My upcoming gaming rig...advice?

[brokensword92]

Im building a new gaming rig and i put some research in it but i wanna have your opinions, i might change my mind about something

The PC will mainly be used for gaming and other stuff that require minimal power. I know some demanding games will hold me back but I’d like to do most of my gaming at 1920x1080

Please keep in mind that this is my budget limit, maybe even a little over it, so try not to recommend more expensive alternatives, also, I live in egypt, so not all alternatives will be available


CPU Phenom II X4 955
Mobo Asus M4A785TD-V EVO
GPU Sapphire Toxic HD5850
RAM OCZ Platinum Series 6GB DDR3 1600 CL7 v1.65 Triple Channel Kit
HDD Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB
Case Cooler master storm scout
PSU OCZ StealthXStream 600W


I also have a few questions:

Should i stick with the stock CPU fan? im not planning on overclocking much, 3.6-3.8 ghz will probably be as high as i go. A lot of people say it's okay for no/mild overclocking

Is the toxic 5850 much better than other 5850s? has anybody benched 5850s against each other?

What do you think of my ram choice? it would help me if i dropped to a 4 gb kit, so will i notice a difference if i do? as i said im already over the budget

About the HDD, is black much better than green? Should i notice differences? (im not very hardcore so ill live with the difference if it's tolerable)

Finally, do you think my PSU is enough?


Sorry about the long post guys, any help will be appreiciated

 

[brokensword92]

hmmmmm. bump?

 

[WR2]

A few ideas for you to consider.

The stock AMD HSF is probably OK for 3.6Ghz as you mentioned.
For your motherboard choice - look at the ASUS M4A87TD EVO 870 SATA6 / USB3 $110

Here are some benchmarks between the stock HD 5850 and Sapphire Toxic HD 5850 This is one area you could go with the standard HD 5850 to better fit your budget. You can OC the 5850 to get a boost near the Toxic performance.

The 3 stick - triple channel - OCZ Platinum 6GB DDR3 1600 CL7 isn't a good match for the dual channel Asus M4A785TD-V EVO motherboard. A 4GB set like G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 1600 CL8 $105 is a better option.

There is just a $10 price difference between the 5400RPM WD Digital Caviar Green and the 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 or SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3. They do have better performance - probably enough to justify the $10 price increase. Storage Benchmarks

The OCZ StealthXStream OCZ700SXS 700W $70 and $20 rebate is actually less expensive than the 600W model at the moment.

 

[brokensword92]

thanks for your reply

ill get that mobo if it's available where i live

well then what do you think about sapphire HD5850 game edition? what about XFX HD5850?

i dont think we have G.SKILL in egypt. what do you think about OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB DDR3 1600 CL8 v1.65?

ill probably go with the seagate

im not buying online, and even if i did, mail in rebate is just in the US

 

[WR2]

OCZ Black Edition DDR3 1600 CL8 would be a good choice.
Sapphire 5850 or XFX 5850 would also be good choices.
If you can't find the Asus M4A87TD EVO 870 the M4A785TD-V will work well too.
OCZ StealthXStream 600W is plenty of power for that system with a single 5850.
The 700W model should be enough for a 2nd 5850 sometime in the future.

 

[mrhoshos96]

did check out this site
http://www.egprices.com/category.php?cat=1

 

[brokensword92]

@WR2
i found that CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB DDR3 1600 is available. i think it's a better choice, dont you think?

ill probably get the sapphire

im not thinking of upgrading soon, so 600W is enough for now

@mrhoshos96
thank you!! i was searching for that exact site. are you from egypt?

 

[WR2]

What is the Cas Latency on the CORSAIR DOMINATOR DDR3 1600? CL7, CL 8 or CL9?
I still like the OCZ Black Edition DDR3 1600 CL8. Also what are the prices for each?

 

[brokensword92]

there are two models, one is CL9 and the other is CL8
the first is about $165 and the second is $180 in egypt
the OCZ is CL8 and is about $165

the numbers say OCZ is better, newegg reviews say it's pretty good too, just needs frequency to be set to 1600 manually. not too much of a problem right?

 

[WR2]

Correct. It should run on auto probably @ 1333 and you can manually set it to 1600.

 

[brokensword92]

cool. OCZ it is then. thanks for your help

about my HSF, if i decide to get an aftermarket one, which do you think is better: OCZ vendetta 2 or CM Hyper 212 Plus? People say they're both good but the CM is cheaper

 

[WR2]

Both are very good. You're safe going with the less expensive option.
If the CM is the Hyper 212 Plus it might even be better than the Vendetta2.
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2419

 

[mrhoshos96]

@mrhoshos96
thank you!! i was searching for that exact site. are you from egypt?

yes i do live in egypt but in alexandria so there is only old hardware here

 

[brokensword92]

@WR2
alright then, that settles it. ill get the hyper 212
thanks a lot man you were a great help

@mrhoshos96
im from dumyat so we have even older hardware. ill get my parts from maximum hardware in cairo

 

[mrhoshos96]

@mrhoshos96
im from dumyat so we have even older hardware. ill get my parts from maximum hardware in cairo

will they ship it to you from cairo to dumyat

 

[brokensword92]

they can ship it but i prefer to go get them myself. im going there anyway in 3 or 4 days and ill get them on my way back