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Advice for $2k AMD Gaming Rig

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - Advice for $2k AMD Gaming Rig

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Hey everyone, I have been searching through these forums reading up on some advice as I'm about to attempt my first custom gaming pc build. I have started a tentative build and would like for you guys to look at it and make some suggestions to help complete it or make it better. Thanx in advance!

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: approx. September

BUDGET RANGE: would like to stay around $2k

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming!!..Some engineering modeling and simulation programs..and just plain surfing the net

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard and mouse..(although im in the market for new ones..i can hold off on those)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I would prefer to get them at all at one place so maybe newegg is the best bet.

PARTS PREFERENCES: I have been leaning towards AMD and ATI but open to others

OVERCLOCKING: I really want to get into overclocking my cpu, memory, and gpu. (not talking really really extreme here)

CROSSFIRE: More than likely not at first

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Need suggestions..possibly 1920 x 1080 or 1920 x 1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I do infact need a nice monitor. I want to be able to play Fallout 3, WoW, Starcraft II, Modern Warfare 2, Crysis, Aion, and L4D 2 very comfortably at high settings if possible.

So far I have:

Case - COOLER MASTER Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119196

Motherboard - ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131392

CPU - AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103680

or
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/Prod [...] 6819103674

GPU - XFX HD-489A-ZDDC Radeon HD 4890 XXX Edition 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150368

PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139011

CPU Cooler - COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103055

Memory - OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P16004GK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227297

and of course the Monitor I was looking at:

ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1) Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236052

As I said before thanks for any and all help!

Add a reply

If you're doing simulations, don't even consider the 550. 955 all the way for your budget. Unless you're running a large raid, a 750w corsair (save $30 for the HX and $80 for the TX) will be more than enough for an OC system with dual 4890s.

Looks well balanced and I absolutely love that storm scout. When it gets closer to time to buy, post again and we'll check out the combos to save some cash at that time. The only other thing to factor in is the optical, OS cost and a HDD. You'll be coming in well under 2k so you can research SSDs too. Helps with MMORPGs and all the custom textures that populate when lots of players on the screen.

Message edited by skora on 08-01-2009 at 06:01:27 PM

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Reply to skora

Thanks skora for the suggestions. I havent yet decided on the HDD yet but when it comes to SSDs are there any in particular that you would reccomend?

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

get the 955, change the CM V8 TO the sunbeam core contact freezer, sure the v8 is sexier, but perf is the most important.

get the 4890 for now, but get 2 5890s wen its released, playing crysis at 1920x1080 is not an easy task.

dont pay all that money for such a lame board, get the msi 790fx-gd70, it is cheaper and better, except for the sound card, which is still certified for bluray audio, u wont even be able to tell the difference.

thats my 2 cents, hav fun, alot of people will come and try to convince u to go i7, fight to the end!!!!

i would recommend either ocz vertex, or the new corsairs(ssd)

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by xaira on 08-01-2009 at 06:16:59 PM

------------------------------ "Envy is ignorance" - Henry Thoreau : Best quote ever.

http://www.pingtest.net/result/3022953.png

Reply to xaira

^The OCZ drives (the Vertex series, not Agilty) using the Indilinx controller are quite good, but the Intel drives are still the king of the hill.
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/s [...] i=3531&p=1

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Reply to Shadow703793

playing crysis at 1920x1080 is not an easy task..

Sorry to butt in but what do you mean ... I was planning on 1920x1080...too.

Reply to pij

Crysis is one of the most demanding games to run... So what they mean is to run at 1900x1080 on max settings with payable frame rates (+ 30 FPS for most) you need dual top end GPU's & powerful quad core CPU's.

+1 in the HSF change. Another good HSF is the Xigmatek Dark Knight S1283V.

+1 on Intel SSD or OCZ, they are the two best IMO.

edit With your budget, I would recommend taking a look at a Core i7 920 build. You can get an equal performing gaming PC which is overall a more powerful PC

Message edited by tecmo34 on 08-01-2009 at 06:59:36 PM

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Step-by-Step Guide to Building a PC
Reply to tecmo34

@xaira - i was going for the crosshair because it looked simple to overclock looking at it...but in comparison to the msi board is there much of a difference in terms of ease of use?

Also would the xfx hd4890 black edition be a better choice? if so where could i find one of those?

Thanks guys

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/m [...] 0fx-gd70/1

http://hothardware.com/Articles/MS [...] rd/?page=1

i cant make the choice 4 u, just look thru the reviews and see wat works 4 u.(boards i mean^)

http://www.driverheaven.net/review [...] 7&pageid=6

the above review shows the 4890be giving a liquid cooled overclocked gtx285 a run for its money. so in short yeh its better
(than the 4890@900)

Message edited by xaira on 08-01-2009 at 07:53:46 PM

------------------------------ "Envy is ignorance" - Henry Thoreau : Best quote ever.

Reply to xaira

Okay it looks like i am stuck on the two motherboards lol i will figure that out in due time...Is there a reason there is not much out there about the crosshair as opposed to the msi board? Also i checked out some SSDs and was wondering what were some opinions about G.Skill's SSDs.

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

just check to make sure the model ur buying comes with 64+ megs cache, i dunno about that brand

------------------------------ "Envy is ignorance" - Henry Thoreau : Best quote ever.

Reply to xaira

xaira wrote :

get the 955, change the CM V8 TO the sunbeam core contact freezer, sure the v8 is sexier, but perf is the most important.

get the 4890 for now, but get 2 5890s wen its released, playing crysis at 1920x1080 is not an easy task.

dont pay all that money for such a lame board, get the msi 790fx-gd70, it is cheaper and better, except for the sound card, which is still certified for bluray audio, u wont even be able to tell the difference.

thats my 2 cents, hav fun, alot of people will come and try to convince u to go i7, fight to the end!!!!

i would recommend either ocz vertex, or the new corsairs(ssd)

Care to explain how the MSI board is better then the CrossHair III? I strongly disagree and the quality of this ASUS board is hand down in the top of it's class of AM3.

Reply to jdbaker82

if u prefer the crosshrerer then u do, its my opinion, i dont like the way the pcie slots r on the cresresresresrs, thats actually my only issue with it, but by golly, the pcie slots on the gd70, to me, are laid out perfectly, i dont look at amt of sata slots, firewire, watever else people look at wen comparing boards, here r my criteria.

1 stability
2 price
3 pcie layout
4 the size of the heatsinks on the board, because lord knows that some chipsets run hot, my nf550 ran at 85*C without faulter.
thats it

u choose 1, i choose 1, im just tryin to get the op to see things from my pov, and ur a youngster, wat rite do u have to challenge an apprentice??????????????

i luv this ranking thing

------------------------------ "Envy is ignorance" - Henry Thoreau : Best quote ever.

Reply to xaira

^ Not trying to be a d!ck, but really, type clearly.

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Reply to Shadow703793

I have been reading a lot of reviews of both of them and really the only difference was the amount of pcie slots. That really is the overall difference maker it seems. The thing that confuses me are the overclocking features. Do they both offer the same features just under different names?

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

Nowhere near $2k @ $1164.89 after ship less MIR but i can safely say devastating frames for the $$ hehe

Message edited by batuchka on 08-03-2009 at 10:26:12 AM

Reply to batuchka

Wow barely $1200...that gives me a lot of play room money wise.

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

Actually upon reflection you could knock off $10 if u went with the casing of choice the CM Storm Scout hehe

Reply to batuchka

hmmm lol that is just wonderful news..now how is that psu in comparison to the corsair? and are there any benefit to the sapphire as opposed to the xfx brand?

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

For a pair of HD 4870 in CF either would do fine. Well no preferences just that the same GPU was bundled with that combo hehe

Reply to batuchka

u guys sure that noctuna will play friendly with that ram?
go with corsair 4 the psu

------------------------------ "Envy is ignorance" - Henry Thoreau : Best quote ever.

Reply to xaira

Alright how is the performance of 2 4870s in comparison to a 4890?

Oh and another quick question about the motherboards..Will the crosshair accept the same clock speeds for ram, in terms of overclocking, as the msi?

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

2 4870s are better than 1 4890 just make sure u buy 1gb versions u shud be able t get similar clocks on both

------------------------------ "Envy is ignorance" - Henry Thoreau : Best quote ever.

Reply to xaira

Unfortunately no killer combo deal for Crosshair not that its any less as classy as that MSI 790FX ^^

Reply to batuchka

A question regarding the power supply..will 850W psu be enough if i decide to get 2 video cards and such? I dont want to have to buy another later.

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

Hi, i am sorry and very stupid but hopefully you wont mind me asking why are you opting for an Amd system? any specific reasons? your budget allows you to get a better system and still save money. If you do want a 2k amd system i would go for this, feel free to change it.

the total still comes to 1900$. add a cpu cooler of your choice. its still loco good. :pt1cable:

Gl

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by freezed1 on 08-15-2009 at 04:52:17 PM

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Reply to freezed1

Really my choice to go with AMD was that it was initially cheaper when I first started planning this build. I was able to get my monitor and such for the same price as an intel system.

Reply to WAYN3H3AD

Radeon 5870 + I5 man!!!!!!!!!!! that should haul ass................

Reply to CHRISTLUBAS

freezed1 wrote :

2 4870x2's are probably going to push that build over 850w. I would recommend 5870's over them. Not to mention, Amd cpu's don't lag far behind the i7s in gaming.

Reply to ghoulsrulefools

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Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - Advice for $2k AMD Gaming Rig