taruncharles

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:hello:

I am gonna build a new gaming PC and with the help of you guys I came up with the below config.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H
GPU - 2 x HD 4850 512MB
RAM - OCZ OCZ2RPR10664GK PC2-8500 DDR2 Memory (4GB)
HDD - 500GB Seagate HDD
PSU - Corsair CMPSU-650TX
Case - Antec Three Hundred
Monitor - Benq 22" T2200HD LCD
Optical Drive - 22x DVD burner
OS - Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Is this fine for my gaming needs for another 3-4 years?..Should I do some modifications here?..
Will the RAM suit my motherboard and CPU..And is the PSU sufficient for this rig..
Any suggestions guys?..

EDIT: I may not be OCing. If OCng, it may only be mild. (yeah right, I am a noob here :) . I need to learn the basics of OCing before I start OCing)..

Thank u
 

fullmetall

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The PSU is fine, Ram is fine, Case is fine if anything else exceeds your budget, if not, Definantly look at the RC-690.

This Particular Seagate HDD does and doesn't have problems, theres a Barracuda and theres just the seagate, the seagate IMO is the firmware problem but, could be the Barracuda. Anyways, for gaming, it's not a bad HDD, it will work but, theres always other options of faster reading and writing optional HDD's. As for instance, the WD Black 640gb/320gb.

Ram, 1066 for OC'ing would be for you to be doing a Heavy OC.

I have 1066 ram and for a computer not at its tip top, 1066 wouldnt be all the great and Dandy.

800mhz G.skills PI Black with a nice tight timing will do the job and a good OC but, dont really touch the ram for ocing that much.
 

taruncharles

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I too heard problems about the Seagate HDD..I almost forgot..Thank u for reminding me bro..I have now changed to WDC 500GB SATA. Its green series..Black series are bit out of budget..
Actually, I am not from the US. Black series for the WD HDD and GSkill RAM are not unavailable in my city..

And what about this RAM?..G-Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 4GB Kit. 800Mhz. It has a timing of 5-5-5-15. Will it be suitable for my mild OCing?..

Thank u..
 

Helloworld_98

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drop the 2 4850's for 2 4830's since 4830's are actually more powerful in cf than 4850's.

also saves you some cash to go am3 too.

and if you don't go am3, the 1066mhz ram won't be needed for oc'ing unless you do a pure HT 175% OC.
 

taruncharles

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Oh..I didnt know that fact about the 4830s..I forgot to mention that I already bought a 4850 512MB..It is the only part which I have now..That is the reason I decided to do a crossfire with another 4850 512MB..

AM3, is it really worth it going to AM3?.. I read that there is not much performance difference between DDR2 and DDR3..
Still DDR3 is expensive in my place here..

And for DDR2 mobo, is that 800Mhz GSkill RAM good?..
 

Helloworld_98

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you can still cf a 4830 with a 4850, dunno if it will give as good performance as two 4830's though. might be better to get another 4850 then.

am3 is worth it if you get 1600mhz or above ram, and ddr3 ram is so cheap these days(4x1gb of 2ghz ram for £100) and ddr2 is pretty much obselete now there's not much point in going back.
 

taruncharles

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Helloworld_98, really thank u bro..I appreciate your helping me out with the am3 suggestions..But I am afraid I have to stick with the am2+
Prices are still higer for DDR3 in my country. It will be some 6 months before they become dominating here..thanks a lot bro..

I guess I ll upgrade to am3 in future if need be..

And regarding the PSU, is it ok if I move to a Corsair CMPSU-550VX, since I might only be doing mild OC..
 

Helloworld_98

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it's more the gfx cards than the OC, I know that a silverpower 500w can only just take two 4830's with enough to spare an OC while being in the safe zone. It's also spec'd about the same as the corsair 550w but has better efficiency so they're close.

It's probably better to stick with the 650w to be safe.
 

taruncharles

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Ok then...power supply unchanged to Corsair CMPSU-650TX.
CPU, mobo, GPU unchanged...
What about the RAM?..G-Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ 4GB Kit. 800Mhz. It has a timing of 5-5-5-15. Will it be good for my rig?..
Or in general, will any 800Mhz RAM with 5-5-5-15 timing do good for my rig..

Thank u..
 

Helloworld_98

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try and get the lowest voltage ram with the same specs possible. it will help with oc's and save some energy.

edit: looks like your board can take 2.4v memory so most ddr2 memory should work.
 

fullmetall

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It will be good enough.

the wdc green is the slowest wd drive. The Seagate would be more useful than that. But, im not sure of which seagate 500gb you were looking at. There are 2 different kinds, a Seagate Barracuda and a Seagate.
 
Don't let them talk you out of DDR2 1066 RAM. It's true that Intel chips don't benefit from DDR2 1066 RAM, but AMD chips do. I'd stick with DDR2 1066 RAM.

I'd shy away from the Seagate drives until they get their quality control issues under control. If the black series is out of your price range, try to find the mainstream blue series. These are the model #'s for the blue drives: WD3200AAKS & WD6400AAKS.
 

That logic only applies to Intel CPU's. AMD CPU's will take full advantage of DDR2 1066 RAM with no overclocking at all. That's one of the advantages of the integrated memory controller.
 

Sure, he could do that and hope it works, or he could spend a couple extra dollars and buy RAM guaranteed to run at that speed.
 

taruncharles

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guys, sorry u got me little confused.. :??:
sure i did understand I could get a 800Mhz DDR2 and up the voltage 0.2V then...that is option 1..

But what is that "DDR3 speed to 533mhz". Are you referring to the 1066Mhz RAM?..or the ddr3 one?..

Thank u...
 

The "DDR3 speed to 533 MHz" was a typo by Helloworld_98. He meant DDR2 and was talking about overclocking the DDR2 800 RAM to DDR2 1066. I'd just buy DDR2 1066 RAM, though.
 

taruncharles

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Really thanx a lot for all ur responses guys..
I have decided to stay with the 1066mhz RAM.. :)

One small modification guys..
Out of sudden budget restrictions :cry: I am now forced to a position to leave out the second 4850..But I am sure that I will add that second card in a couple of months..3 months max..
So, till then will this PSU Corsair 650TX be good for my single 4850..Or is it a overkill for my rig guys?..

Thank u...
 

taruncharles

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Oh ok then..I ll stick with the 650TX

Regarding the RAM - OCZ2RPR10664GK DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500). It has some (only some) bad reviews stating that its stable at 800Mhz and not at 1066..But I guess, this can be easily corrected in the BIOS..Am I right here guys?..

So, should I stay with this RAM itself or go for some other...btw how about these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231226
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145229