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First Custom, Need feedback

Forum CPU & Components : CPUs - First Custom, Need feedback

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zappayowyow   07-03-2009 at 08:32:12 PM

Hello all. After some research and restless nights I have finally put together a hotlist for my first custom PC. Unfortunately, I do not really know enough to prevent myself from making mistakes. If you guys could take a look at the specs below and provide some feedback I would greatly appreciate it.

To provide some context, I use my PC for gaming, but not competitively. I also rarely get involved with graphical monsters like the Crisis series. Something which will own Sims 3 and Diablo III when it comes out should suit my needs fine. Thanks in advance!

POWER SUPPLY: 420 Watts Standard Case Power Supply

CPU: AMD Phenom™II X4 955 Black Edition Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology

COOLING FAN : AMD ATHLON64
CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK

MOTHERBOARD: Asus M3A76-CM AMD 760G Chipset DDR2/1066 SATA RAID PCIe Mainboard w/ATI 3000 Graphic, GbLAN, USB2.0, & 7.1Audio

MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

# VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

Optical Drive: LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network

USB PORT: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Basic w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)

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o1die   07-03-2009 at 10:51:15 PM
- 0 +

Checkout the antec 300 case w/500w antec ps for $79.99 at fry's.com if they still have this special. A 420w generic ps isn't adequate for many setups. I wouldn't trust it. If you don't need a case, newegg has an ocz 700w stealthxstream for $79.99 and you get a $20 rebate. Other good brands are pc power and cooling, seasonic, enermax, and corsair. None are cheap or lightweight.

Reply to o1die
Snowbum   07-03-2009 at 10:59:55 PM
- 0 +

I would spend the $20-30 more and get a better GPU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102770
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150323

Also, I should warn you that the generic case PSUs are usually not the greatest. Might aswell spend alittle extra more and get something more reliable.

Reply to Snowbum
blackhawk1928   07-03-2009 at 11:01:16 PM
- 0 +

mhm...you should post this into its respective forum, the "Homebuilt Systems", you will get more replies :)

Reply to blackhawk1928
zappayowyow   07-04-2009 at 01:10:09 AM
- 0 +

Thanks for the tips thus far!

I know next to nothing about power supplies and it is one of the elements that has given me the most worry. What sort of juice output should I be looking for and what separates a good supply from a bad one? Also, what are the risks of going bargain basement?

Snow, what difference would I notice swapping to one of those GPUs? I just assumed that a 1GB Card would generally out perform a 512MB one. I am almost certain I am viewing things too simplistically, but would love to learn why.

Reposted the original thread on "Homebuilt Systems." Thanks hawk.

Reply to zappayowyow
Snowbum   07-04-2009 at 02:12:22 AM
- 0 +

RAM size on the GPU will bottleneck the resolution you play at. 1gb is WAY overkill on a 9500. The GPU is designed for multitasking, generally the more "stream processors" the better the card will perform. The 9500gt has 32 streams, the 9800gt has 112, keep in mind you cannot compare ATI streams to Nvidia (ATI uses more but that does'nt equate to more performance). There are other factors such as core clocks, shader clocks, memory clocks and memory bit rate.....and others...

I have an 8800gt (besides powersaving features is equivalent to the 9800gt). I can play all my current games at 1920x1200 res on a 25.5" display. Its great! I see no need to upgrade until dx11 cards arrive.

My point being, for 20bucks you will enjoy video games much much much more.... and you wont have to upgrade your gpu nearly as soon.

For your powersupply, you should pay attention to the number of +12v rails and the available amperage on each rail and the psu's efficiency. You should be good with one between 600w and 750w and 2 or more +12v rails

Reply to Snowbum
xtc28   07-04-2009 at 02:52:17 AM
- 0 +

yeah what they said....... Although I would like to see you go with an ATI card and not nvidia. You are using the AMD Phenom II 940 BE and the ATI Chipset (760G.)

------------------------------ AMD, INTEL, ATI, NVIDIA. IT DONT MATTER. THEY ARE ALL GOOD JUST GET MORE.
 Reply to xtc28
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