700$ AMD Gaming build Advice

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moopato

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Hey community, over the past week i have been researching and trying to put together the best gaming build posible for 700$ Canadian. All parts are being purchase from www.directcanada.com . Please comment and give advice on the quality and compatability of these components. My main concern is wether or not all of the wiring will work out for all of these parts.

THANKS





Startech Silver Thermal CPU Paste Compound 1.5G Tube


Coolermaster R4-L2R-20CG 120MM Green LED Case Fan 2000RPM 90CFM 19DBA 3/4 Pin



Antec 200 Two Hundred Mid-Tower ATX Gaming Case Black 3X5.25 6X3.5INT 1 SATA Hot-Swap Bay No PS


LG GH22LS50 22X/22X DVD+-RW SATA DVD Writer Lightscribe Black OEM




Diamond Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card




G.SKILL F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN Dual Channel Memory Kit


OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan Active PFC Power Supply



ASUS M4A77TD ATX AM3 DDR3 AMD770 SB710 PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI IDE 6SATA Sound GBLAN Motherboard



Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA2 3.5IN 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive Oem *3YR Mfr Warranty*



AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor AM3 3.2GHZ 8MB Cache 125W 45NM Retail Box


 
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rockyjohn

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Generally looks like a nice build - and a nice price - I am in US - has the Canadian dollar gotten stronger relative to US lately? I do have a few comments though.

MOBO

Did you know that mobo might only support one channel (OC) of memory when you go beyond DDR-1066? So if you install the memory you selected, you will not be able to install more later in the other two open slots. It does not state that on the spec sheet at Direct Canada but does on the one on the ASUS site.

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=GRrtD7enpMkaVWV1

While I respect the quality of ASUS boards, I prefer Gigabyte because of their UD- ultra durable - construction. See this article about itL

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gigabyte-ultra-durable,2094.html

And I therefore recommend this mobo although it cost $10 more:

Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P ATX AM3 DDR3 AMD770 PCI-E16 4PCI-E1 2PCI SATA GBLAN Motherboard - $87
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD2703&vpn=GA-MA770T-UD3P&manufacture=GIGABYTE

Note that at newegg the board received a customer choice award

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392&cm_re=ga-ma770t-ud3p-_-13-128-392-_-Product

MEMORY

Also the Gigabyte mobo allows using DDR3-1333 memory in all slots. Instead of what you have above, though, for $4 more I would go with G.Skill RipJaw series memory. With timings of 7-7-7-21, it should be much faster than the one you selected with timings of 9-9-9-24 and well worth a few dollars more.

G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core I5 1.65V Memory Kit - $100
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD1255&vpn=F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH&manufacture=G.SKILL

Lest you be concerned about the it being for the Core i5 memory kit, note that the GA-MA770T-UD3P is on G.Skills list of qualified mobos:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277063-31-gaming-build-advice

PSU

With a single graphics card, you can easily get by with only a 500w PSU if you want to save a little money there. However, I certainly have no objection to paying a little more to oversize this important component.

GPU

The HD 5770 is an excellent choice. I would pay the $20 more to go with the XFX. As you probably know, most cards of the same model made by different manufacturers are pretty much the same, except for factory OC, sometimes differences in fans, accessories included in the box. customer support, and warranties. In the US the XFX carries a lifetime warranty while the Radeon only has only 3 years. I did not see the warranties listed on Direct Canada so I don't know if they are the same. So I would pay the extra for the XFX card, but I of course don't know if that fits in your budget.

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?
sku=15180BD6108&vpn=HD577AZNFC&manufacture=XFX






 
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moopato

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Thanks for your tips Johny, I compared the two motherboards like you said, and I will be switching to the one you suggested, along with the RAM. I was wondering if The two 120mm fans have cords long enough to be plugged in. Some reviews said the length of the cords might be a problem for some people.

What do you think of this power supply instead?People say it's rather large in size, so will it be a good fit inside teh Antec 200? I measured but I just want to be sure.

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=13220AC3355&vpn=OCZ550FTY&manufacture=OCZ

THANKS
 
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rockyjohn

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I don't know enough about the Fatality to really say one way or the other.

I found only one review on it and provide it only for general information as the reviewer did not even tear it apart to evaluate components as most good reviewers do. It does say it should fit in most cases and if you look at the spec sheets at Direct Canada it size is almost exactly the same as the ModXStream 500w.

However the Direct Canada specs are wrong in saying it only has 25a on the 12v circuit which would be inadequate since this circuit powers the mobo and the graphics card. The Mod 500 has 36a. But the power on the other circuits of the Fatality are not more, which does not make sense. I checked the manufacturers site which reports a comfortable 37a for 12v.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_550w_fatal1ty_series_power_supply

I would stick with the ModXStream, and I would call Direct Canada just to make sure on the power if still contemplating it - the Fatalitu, although I can't imagine OCZ putting out some different model in that series with much lower 12v power and not disclosing it. But even if the 12v power is ok, it is a risk just because of less is known about it.

 
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moopato

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Thanks again Johny, I was also wondering about this dual core processor.

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10360BD5855&vpn=HDZ550WFGIBOX&manufacture=AMD

I might have to cut back on my budget just in case I can't get a free copy of windows 7 from my friend. Will that processor provide adequate gaming performance? Yes, I know it only has 2 cores..........But it has excellent reviews, and I don't multitask while gaming.
Will all different versions of Windows 7 be the right choice for first time builders like myself? Or do i need to get the OEM builders edition? I play modern shooting games FYI.

THANKS
 
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Silmarunya

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It will depend. Older games and even most of the ones appearing today are not optimised for multiple cores. In these, a dual core is usually equal to a quad core and when overclocked sometimes beats it.

However, a move towards threaded games is taking place. In the near future, the 550 will start to fall behind. With that in mind, I recommend a triple core (the 720 stands up to even the newest CPU's for gaming, can be overclocked easily and often has a fourth core that's dormant and can be unlocked) or a cheap quad core (like the 620). You'll sacrifice slight amounts of performance in older games, but these are so light both will be plenty. In tommorow's games, you'll see a boost.
 
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moopato

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Awesome advice. I was 100% going to buy the triple core 720, except it's unavailable on the site i have to order from....... I wouldn't get too caught up in it though, as im 90% sure my buddy will have a free copy of windows 7 for me. Anybody else have any opinions on the compatibility of my parts?


THANKS
 
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Silmarunya

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Ah yes... Well, if you can get free windows the 955/965 is obvious and if you don't... Well, one thing at a time!

Other than that, excellent choice. 2000RPM fans are very noisy, but if you don't mind that... And green leds are fugly imo :p

The rest fits perfectly.
 
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moopato

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Hey I am going to be buying the parts for my first build within the next few days, so i was hoping you guys could ensure me on the compatibility of the parts? I switched a couple of things as recommended after the first post.

G.SKILL F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH Ripjaws PC3-10666 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7-21 Core I5 1.65V Memory Kit


Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P ATX AM3 DDR3 AMD770 PCI-E16 4PCI-E1 2PCI SATA GBLAN Motherboard


Startech Silver Thermal CPU Paste Compound 1.5G Tube


Antec 200 Two Hundred Mid-Tower ATX Gaming Case Black 3X5.25 6X3.5INT 1 SATA Hot-Swap Bay No PS


Lg GH22NS50 Black 22X Sata Dvd Writer Oem


Diamond or xfx Radeon HD 5770 850MHZ 1GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI Display Port DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video


OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W ATX 20/24PIN SLI Ready Modular Cables 135mm Fan Active PFC Power Supply
(IF ANYONE CAN FIND ANOTHER CHEAPER ONE ON www.directcanada.com IT WOULD BE APPRECIATED)


Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA2 3.5IN 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive Oem *3YR Mfr Warranty*


AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor AM3 3.2GHZ 8MB Cache 125W 45NM Retail Box


 
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moopato

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John, thanks for your continued advice. I was also wondering if you know anyone who has one of the 5770 Radeon GPUs. My monitor is 1280x1024 or something like that. At least that's what it says. I dont really want to overclock my system for a while because it is my first gaming build, and a technician i know recomended/said it wouldn't be nescessary. I am really hoping to be able to run new games like Modern warfare 2 and crysis on high settings with good framerates. Do you think i will be able to play modern warfare online with high settings? People with bad cards like the 4670 say they can run these games on medium settings with awesome speed.

Thanks
 
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rockyjohn

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Yes, I think you will have excellent game play. However, I have never used that card so I can only related what I have seen in reviews.

This THG review shows what the 5770, and other cards, will do at standard and OC. Since 40 fps is considered good play, your card before OC does well in all games in the review. Note that the monitors used have higher resolution than yours, so your FPS should be even higher. It should give you some idea how much more you can achieve when you do OC – or for that matter if you need to OC.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-5770-overclocking,2473.html

This review shows similar results. It has Crysis which the other did not. Note that at 1680x1050 (the smallest resolution shown here too) the card achieves decent but not great game play at 34 FPS with high details, 4x AA and No AF. With lower resolution you will do better, but may not have great game play with all candy. Of course this one game is known to be toughest and to depend more on the CPU.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446.html

You can also get a further idea off the balanced gaming system review. Note that your CPU is the top end system used in the review. Unfortunately, the 5770 is not specifically used and no card is a real good surrogate for the 5770. It will fall in the middle between the HD 4850 and 4890 and probably close to the GTX 260. Since your CPU is listed, it gives a better idea of what game play you will get out of your system with the cards used in the review,

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/balanced-gaming-pc,2477.html

 
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rockyjohn

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Since you mentioned the 4670 - which by the way is actually a great card - just at a lower performance level and price - I prepared a quick chart comparing it with the 5770 so you could see how much faster it is - and for reference also included the GTX 260 I mentioned using as a reference above, the older and slightly faster 4870, and then the 5770 Crossfire.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-cards-charts-2009-high-quality/compare,1615.html?prod%5B3117%5D=on&prod%5B3107%5D=on&prod%5B3103%5D=on&prod%5B3042%5D=on&prod%5B3109%5D=on
 
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moopato

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Awesome references, good reads. I was also wondering if you could give me a list of what drivers i will need to update upon installing my operating system? I know about the GPU but I am not familiar with installing any other type of driver. Also, I was wondering if I will need to change anything in the BIOS, or if my RAM, cpu, and graphics card will automatically be optimized.

THANKS
 
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moopato

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The Radeon 4870 512mb, and the gts 250 1 gb have me reconsidering the 5770. I understand how the charts prove the advantages of the 5770, but for almost 50$ less it seems tempting. I will probably still get the 5770 though. Just thought i'd state my thinking =P . Are there any two cards I can SLI for under 200$ that beat the 5770? just of curiosity.
 
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moopato

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BTW is there any chance that the RAM and MOBO you suggested won't work well together? The RAM sounds like it is optimized for intel...... I trust your expertise but i just want to make sure.
 
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rockyjohn

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Your motherboard will have a CD with drivers to load for it. That and the graphics card should be all that is needed. I don't know the default settings on the BIOS but the mobo manual will address them.
 
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rockyjohn

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In the first post where I presented the memory I provided a link to the manufacturer's website and its list showing the mobo on the RAM's compatibility list.
 
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moopato

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Hey rockyjohn, I am finally going to be buying all of the parts today. I swaped the diamond 5770 for the xfx xtreme 5770. Everything is good to go except that the damn website sold out of the ddr3 RAM u recommended. I was hoping u could set me up with another good ddr3 for around 100$? Also some people said that mobo can be an awkward fit sometimes, but im no really worried about that fitting in my antec 200 unless I should be. Hopefully you can give me a hand finding RAM that works well with the mobo.


thanks so much for your help, and ile be sure to post pics of the finished product.
 
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