Hi, I just wanted some help with an AMD build. Any advice is welcome and helpful. I have never build a computer from the ground up, so I have been reading a lot of this forum for the last 2 weeks. I would specifically like the thank Skora, Outlander_04, Tecmo34, and gkay09 for all their help to others, I have learned a lot from you four, and I am totally not sucking up. Ahem.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I hope to order everything but CPU and MOBO today 8-2-09. CPU will be purchased in a few weeks, when AMD releases the AMD Phenom II X4 965.
BUDGET RANGE: 900ish dollars
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Internet Surfing. Specifically Dragon Age: Origins, Starcraft II, Fallout 3 and some older games.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse. Not worried about OS, going to use Windows 7 Demo until I can buy a Windows 7 Family Pack (or until that dream is crushed)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com for the combos.
PARTS PREFERENCES: I intend on purchasing either the AMD Phenom II X4 965 when it comes out, or the 955. The temptation of getting the intel i7 920 is great, but I want to support AMD.
OVERCLOCKING: I would like the option to overclock in the future. Need to do more reading so I don't stupidly kill my rig.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: probably not, unless it would allow for a quieter/more powerful system.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: I have a 27.5” monitor, that I run in 1680 X 1050 (and 8% brightness, stupid HannsG), with a new graphics card will probably go higher.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I really want a quiet set up, so Overclocking is not my first priority. I also am probably paying too much for “quiet” parts that are just as loud as the cheaper versions. Any horror stories about this components would be great.
CPU - $220
AMD Phenom II X4 965 – probably $220 (hopefully?)
MOBO - $180ish
MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
(will probably get a combo CPU and MOBO, but probably in the $180 range similar to this MOBO)
CASE + Power Supply Combo - $239 ($109(PS) + $160(case) - 30(Combo))
COOLER MASTER RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply – Retail + COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Memory - $75
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK - Retail
Optial Drive - $29
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM
Hard Drive - $75
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive – OEM
GPU - $175
SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail Vapor X-Cooler Design with VCT
Is the extra cost worth it on this design?
And since I have never done this before, I will be purchasing
Anti-Static wrist - $4
Rosewill RTK-001 Premium Anti-Static Wrist Strap - Retail
Should I go ahead and order thermal compound, or will it not be necessary if I stick with the stock CPU Cooler. At some later date I might go for a kickass CPU cooler, but not just yet.
Thermal Compound - $7
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
All this brings me to about $600 dollars without the CPU and MOBO. So that is about $1000 total, a little over my budget, but if it is quiet, I think it will be worth it. Thank you very much if you read this far. Thank you even more if you can give advice.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I hope to order everything but CPU and MOBO today 8-2-09. CPU will be purchased in a few weeks, when AMD releases the AMD Phenom II X4 965.
BUDGET RANGE: 900ish dollars
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Internet Surfing. Specifically Dragon Age: Origins, Starcraft II, Fallout 3 and some older games.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse. Not worried about OS, going to use Windows 7 Demo until I can buy a Windows 7 Family Pack (or until that dream is crushed)
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com for the combos.
PARTS PREFERENCES: I intend on purchasing either the AMD Phenom II X4 965 when it comes out, or the 955. The temptation of getting the intel i7 920 is great, but I want to support AMD.
OVERCLOCKING: I would like the option to overclock in the future. Need to do more reading so I don't stupidly kill my rig.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: probably not, unless it would allow for a quieter/more powerful system.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: I have a 27.5” monitor, that I run in 1680 X 1050 (and 8% brightness, stupid HannsG), with a new graphics card will probably go higher.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I really want a quiet set up, so Overclocking is not my first priority. I also am probably paying too much for “quiet” parts that are just as loud as the cheaper versions. Any horror stories about this components would be great.
CPU - $220
AMD Phenom II X4 965 – probably $220 (hopefully?)
MOBO - $180ish
MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
(will probably get a combo CPU and MOBO, but probably in the $180 range similar to this MOBO)
CASE + Power Supply Combo - $239 ($109(PS) + $160(case) - 30(Combo))
COOLER MASTER RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply – Retail + COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Memory - $75
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK - Retail
Optial Drive - $29
SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM
Hard Drive - $75
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive – OEM
GPU - $175
SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail Vapor X-Cooler Design with VCT
Is the extra cost worth it on this design?
And since I have never done this before, I will be purchasing
Anti-Static wrist - $4
Rosewill RTK-001 Premium Anti-Static Wrist Strap - Retail
Should I go ahead and order thermal compound, or will it not be necessary if I stick with the stock CPU Cooler. At some later date I might go for a kickass CPU cooler, but not just yet.
Thermal Compound - $7
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM
All this brings me to about $600 dollars without the CPU and MOBO. So that is about $1000 total, a little over my budget, but if it is quiet, I think it will be worth it. Thank you very much if you read this far. Thank you even more if you can give advice.