First time build questions

[Guest]

Hey guys,
I have recently been desiging a new gaming rig to save money and let me choose exactly what I want. I was going to go with a core-i7 build, but some friends pointed ot that AMD CPUs are far cheaper, so I decided to go with a Phenom II x6 Build featuring

Mobo: MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 ATX
RAM: 8 GB G Skill Ripjaw 1333mhz
Case: Coolermaster HAF 932
GPU: ATI Radeon 5970 HD
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1.5 TB 7200
and a 1000 watt PSU and a Blu Ray drive and a Coolermaster v8

However,
After doing a little digging, I have found that the Radeon really isnt worth $619, so I wanted to go with two GTX 480s. But SLI isnt supported. Is there any good motherboard I can use to do SLI and keep the Phenom II x6?

Also, I was thinking about adding in a SSD for my Windows install (the 1.5 tb would be storage) but I noticed that they really only sell 2.5" SSDs. I don't know much about the compatability, but I read something about using a molex-to-sata connector and cutting the yellow wire. Can somebody clarify this for me? I dont want to go and buy an expensive ssd just to have it get fried, or cut up a molex-to-sata adapter without reason.

I would appreciate any help you can give me.

Thanks!
Chode

 

[MadAdmiral]

How about you give us a budget that we can work with? We also need to know what you're doing with the build.

Honestly, everything you've said there is pretty wrong. The build isn't that great either. Here's a very long explanation of what needs to be clarified.

Frankly, dual 480s aren't going to be worth $1,000. The 480 performs very close the 5870, which costs $100 less. It would be a better idea to buy a single 5870 over a single 480, as you won't have to pay extra for a SLI compatible board, which tend to be lower quality and less future proof than the rest of the boards out there. Besides, a single 5970 will cost 30% less than dual 480s and perform very similarly. You also will be able to Crossfire it later, not that you'll ever need to.

The X6s aren't that great. If you're gaming, they perform like the X4 955 and you can get an i5-750 which will perform better at roughly the same price. If you're not, it's worth the extra expense to get an i7-930, as the i7 out performs the X6 in pretty much everything.

That board is not a good one. Stick to Asus or Gigabyte to get high quality boards loaded with features. The MSI is more expensive than more future proof boards and doesn't have anything that justifies the cost. Yes, it has 4 PCIe 2.0 slots, but multi card solutions don't scale well past two cards.

Unless this is a heavy encoding build (in which case the i7-930 is unbeatable), 8 GB of RAM is complete overkill.

The HAF 932 isn't worth the extra $70 over the 922. The 922 is only slightly smaller, but has a lot of really nice features (dust filters, better cable management, the ability to turn off the LEDs, etc.).

The Seagate 1.5 TB drive isn't the best choice. The 1 TB is faster and more reliable. Yes, it's a little more expensive per GB, but you can always expand later.

BluRay is completely pointless for computers right now. The only exception is for people who already own a lot of BR movies, but don't have anything to watch them on. So basically, it's not worthwhile. Don't waste money on it now. Wait until there's an actual use for BRs outside of movies.

The V8 also isn't the best choice. Stick to the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus at half it's price and get the same or better cooling.

SSDs don't require anything special with the power connection to be compatible. They require a bay converter to fit into most cases.

Finally, a 1000W PSU is complete overkill. You can Crossfire three 5970s, six of any HD 58xx cards, 8 HD 57xx cards, or 4 Fermis on 1000W. As explained above, anything using more than two cards is just a lot of wasted money. You won't need more than an 850W unit.

So after all of that, here is a couple of full builds at what I'm guessing your budget and use is:

Gaming:

CPU/Mobo: i5-750 and Asus P7P55D-E Pro $375
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $120
GPU: HD 5970 $700
SSD: Corsair Nova 128 GB $375
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 1 TB $85
PSU: OCZ Z Series 850W 80+ Gold $190 after rebate
Case: HAF 922 $90
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $20
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $30

Total: $1,985

Encoding/Productivity:

CPU/Mobo: i7-930 and Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R $480
RAM: 2x G.Skill Pi 3x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $380
GPU: HD 5970 $700
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 1 TB $85
PSU: OCZ Z Series 850W 80+ Gold $190 after rebate
Case: HAF 922 $90
Optical: Cheap SATA DVD burner $20
HSF: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $30

Total: $1,975. I would actually probably drop the 5970 to an HD 5870 and move the SSD into the build, depending on what you're doing. It may also be worth it to swicth to a nVidia card, as their cards work better with a lot of productivity apps.

 

[FALC0N]

The X6s aren't that great. If you're gaming, they perform like the X4 955 and you can get an i5-750 which will perform better at roughly the same price. If you're not, it's worth the extra expense to get an i7-930, as the i7 out performs the X6 in pretty much everything......

Not sure where you got this from. Yes, the I7 is a better gaming chip. No the I7 does not outperform the X6 in everything. 1055 is almost a clock for clock match for the 750 and the 1090T is very competitive with the I7 930.

 

[FALC0N]

That board is not a good one. Stick to Asus or Gigabyte to get high quality boards loaded with features. The MSI is more expensive than more future proof boards and doesn't have anything that justifies the cost.....

Unless this is a heavy encoding build (in which case the i7-930 is unbeatable), 8 GB of RAM is complete overkill.

Wow..missed that the first time through. An MSI 790FX-GD70 isn't a good board? Did I just walk through a dimensional portal? Because where I come from, MSI makes great boards and they are priced competitively with Asus and Gigabyte. And I'm speaking as a Gigabyte fan,

At that price point, the X6 1090T is the better encoding chip than the 930.


So chodeofdoom, most of Mad Admirals advice is good. But I wouldn't take the X6 and MSI comments to heart. He followed the lemmings right off the cliff on those two issues.

The X6 is strong competition for the I5/I7's stright through the I7 930. But he is right about the I5/I7 having stronger gaming performance overall.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Maybe I generalized a little too much on the X6. I still like the i7 for several reason. First, it beats the X6 in many productivity applications because of hyperthreading. For those where it doesn't win, it's close enough that it likely doesn't matter. Second, it overclocks better. This could overcome some of the shortcomings in the first point. Third, depending on where you are, you can get the i7 for really cheap (Microcenter). Fourth, the i7 has the option of being replaced by the i7-980X down the road, which is massively better than AMD's offerings. Fifth, the i7's acceptance of more RAM is often beneficial in productivity apps.

I like AMD, but the new CPUs are a bit of mystery. To really recommend them, you need to know exactly what applications are going to be used. Also, location becomes very important in the recommendation as well, as the Microcenter i7 prices make it about cost about the same as the X6. They have their place, but it's a very specialized one.

I don't think MSI is that high quality. Obviously, opinions may differ. I generally have a quality hierarchy like this: Asus/Gigabyte, MSI/EVGA, ASRock, Biostar/Intel/whoever else is out there. That said, that specific board isn't a good choice because it's a lot more expensive than higher quality boards packed with features.

 

[FALC0N]

I think the mistake many people/sites make when assessing chips like the X6 is real world usage. Everybody runs one benchmark at a time. But that is not real world usage for most people.

Look at your system right now. As I write, I have at least 6 different thing going in some form, from browser to email to security. And I am not a hard core multitasker. These common environments are where multi-cores really shine.

Think about the debate between duals and quads a few years ago. The exact same argument could have been made and was. Yet 2 years later, the quad looks like the clear winner. That is not quite how the benchmarks looked at the time.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Except in gaming. And a cheap quad is beat by the i3/i5 dual cores in pretty much every benchmark.

I'm going to disagree with you on when multi-core CPUs really shine. It's really in the number crunching, hard computational work applications. That's where adding cores (and threads) really shines. Just take a look at the massive drops in computational times when you throw hyperthreading in the mix.

Also, it may be true that benchmarks don't mirror real world usage, but I think you can extrapolate from them to get at real world usage. If you take a program that uses multiple cores to the fullest extent, and one CPU comes out faster, that CPU will be faster in almost every task that is improved by having more CPU power. So if a CPU rips through Photoshop like it was nothing, then it will easily handle multi-tasking without a problem. Why would you think that a CPU that can handle super intensive tasks won't handle multiple simple tasks, especially when that's what it's designed to do?

 

[Guest]

Wow, I totally did not expect this to become a debate over which processor is the best/ which motherboards are the best. However, I can add that I have never used a bad Intel processor. right now I'm using a computer with a Pentium 4 HT, and it runs great. The only isue is no PCIe, SATA, and it only supports 2 gigs of RAM.
So to answer some other questions that you had:

1. This computer is going to be for hard core gaming

2. I would like to guesstimate my budget to be $2500. Though I may get more or less money depending how much I make this summer.

I had (before) a nice i7 build made out for like $3000 (core i7 980x, 16 gigs ram, and a lot more overkill). To summarize what I'm looking for, I want a good, fast computer that runs games smoothly at high frame rates. I like the idea of doing the core i7 920-930 and then if/when I get more money upgrading to the 980x. Oh, and this computer is going to be somewhat of a media center, too. I don't have a Blu-Ray player yet, but I have something like 4 HDTVs in my house.

Also, I would like to mention that I think I'm going to stick with the GTX 480 instead of the HD 5970. I have some a friend with a dual 480 build and a dual HD 5970 build, and the 480s clearly outperform the 5970s. That, and I just cannot justify ever buying a foot long video card.

I will go do some more browsing and put another hypothetical build past you.