[Solved] <$800 all purpose build, need advices

Hi there,

It has been a good 7 years since my last build and I have been fairly disconnected from current hardware trend. Time to catch up and build a new one. My new PC will be used to game and photoshop equally, although I know that they emphasize on different parts of the system :sweat:

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within 2-3 weeks BUDGET RANGE: $600-800 After Rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: game (I would like it to be able to play most current games at at least mid settings), photoshop (i use Lightroom mostly, but they are the same), watch movies

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: OS. I need everything else. But my $800 budget is not including monitor, keyboard/mouse and speakers.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: N/A COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: US

PARTS PREFERENCES: I lean to AMD + ATI because I think they are of better value within my price range

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Not decided yet, I am thinking about 1920*1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I need 1T of harddrive. I took a look at tecmo34's "Recommended Builds by Usage" and I am using his AMD budget build as my starting point

Budget: $796.61

I presume I need to throw in 40 some more bucks to upgrade to a 1T harddrive.

I still have some concerns about this build though. If I will add another 5770 down the road for crossfire, does this 785G mobo support it? From what I read I think I need 790FX mobo, is that right? Will this PSU be enough to support crossfire? Is there a cheaper case that will work just fine?

Also, how does Phenom II X3 720 compare with Athlon II X4 635, suppose I'm not lucky enough to unlock the fourth core?

I also need suggestions on the LCD monitor. I want a good one and I prefer IPS panel. I heard Dell UltraSharp U2410 is very good. But at about $550 it is a little bit too expensive for me (if after some research I found it really worth it I may still go for it though). Are there any good IPS panel 22" monitors? How bad it is to watch an HD movie on a 1680*1050 LCD (compared with 1920*1200)?

That's all I have for now. Thanks,
Andy

Reply to soarocy

I'd say "Bump that up to a 3GHz Quad core and up the card to a 5870".

Everything else looks great!

This thing has 2ms refresh rate, a tuner a remote and plenty of inputs.
The 2ms refresh is optimum for gaming (no "trippy trails" ).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Alvin Smith

Best answer

No, that mobo doesn't support crossfire, try this one: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX
You're looking for dual @ x8...

PSU will probably be ok for a pair of 5770's, you might wanna throw in a 750TX to be on the safe side

You should also invest 7-8$ into Arctic Silver 5 or Arctic Cooling MX-3, supplied thermal compounds just aren't as good...

Any mid tower case will be good, choose the one you personally like... I have the CM690 and am very happy with it...

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to verst

Good rig, My advices:

1- Change the cpu cooler for the Hyper 212+, is more cheap and more better.
2- The case is good, but expensive IMO. Take a look of this
3- The PSU is enough, but isn't very good. Get this Antec 650W is more cheap but much better.

Finally, with the money that you save with the case, and PSU, you can get another mobo, something like the mobo that verst suggest.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by saint19 on 02-26-2010 at 04:15:48 PM

------------------------------ Installing the CM Hyper 212+
AMD Overclocking Club
Member Rankings: Points, status and badges
Doesn't work? Send me a PM.
Reply to saint19

If you are getting a 19xx res monitor get a 5850 at bear minumim. the 5770 will struggle on some games at that resolution.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to osu43130

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to batuchka

Verst and Saint are both "Dead On" ... listen to them. Great advices ! (plural).

You could plug-up your own ears and put on a double blind-fold and you would end up saving money and getting a better system, with their advices (plural).

GOOD SAVE on the mobo xfire compatibility, Vert ... THANKS !

= Al =

Reply to Alvin Smith

Alvin Smith wrote :

I'd say "Bump that up to a 3GHz Quad core and up the card to a 5870".

Everything else looks great!

This thing has 2ms refresh rate, a tuner a remote and plenty of inputs.
The 2ms refresh is optimum for gaming (no "trippy trails" ).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Thanks for all the advices!

This build is already reaching my budget limit, so unless there are some good reasons I would rather keep the budget low...

Reply to soarocy

just the 5870 then, if you can spare the change. More umph there.

Reply to Alvin Smith

verst wrote :

No, that mobo doesn't support crossfire, try this one: ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX
You're looking for dual @ x8...

PSU will probably be ok for a pair of 5770's, you might wanna throw in a 750TX to be on the safe side

You should also invest 7-8$ into Arctic Silver 5 or Arctic Cooling MX-3, supplied thermal compounds just aren't as good...

Any mid tower case will be good, choose the one you personally like... I have the CM690 and am very happy with it...

I am not familiar with current PCIe. The 5770's interface is PCIe2.0x16, right? Why would I want to crossfire with dual 5770 @ x8?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to soarocy

saint19 wrote :

Good rig, My advices:

1- Change the cpu cooler for the Hyper 212+, is more cheap and more better.
2- The case is good, but expensive IMO. Take a look of this
3- The PSU is enough, but isn't very good. Get this Antec 650W is more cheap but much better.

Finally, with the money that you save with the case, and PSU, you can get another mobo, something like the mobo that verst suggest.

Good advice. Thank you!

Reply to soarocy

osu43130 wrote :

If you are getting a 19xx res monitor get a 5850 at bear minumim. the 5770 will struggle on some games at that resolution.

Can you let me know what you mean by "struggle"? I'm not hoping for the best game experience. If I can play most FPS games at mid settings I will be fine with it.

Reply to soarocy

I read an article on that, just two days ago ... where?

It said that (showed benches) it is a huge step down from the 5800 series to the 5700 series. I'm not a gamer, but for games, start with a 5800 and build your system around it, whatever (other) cuts you have to make.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Alvin Smith

batuchka wrote :

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums [...] a/asju.jpg

Can you let me know how does X3 720 compare with X4 620 or X4 635?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to soarocy

Oh, yeah ... It was an article about a new 5730 (i know) card that the author was saying really sucked (even for a 5700 series) and he showed the new card against 5750, 5780, 5850, and 5870 ... The 5800s werent that far apart, tho.

= Al =

Reply to Alvin Smith

you mean the 5770 not 5780... lol

Reply to darkjuggalo2000

Alvin Smith wrote :

I read an article on that, just two days ago ... where?

It said that (showed benches) it is a huge step down from the 5800 series to the 5700 series. I'm not a gamer, but for games, start with a 5800 and build your system around it, whatever (other) cuts you have to make.

OK, but even with 5850 being around $290 the price difference is significant for me though :??:

Reply to soarocy

There's also no desktop ATI 5730 card. I'm guessing you're talking about the 5830 that was released yesterday and possibly one of these reviews:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3750

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2564.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] d5830.html

Reply to shortstuff_mt

^Any time, that's why we are here.

------------------------------ Installing the CM Hyper 212+
AMD Overclocking Club
Member Rankings: Points, status and badges
Doesn't work? Send me a PM.
Reply to saint19

Sorry ... It was late ... I think he was comparing the 5830 to the 5700s, then. Saying it didn't belong in that series slot, or some such. I'll read those articles but gotta go ..

= Al = Hate screwing up like that.

Reply to Alvin Smith

OK, that makes sense

Reply to soarocy

soarocy wrote :

Can you let me know how does X3 720 compare with X4 620 or X4 635?

Actually in Deneb/Propus architecture for games L3 does not make a difference so clock away an A2X4 620 and u good to go for games

Reply to batuchka

Will it make a difference in applications like photoshop/lightroom?

Reply to soarocy

your processor makes a big difference in photoshop/lightroom so does your ram!

Reply to darkjuggalo2000

I mean will the L3 cache make a big difference? X4 635 has one more core whereas X3 720 has L3 cache~

Reply to soarocy

The Athlon II X4 chips outperform the Phenom II X3 chips in Photoshop. Just let the benchmarks speak for themselves.

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3638

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to shortstuff_mt

Thank You Santa ... My new "Desk-Station" needs this for 3xHDMI >> 1080P

http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] i=3750&p=2

Or would two 5670(finitys) @1GB ea. do the trick (JUST for Editing) ? ? ?

=

Reply to Alvin Smith

Sorry to dash your dreams, but those are mini Display Port outputs. It can still only drive two HDMI monitors using passive adapters. Here's a quote from that article you linked to:

"Since this is still being driven by Cypress, the clock source limitation has not changed. Cypress only has 2 clock sources for DVI-type displays, so the 5870E6 can only drive up to 2 DVI/HDMI displays using passive adapters."

Reply to shortstuff_mt

And it goes on to say something about $100+ active adapters (whatever those are) and also talks about adding a second card (not on my budget!) ...

... I don't want to jack the thread (but) . . .

The question (new thread?) I would love to hear your opinion on is ...

I want to drive 3 (fully active) HDMI/1920x1080x120Hz monitors at full rez.
. . . So the question is, . . . "Regardless of the number of cards, how do I do this and spend the least money and how much DDRx would one (or each) card require ?

... I am guessing, by your response (and by the article's bandwidth analysis) that a couple of 1GB 5670(eyes) will "no way" cut the Dijon. How about to of these displays?
... Is there any place in an HDTV multi-mon (non gaming) system for 5670s ???

PS: I am currently editing with Vegas Studio Plat & Vegas Pro and Pinnacle Liquid Edition ... None of these progs cfare a ratz-arse what card you are using ... they just want DX10 or+ and are CPU intensive. I'm guessing the cards just need to page the screens at a hi enough rate (with plenty of GDDR).

= Thanks and Pardons =

Reply to Alvin Smith

heres a better build

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGMBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103808 $159.99

OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3OB1600LV4GK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227495 $99.99

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100283VXL Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814102868 $164.99

ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131603 $84.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148395 $54.99

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Item #: N82E16827118030 $23.99

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817341017 $79.99

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129066 $69.99

Total- $738.92 w/out tax+shipping & rebates ($75 MIR)

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to dan4patriots

shortstuff_mt wrote :

The Athlon II X4 chips outperform the Phenom II X3 chips in Photoshop. Just let the benchmarks speak for themselves.

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3638

I just looked at this article and I think you are right. Athlon II X4 performs at about 90% of Phenom II X4, and I believe Phenom II X3 should perform less than 90% of Phenom II X4. The bad thing is that I can only find Retail version of Athlon II X4 620 or 630 on newegg... How is the factory fan?

Message edited by soarocy on 02-27-2010 at 10:27:16 AM

Reply to soarocy

dan4patriots wrote :

heres a better build

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGMBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103808 $159.99

OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model OCZ3OB1600LV4GK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227495 $99.99

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100283VXL Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814102868 $164.99

ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131603 $84.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148395 $54.99

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
Item #: N82E16827118030 $23.99

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC ... - Retail
Item #: N82E16817341017 $79.99

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811129066 $69.99

Total- $738.92 w/out tax+shipping & rebates ($75 MIR)

That mobo doesn't support crossfire, does it? I guess the PSU will also be underpowered in crossfire?

Reply to soarocy

^Yeah, that mobo don't supportd Crossfire. And for the PSU, this are the power requirements fot the HD 5770

450 Watt or greater power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (600 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)

So, the PSU is enough for the rig and the crossfire. Or you can see here a list of many PSU with Crossfire certificate

------------------------------ Installing the CM Hyper 212+
AMD Overclocking Club
Member Rankings: Points, status and badges
Doesn't work? Send me a PM.
Reply to saint19

[quotemsg=2073773,31,578481 How is the factory fan?[/quotemsg]
Adequate for stock or light OC - anything else best go with an aftermarket cooler ^^

Reply to batuchka

soarocy wrote :

I am not familiar with current PCIe. The 5770's interface is PCIe2.0x16, right? Why would I want to crossfire with dual 5770 @ x8?

The mobo you listed only has one PCIe 2.0 slot running at x16 mode while the other one is only running at x4. So when you put in the second video card it will suffer a severe performance hit because it will only get 4 lanes.
The mobo that I suggested has two PCIe 2.0 slots that can run a single video card using all available slots (like yours) or it can equally split them up between two cards so your performance loss will only be a couple of percent... that's why you need a mobo that supports 2 links @ x8 if you intend to use two video cards...

Reply to verst

Best answer selected by soarocy.

Reply to soarocy

Forum Systems : New Build [Solved] <$800 all purpose build, need advices

Homebuilt

New Build

Prebuilt

CyberPower

Please mind