New budget gaming build

[denney]

Hey guys. I live in Australia and am looking to build a new gaming system. I'm maxing out my budget at about $800AU.

These are the components I'm looking at buying:

Motherboard (I'm unsure as the GX has the SB750 while the FX is better for Crossfire):
DFI LANPARTY-DK 790GX-M2RS (with SB750) ($228)
OR
DFI LANPARTY-DK 790FX-M2RS (with SB600) ($195)

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 AM2 Black Edition ($115)

Graphics:
Sapphire HD4870 512M GDDR5 ($333)
OR
2 x Sapphire HD4830 512MB ($310) in Crossfire

PSU:
Thermaltake TR2 RX 550W ($109)

I'm leaning towards the Crossfire set-up as the benchmarks I've seen show that it's faster than the single HD4870.

This system will NOT be getting any upgrades for QUITE A WHILE so, no, I'm not looking at Crossfire for 2 x HD4870's in the future.

Anyone have any recommendations on which of the two motherboards would be best (I'm leaning towards the GX due to the SB750). I will be overclocking this system.

 

[IH8U]

Is there a comparable ASUS, or Gigabyte board instead? DFI has gone downhill after their initial success (I'd still recommend them over MSI tho). If you are wanting to X-Fire 2+ 4870's I'd suggest at least a 650W PSU instead.

 

[gkay09]

Is there a comparable ASUS, or Gigabyte board instead? DFI has gone downhill after their initial success (I'd still recommend them over MSI tho). If you are wanting to X-Fire 2+ 4870's I'd suggest at least a 650W PSU instead.

He is talking about 2 4830 and not 4870...
So 550W is just about enough...
But I would go for better brands like the Corsair/ Silverstone/PC&P

And +1 for the Mobo suggestion of Asus/Gigabyte...

 

[xthekidx]

+1 that Thermaltake PSU isn't very good. Go for a Corsair 550vx, BFG LS-550 or OCZ Fatal1ty 550w, those are all reasonably priced and high quality PSU's.

2 4830's outperform 1 4870 and cheaper...generate a little more heat though, so make sure your case is ventilated.

On the mobo and CPU...I would go for an E5200 and a Asus P5Q Pro mobo (or the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P if you can afford it, usually a bit more expensive though) and then OC the crap out of that CPU...the E5200 has more overclocking headroom than the 7750 BE and is a faster chip clock for clock, so that would be my recommendation. Some people with sufficient cooling can get the E5200 above 4GHZ.

Speaking of which, If you plan on doing any OC'ing you should be getting a cooler for your CPU...maybe the Xigmatek HDT S1283 Dark Knight (for the intel build, just the original for the AMD build) or the Scythe Mugen 2. Those are probably some of the best cooling solutions for the money and will fit all platforms out currently, so no compatability issues with either build.

What other components are you getting for this system? If you want help with those other parts and such you can give us a link to the store you want to buy from and we will do what we can.

 

[denney]

Thank you for the very informative posts. As for the other components, they are all taken care of (4GB RAM, Thermaltake Shark case, BenQ monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, HDD, DVD, etc).

Comparible Asus and Gigabyte boards are:

Asus M3A78-T AM2+ 790GX HT5200 DDR2 PCIE2.0 RAID ($239)
Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4 AM2+/AM2 DDR2 2x PCI-Ex16 SATAII RAID USB2.0 GbE ATX ($189)

I'm favouring the Gigabyte one because I've had no problems with them before yet I've had problems with Asus.

Power supply options are (never had a problem with my 400W that came with my case though):

Antec 550W Basiq ATX Power Supply ($119) (no PCI-E connectors)
Antec ATX TruePower 550W ($153) (2 PCI-E connectors)
Corsair VX-550 ATX Power Supply 120mm fan PCI-E Graphics Card Connector 6 SATA Connectors Universal ($145) (only 1 PCI-E connector)

For the Intel side of things:

Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200/2.5Ghz/2MB CACHE/800FSB/LGA775 ($105)
Asus P5Q-Pro ExpGATE S775 P45 DDR2 FSB1600 PCIE RAID GBLAN 2x1394a ATX ($209)
OR
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P P45+ICH10 FSB1600 DDR2 SATA2 GbN RAID 1394 ATX ($240)

Both of those MB are within my budget (I am pushing the budget by $20 to $40 here and there).

Cooling will be provided by either a Xigmatek CPU Cooler Archilles S1284 ($69) or Xigmatek CPU Cooler S1283 Red Scorpion ($54) or Xigmatek CPU Cooler S1283(CAC-SXHH3-U02) ($55). Can't get the Dark Knight at the moment.

Keep any other suggestions rolling in! I have a little while to plan this build and as it's going to be with me for a while, I want to get it right.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

 

[gkay09]

Well...
+1 for the intel E5200

So your setup would look like this...

CPU - E5200 (Should be Overclocked)

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P (Best P45 for the price and has the best ratings overall)

RAM - Bought

CPU Cooler - Xigmatek CPU Cooler S1283 Red Scorpion ($54) or Xigmatek CPU Cooler S1283(CAC-SXHH3-U02) ($55)

Graphics - 2X4830

PSU - Corsair 550VX

 

[xthekidx]

I would go with an intel build, and get the UD3P if you can afford it, as it is the best P45 based board, OC's like a champion.

The Antec TruePower looks to be a good option for PSU's, although I'm pretty sure the 550vx comes with 2 pcie connectors, so it would work for xfire and it would be my first pick.

For the xigmatek coolers, look for one that comes with the Crossbow backplate for mounting, its essential IMO, any one of those you liked will do well. You can also buy the backplate separately, but idk if the sites you are looking at have it. Post some links to sites you want to buy from and maybe we can help you out there.

 

[denney]

Ok, here is my new set-up (haven't used Intel since my old P3 so it's a little new...):

CPU: E5200 ($105)
MB: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P ($240)
Cooler: Xigmatek S1283 Red Scorpion ($54) (with back plate for an extra $8 - After the horror stories I've heard of push pins, this was a given! )
Graphics: 2 x HD4830 (CF) ($310)
PSU: Corsair 550VX ($145)

That's not to bad. I can work out the budget thing when I have time. It'll work out fine.

I'm getting these parts from Umart (http://www.umart.com.au) - Milton store.

I have a question though, would it be worth going to the E5300 ($20 more) or E5400 ($34 more)? I don't really see much point as the gain would be minimal I'd assume but I'll ask anyway.

And xthekidx, you're right, the 550VX does come with 2 x PCI-E connectors.

 

[xthekidx]

E5300/5400 aren't worth it IMO because you can just mimic them with the E5200 by a light OC, so I would just stick with the E5200, next step would be the E7300 because it has a larger cache which helps out in games.

This would be the backplate I was referring to:
Xigmatek Crossbow I7751 Black Plate Kit for CPU Coolers With 3 Heat Pipes Kit -- under CPU cooling tab

If this is the PSU I think it is, then it is a fine option as well:
SeaSonic PSR550+ 550W S12+ Power Supply
or this one:
OCZ StealthXstream 600W SLI Ready Power Supply(9800GX2 Support)

 

[denney]

I saw the OCZ as well and was going to opt for that one originally but didn't know about quality (haven't read any reviews on OCZ PSU's yet).

I have thought of another couple of questions....

Would the S1284 Archilles be a better buy? Reviews are telling me that it performs quite a bit better than the S1283. Also, if the S1284 is a better option, would that back plate work as it says for "3 Heat Pipes" while the S1284 has 4.

I did have another question but I can't remember at the moment. Oh well.

 

[xthekidx]

No you would need this backplate for a 4 heatpipe cooler, and I don't see it on that site unfortunately

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233020

 

[xthekidx]

The OCZ PSU is a pretty good one, here is a review of it:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/451/1

 

[denney]

Ok cool. I've read some reviews on teh OCZ and it seems pretty good. My only concern is the length of the cables as some reviews have stated that they are a little short. As I have a full tower case (the ThermalTake Shark) and the HDD are mounted sideways, I'm worried they won't reach. Will do more research though.

On second thought about the cooler, I'll probably just stick with the S1283. I don't see the point in having 4 heatpipes when only 3 (2 full, 2 half) are contacting the CPU.