$1000 Gaming PC Build

[hayab250]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: A week or two

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard and Mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: Doesn't matter

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes, not now though

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1440x900, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200




My First Computer Build


Antec 300 Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042
$55

Corsair TX750W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
$120

Acer 22" WS Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009145
$150

Phenom II X4 940 and Gigabyte 790X Motherboard Combo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190732
$270

Sapphire Radeon HD 4890
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102830
$220

G.Skill 2X2GB DDR2 1066 RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
$56

WD Caviar 640GB 32mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
$75

LG Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152
$24

Artic Freezer 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
$32

I plan on trying out Windows 7 RC. If it doesn't work or something, I'll have to spend $100 to buy Vista. (Or maybe torrent a cracked version? Good idea, bad idea?)





The total is $996.86, and shipping on all items is free!



Just a couple of questions, I was thinking about getting Artic Silver 5 @ $9, but AF7 already comes with a thermal paste. There are some comments that say that the performance of the paste that comes with it is similar to AS5. Is it really worth it to spend $10 on AS5?

I also plan on buying a second HD 4890 in a few months to run in CrossFire. I believe the Motherboard runs the second PCI-E slot at X8. Would there be any noticeable performance difference if I was running a X16/X16 instead of a X16/X8?

 

[Outlander_04]

Heres a link to a review of the phenom 955 someone showed on the forum today

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenom2_955/

The 955 is internally identical to the 940 , except it has the option of ddr3 and is clocked 200 MHz higher . You will get similar performance from the 940 and near enough identical if you over clock it 200 MHz

Poor i7 doesnt do very well even compared to the earlier intel quads in that configuration .

Whether you need a second gfx card will depend on your resolution. Play the games you want and if you get decent fps at the quality you play at you dont need crossfire . if you do add a second car then 8x/8x wont be a problem .

high tech thermal paste like as is bogus imo . The ONLY important thing about paste is that you use as little as possible . Its meant to fill in microscopic imperfections and nothing more .

 

[kevin1212]

You found great deals there hayab... the 4890 and the motherboard/cpu combo. You should pick those up asap. Good build otherwise.

 

[Helloworld_98]

@outlander, actually anandtech did some tests and they found that x8/x8 could bottleneck even 4850's in CF.

 

[Outlander_04]

@outlander, actually anandtech did some tests and they found that x8/x8 could bottleneck even 4850's in CF.

got a link?

When you consider that todays x8 pci-e[ 2.0] has the same bandwidth as last years pci-e x 16 I'd be surprised if there was a noticeable difference .

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ I'll try and dig it up, there were a few posts on here recently about it.