Need help on new system

[wbrogdon]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next few weeks - Mid August BUDGET RANGE: 1400- 1800 (u.s)

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: General use , gaming

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: None

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: Just good quality

OVERCLOCKING: No * but may try in future

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 22 inch.. at least 1680

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Just trying to build a nice system to do my programming projects for college and play a few games. Warcraft and Lotro is about the extent of the games I play but I would like to have a system that I could play better games if I decided to.


First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to help me with my situation. Any and all comments are greatly appreciated.


The main questions I have are:

1: Are the components I chose compatible with each other and if so is the any items that may create a bottleneck?

2: If I have went overboard with an item with feature I may not need, can you recommend a less expensive alternative of the same or better quality?

3: Am I going to pull my hair out trying to get this thing up and running, lol.


My only experience with systems is changing out common parts: i.e memory, hard disks, audio and vid cards, etc.

I know a little about bios settings but have never tried to OC anything.


So far this is my current build.

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471

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Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

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ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

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SAPPHIRE 100269SR Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102830

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CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

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OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227381

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Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136322

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Acer X233Hbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 40000:1 (ACM) - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009163

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Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe LightScribe Support - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118032

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Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116678

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Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

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Scythe SCKTN-3000 92mm Sleeve "KATANA3" 3Heat Pipes CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185096

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Rosewill RTK-045 45 Piece Premium Computer Tool Kit - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899261003

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Current costs...roughly 1550-1600 without shipping.


Thanks,

William

 

[hunter315]

Okay, lets go through the list that wont work, you cannot run a PII 940 on an AM3 board with DDR3, it is an AM2+ socket which means that it can only run DDR2 RAM. You shouldnt use triple channel ram with an AMD build as it is only meant for the i7, and that 940 cannot run it as its DDR3 ram and not DDR2.

As for changes Raptors are more expensive than you need, 2 640 WD caviar blacks in RAID 0 will give you the same performance in almost all situations. I would also suggest waiting atleast a week, hopefully the 955 will get back in stock and there will be some good combos for it. And for a single 4890 you dont need a 750watt PSU unless you plan to crossfire 2 down the road.

 

[wbrogdon]

The processor I chose is the wrong one. This is the correct one.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131366

It bumped the price up. It is sold out but that was in my original build. I didnt notice the other was an AM2+ and not an AM3

 

[wbrogdon]

Okay, lets go through the list that wont work, you cannot run a PII 940 on an AM3 board with DDR3, it is an AM2+ socket which means that it can only run DDR2 RAM. You shouldnt use triple channel ram with an AMD build as it is only meant for the i7, and that 940 cannot run it as its DDR3 ram and not DDR2.

As for changes Raptors are more expensive than you need, 2 640 WD caviar blacks in RAID 0 will give you the same performance in almost all situations. I would also suggest waiting atleast a week, hopefully the 955 will get back in stock and there will be some good combos for it. And for a single 4890 you dont need a 750watt PSU unless you plan to crossfire 2 down the road.

Thanks,

Yea, I noticed after it was sold out and I chose another cpu it was not an AM3. I will wait for the am3 to come back available.

For the memory, should I go with 8 gigs of dual channel?

And I may go with dual vid cards in the future so the 750 would be ok?

William

 

[hunter315]

No stick with 4GB of ram, you wont get any benefit out of more than that unless you are working with adobe products on a regular basis like photoshop or flash. when the 955 comes back in stock make sure you check out the combos before you buy, it had had an $80 off combo with that motherboard until it sold out.

 

[wbrogdon]

No stick with 4GB of ram, you wont get any benefit out of more than that unless you are working with adobe products on a regular basis like photoshop or flash. when the 955 comes back in stock make sure you check out the combos before you buy, it had had an $80 off combo with that motherboard until it sold out.

Im in my second year towards a bachelors in Computer Science / Software Engineering and currently working with Visual Studio 2008 professional. Do you think the 4 gigs will be adequate or will I see a performance boost with 6 or 8?

I multitask alot as well. I usually have VS up doing some coding while Im playing warcraft and surfing the internet, lol.

William

 

[wbrogdon]

I also have an i7 build but its topping 2k and I dont know if the extra 3-400 dollars would be that much of a benefit.

 

[mindless728]

i wouldn't worry too much about how much memory VS is using since firefox usually uses more resources, 4GB should be fine, and if it isn't you can always add more later (im also a CS major)

 

[wbrogdon]

i wouldn't worry too much about how much memory VS is using since firefox usually uses more resources, 4GB should be fine, and if it isn't you can always add more later (im also a CS major)

Thanks,

Should I go with the amd or the intel? I remember way back the amd was the way to go but it seems the roles have reversed.

William