would be better to sacrifice a bit on the CPU in favour of a beefier graphics card.

Speaking of GPU's, what are people's thoughts on the Radeon 7790? That is the GPU I originally was going to get, but they just happened to sell out on Newegg (on their Canadian site). I really like the price point on it, and it seems better than the Nvidia 650 Ti. I may actually end up buying the 7790 instead of the 7850 but off of the American Newegg site.

rex4235 · May 8, 2013

Youd see a decent increase from .4-.6 and then to .8

Real world would be about 3-10 FPS

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

rex4235 :

That is more significant than I expected. Definitely tempting...

But one project at a time. I've got to figure how to build the thing before I can even consider OCing it

bigshootr8 · May 8, 2013

I agree with you that a more beefy graphics card would get you much further and your cpu you can upgrade later if you wanted its just a starting point really you could over time even say hey i want a 8350 and just plop that bad boy in there (may need a bios update) and be good to go.

And overclocking isn't to scary with a CPU the 965 black is meant to be overclocked it has that in mind I mean you could put it through a reasonable overclock and be fine I just wouldn't go out trying to find the highest clock you could sit at stably for 24/7 365 use.

bigshootr8 · May 8, 2013

In terms of the 7790, 650Ti, and the 7850. It goes something like this.

650Ti (non boost)<7790=more or less 650Ti boost give a few frames here and there<7850 1GB<7850 2 GB

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

bigshootr8 :

But how far can I push it before I need to worry about replacing the stock CPU fan? And thanks for the replies, much appreciated!

bigshootr8 · May 8, 2013

That is all dependent on your power supply and your cpu's thermal limits which are subject to the lottery known as the silicon lottery. Which means not every processor has the same ability to be overclocked because of the real world components within the die.

HumanGoing · May 8, 2013

So, would you recommend that I not try it until I get a better CPU fan?

bigshootr8 · May 8, 2013

I typically don't use just stock CPU heatsinks so yes I would. However this is all dependent on your budget and what you would spend on one.

My first build, last minute advice

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