R9 290 GPU with AMD Phenom II X4 820, N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX (Alvorix) motherboard, and Corsair CX500w PSU?

CaptainCrapnuts · Oct 25, 2014

For the past few years, I've been a Playstation gamer, PS3 and now PS4, and I've been looking to make the transition into PC gaming for games like Battlefield 4. I have a habit of getting into things and doing things to the max when I get a project, I want a gaming computer that will make me put away the PS4 for good. I don't know much about PCs but have done a lot of reading and research and decided I wan't to build my gaming computer around a Radeon R9 290. I currently have an HP P6620f computer with a 500w Corsair PSU, my specs are as follows:
AMD Phenom II X4 820 2.8 GHz quad core processor
N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX (Alvorix) motherboard
and the Corsair 500w.

My first purchase is going to be the R9 290 but I have some questions and cannot find the answers anywhere on the web. I see many threads about the necessary power for the R9 290, which recommends higher than 500w, but many people saying the 500w meets the standards to run it (31 amps on the 12v, the Corsair has 38 amps), It seems people say no, and people say yes it will run, but if you want to Crossfire, you will need to go up, so my first question, has anyone tried it? does it actually work or not? Am I going to break something if I do? No threads seem to update with whether or not they tried it. I will get a better power supply in the future, but I'm kind of one step at a timing right now.

The next concern is the CPU, is it capable of running this? From what I can tell, it is compatible, but I'm concerned if there will be bottlenecking, and if so, how much?

If it does, is my motherboard compatible with a worthy CPU that wont bottleneck without getting another motherboard too? Is it even worth it or do I need to just get another motherboard and CPU altogether? I was looking at an AMD Phenom x6 1090t in the event I need a new processor without a new motherboard, would this work? I know my motherboard isn't capable of Crossfire, but I hoped that with this graphics card, that wouldn't be necessary. So, how am I doing so far? I would like to know if making the jump to the R9 290 if I will be able to start playing after that or if I will need to upgrade much more before I can even start playing?

Thank you everyone in advance for your help!

Anonymouselite5 · Oct 26, 2014

You'll be cutting it really close with that, the actual model of your psu would be nice but Corsair don't have many 500w psu's.
So yes it would work just, you would be putting alot of strain on the psu though.

So I would suggest getting a new psu, I recommend this one
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1650bbefx

or if you're like me and like Corsair try the Corsair RM 650
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/corsair-rm650-650w-80-plus-gold-power-supply-ab52030
My favorite.

So your answer yes it will run but your psu may actually burn out quite quick. Also your cpu will bottlneck your gpu alot I suggest upgrading that too.

-good luck

CaptainCrapnuts · Oct 26, 2014

Ok, Thank you, that is good information, so I will continue with my R9 290 purchase. And in maybe a couple weeks or so upgrade the PSU and CPU, probably just to a 750w or 1000w in case I decide to Crossfire.
G
So my question to you, is the Phenom 6X 1090T, can this run the 290 without bottlenecking ? Or do you know another one that would work well? This is the bestish one I could find that is compatible with my motherboard, but I don't know a lot about processors. If this one is good, is it good enough that it has Crossfire capable and compatible motherboards? And will they run? Or an option that would, if not, can you recommend a motherboard cpu combo that would work that is also reasonably priced?

CaptainCrapnuts · Oct 26, 2014

Anonymouselite5 :

Ok, Thank you, that is good information, so I will continue with my R9 290 purchase. And in maybe a couple weeks or so upgrade the PSU and CPU, probably just to a 750w or 1000w in case I decide to Crossfire.

So my question to you, is the Phenom 6X 1090T, can this run the 290 without bottlenecking ? Or do you know another one that would work well? This is the bestish one I could find that is compatible with my motherboard, but I don't know a lot about processors. If this one is good, is it good enough that it has Crossfire capable and compatible motherboards? And will they run? Or an option that would, if not, can you recommend a motherboard cpu combo that would work that is also reasonably priced?

Anonymouselite5 · Oct 26, 2014

CaptainCrapnuts :

What is your budget for a new cpu and motherboard?
The cpu will bottleneck the 290 quite alot.
Your cpu depends on what you want either one of these won't bottleneck anything.

AMD:
AMD FX8350- with the
Gigabyte rev 4 motherboard
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-ga990fxaud3-rev-40-motherboard-ab50837

Intel:
i5 4590- with the
MSI gaming 5 motherboard
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/msi-z97-gaming-5-intel-lga-1150-atx-motherboard-ab54891

Depending if you like AMD or Intel you can choose, the Motherboards are expensive but they are both very nice motherboards. If you are only gaming Intel is the better choice here and personally I would go intel, but if you do rendering AMD pulls ahead. Both of them perform similarly in gaming. Both motherboards support crossfire and won't bottleneck in the PCI lanes.

Also for the psu I would recommend the Corsair RM 1000w psu. Also to your original question the r9 290 will max any game on a single monitor at 1080p 60fps. So Crossfire would be overkill.

-good luck

PS: I wrote a much more detailed answer but lost it all when I pressed submit because of some unknown reason, So just ask If I left something out because I can't remember what I wrote.

edit: The AMD and INTEL cpu's are nearly the same in price but the msi motherboard is much more expensive, you can look around for a cheaper one but I just favour MSI.

CaptainCrapnuts · Oct 26, 2014

Anonymouselite5 :

CaptainCrapnuts :

What is your budget for a new cpu and motherboard?
The cpu will bottleneck the 290 quite alot.
Your cpu depends on what you want either one of these won't bottleneck anything.

AMD:
AMD FX8350- with the
Gigabyte rev 4 motherboard
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-ga990fxaud3-rev-40-motherboard-ab50837

Intel:
i5 4590- with the
MSI gaming 5 motherboard
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/msi-z97-gaming-5-intel-lga-1150-atx-motherboard-ab54891

Depending if you like AMD or Intel you can choose, the Motherboards are expensive but they are both very nice motherboards. If you are only gaming Intel is the better choice here and personally I would go intel, but if you do rendering AMD pulls ahead. Both of them perform similarly in gaming. Both motherboards support crossfire and won't bottleneck in the PCI lanes.

Also for the psu I would recommend the Corsair RM 1000w psu. Also to your original question the r9 290 will max any game on a single monitor at 1080p 60fps. So Crossfire would be overkill.

-good luck

PS: I wrote a much more detailed answer but lost it all when I pressed submit because of some unknown reason, So just ask If I left something out because I can't remember what I wrote.

edit: The AMD and INTEL cpu's are nearly the same in price but the msi motherboard is much more expensive, you can look around for a cheaper one but I just favour MSI.

That's within my price range for those, I was looking at the AMD FX 9590 and a gigabyte ga990 motherboard because I wasn't sure what I would need, but the combo you showed looks like I can pick up the 2 for less than $300 usd, so I think I'll get the r9 290 next week, in a couple weeks a PSU, and next month the 8350 the MSI gaming 5 and hopefully I should be good to go. Thanks for your help!

CaptainCrapnuts · Oct 26, 2014

Anonymouselite5 :

CaptainCrapnuts :

What is your budget for a new cpu and motherboard?
The cpu will bottleneck the 290 quite alot.
Your cpu depends on what you want either one of these won't bottleneck anything.

AMD:
AMD FX8350- with the
Gigabyte rev 4 motherboard
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-ga990fxaud3-rev-40-motherboard-ab50837

Intel:
i5 4590- with the
MSI gaming 5 motherboard
http://www.mwave.com.au/product/msi-z97-gaming-5-intel-lga-1150-atx-motherboard-ab54891

Depending if you like AMD or Intel you can choose, the Motherboards are expensive but they are both very nice motherboards. If you are only gaming Intel is the better choice here and personally I would go intel, but if you do rendering AMD pulls ahead. Both of them perform similarly in gaming. Both motherboards support crossfire and won't bottleneck in the PCI lanes.

Also for the psu I would recommend the Corsair RM 1000w psu. Also to your original question the r9 290 will max any game on a single monitor at 1080p 60fps. So Crossfire would be overkill.

-good luck

PS: I wrote a much more detailed answer but lost it all when I pressed submit because of some unknown reason, So just ask If I left something out because I can't remember what I wrote.

edit: The AMD and INTEL cpu's are nearly the same in price but the msi motherboard is much more expensive, you can look around for a cheaper one but I just favour MSI.

Hey, I have one last question, so far I'm in for the graphics card, a cpu, a motherboard, a power supply,... if I add a case, a Cd drive, and a solid state hard drive, did I just build a computer from scratch and be able to leave the old hp as is? What else do I need to build a computer from scratch and just keep or give away the hp? I'm starting to feel like I'm systematically replacing everything on that computer to the point I'm not seeing what parts I can use

Anonymouselite5 · Oct 26, 2014

CaptainCrapnuts :

Anonymouselite5 :

Hey, I have one last question, so far I'm in for the graphics card, a cpu, a motherboard, a power supply,... if I add a case, a Cd drive, and a solid state hard drive, did I just build a computer from scratch and be able to leave the old hp as is? What else do I need to build a computer from scratch and just keep or give away the hp? I'm starting to feel like I'm systematically replacing everything on that computer to the point I'm not seeing what parts I can use

Basically you are ;0 The other parts you'll need other than these, is memory (8gb is good). Another HDD (7200rpm). DVD drive (optional, like 20 dollars), and a case.

CaptainCrapnuts · Oct 26, 2014

Anonymouselite5 :

CaptainCrapnuts :

Basically you are ;0 The other parts you'll need other than these, is memory (8gb is good). Another HDD (7200rpm). DVD drive (optional, like 20 dollars), and a case.

By memory (8GB) you mean RAM? and i couldn't just run it off a single solid state drive if it was like 200something GB? I still need another HDD? If I keep the HP as is, it's fine for the media files and everything with its 1 TB HDD, I would be using this computer for 99% gaming, SanDisk I see makes a 256GB SSD for about $100, what would be wrong with that? Or a 500GB for $200, but if it's just for gaming, wouldn't that be a little overkill? And this is beginning to get quite pricey, I'm flirting with the $1000 range now, so, to skim a little fat, with the ga990 MB, if I'm not going to use Crossover, can I just bump down to the 970 for half the price? From what I've read it seems pretty comparable but without crossover capabilities, and in the $60-70 range, instead of $150

Anonymouselite5 · Oct 27, 2014

CaptainCrapnuts :

Anonymouselite5 :

By memory (8GB) you mean RAM? and i couldn't just run it off a single solid state drive if it was like 200something GB? I still need another HDD? If I keep the HP as is, it's fine for the media files and everything with its 1 TB HDD, I would be using this computer for 99% gaming, SanDisk I see makes a 256GB SSD for about $100, what would be wrong with that? Or a 500GB for $200, but if it's just for gaming, wouldn't that be a little overkill? And this is beginning to get quite pricey, I'm flirting with the $1000 range now, so, to skim a little fat, with the ga990 MB, if I'm not going to use Crossover, can I just bump down to the 970 for half the price? From what I've read it seems pretty comparable but without crossover capabilities, and in the $60-70 range, instead of $150

Yes 8gb of RAM is the sweet spot right now, Yes you could just run it off a single SSD, but if you're like me I filled around 3tb worth of games and stuff. So yes you can run all your stuff from one SSD, just very expensive for the bigger sizes compared to a HDD.

Also if you bump down to the GA970 you won't be able to crossfire, but with a single r9 290 you'll max everything on 1080 anyway. So that's all good.

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