New build

Here is a parts list of the PC I plan on building. I am trying to keep the cost as close to 750 to 800. Tell me what you think. Thanks.

sorry for the long list. all of the parts are from Newegg except the HDD from TigerDirect. I first have the part and then the price listed below that.



AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor - Retail

189

GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

75

OR

This is the one I really like
*******BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 128M AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail **********
140W Phenom and loaded for OC

104


Foxconn A79A-S AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Quad PCI-e Gen2 w/ SB 750, AOD Extreme, DTS & more


120


G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
1x Winner of Customer Choice Award - Desktop Memory



60


*********TigerDirect**********


Seagate 500GB SATA HD/Windows Vista Ult 64 OEM

TSD-500GB2 VU64

190

******************************




BIOSTAR VA4673NH51 Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
Integrated with HDMI port and HDCP ready


80x2=160


OR


HIS Hightech H483FN512P Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail


87



RAIDMAX SMILODON Extreme Black ATX-612WEBP 1.0mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Foldout MB Computer Case With 500W Power Supply - Retail


94.99 (69.99 after MIR)




Rosewill RCX-Z5 92mm Two Ball Bearing / FDBB CPU Cooler - Retail

35

4670's are weak, the 4830 is a much better buy.

If you plan on OC'ing, then you should be getting a MB with the SB750 for best results, that Biostar MB is decent, also look at the Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P. The 790FX board you are looking at is total overkill, you don't need 4 PCIEx16 slots.

The Case you are looking at is alright, but the PSU it comes with is garbage, and you shouldn't use it. Look at something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341010
and this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ntec%20300
With free shipping on both those items you are probably going to end up paying the same amount or maybe just a little more, and you are getting higher quality parts. Don't count on MIR, in my experience they only come half of the time, and if they do it takes like 10 weeks, long after you forgot about them.

Better HDD/OS combo, you really probably don't need ultimate and this HDD is faster and more reliable, stay away from seagate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.186064

That CPU cooler is probably alright, but a scythe mugen 2 or Xigmatek S1283 would perform better for around the same price.

Yeah I would get a better single video card, with rebate you could get an HD 4850 for around $120.
Even with a small budget you should plan on spending a good portion of it on a decent video card.

4830's xfire'd are not a waste, they probably scale better than any other GPU out there, and 2 4830's xfire'd is probably close to a 4890 (I have not seen a direct comparison between 2 4830's and a 4890, but I have seen a 2x4830 vs 4870 1GB and the 4830's won hands down). If you don't mind taking up an extra PCI slot and having a bit higher power consumption, its a great way to get a good gaming build on a tighter budget. Its the xfire'd 4670's that would be a waste.

That MB is ok for a basic board, but its limited in upgrade options and doesn't have the greatest chipset for OC'ing. If you want to OC, then you want to get the SB750, which comes on the 790x, 790GX, and 790FX motherboards.

Those other picks look good.

Thanks again. I have been pricing/comparing parts for quite sometime now, around 8-9 months, and have been painting this picture in my head. My pc desktop has a folder in it with months(hundreds) of copied and pasted "looks good on paper" pc's. I knew I was on the right track, just had to narrow it down a bit. Now I have four, yes from hundreds to FOUR, of the "virtual pc's" to get the best match. After reading about the 4830's and the numerous positive reviews from happy customers, they just had this certain "ring" to them. I didn't want to be, and hopefully will NOT be one of these guys that rushes out and spends $1000 on a bunch of components and have it run like an Atari 2600! I had one of those when they were released, loved it, don't miss it.


I might have another list for you to compare in a few days.

I was not aware that such a thing existed.

It would be nice if they built one around me, I have never seen or heard of them. I must mail order all my stuff.

Well you can't do SLI with that GPU you picked out, so if you want the option of doing that, you should get an ATI card instead of Nvidia for crossfire. HD 4770 is a good value, or the 4850 if you like. I personally try to steer clear of ASRock MB's as they have a less than gleaming reputation...spend your money on this combo instead. Its cheaper and higher quality. If you want to be able to crossfire, you should be looking at around 600w or so for the PSU from a reputable brand. If you are alright just using one GPU, then a 450w or 500w PSU would be enough for those GPU's I mentioned. Look at Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, PC Power & Cooling, Enermax, Silverstone, or OCZ for PSU's. That combo deal you found is a good deal btw, but you cannot expand to a second GPU later, since AMD chipsets do not support SLI. Depending on the games you play, the GTS 250 might be plenty. But for Crysis on a 22" monitor, it will fall short. If you want to be able to play Crysis at max settings on that monitor then look at getting 2 4770's in crossfire, its the best value around atm.

I'm not sure about that...it will certainly run cooler clock for clock, but as these cards have more headroom I think that ATI took advantage of that and clocked it higher than the 4850/4830...I would have to review the benchmarks again.

Yeah they will run cooler and overclock higher.

4770's in Crossfire are about equal to the GTX 280, better than the 4890 or GTX 275.

The 4830 1GB is probably close the the 4770 due to the extra memory, but in crossfire, I think 4770's will be better due to the stronger processor, although I have not actually seen benchmarks directly comparing the two. It would be close I think. Both scale pretty well in crossfire, from what I have seen the 4770's scale a little better.

Nothing is coming to mind...I think you are covered. Post a final build list so we can be sure.

I approve of the 4770. Although if you're not buying NOW, I would wait and see if there's any manufacturer that will release that card with 1GB of VRAM, it's the only reason it sometimes falls short in benchmarks... with 1GB expect if to be a bit more expensive but definitely worth it.

Looks good. Maybe stick some TIM in there, it can make a couple degrees difference:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186020

Do you have the case and Optical drive covered already?

Well that would be nice. I just read at how competitive it would be. I dont know that much about GPU's anyway.