Did I screw this up??

[buddafucofibas]

The parts are already on the way I just wanna make sure I’m not going screw something up during assembly. I was working with $1300 (exact) to get everything including mouse/keyboard etc. This is what I squeezed into. I decided to put most of the money into the processor and mobo and I’ll worry about upgrades later.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 6/18
BUDGET RANGE: 1300 before rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: gaming (mostly rts and civ IV-V)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: all purchased

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: tigerdirect.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.S

PARTS PREFERENCES: other than cpu and mobo none

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: preferably 1920 * 1080 but with a 5770 I think I’ll have to drop the res. I got 1920*1080 now for future upgrade to 5850

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Again this is already purchased I just want to know where I went wrong before I begin building. I know I should’ve asked before purchasing but I’ve been deprived of my COH for more than a year now dammit!!

Cooler Master Centurion 5 - Blue ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1482411&SRCCODE=WEBLET03SHIP&cm_mmc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03SHIP-_-03ship

Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 500GB, 7200rpm, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3539927&SRCCODE=WEBLET03SHIP&cm_mmc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03SHIP-_-03ship

Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450-Watt ATX 120mm Fan SATA-Ready Power Supply, 80Plus
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3287208&SRCCODE=WEBLET03SHIP&cm_mmc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03SHIP-_-03ship

Corsair XMS3 TW3X4G1333C9AG 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 RAM - - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB (2x 2048MB), 240 Pin, Dual-Channel
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4837614&SRCCODE=WEBLET03SHIP&cm_mmc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03SHIP-_-03ship

XFX HD577AZNFC Radeon HD 5770 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Display Port, HDMI
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5316156&SRCCODE=WEBLET03SHIP&cm_mmc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03SHIP-_-03ship

ASUS P6X58D Premium Motherboard - LGA 1366, Intel X58, SATA, SLI Ready, CrossFireX Ready, Triple Channel DDR3 support, RAID, Hyperthreading, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5526903&SRCCODE=WEBLET03SHIP&cm_mmc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03SHIP-_-03ship

Core i7-930
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331303

I know I need to upgrade the psu if I'm gonna crossfire, but would a single 5850 be better than two 5770's?

 

[injected]

You really should've asked before purchasing thats a huge mistake , seriously.
with your budget you can get much better.

First , you have to change ur psu doesnt matter if u crossfire or not i7 stable build requires atleast 600w 80+ PSU. so before you do anythin change the psu .

all i can say , could've get better with 1,300$'s budget, but if you already purchased theres nothing we can help you with.

 

[buddafucofibas]

Better what? Specify please. Remember this is everything from mobo to mouse. the corsair power calculator said the min for this config was 450.

 

[injected]

450w is just way too low it'll cause Imbalance in ur build .

Also , i'd get 5850 , samsung 1tb , and a good 600w psu .

Sorry i can't explain exactly why i7 requires atleast 500-600w psu for good performance , i just know it .

 

[buddafucofibas]

But a 5850, 1tb and 600w would easily put me way over 1300....I didn't say 1300s, I said 1300 as in equal to or less than...these parts would've broken the bank esp that 5850, trust me I wanted it, but I'd set up a good foundation that I can build on thus the cpu and mobo. Are you suggesting the first upgrade I should make be the psu?

 

[cmcghee358]

Next time for gaming you should shift your focus from the CPU/motherboard and focus more on the GPU.

In your case a simple AMD Quad Core(Athlon or Phenom) with a 880G/890G motherboard would have saved you about 200 dollars. The savings could have been spent on a GPU or a better PSU.

 

[buddafucofibas]

Next time for gaming you should shift your focus from the CPU/motherboard and focus more on the GPU.

In your case a simple AMD Quad Core(Athlon or Phenom) with a 880G/890G motherboard would have saved you about 200 dollars. The savings could have been spent on a GPU or a better PSU.

I can't explain it but I had a hard on for the i7 930 and when I found it for 200, i couldn't pass that up. And I had a mobo for around 2 but I forgot which one and a 5850, but I opted to put more into the mobo than the gpu since I won't be doing anything to heavy. I'm not thinking crysis 2 right now but more so coh and civ V which I played easily with a dual core and 9800 gt on my last pc. I'm looking to build a monster slowly but surely one piece at a time so I figured I worry about the top notch cpu and mobo first then hold off on other upgrades. If this can run coh comfortably now, I'm good. And again what's better between a 5850 and two 5770's?

 

[cmcghee358]

For strictly gaming your 930 is a waste as an i5-750 or an AMD 955/965 will perform just as well. So I guess your hard-on cost you a good GPU.

 

[buddafucofibas]

For strictly gaming your 930 is a waste as an i5-750 or an AMD 955/965 will perform just as well. So I guess your hard-on cost you a good GPU.

But the p55 chipset necessitated 8*8 on dual gpu's instead of of the 16*16 I was looking for in the future.

 

[buddafucofibas]

For strictly gaming your 930 is a waste as an i5-750 or an AMD 955/965 will perform just as well. So I guess your hard-on cost you a good GPU.

and it cost me a good gpu for now...and besides if all I'm going for is coh and civ 5 do I really need a 5850 right at this moment? I can go 16*16 with the p6x58d, I couldn't do that with any 1156 mobo.

 

[cmcghee358]

You should understand that 8x/8x only has a 4% performance decrease. Or you could acknowledge the fact that Crossfire is generally worse than SLI for performance scaling. If you are expecting a 100% performance increase, you won't. Expect 30-50%.

So the question is, whats better to get a CPU and motherboard that will never bottleneck your dual GPUs, or simply get a balanced system.

The fact remains that it's already purchased so I guess count this in the learning experience column. If anything, next time post your anticipated build so we can look it over for you. I'm sure if you hadn't purchased this already you wouldn't be so defensive over your opinion.

 

[buddafucofibas]

I'm not defensive I was just sharing what was going on in my head that lead to this purchase I didn't know abou the 4% decrease or the mere 30-50% increase in 16*16. I had just read a quite a few times from different articles about the that particular drawback of the p55 chipset. Moreover, since I was looking to stick to an intel cpu that $200 930 sealed it for me, I guess I'm a sucker for a good deal. I had been eyeing it for a while but the 300 price tag scared me away so I was leaning to the i5-750 but once I saw I could get a 930 for 750 price...i couldn't pass it up. But you're right, this definitely is a learning experience cause this is my very first build.

 

[cmcghee358]

It's not just the cost of the CPU, its the cost of the associated hardware for that CPU. Example a X58 motherboard with 6 GB of triple channel RAM and a 200 930. Well that all adds up. Making it so you can't afford a 5850.

An i5 or 955 BE build would have allowed you the flexibility to balance your gaming system and place emphasis on the Graphics Card which is the principal item that drives gaming performance.

But dead horse is a dead horse.

 

[buddafucofibas]

It's not just the cost of the CPU, its the cost of the associated hardware for that CPU. Example a X58 motherboard with 6 GB of triple channel RAM and a 200 930. Well that all adds up. Making it so you can't afford a 5850.

An i5 or 955 BE build would have allowed you the flexibility to balance your gaming system and place emphasis on the Graphics Card which is the principal item that drives gaming performance.

But dead horse is a dead horse.

Lesson learned friendo.

 

[buddafucofibas]

Best answer selected by buddafucofibas.

 

[cmcghee358]

Don't get me wrong your build is ok, but the 5770 just feels like a stumpy nub compared to the rest.

If you have any questions come on back, we love to chat about this stuff. And sorry if I came off too rough, I do that sometimes. Only because I want everyone to have the best build for their budget.

 

[buddafucofibas]

Don't get me wrong your build is ok, but the 5770 just feels like a stumpy nub compared to the rest.

If you have any questions come on back, we love to chat about this stuff. And sorry if I came off too rough, I do that sometimes. Only because I want everyone to have the best build for their budget.

Oh no you're cool man I get what you're saying and it isn't lost on me. I wanted the 5850...bad and I managed to squeeze that in at one point with an EVGA mobo that was near 200, but the reviews scared me a bit and I came across the p6x58d prem and lo and behold I got another hard on... then I saw on one of the articles on here that two 5770's in crossfire was comparable to a 5850 so I figured I could always get another 5770 a little later, but now that you told me about the 30-50% increase...i think I just may go 5850 or higher after a psu and ram upgrade. I got two questions for ya: What do you think between 2 5770s and a single 5850. And also I rarely see a build on these forums with an evga mobo...are there some quality issues or what, I've never seen a build on here with one...

 

[cmcghee358]

Well for 1, it's because EVGA only makes Intel motherboards I believe. And since I'd wager this forum is 50/50 AMD/Intel, thats a good reason you dont see much EVGA motherboards.

As for the 5770s, whats the price? 2 5770s currently run what, $340? And they perform equally well as a 5850, with higher power consumption while also occupying the 2nd slot.

The fact of the matter is, you've already bought a 5770 so there is no going back, Xfiring it down the line is a good technique to elongate the life of a gaming build. Regardless of what cards you're Xfiring, it will always add 6 months-1year to the life of your build.

 

[buddafucofibas]

Well for 1, it's because EVGA only makes Intel motherboards I believe. And since I'd wager this forum is 50/50 AMD/Intel, thats a good reason you dont see much EVGA motherboards.

As for the 5770s, whats the price? 2 5770s currently run what, $340? And they perform equally well as a 5850, with higher power consumption while also occupying the 2nd slot.

The fact of the matter is, you've already bought a 5770 so there is no going back, Xfiring it down the line is a good technique to elongate the life of a gaming build. Regardless of what cards you're Xfiring, it will always add 6 months-1year to the life of your build.

Thanks a ton man, you've been a great deal of help and this info is gonna come in handy on my next build. Next time, however, I'll be sure to consult yous guys first :-/