Experts advice needed

[lowjack989]

I just purchased my first Full-ATX Board its a ASUS M4A785TD-V-EVO
How would the experts fill this board out, for gaming/video manipulation editing.

 

[Alvin Smith]

Prob is that gaming cards are not good at HD-edit & pro-graphics ... while ... the best edit cards are crap for gaming ...

... What are you REALLY going to be doing most ... What is most important to you? Gaming? or Pro-sumer edit ? How many monitors (future max/total) ? Rez?

Favorite game titles? ... Favorite game "types" ?

Preferred/anticipated edit and graphics sw tools?


= Alvin =

 

[lowjack989]

It will primarily be used for gaming titles like Crysis, Modern Warfare, Fallout 3...Max Res. 1920X1080 two monitors 19" and 32", Moviemaker is my editing software need to get some thing a little more adept but it serves its purpose for me.
Looking to Crossfire for first time on this board. Also, would like suggestions on best RAM like Should I use 1866MHz Ram or just stick with 1333MHz?
Budget is around $600.00 for RAM, CPU, Vid. Cards, and a HDD...I have the rest of the system: Antec 900 case, OCZ 550-watt PSU, Win 7 64-BIT

 

[Alvin Smith]

Well ...

Focus on the gaming, then, and just live with whatever HD-edit performance you get.

Your gaming requirements would rate a stringency of "8.7" out of 10 (on my scale) and, so, I would recommend ONE SINGLE 5870 (or 5850) ... to start with. A single 5870 will almost peg hi-rez with "all-on" or "most-on".

= Al = Game-Techs? ... Take it away!

 

[lowjack989]

OK...which RAM, CPU would fit best in the gaming enviroment? I will be waiting for the PII X6 1090.....So which RAM, would be the remaining Question.

 

[lowjack989]

Thx Al for the advice so far. I would like to crossfire, but two 5870's is insanity but thats what I am going for...budget allowing of course

 

[Alvin Smith]

Truth ??

ONE SINGLE 5970, then, is the way to go ... completely pegs all games with everything "ON" and supports (at least) 3 monitor Eyefinity at highest rez.

Absolutely NO cost or performance advantage to TWO 5870s, at this point in human history. ... You will be able to pick up that 2nd 5970 for "a song", in 2 yrs!

Game Techs ?! ... Do this guy some justice!

 

[lowjack989]

Ahh...the single 5970 ....What should I do with the extra PCI-E 2.0 Slot? I hate leaving that extra one empty it will look so lonely.

 

[lowjack989]

RAM advice anyone....

 

[Alvin Smith]

1600c7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

212 cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper-_-35-103-065-_-Product

 

[Alvin Smith]

Spinpoint F3 drives

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=samsung+f3+

or Seagate 7200.12

 

[Alvin Smith]

That PSU is under-rated for even ONE 5970 (pretty sure) ... forget TWO !

This *should* handle TWO 5970s ... Confirm!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&cm_re=corsair-_-17-139-009-_-Product

NOTE: Pretty sure the 5970 uses TWO PCIe 6(+2)-Pin PWR connectors (each). ... This PSU has 4 of them.

Type ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91
Maximum Power 850W
Fans 140mm Thermally Controlled
PFC Active
Main Connector 20+4Pin
+12V Rails Single
PCI-Express Connector 4 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Power Connector 8
SLI Ready
CrossFire Ready
Modular No
Efficiency > 80%
Over Voltage Protection Yes
Overload Protection Yes
Input Voltage 100 - 240 V
Input Frequency Range 50/60 Hz
Input Current 12A
Output +3.3V@30A, +5V30A, +12V@70A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@3A
MTBF >100,000 Hours
Dimensions 5.9"(W) x 3.4"(H) x 5.9"(L)
Features
Connectors 1 x Main connector (20+4Pin)
1 x 4-Pin/8-Pin EPS Connector
4 x PCI-E
2 x Floppy
8 x Peripheral
8 x SATA Power
Features Guaranteed to deliver rated specifications at 50°C

80%+ energy efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% load condition for less heat generation and lower energy bill.

Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) with PF value of 0.99.

Dedicated single +12V rail offers maximum compatibility with latest components.

Supports the latest ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 standards and is backwards compatible with ATX12V 2.01 systems.

High quality Japanese capacitors provide uncompromised performance and reliability.

Powerful +5Vsb rail with 3A rating.

Guaranteed compatible with dual-GPU configuration.

Auto switching circuitry provide universal AC input 90~264V.

Over Current/Voltage/Power Protection, Under Voltage Protection, and Short Circuit Protection provide maximum safety for your critical system components
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 5 years limited
Labor 5 years li

 

[lowjack989]

Yeah I just realized that I guess I will just get an OCZ 1000-watt

 

[Alvin Smith]

with the size of your investment ... go Corsair ! (950-1KW)

 

[lowjack989]

Why Corsair? I have never used them. Are they that much better?

 

[coldsleep]

This OCZ 80+ Gold is an excellent power supply with very good reviews. It is, however, expensive.

For 2x 5870 or 2x 5970, an 850 W power supply should be adequate, 1000 probably isn't necessary.

As Alvin mentions, 1333 MHz or 1600 MHz CAS 7 RAM is the current sweet spot. The G.Skill kit he linked is good value.

However...I have a question. You say:

Budget is around $600.00 for RAM, CPU, Vid. Cards, and a HDD..

A 5870 starts at $400 (and the 5970 starts at $700), leaving you not enough room in your budget for, well, anything other than a hard drive. You say you're waiting for the Phenom II X6, which is rumored to be between $200-300.

Any help on this budget discrepancy? Additionally, it would really help if you followed the format found in the How to Ask for New Build Advice thread.

 

[lowjack989]

I meant $1600.00 sorry bout that...

 

[coldsleep]

Okay, then...

Graphics - any 5970 ~ $700
SSD - Crucial RealSSD 128 GB SATA III - $420 + free shipping
storage HDD - 500 GB or 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 ($55 and $90) or Seagate 7200.12 ($55 and $85), all with free shipping
RAM - 2x Mushkin Enhanced Redline 4 GB CAS 6 1600 MHz kit $165 each + free shipping = $330

Total = $1450, not counting CPU (which is still unreleased and pricing is still speculative) or storage hard drive

Alternatively, you could put two 5870s in there for about $120 more. If you need to drop some money, you could either drop one of the 4 GB RAM kits or move to CAS 7 RAM, probably the kit Alvin linked earlier at $115/4 GB.

Again, be aware that your 550 W PSU is not going to be sufficient for Crossfiring 5870s, nor is it sufficient for one 5970.

 

[lowjack989]

The RAM says that it is platform specific...will it work at the timings advertised with the AMD platform

 

[lowjack989]

Yeah I should have planned for the PSU swap as I will be using a lot more juice to run this rig...lol

 

[lowjack989]

Thx again to everyone for their advice

 

[coldsleep]

The RAM isn't platform-specific, that's just marketing. The new Intel boards use a lower voltage than was previously standard. It's just saying that it will work on those as well.