Building my first gaming pc

[hellprince]

working on building a new gaming pc. I need some help choosing a cpu, power supply, and hard drive.

components i have:

Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair III Formula AM3 AMD 790FX ATX
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD 4870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 (2 of those)
GSKILL ram 2GB x 4

So what do you guys think for my other 3 items?

 

[mortonww]

You want to get this processor and overclock it moderately using this CPU cooler

AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE 3.2 GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

-$165

Cooler Master Hyper 212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212-_-35-103-065-_-Product

-$28

Corsair 750TX will be sufficient
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006&Tpk=corsair%20750

-$90 (after rebate)

The Samsung Spinpoint F3s are out of stock at newegg, but if you can find them, that's the HDD you want. Otherwise, get this 500 GB platter drive:

Seagate 7200.12 500 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395&cm_re=seagate_7200.12-_-22-148-395-_-Product

 

[lunyone]

* What is your budget for the 3 items??
* What case are you using?? This is a critical question, becasue some cases have the PSU in the bottom and can make things a bit tricky, if you don't know this ahead of time.

PSU thoughts:
My first thoughts are that you should go with at least a 650-750w PSU, a quality one. I like:
Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, & PCP&C PSU brands. They are reputable and have good track records and have good warranties, in the event you have any issues.

CPU thoughts:
I like the PhII x4 955 Black Edition, because of the value you get for it and it's performance is close the the 965 BE CPU, especially when OC'd. I'd get the 125w version. The origianl ones I believe were 140w versions, so there could still be some out there.
AMD PhII x4 955 link below:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

HD thoughts:
I like the Western Digital HD's, because I have had several of them and haven't had any issues. Seagate HD's have had recent issues that I've read about, so I'm staying away from them for now. Samsung has been getting some good reviews, but I haven't done enough research on them to recommend them yet.

We can help you further define your parts, if you can give us a budget for the 3 items. The CPU and PSU parts can vary quite a bit, depending on your budget.

 

[welshmousepk]

dont waste your cash ona 4 series GPU. get a 5 series card. better performance/price ratio and more futureproof. they will only improve as drvier updadtes are relased, plus Dx11 will increase performance even more.

a 4 series card right now is a bad idea.

for everything esle, i pretty much would mirror what lunyone said. good advice there.

 

[welshmousepk]

just realised too, you planned on two 4870s?

a single 5870 would smoke their performance. and allow for future crossfiring. and as i said before. 4 series cards are now at the maximum of their potential. 5 series has much more improving to do.

 

[glaex]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341019

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 +
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395

wow was doing some other stuff and just realized i posted almost exact same as morton, just $55 after rebate 700watt ocz psu instead of 750 corsair

 

[lunyone]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341019

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103065 +
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103674

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148395

wow was doing some other stuff and just realized i posted almost exact same as morton, just $55 after rebate 700watt ocz psu instead of 750 corsair

Your OCZ PSU isn't what I'd recommend. It doesn't even come with 4 x 6 pin PCI-e power connectors that the OP will need for 2 x 4870's.

It would also help if you put a description next to each link, so one doesn't have to click on each link to figure out what your recommending (I'm just saying).

 

[glaex]

heh yeah im lazy. but it would be able to power his system, is around 40% cheaper and 4870's all come with a 2xide to 6pin pcie adapter so that shouldn't be an issue

 

[hellprince]

No budget. The 2 cards I have should be ok for a while shouldn't they?

 

[glaex]

definitely. if you had extra budget i would just get an ssd for the os rather than change those very capable graphics cards at this time

 

[hellprince]

ok, yeah i did a bit of research and i got them brand new for $100 each which is a steal for what they are capable of. I will look into an ssd, and when i said no budget I mean no limit on my budget.

 

[hellprince]

also, what do you guys think of my motherboard selection. decent?

 

[glaex]

i like your motherboard selection, and if you dont have a budget get morton's psu, it IS better

an ssd wont get you better frame rates but can get you instant load times, is more reliable and from what ive heard really changes the whole computing experience with how responsive it makes your system. putting 2 smaller ones in raid 0 to make one larger drive will be easier on your wallet as well.

only thing i might worry about with raid is that in my experience its limited overclocking (alot). but then ive never had a cpu with an unlocked multiplier so i think that wouldn't be an issue in this case since you wont have to change the fsb much or at all
ive never overclocked a black edition

 

[welshmousepk]

seriously, why two 4870's?

a 5870 is CHEAPER, and will offer better performance. 2 4870s would be a stupid choice right now.

 

[hellprince]

a 5870 is cheaper than 2 4870's for $200? im on newegg and they are over $400

 

[welshmousepk]

ok, well i didnt realise you were getting them that cheap. but i still dont think you shoudl get them.

even a 5850 or 5770 would be a better choice. otherwise you'll have to upgrade, so it will cost more in the long run.

 

[glaex]

doesn't a single 4870 about equal a 5770 in most benchmarks?

 

[welshmousepk]

yeah, around abouts. but the 5 series will improve through driver updates, as well as DX11 offering further performance increases. a single card leaves the option for a secdond in crossfire later on.

 

[aznguy0028]

Imo, if you have no budget on your system, I'd say go with a SSD, and instead of the PII 955, go for an i5 platform.

The 4870 x2, for 200$ is a freakin' steal! I would rather save money getting those 2 instead of a 5's series card atm b/c you're already splurging on the SSD/i5.

Honestly though, 2 4870 will last you for another 2 years easy. There's no point in wasting money on a 5's series now, when the 4870 x2 will run every game out there for you.

DX11 most likely will take awhile to mature. Many people are still running DX9/10 cards in their systems, so it might take a bit down the line for quality DX11 titles to truly come out. My guess is that by then, the 6's series would already be out along with Fermi (if there's not another delay).

 

[shravankale]

go for the AMD PHENOM II X4 965 BE......it's better than the 955 BE.....plus it's an black edition procy......

 

[aznguy0028]

go for the AMD PHENOM II X4 965 BE......it's better than the 955 BE.....plus it's an black edition procy......

Why? There's no point in getting the 965 over the 955 at all. They both have very similar overclock headroom, you can get the 955 to pretty much as high as the 965 can get.

Also, the 965 has a TDP of 140w, while the 955 has a TDP of 125w, so there's no point there. Unless the OP is not going to OC his cpu, then the 965 is better at stock speeds, but if he has any plan to OC, and he wants to go w/the x4 platform, then the 955 is the way to go.

 

[hellprince]

what is a good monitor to get? I have an older 19inch but am possibly looking into a new one. once again no limit on my budget.

 

[lunyone]

I'd start at least on a 24" or better for that kind of budget. Heck if you had an AMD 5xxx series GPU you could do Eyefinity (up to 3 monitors, IIRC)!!